Sometimes, despite the most perfectly delivered writing lesson implemented with fidelity, students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) do not make the progress expected by teachers or themselves. In these instances, teachers may individualize and differentiate for students with EBD not making adequate progress by purposefully…

Fractions are an imperative skill for students to master to achieve success in future mathematics concepts and classes. Yet many students, especially those experiencing math difficulties and/or characteristics of emotional and behavioral disorders, continue to exit elementary school without a concrete foundation of fractions skills required to…

Students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) struggle to acquire and develop writing skills. To support their students' unique needs, it is important for teachers to monitor student writing progress to make instructional decisions based on data. In this article we describe methods for progress monitoring focused on…

New science demonstrates how students with and at risk for emotional and behavioral disorders experience trauma at higher rates than their peers. When providing writing instruction to these students, it is imperative that the approaches used be viewed through a trauma-informed lens. This article describes steps teachers can take to view writing…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) often struggle to apply self-determination skills. Teaching self-determination skills within the context of writing allows students to amplify their voice and communicate with others. This article describes how writing instruction and lessons on self-determination skills may be combined to…

Preservice teacher candidates acquire and develop numerous competencies in their teaching programs, including how to teach writing. Effective writing instruction is critical across all ages and content areas, especially when working with students with and at risk of emotional and behavioral disorders, making it an important aspect of teacher…

Fluency in math facts and procedures is critical for math achievement overall and often challenging for students with emotional and behavioral disorders to develop. This article describes how to implement two complementary and evidence-based practice strategies, incremental rehearsal and Cover-Copy-Compare, to build declarative and procedural…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) generally have behavior support plans that are based on a functional behavioral assessment. This article provides educators practical guidelines for conducting a "multiple stimulus without replacement" (MSWO) preference assessment to rank order preferred activities that will align…

Students with emotional and behavioral disorders struggle with learning and retaining many aspects of mathematics. Tasks requiring conceptual understanding and reasoning are especially challenging. Given these difficulties, it is essential that teachers use techniques designed to support mathematical learning. We explain how to infuse…

Paying attention during academic instruction plays a significant role in learning. Students with off-task behaviors are less likely to obtain desired learning outcomes. Technology-based self-monitoring is one of the strategies designed to address this issue. This article introduces technology-based self-monitoring (TBSM) for elementary educators…

The concrete-representational-abstract (CRA) sequence of instruction is an explicit methodology for teaching mathematics using multiple representations of concepts. Learning concepts through multiple representations fosters conceptual understanding and mathematical thinking. This article describes how a special education teacher used explicit CRA…

Special education has changed over the years since its inception due to advocacy, litigation, legislation, trends, and research investigations. While it can be somewhat controversial depending on the disability the child might have or professionals involved in the process of instructing and planning his/her future education, it is a field that has…

The National Center for Leadership in Intensive Intervention (NCLII), a consortium funded by the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP), prepares special education leaders to become experts in research on intensive intervention for students with disabilities who have persistent and severe academic (e.g., reading and math) and behavioral…

Some students with disabilities, particularly those with emotional and behavioral disorders, may struggle with transitions, demonstrating inappropriate behaviors during them. Visual supports, previously determined to be an evidence-based practice for students with autism, is a proactive classroom management strategy addressing transitioning. In…

In the aftermath of the COVID-19 upheaval, special education professionals grapple with a seismic surge in student behavioral issues. The challenges are formidable, and the interventions available often fall short of making a meaningful impact. "Best Practices for Behavior Intervention in Special Education" steps in to assist the urgent…