Systematic Instruction for Students with Moderate and Severe Disabilities

To ensure the best outcomes for students with moderate and severe disabilities, K—12 educators need to understand what constitutes good instructional practices and how to apply them in any classroom, with any curriculum. All the how-to guidance they need is in this accessible text on systematic instruction, a highly effective teaching approach rooted in applied behavior analysis.

Developed by a seasoned educator who has trained thousands of teachers, this one-of-a-kind textbook fully prepares teachers to use systematic instruction procedures to link core content with critical life skills. Future educators will discover evidence-based methods that help them

1. collect accurate screening and baseline data before instruction
2. effectively use specific systematic instruction procedures
3. make instruction more efficient by weaving nontargeted information into lessons
4. improve students' communication skills through naturalistic language strategies
5. expertly organize and deliver small-group systematic instruction
6. enhance instruction with assistive technology
7. plan successful instructional schedules for students across settings and teachers
8. maximize instruction time by involving peers, paraprofessionals, and service delivery personnel
9. help students maintain new skills and generalize them to other settings

An ideal textbook for a wide range of teacher preparation courses, this student-friendly book includes sample lesson plans, chapter objectives, reflection questions, and a glossary. And the practical materials—including 20 blank data collection sheets and quick step-by-step charts of instruction procedures—make this an invaluable resource for in-practice educators.

A comprehensive guide to the why and how of systematic instruction, this is the accessible text teachers need to succeed in inclusive classrooms and improve outcomes for students with moderate and severe disabilities.

About The Author:

Belva C. Collins, Ed.D. is Professor and Chair of the Department of Special Education and Rehabilitation Counseling at the University of Kentucky, where she serves on the program faculty in the Moderate and Severe Disabilities Program. Dr. Collins began her career as a teacher of students with intellectual disabilities in rural Southwestern Virginia before coming to the University of Kentucky to work as a research assistant on several federally funded grants to validate the use of response prompting strategies in special education. She has continued this line of research throughout her career in higher education and has been successful in guiding the applied research of her students in investigating variations of systematic instruction in classroom and community settings. This work provides the foundation for this text. In addition to disseminating her own scholarly writing, Dr. Collins serves as the executive editor of Rural Special Education Quarterly, the primary publication of the American Council on Rural Special Educatio