Specially Designed Instruction: Operationalizing the Delivery of Special Education Services

Since the introduction of response-to-intervention as a process for identifying specific learning disabilities and the widespread adoption of multi-tiered systems of support as a framework for instructional delivery, the role of the special educator has become blurred. Specifically, special educators have struggled to identify their role across tiers of instruction. Often working in the direction of general educators, moving from less intensive to more intensive instructional supports, special educators can inadvertently fail to address instructional and behavioral needs indicated by a student’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance. The purpose of this article is to operationalize the construct of specially designed instruction, which begins rather than ends with the identification of specialized intervention supports, and provide a framework for planning to ensure the delivery of meaningful instruction for students with learning disabilities across settings and circumstances.