Practitioner-based strategies: Content enhancement routines

Given the diverse needs that practitioners are expected to meet in a small group or classroom environment, they need to become very effective with their instructional planning. Effective planning should involve three components:

• Content (the critical information and skills that need to be covered)
• Process (how it will be presented)
• Integration (how the information provides meaning for each individual)

Practitioners within the LBS programs often struggle with how they can plan for the individualization of instruction for learners with disabilities in the context of small group and classroom environments. Content enhancement routines are ways of instructing an academically diverse group of learners. The following four conditions must prevail for content enhancement routines to be successful:

1. Both group and individual needs are valued and met.
2. The integrity of the material that is to be covered is maintained, not simplified or watered down.
3. Critical features of the content are selected and transformed in a way that promotes student learning (i.e. offer various ways to learn and practice the skills and material, illustrate relevancy and provide real-life examples).
4. Instruction is carried out in a partnership with learners.⁷