Six Shifts to Improve Special Education and Other Interventions offers a set of bold, new ideas for dramatically raising the achievement of students with mild to moderate disabilities and students experiencing serious academic, social and emotional, and behavioral difficulties. Despite much effort and caring on the part of educators, a new approach to supporting struggling students is critically needed so they can master grade-level skills and complete college, argues author Nathan Levenson. Combining research with evidence from his own implementation work in more than a hundred districts, Levenson makes the case for a wholesale rethinking of how interventions are delivered summarized by six essential “shifts.” Designed to be practical and draw on the talents of existing staff, Levenson’s shifts are paired with concrete advice and lessons learned from the field to improve special education and general education interventions such as Response to Intervention and Multi-Tiered Student Supports. Six Shifts to Improve Special Education and Other Interventions serves as both a call to action and a critical guide for administrators looking for more effective, affordable ways to close the achievement gap. Provided by publisher.

Includes index.

A personal journey to a better place: despite the hard work of so many, students who struggle deserve better outcomes in life -- Shift #1 - from special education to general education: special educators can't do it alone; more is needed from general education, too -- Shift #2 - from more adults to more time: struggling students need more instructional time to learn, yet they often get less -- Shift #3 - from generalists to specialists: content-strong teachers with subject-matter expertise are critical to student success -- Shift #4 - from deterrence to prevention to better address social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) needs: preventing outbursts and problematic behavior is better than responding after the fact -- Improving social, emotional, and behavioral implementation - getting good at doing good: many schools are struggling to implement SEB well; best practices and lessons learned can help -- Shift #5 - from one good schedule to many great schedules: it may not be obvious, but schedules can make or break a struggling student's learning -- Shift #6 - from managing compliance to managing practice, too: as the world and teaching practices shift, so must the role of management and district organizational structures -- Uniting parents, educators, and policy makers to shift special education into the new era: we can do much better for students who struggle, but it will take a collective effort.