To increase participants’ knowledge of instructional practices in exceptional student education as outlined in the following Exceptional Student Educator Competencies revised in 2009.

  1. Analyze assessment information to identify a student's educational needs and instructional levels in order to select appropriate specialized instructional techniques, strategies, and materials.
  2. Identify characteristics of reliable sources of scientifically based research related to instructional practices.
  3. Identify instructional strategies for acquisition, generalization, and maintenance of skills (e.g., functional and applied academic skills, workplace and career skills, independent living skills) across school, home, work, and community settings.
  4. Select relevant general education and alternate standards and curricula appropriate for a student's age, instructional needs, and functional performance across settings.
  5. Identify methods for differentiating, accommodating, and modifying assessment, instruction, and materials in order to meet individual student needs (e.g., related to age, gender, cultural and linguistic background, preferred communication mode).
  6. Identify effective methods of communication, consultation, and collaboration with students, families, parents, guardians, administrators, general education teachers, paraprofessionals, and other professionals, including students, families, and team members from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, as equal members of the educational team.
  7. Identify effective classroom management and flexible grouping strategies for specific instructional activities.
  8. Identify effective instructional methods (e.g., explicit and systematic instruction, scaffolding, modeling) for integrating reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, researching, and presenting across the curricula.
  9. Identify instructional strategies that help students comprehend and apply knowledge of informational text structure (e.g., cause and effect, chronological order, compare and contrast) and text features (e.g., index, glossary, subheading).
  10. Identify criteria for selecting and evaluating both print and nonprint media (e.g., Internet, software, trade books, textbooks, DVDs, videos) for instructional use to match student needs and interests.
  11. Identify effective instructional methods and supports (e.g., direct instruction, visual supports, manipulatives) for teaching mathematics and integrating mathematics across the curricula.