United States Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona commented on the Nation’s Report Card by saying, “this is an urgent call to action.  We must raise the bar in education!.” He continued, “And it means including and supporting students with disabilities.” My fellow special educators, we must decide what kind of educator we want to be. Sitting in the classroom twiddling your thumbs waiting for the general education teacher to need you for some menial task is not your purpose in an inclusion classroom setting. You, the special education teacher are responsible for designing and implementing Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) in collaboration with the general education classroom teacher. Identifying, planning and effectively implementing SDI is your responsibility and is imperative for students to succeed in accessing the general education curriculum. 

According to IDEA Section 300.39 (b), “Specially designed instruction means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible child under this part, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to address the unique needs of the child resulting from the child’s disability and to ensure access of the child to the general curriculum so the child can meet the educational standards that apply to all children.” Specially Designed Instruction is what makes special education, “special.” The first word of the individual education plan also known as the IEP is “INDIVIDUAL”, yet many do not believe this is written into the law just like Free and Appropriate Education (FAPE) and Least restrictive Environment (LRE). There are very few special education teachers who are consistently providing SDI consistently and with fidelity to their students.  The number one reason for this is that it is not taught in most preservice education programs including universities. How can we even begin to close the achievement gap if our students are not getting the instruction they need and are entitled to under the law?

Since 1998, only 19% of students with disabilities are proficient readers, according to the National Reading Panel (NRP). Nearly 25 years, with no progress whatsoever! Why does it feel like I am the only person pissed off about this? 

Similar to Specially Designed Instruction (SDI) is Differentiated Instruction which is teacher adaptations of the content, process, environment or the production of learning content to meet the needs of diverse learners in their class. Differentiated instruction is often used in place of SDI and is usually a justification for why students with disabilities are not receiving individualized instruction. They will say, “ well SDI is embedded into my lesson.” Think about it, if all a student with disabilities needed was your lesson and I’m sure it is a great lesson, then why would they even need special education? The premise behind SDI is providing instruction in addition to what the general education teacher is providing to all students in the classroom. If a student broke his leg, you would make sure they leave early with another student so they don’t have to walk in the crowded hallway on crutches right?” In that case you would give everyone in the classroom a pair of crutches and allow them to leave early too? Of course not! It is the same concept. For students with disabilities, SDI is their crutch; they need them to make progress. I agree with Marilyn Friend, a world renowned expert on co-teaching and inclusion practices who said, “differentiation is not SDI, rather it is simply good teaching.” Maybe you are hearing this term for the first time and are wondering what SDI is? Let us first establish what SDI is NOT:

• Instruction in a group setting 

• Independent work without any support

• Prompting or coaching during a lesson

• Related Services

• Supplementary Aids and Services

• Remediation

• The same as general education instruction

• A replacement for core instruction 

• What what the student does

• A restatement of the standards being taught to 

• A remediation program used for everyone

• A model or schedule

• An excuse for setting low expectations or 

• teaching below grade level

• Providing accommodations or modifications only

• differentiated instruction

Conversely, SDI is support for students with disabilities designed to provide access to the general education curriculum while removing obstacles that would hinder the student making adequate progress due to their disability. The support is implemented throughout the learning process according to their IEP.  Specially Designed Instruction is also:

• Supplemental instruction

• A service

• Provided by the teacher (what the teacher does, not the student)

• Specific skills taught so the student can access and make progress in the general curriculum 

• Specific instruction written into a student’s IEP to make progress toward annual goals

• Specific to meet the child’s unique needs

• Designed to close the academic performance gap 

• Teach students specific skills

If you are a resource teacher, inclusion teacher or co-teacher in an inclusion classroom setting, it is important that you figure out what your students need from you to meet their individual learning needs and give it to them! I totally understand you didn’t learn these things in college. I went back to school and earned two additional advanced degrees in education and guess what, I still did not learn what was required to be an effective educator of students with disabilities. The best thing to come out of my 100K worth of higher education was the unlimited access to the university libraries which is where all the resources teachers need are hiding. Tons of research by leaders in the field of special education were accessible only  to university personnel and researchers, not the K-12 teachers that need them. I have studied SDI, inclusion and co-teaching for many years simply because I wanted to be a bad-ass special education teacher and the only way to be a bad-ass is to know what you are doing, and learned my specific role, responsibility, and instructional behavior in the inclusion classroom and I am quite the badass! I took my research findings and created tools that I know will help you become a bad-ass too. The landmark Supreme court decision in the Endrew F. case requires more from all educational stakeholders in teaching students with disabilities. Stay ready, so you don’t have to get ready. click here to receive my eBook for new special education teachers ENJOY!