This research study was conducted to examine the effectiveness of direct instructional strategies regarding the achievement of students with ED. High school teachers with significant years of teaching experience in an urban setting support the effectiveness of direct instructional strategies. Teachers with 11-20 and 21-30 years of teaching experience documented their perceptions with increased support for direct instructional strategies compared to teachers with 1-10 years of experience. A quantitative research design model was the ideal method for data analyses. This study's data analyses were comprised of descriptive statistics, Levene's statistic, and analysis of variances (ANOVA). Results indicated a strong statistical difference between years of teaching experience and high school teachers' perceptions of the effectiveness of direct instructional strategies regarding the achievement of students with emotional disabilities. The researcher concluded further examination into progressive instructional implementation and school preference of effective instructional methods for the achievement of students with emotional disabilities is needed.