High-Leverage Practices (HLPs) in Special Education: Guide #1 - Collaboration

In partnership with the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accountability and Reform (CEEDAR), the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) has developed a set of High Leverage Practices (HLPs) for special educators and teacher candidates. HLPs provide those involved in special education teacher preparation and professional development with a set of practices that were identified through consensus among special educators. These HLPs may be used to design a cohesive set of practice-based opportunities to support teacher candidates and practicing teachers in learning to put this know-how to use on behalf of the complex learners they teach.

The HLPs are organized around four aspects of practice:

• Collaboration
• Assessment
• Social/emotional/behavioral
• Instruction

From these four aspects of practice, there are 22 practices intended to address the most critical practices that every K–12 special education teacher should master and be able to demonstrate. The selected practices are used frequently in classrooms and have been shown to improve student outcomes if successfully implemented. This guide examines High Leverage Practices pertaining to Collaboration.  

Effective special education teachers collaborate with a wide range of professionals, families and caregivers to assure that educational programs and related services are effectively designed and implemented to meet the needs of each student with a disability. Collaboration allows for varied expertise and perspectives about a student to be shared among those responsible for the student’s learning and well-being. This collective expertise provides collaborators with a more comprehensive understanding of each student’s needs, which can be used to more effectively plan and implement instruction and services.

The three HLPs related to Collaboration are:

• HLP 1: Collaborate with professionals to increase student success.
• HLP 2: Organize and facilitate effective meetings with professionals and families.
• HLP 3: Collaborate with families to support student learning and secure needed services.