Every Learner Cara Shores
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
There are many people who have contributed to this book throughout the years. I want to begin by thanking my coworkers in Bartow County School System (BCSS) in northwest Georgia. Dr. Phillip Page and Dr. David Chiprany led BCSS on the journey to become a Model PLC school system. Their teaching and leadership have had a profound impact on my journey. Tania Amerson has been my boss, sounding board, teacher, and friend for many years. She does an amazing job of leading the BCSS Department of Exceptional Education to become an integral part of our professional learning community (PLC). Justin Fitzgerald and Stormy Ruff are my amazing fellow coordinators who support me in all I do. Amanda Creel and Heather Carter are so kind to share documents and information with me any time I ask. I am eternally grateful to all of these and other BCSS colleagues and friends for their influence on me and this book. Thank you all so much.
I especially want to thank all of the educators who are in my schools and attend my sessions. I love my time when we learn together. Thank you for sharing your successes, questions, and frustrations with me. I always learn from you. To my teachers at Woodland Middle School and Pine Log Elementary School, thank you for sharing your work with me. You are wonderful teachers in an excellent PLC.
This book would not have been written without the support and encouragement of Claudia Wheatley. My hiatus from writing might never have ended without you. Thank you so much for knowing and valuing my past work that first day we met in icy Arkansas. You are a gift to all who know you.
Thank you to my incredible Solution Tree team, including Amy Rubenstein, Sarah Foster, Todd Brakke, and Kendra Slayton, who have worked tirelessly to bring this book alive. You made my job easy and fun.
Last, but certainly not least, I want to thank my husband for his support and patience. Scott, you are my biggest encourager and best friend. I am so grateful to you.
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CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER
Step 2: Identify Learning Targets and Build the L earning Progression
Step
Step
Lesson Plan Outline for “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson
Blank Template for Tiered
CHAPTER 8
Looking at the Structure for Tiers 2 and 3 for Students With Disabilities
EPILOGUE
REFERENCES AND RESOURCES
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cara Shores has a passion for school improvement and helping educators grow in their profession. She works with elementary and secondary educators in presentations, training, and coaching to build their capacity to teach all students to standards mastery and beyond.
During her career, Cara has served as an exceptional education teacher in inclusive and resource classrooms, lead exceptional education teacher, SST/RTI coordinator, and director of special education. She is currently the coordinator of exceptional education in the Bartow County Schools System in northwest Georgia.
In addition, Cara has seventeen years of experience as a trainer and consultant throughout the United States and Canada. She has been a keynote and featured presenter at national and state conferences for the Council for Exceptional Children, Council of Administrators of Special Education, Association for Middle Level Education, Sopris West, Southern Alberta Professional Development Consortium, Edmonton Regional Learning Consortium, and Calgary Regional Consortium.
Cara is the author of A Comprehensive RTI Model: Integrating Behavioral and Academic Interventions and editor of The Best of Corwin: Response to Intervention. She is coauthor of Using RTI for School Improvement: Raising Every Student’s Achievement Scores and Response to Intervention: A Practical Guide for Every Teacher, both bestsellers and joint publications with the Council for Exceptional Children. In 2010, she was named a Corwin Million Dollar Author.
Cara earned an education specialist degree in special education and leadership as well as a master of education degree in special education from the University of West Georgia. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Jacksonville State University.
INTRODUCTION
I want to introduce you to my friend Meghan Johnson. She may be the best special education teacher I have ever known. She is a high school special education teacher at the Bartow County College and Career Academy in Bartow County, Georgia, which serves students from three district high schools and offers dual enrollment for advanced students to earn high school and college credit concurrently. It also offers technical career instruction for many students with disabilities. Twenty percent of the students attending the school are served through special education. Her co-taught classes have the highest state end-of-course assessment scores of any school in the district.
What makes Meghan so successful with her students? Does she have multiple advanced degrees in special education? No, she has a master’s degree. Does she have over thirty years of experience working with students with disabilities? No, she is starting her twentieth year in education. Is she someone who works at her profession 24/7? No, Meghan is married with three teen and preteen boys who keep her incredibly busy.
So, what makes Meghan so successful with her students? That’s easy. She is passionate about their success. That passion manifests itself in a sense of urgency. She is continuously aware that each student’s window of opportunity for a good life
through education is quickly closing as they enter high school. She wants students to graduate prepared to be successful in life and is willing to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
If I could give every reader of this book one thing, it would be that sense of urgency. Whether your students are aged three or twenty-one, you are their hope for a life that is successful despite their disability. You are one piece of the puzzle that makes up that student’s educational life. There are skills that are imperative for a student to master at exactly the time you are in their life. If your puzzle piece is missing, the student will either (a) forever have gaps in that big picture or (b) hope for another educator to come along and create that missing piece.
The weight of the responsibility we educators have is incredibly heavy. How we handle that weight impacts not only our students but also ourselves and our families. Teachers who feel ill-equipped, unsupported, and overburdened quickly lose the energy and focus that is required to reach their students. Teacher burnout is real. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 8 percent of teachers in the United States left the profession in the 2021–22 school year (National Center for Education Statistics, 2023). A 2022 Gallup poll found that 44 percent of K–12 educators reported some level of burnout (Marken & Agrawal, 2022). I’ve personally seen incredible teachers struggle and walk away. I’m talking about teachers who spent many years preparing for their career and putting in hour after hour of hard work but became exhausted and felt they had no choice but to give up and leave the profession.
My hope for this book is that it will provide a focus for instruction that brings success for students with disabilities and all students who struggle to learn. I pray that what you learn here empowers you as a teacher to understand how to help students succeed and that it gives you a deeper understanding of what we know works with students.
This book is for all K–12 educators who teach students with disabilities. First and foremost, it is written for special education teachers who work tirelessly to bring students with disabilities to high levels of achievement. You have a heart for those who struggle. You celebrate the smallest gains. You spend hours preparing lessons, teaching and reteaching, and recording data. Your job is difficult, and you may feel isolated. May this book give you knowledge, skills, and a renewed sense of purpose in your work. It is designed to tell you what research works and to show you how to implement effective instruction. It is meant to be an encouragement to you as you work with your students and colleagues. You are amazing and have the
potential to grow even more amazing every day as you learn and incorporate these ideas into your daily practice.
Perhaps your title is general education teacher. Sometimes, as I write, I have in mind general education teachers more than special education teachers. You are the educators who were probably never told in college that you would teach students with disabilities. Or perhaps you took one class designed to introduce you to the types of disabilities students may have but were led to believe that someone else would be responsible for those students. Now you’re in the classroom, and you quickly realize that you’ve been deceived. Not only are you responsible for students with special needs, but you are also responsible for working with “their teachers.”
Guess what? We are all “their teachers,” and you can successfully teach students with special needs.
If you are an administrator, this book is designed to help you better understand that elusive species known as the special education teacher. I want to provide you with a clear picture of what should be occurring in classrooms in your building every day. No longer are students with disabilities the silent minority in your school or district. Their achievement is measured and reported. They may be your lowest performing subgroup. Please hear me out: Your teachers cannot raise the achievement of students with disabilities without a schoolwide focus on excellent instruction for all . You set the culture and tone for your school. All must mean all; all students will learn, and all teachers will be supported to ensure all students will learn.
Do you have a support role in your school? Perhaps you are an instructional coach. Do you feel inadequately prepared to coach special education teachers? This book is for you, as well. It will show you specifically what we know works with students with disabilities. With this knowledge, you can be the model and support that special education teachers need. You can bring co-teaching teams together. You can support general education teachers as they struggle to teach students with a wide range of abilities in their classrooms. You can provide quality feedback when your teachers implement any of the practices discussed here.
The simple fact that you have picked up this book and are reading this introduction tells me you want to learn and continually grow as an educator. I want you to hear what I say: This book is not designed to be read in one sitting and implemented overnight or, perish the thought, put on the shelf to collect dust. The information is to be taken in small bites and chewed on, reflected on, and applied to your students, your classroom, and your school. It is to be tried, assessed, adjusted,
implemented again, changed, and tried again. There is a lot of “stuff” here. Good stuff. But a lot of it.
So, what will you gain from this book? First, in chapter 1, you will learn what research shows works for increasing achievement, and I will provide an overview of a three-tiered instructional framework. This framework is not only applicable in schools that are seasoned professional learning communities (PLCs). It is also applicable in schools that have no understanding of PLCs, response to intervention (RTI), multitiered systems of support (MTSS), or any other tiered intervention process. It is for any school that wants all students to succeed, including those with disabilities. In chapter 2, we focus on Tier 1 instruction—the first tier of the threetiered framework—and how it should be specially designed for students with disabilities. We then move into multiple areas that help us provide specially designed and effective instruction, including high-leverage practices, co-teaching, and John Hattie’s (2023) most effective strategies.
Chapters 3 through 7 continue the focus on Tier 1 to provide a deep dive into essential components of Tier 1 instruction for students with disabilities. This extensive focus on Tier 1 is critical to reducing achievement gaps and promoting curriculum mastery. If Tier 1 isn’t strong, Tiers 2 and 3 will not be able to address all the deficits students will develop. Assessment and data use are the focus of chapter 3, where we look closely at formative, summative, and benchmark assessment as well as curriculum-based measurement. In chapter 4, we learn how to identify essential standards, develop learning progressions, and use the progressions to guide classroom instruction and write individualized education program (IEP) goals. Chapter 5 walks through choosing instructional supports based on identified processing deficits. Chapter 6 explores co-teaching, and we will learn not only about the models of co-teaching but also how those models can be used to provide effective instruction in whole and small groups. In chapter 7, we take an in-depth look at a form of differentiation called tiered instruction, which can be used to meet the needs of all learners, particularly students with disabilities. In chapter 8, we take what we have learned and explore how to apply many of the same concepts to provide intervention and reinforcement in Tiers 2 and 3 to address curricular and basic skills deficits.
You may wonder why I have devoted so much time to Tier 1 in this book on teaching students in Tiers 1 through 3. That’s a logical question with an easy answer. If you provide excellent, effective instruction in Tier 1, you may reduce the amount of instruction needed in Tiers 2 or 3.
Ultimately, I want you to feel empowered by the information you will learn here. I want you to feel that each practice and strategy makes you a better educator and helps you make a difference in students’ lives. I want you to realize that you are the puzzle piece that has the instruction needed right now for your students with disabilities. I want you to understand the urgency of this particular minute in your students’ lives and give them your very best. And then I want you to feel proud when you watch your students graduate from high school and succeed in life, knowing that you played an important part in their success.
And so, here we go!
CHAPTER 1
Understanding the Tiered Instructional Framework
Every student deserves a great teacher, not by chance but by design.
—DOUGLAS FISHER
What brought you to a career in education? Was it your heritage? Did you come from a family of educators? Did a teacher make a significant difference in your life, and you wanted to do the same for others? Or were you one of those children who “played school” whenever you got the chance?
None of these are my story. I never wanted to teach. I began college as a nursing major, reasoning that I wanted to help people and make a difference in the world. After two years of nursing school, I realized I didn’t like hospitals and was not especially talented at taking care of people. I changed my major to something I loved (writing and literature) and graduated with a bachelor of arts in English and an apprenticeship in photography. I got a job that was just a job, not a career. It was not a job that helped people or made a difference in the world. It was just a job.
About six months after graduation, my husband, who was a middle school teacher, introduced me to the special education teacher at his school, and she invited me to observe her classroom. I think it was about ten minutes into the observation that I realized I was meant to teach students with learning disabilities. It was my calling. I began teaching at a nearby elementary school the following year. You’ll hear a little about my early years in the classroom as you read through this book. Some of what you’ll read isn’t pretty. I knew nothing about teaching
except what I had gleaned from my years as a student, but I was willing to work hard and learn all I could.
I immediately fell in love with teaching, poured my all into advanced degrees, and learned everything I could to become a good teacher. I don’t remember when I fully understood the purpose of special education services. Experiences in my early years of teaching convinced me that students with disabilities “didn’t belong” in regular grade-level classrooms. My job was to bring those students into a safe environment where they would be loved and protected from embarrassment and ridicule. If I succeeded in doing that and, along the way, taught them minimal reading and mathematics skills, I was considered a successful teacher. My students weren’t low functioning. They all had either specific learning disabilities or mild intellectual disabilities. However, the expectation held by the community was that these students would probably not graduate from high school.
I moved to a new school and district in my fifth year of teaching. I also moved from elementary to middle school. (What was I thinking?) Watching these older students about to begin high school was sobering for me. Many still couldn’t read. I found a renewed urgency in teaching my students. But my students had lost all excitement for learning. They were most often labeled “unmotivated.” I did everything I could to pull those students along. I tried so hard to help them gain multiple years of growth in reading and mathematics. During that year, I became very frustrated.
It was the following year that my life changed forever. My special education coordinator asked if I would pilot co-teaching in my school that year. I was excited and terrified. The eighth-grade general education teacher, Ann McRay, attended the week-long training in the summer with me. I began the year working in three English language arts classrooms, one in each grade level. Ann and I spent that year learning together how to co-teach. We did our best. I saw the eighth-grade boys with learning disabilities stand a little taller and try a little harder. At the end of that year, they all had increased their reading level. The largest gain was almost three years.
It became clear through this experience that grade-level quality instruction was essential for students to achieve. Although prior to that year my administrators and peers regarded me as a good teacher, I didn’t have the expertise to teach my students everything they needed to know.
My professional life changed again around 2004 when I stumbled on response to intervention (RTI). I heavily researched the process and saw RTI’s potential to
impact student learning. While you may be familiar with the RTI process, you may not have seen much application of its use with students with disabilities. In early research and in practice throughout the United States and other countries, students with disabilities were granted limited to no access to the instruction in Tiers 1 and 2, specifically. In fact, RTI was a way to show that students who didn’t respond to Tier 1 and 2 instruction were in need of evaluation for special education. Once they qualified for services, these students rarely received intervention in Tier 2 and sometimes were removed, partially or completely, from Tier 1. In this chapter, I want to change that perception and show the process as critical for our students with special needs.
RTI provides a three-tiered approach to address student learning deficits through increasingly intensive instruction and assessment. In the RTI model, all students have access to Tier 1 quality instruction, specifically a guaranteed and viable curriculum. A guaranteed curriculum is one that we as a school promise all students will be taught during the school year. It is the standards identified as critical for a student to learn during that year. A viable curriculum is one that is doable. We cannot guarantee that every student will learn every standard in our grade-level curriculum. Instead, we as professional educators have identified those critical standards that all students must master. We then use effective instruction and assessment to teach students to proficiency in those selected standards.
Students who do not meet grade-level standards through Tier 1 instruction are given access to Tier 2 interventions, which are systematic and targeted to address content deficits, or, more specifically, essential standards not mastered with Tier 1 instruction alone. In RTI’s earliest days of implementation, Tier 2 interventions focused solely on reading instruction. However, the process later expanded to all content areas as well as behavior (Shores & Chester, 2009). Tier 3 intensive reinforcement is for students who have significant deficits in foundational skills needed to access and master grade-level curriculum. These foundational skills may include reading, writing, number sense, English language, social and academic behaviors, and health and home (Mattos et al., 2025).
The traditional RTI pyramid shows Tier 1 as the base of core instruction for all students with Tiers 2 and 3 becoming increasingly intensive in instruction and assessment for students who were not successful in previous tiers. In its implementation, RTI quickly became synonymous with a pathway to special education. In fact, some states and districts placed special education in Tier 3, completely outside the pyramid, or even in a fourth tier.
In their book Taking Action, Mike Mattos and his colleagues (2025) chose to invert the typical RTI pyramid to focus on the student rather than special education. They portray the process as “an ongoing process to dig deeper into students’ individual needs” (Mattos et al., 2025, p. 19). Figure 1.1 illustrates the inverted three-tiered pyramid.
Universal Screening and Diagnostic Assessments
Certain Access to Tier 2
Tier 1: Access to essential grade-level standards for all students
Tier 2: Additional time and support to learn essential grade-level behavior and academic standards
Certain Access to Tier 3 Intervention Team Responsibilities
Tier 3: Intensive reinforcement in universal skills
Source: Adapted from Mattos et al., 2025.
FIGURE 1.1: Pyramid of interventions.
Preventions Intensive Reinforcements Interventions and Extensions
Our Mission To ensure that all students learn at grade level or higher
Teachers provide solid core instruction on the identified essential standards in Tier 1. Teacher teams work collaboratively to assess and analyze assessment results to determine which students have and have not achieved proficiency on the standards. These teacher teams may be comprised of grade-level teachers (for example, all third-grade teachers, which is common in elementary schools), subject-alike teachers (for example, all English composition teachers in a grade, which is common in middle and high schools), or vertical teams (all mathematics teachers across grade levels). Special education teachers are highly effective members of any of these types of teams, as we will discuss further in later sections of this chapter. These types of teams will be the focus of my discussion. Groupings of singletons, those teachers who are the only person in their school teaching their content, can also be successful teams. For further information about effective collaboration for singletons, I suggest you check out How to Develop PLCs for Singletons and Small Schools by Aaron Hansen (2015).
Tiered Instructional Framework
Instruction based on a tiered instructional framework, indicative of MTSS or RTI, is proven to be highly effective in raising the achievement of all students (Fuchs & Fuchs, 2007; Corwin Visible Learning Plus, 2023). However, as I stated earlier, the process is often not applied to students with disabilities. Various reasons exist, ranging from disbelief that students are capable of mastering standards, scheduling difficulties, or special education teachers not being included in professional learning. In these cases, schools lose a golden opportunity to increase learning for what may be 10 to 20 percent of their student population. Educators should never assume students with disabilities will always need intervention or reinforcement. However, it is critical that students receive this additional instruction when they need it.
The tiered framework may be viewed in a multitude of ways. For our purpose, we view the framework as it was illustrated in figure 1.1
• Tier 1: Prevention and core instruction—Access for all students to a guaranteed and viable curriculum
• Tier 2: Intervention—Access to targeted intervention and instruction for students who fail to master grade-level standards in Tier 1
• Tier 3: Reinforcement—Access to targeted reinforcement for students with significant deficits in universal skills such as reading, writing, number sense, and language
This framework isn’t meant to be a paperwork process or a set of rigid steps to get students quickly to a special education evaluation. It also isn’t meant to label students (such as “Tier 2 kids”). And it should never be a framework where one tier of instruction replaces another.
Instead, a tiered instructional framework is a way of organizing data and information to give all students access to core instruction and the supports they need to master grade-level standards. It should be fluid; students should move in and out of tiers as their learning strengths and deficits dictate. It should be value-added; Tier 2 is provided in addition to Tier 1, and Tier 3 comes in addition to Tier 2 as required for the student and Tier 1. It is only when the framework is viewed from this lens that we see significant gains in student learning.
As student needs become more intensive, so do the interventions. All students must have access to Tier 1 core instruction. When mastery is not obtained with Tier 1 instruction, their learning deficits are addressed with Tier 2 interventions. If those same students have deficits in critical universal skills mentioned earlier, they will also need Tier 3 intensive reinforcement.
Sometimes, students with disabilities need instruction in all three tiers simultaneously. In addition, federal and state law and regulations require that they have goals based on their specific needs written into their IEP that must also be addressed. How? That’s a question with which many schools struggle continuously because it seems there aren’t enough hours in the day to provide all the instruction needed for students with disabilities.
In my experience working with schools throughout the United States and Canada, I have often found that students with disabilities may be denied access to one, two, or all three support tiers. What is the outcome? If a student is removed from Tier 1 core instruction to receive special education services, they may have no access to grade-level standards, which almost guarantees the gap between the student’s achievement and their peers will grow larger. With each passing year, the student falls further behind. Therefore, mastery of grade-level standards becomes impossible. While special education teachers may be able to teach some grade-level standards to their students in a pullout setting, the likelihood of the students mastering essential standards in all content areas is low.
Perhaps the student with a disability receives Tier 1 instruction but is pulled for special education and related services during Tier 2 intervention time. This student now has access to the curriculum, but if they don’t master the standards with Tier 1 instruction alone, they will not have another opportunity.
Perhaps the student has equal access to Tier 1 instruction and Tier 2 intervention but is pulled for special education and related services during Tier 3 reinforcement. While this may prove to be effective if the student’s IEP provides a plan for teaching all the foundational skill deficits the student has, I often find that students miss critical instruction in this situation.
To illustrate my point, let me describe a common scenario that occurs in schools across the United States. Jack is a second-grade student who is struggling in reading and mathematics. He did not meet the spring benchmark on his first-grade reading assessment and is now falling behind in mathematics. His school uses a multitiered system of supports to address learning needs for all students. Jack’s teacher provides excellent Tier 1 instruction and uses formative and summative assessments
to determine which students do not master each standard and need Tier 2 intervention. The school uses all available resources to provide excellent intervention for these students. After Tier 2 intervention, 90 percent of second-grade students master the essential standards. Unfortunately, Jack continues to struggle and does not master three of the five essential standards. In addition, based on benchmark reading assessment results, Jack begins receiving Tier 3 intensive reinforcement for basic reading skills. Figure 1.2 illustrates the various levels of instruction Jack is receiving.
Tier 1 core instruction in reading (1 .5 hours) and mathematics (1 hour)
Tier 2 intervention in reading and mathematics provided 20 minutes daily in each subject
Tier 3 intensive reinforcement in foundational reading skills provided 45 minutes daily
FIGURE 1.2: Multitiered instruction provided to Jack.
After extended time with each of these levels of support, it is determined there is evidence that Jack may have a disability that has kept him from making sufficient progress in the curriculum.
Jack is evaluated, and it is determined he has a specific learning disability. The IEP team then develops an IEP for Jack. The IEP team, composed of Jack’s general education teacher, a special education teacher, a local education agency representative, and others who have relevant information, including Jack’s parents, determine Jack’s specific needs based on all relevant information. Goals are developed based on deficits in reading decoding and fluency as well as mathematics number
sense and computation. The team determines that Jack will receive special education services in a small-group setting for reading and in a co-taught setting for mathematics. He is pulled from some or all of Tier 1 reading instruction, and the special education teacher is now responsible for both Tier 1 and Tier 2 intervention for reading. He is removed from schoolwide Tier 3 reinforcement because his IEP addresses his foundational skill deficits. Figure 1.3 shows the instruction Jack receives after his IEP services are initiated.
Before special education placement
Tier 1 core instruction is provided in reading (1 5 hours) and mathematics (1 hour)
Tier 2 intervention in reading and mathematics is provided for 20 minutes daily in each subject .
Tier 3 intensive reinforcement in foundational reading skills is provided for 45 minutes daily
After special education placement
Tiers 1 and 2 are taught by a special education teacher in a multi-level classroom (1 5 hours reading and 1 hour mathematics)
Due to the special education teacher’s schedule limitations, she must pull Jack for small-group services during the grade 2 allotted time for Tier 3 Therefore, Jack will not have access to Tier 3 reinforcement Reinforcements for foundational skill deficits are provided through his special education services
FIGURE 1.3: Jack’s access to Tiers 1–3 before and after special education placement.
Can you see what has happened here (figure 1.3)? Jack actually receives less instruction after he qualifies for special education services than he did before. In my experience, this problem is a common occurrence. Students receive prevention (core instruction), intervention, and reinforcement prior to their evaluation. If they qualify for special education services, it is assumed that those services will take care of all their needs. Often, they do not.
In some ways, this reflects common attitudes toward and misplaced assumptions about students with disabilities. If the purpose of special education services is to address the disability and get students to the point where they master standards and graduate college and career ready, they should receive all services the school has available. If, however, the culture of the school sees special education as a place to protect students from struggles and give them relief from high academic demands, then it really is of no consequence if we remove them from Tiers 1, 2, or 3.
The truth is that most schools struggle to fit in everything that students need. Schools must comply with requirements ranging from maximum class size to the number of instructional minutes required during the day. Schedules may be flexible in some areas, but completely inflexible when it comes to lunch and buses. Teachers don’t just teach; they have bus duty, car ride duty, cafeteria duty, recess duty, hallway duty, and more. I’m sure I’m missing some. Teacher contracts may determine how many minutes the teacher is instructing versus having duties. There are parent meetings, faculty meetings, IEP meetings, 504 meetings, and on and on. Running a school is insanely hard. Teaching is insanely hard. And yet, we as educators have the responsibility to provide the foundation that will determine many students’ life trajectory. Students who are not proficient readers by the end of third grade are more likely to struggle throughout their school career and drop out of high school (Education Advisory Board, 2019). What we do is that important.
Conclusion
As we progress through this book, I will share with you a large amount of information to improve learning outcomes for students with disabilities in Tiers 1, 2, and 3. As I stated in the introduction, this is not a book to read through quickly. Read a chapter or so, implement some concepts in your classroom, evaluate how things went, reflect on what needs to be changed, and then try again. Get some feedback from your colleagues, instructional coaches, and administrators. Video your instruction and watch it objectively. Engage in open and honest reflection on your current practices. Identify areas of growth for yourself and take steps toward fulfilling goals.
In his book Visible Learning, Hattie (2009) states that effective teachers work in a “deliberate and visible” manner (p. 23). He explains the following:
When these professionals see learning occurring or not occurring, they intervene in calculated and meaningful ways to alter the direction of learning to attain various shared, specific, and challenging goals. They provide students with multiple opportunities and alternatives for developing learning strategies…leading to students building conceptual understanding of this learning which the students and teachers then use in future learning. (Hattie, 2009, p. 23)
You know what? He was talking about you!
Every Learner
Proven Strategies to Teach Students With Disabilities in Tiers 1–3
Students with disabilities are vulnerable to not receiving the necessary support to learn the same standards as their peers. Therefore, special education teachers serve an important role in these students’ lives, one that often requires exploring, inventing, and adapting teaching methods to meet their students’ needs. In Reaching Every Learner: Proven Strategies to Teach Students With Disabilities in Tiers 1–3, Cara Shores presents strategies for establishing baselines, tracking progress, and setting meaningful goals. With tools and examples, this guide helps K–12 educators structure impactful lessons to foster significant growth so every learner can reach their full potential. Readers will:
• Increase students’ learning progress through instruction, intervention, and remediation
• Explore models and methods of instruction that address a variety of student needs
• Better collect data on and assess students’ comprehension to measure their progress
• Incorporate individualized education programs to pursue unique learning goals
• Identify more effective ways to help students improve in areas of difficulty
“I can think of no task more important in the education profession than properly educating a student with disabilities. Cara Shores has provided a blueprint for excellence in instruction at the classroom level.”
—Anthony Muhammad Educational Consultant and Author
“ReachingEveryLearner is the book every educator needs right now. It’s a road map for designing inclusive, high-impact instruction within a tiered system.”
—Tim Solley Educational Consultant
“ReachingEveryLearner is a must-read resource containing all the protocols and processes for educators of all grade levels implementing tiered instruction and supports.”
—Julie A. Taylor Educational Consultant and Author