How to Reach the Hard to Teach

For every teacher it's different, but you know who they are for you—the students who are "hard to teach." Maybe they're reading far below grade level. Maybe they're English learners. Maybe they have diagnosed learning disabilities or behavioral issues. Maybe they're underachieving for reasons that are unknown. They have been overlooked or underserved or frustrated, and they're not learning as they should. Until now. Until you.

How to Reach the Hard to Teach presents a thoughtful and practical approach to achieving breakthrough success with linguistically and culturally diverse students who struggle in school. Combining elements of the SIOP® Model and the FIT Teaching® approach, authors Jana Echevarría, Nancy Frey, and Douglas Fisher take stock of what we know about excellent instruction and distill it into five guiding principles:

1. Set high expectations.
2. Provide access to the core curriculum.
3. Use assessment to inform instruction.
4. Attend to language development—both English and academic.
5. Create a supportive classroom climate.

You'll learn specific practices associated with each principle and see how real-life teachers are employing these practices in their classrooms so that all students have the opportunity to learn and receive optimal support for that learning.

Every teacher has had the experience of seeing a "hard to teach" student in a new light and realizing all he or she might achieve. This book is about shining that light of possibility on the students who challenge us most, interrogating our beliefs, and taking action to ensure they receive the best instruction we have to offer.