Responding to Student Needs With Instructional Strategies

A number of established and best practices in education emulate the principles of inclusive education.  Educators today are better equipped to facilitate meaningful and inclusive education for students at risk.  However, a holistic and comprehensive school plan is an integral component of a school wide effort to provide all students with the education they are entitled to receive.  We must continue to enhance and expand the continuum of options available to our students.  Principles of this systematic plan include staff that is trained in successful instructional strategies, committed to teaching and progress, reflective on student performance, and responsive to the needs of all students.

In looking at instructional strategies, a comprehensive review of the lesson framework and the selection of strategies and practices contained is the first step. We can best meet the needs of our students by designing a classroom environment that provides opportunity for all. Do we design lessons that provide individuals the opportunity to connect prior learning, assess their understanding of content, collaborate with peers, ask questions and explore new learning?

When designing instruction to meet the varying needs of our students the instructional strategies we select are the first step to level the playing field. My colleague and I have designed an interactive pyramid of intervention to provide a toolbox for teachers. This toolbox aides in lesson design, instructional strategies and targeted interventions.  An exploration of the interactive Lesson Framework provides teachers with a toolbox of instructional strategies for each area of the framework.