Evidence-based Practices for Students with Severe Disabilities

What is this resource?This document identifies research-based instructional strategies and supports for working with students with severe disabilities. Those practices are integrated into a rubric-like tool known as an “innovation configuration (IC) matrix” (located in Appendix A), which defines levels of implementation based on each practice's critical features

Why is it valuable?Meaningfully inclusive practices require that teachers and other school personnel work to develop their individual and collective capacity to effectively support students with severe disabilities. This IC matrix consolidates research-based practices into a single tool that can be used to guide improvement, explicitly defining what different levels of implementation look like for different practices. In doing so, the IC matrix distills practices down to their essential features while still allowing the flexibility needed by teachers and school communities to make practices work within their unique contexts.