Effective Instruction An Inconspicuous Strategy for Dropout Prevention

Although researchers have clearly connected drop-ping out of school to prolonged low achievement, to date, effec-tive teaching practices are largely absent from the milieu of interventions and programs that are employed by schools to address dropout prevention. As such, effective instructional design and delivery as a focus for keeping students with disabilities in school appears to be an inconspicuous strategy for dropout pre-vention. We provide an overview of dropout prevention efforts by researchers and federal, state, and local educators; a rationale for connecting effective teaching principles to the challenge of grad-uating students with disabilities; and a brief overview of 10 effec-tive teaching principles and how they relate to academic success that leads to school completion. Practical strategies that teachers can use to make their instruction more effective are also included. BETWEEN 1995–1996 AND 1999–2000, THE PERCENT