High-leverage practices for students with disabilities are the small set of research-backed teaching moves that produce outsized gains in learning, behavior, and independence. The concept grew out of work by the Council for Exceptional Children and the CEEDAR Center, which identified a core set of practices shown to improve outcomes across grade levels and disability categories.
Yet many teachers report that generic training leaves them unsure which moves matter most and how to apply them consistently. This guide breaks down five high-leverage practices, explains the evidence behind each, and shows you how to put them to work in your classroom right away.
What Makes a Practice "High-Leverage" in Special Education
A high-leverage practice is a teaching move that is frequent, evidence-based, and effective across many contexts. The Council for Exceptional Children explains that these practices "are used frequently in classrooms, can be applied across content areas and grade levels, and are supported by research."
The framework began as a collaboration among researchers and teacher educators to define what every special educator should know. It now spans collaboration, assessment, social-emotional supports, and instruction. Understanding this foundation is the first step toward using high-leverage practices for students with disabilities effectively.
- Frequency: you use the practice daily, not once a year.
- Breadth: it works for students with different disability categories.
- Evidence: research links it to measurable student growth.
Consider a co-teaching team that abandoned one-off worksheets in favor of structured peer tutoring. Their students practiced the same skill repeatedly, and both teachers saw steadier progress. That is the essence of high-leverage practices for students with disabilities: repeatable moves, applied consistently.
How to apply this: list the five teaching moves you use most often, then check each one against the research base on the CEC's website.
Build Strong Collaboration and Teamwork
Collaboration is the first pillar, because no single educator can meet every need alone. High-leverage practices for students with disabilities depend on coordinated teams that share data, plan together, and divide roles clearly.
The IRIS Center at Vanderbilt University notes that effective collaboration involves "ongoing communication, shared goals, and clearly defined roles." When teams meet without an agenda, decisions stall and students pay the price.
- Shared goals: agree on two or three measurable targets per student.
- Defined roles: assign who collects data, who contacts families, and who adjusts instruction.
- Fixed meeting cadence: protect a weekly or biweekly slot.
In one case, a middle school team cut its meeting time in half by circulating a shared data sheet before each session. The team arrived ready to decide, not to review. That single change kept collaboration sustainable.
How to apply this: before your next team meeting, send an agenda with student data attached and assign one decision per item.
Use Explicit Instruction and Systematic Feedback
Explicit instruction is one of the most robustly supported high-leverage practices for students with disabilities. It breaks learning into small steps, models each step, and checks understanding before moving on.
The U.S. Department of Education's What Works Clearinghouse rates explicit instruction as having strong evidence for improving student outcomes in reading and mathematics. The method works because it reduces the guesswork that frustrates struggling learners.
- Model it: show the skill step by step.
- Guide it: practice together with immediate correction.
- Check it: use quick probes to confirm mastery.
- Release it: let students practice independently.
A common scenario is a reading teacher who models a decoding strategy, practices it aloud with the group, then listens to each student read. Students get corrective feedback within seconds, not days. That timing matters more than the amount of feedback.
How to apply this: pick one lesson this week and script your model, guided practice, and check-for-understanding steps before class.
Assess Progress and Adapt Instruction
Assessment should drive instruction, not just report it. High-leverage practices for students with disabilities include ongoing progress monitoring, which catches problems while there is still time to fix them.
Curriculum-based measurement, developed through research at the University of Minnesota, lets teachers track growth with brief, frequent probes. A student who gains a few words per week on a reading probe is progressing; flat scores signal a need to adjust.
| Practice | What it tells you | Action to take |
|---|---|---|
| Progress monitoring probes | Rate of skill growth | Adjust instruction if scores flatten |
| Behavior frequency counts | Triggers and patterns | Revise supports and environment |
| Work samples | Mastery of specific skills | Reteach or move forward |
| Student self-reports | Confidence and gaps | Target feedback |
- Set a baseline: measure before you intervene.
- Check weekly: short probes beat long tests.
- Respond fast: change the method when data says so.
How to apply this: start a simple weekly probe for one student and graph the results so trends are visible.
Support Social-Emotional and Behavioral Growth
Behavior is communication, and addressing it directly is a core high-leverage practice. Positive behavioral interventions and supports, known as PBIS, teach expected behaviors rather than only punishing mistakes. These supports are among the most practical high-leverage practices for students with disabilities because they shape the classroom environment every day.
The PBIS Center reports that schools implementing these systems with fidelity see reductions in discipline referrals and improved climate. The approach rests on clear expectations, direct teaching of routines, and acknowledgment of success.
- Teach routines: model expectations the same way you model academics.
- Recognize often: praise specific behavior, not general goodness.
- Respond consistently: keep consequences predictable.
- Involve families: share what works at school.
A frequent pattern is a classroom where one student's outbursts dropped after the teacher added a visual schedule and a morning check-in. The fix was structural, not punitive. Cases like this show why high-leverage practices for students with disabilities belong in every behavior plan.
How to apply this: choose one routine to teach explicitly this week and script how you will model and reinforce it.
Foster Independence Through Self-Determination
Self-determination is the practice that turns students into their own advocates. High-leverage practices for students with disabilities should build the skills students need after graduation, not just during class.
The National Technical Assistance Center on Transition emphasizes teaching goal-setting, self-advocacy, and decision-making as part of transition planning. Students who practice these skills move into adult life with more confidence.
- Set goals: help students name what they want to achieve.
- Practice choice: let them pick tasks when possible.
- Reflect: review progress together regularly.
- Advocate: teach how to ask for help and accommodations.
In one case, a high school student learned to describe her learning needs in a short script and used it in every new class. Her teachers adjusted faster, and her grades steadied.
How to apply this: give one student a simple goal-setting template and review it with them at the end of the week.
Frequently Asked Questions About high-leverage practices for students with disabilities
How many high-leverage practices are there in special education?
The framework most widely cited identifies 22 high-leverage practices across four domains: collaboration, assessment, social-emotional support, and instruction. Some teacher education programs condense them into a shorter list for coursework. If your district uses a condensed version, map it back to the full set so nothing essential gets dropped.
Focus on the handful of high-leverage practices for students with disabilities that fit your grade level first.
Can high-leverage practices work in inclusive general education classrooms?
Yes, and they are designed to. Most practices, such as explicit instruction and collaboration, apply to any setting with mixed learners. The exception is that general educators may need added coaching on progress monitoring and individualized supports. Start with one practice, measure its effect, then expand.
Using a few high-leverage practices for students with disabilities well beats using all of them poorly.
What is the difference between high-leverage practices and evidence-based practices?
Evidence-based practices are specific interventions proven by research, while high-leverage practices are broader teaching moves that span multiple subjects and disability types. High-leverage practices often incorporate several evidence-based practices at once. For a classroom teacher, the practical difference is scope: use evidence-based practices for a targeted skill and use high-leverage practices for your overall instructional routine.
Both matter for students with disabilities.
High-leverage practices for students with disabilities are broad teaching moves, while evidence-based practices are specific interventions proven by research.
Unlike a single proven intervention, high-leverage practices for students with disabilities span multiple subjects and disability types.
How do I start if my school offers no training?
Begin with self-study using free resources from the IRIS Center and the Council for Exceptional Children. Pick one practice, try it for a few weeks, and track a simple measure. Then bring results to a colleague or coach.
The key to high-leverage practices for students with disabilities is starting small and using data, not waiting for formal training before you act.
Should paraprofessionals be trained in these practices?
Yes. Paraprofessionals deliver much of the day-to-day support, so they benefit from training in explicit instruction, behavior routines, and feedback. The caveat is supervision: pair training with clear direction and oversight from the special educator. When support staff and teachers share the same routines, high-leverage practices for students with disabilities become consistent across the school day.
Conclusion
The right set of teaching moves can change outcomes for students with disabilities, but the moves must be frequent, evidence-based, and applied with purpose. The core takeaways:
- Collaboration keeps teams focused and student-centered.
- Explicit instruction and feedback reduce guesswork for learners.
- Progress monitoring catches problems early enough to fix them.
- Self-determination prepares students for life beyond school.
Start this week by selecting one practice, tracking a simple measure, and reviewing the result with a colleague. Over time, those small, deliberate steps build the high-leverage practices for students with disabilities that help every learner succeed.
