When Special Education Staffing Falls Short, Students Still Need to Make Progress

A third-grade student we’ll call Grace began virtual specially designed instruction reading in the low 20s words per minute.

She had an IEP goal of 50 words correctly per minute with 90% accuracy. But reading wasn’t her only challenge. After experiencing bullying in her previous school setting, her confidence had taken a hit, too. She was hesitant to engage and afraid to make mistakes.

Her teacher started by figuring out exactly where Grace was struggling. Then she built instruction around those needs, connected lessons to Grace’s interests, monitored her progress, and adjusted instruction as she went.

About 70 sessions later, Grace was reading more than 135 words per minute—exceeding grade-level expectations. Just as importantly, she had become a student who showed up ready to participate, take risks, and learn.

Grace’s story gets at something we hear from district leaders all the time: How do we make sure students receive the individualized instruction they need when staffing makes that increasingly difficult?

The Special Education Staffing Challenge Is Also an Instructional Challenge

Districts across the country are navigating special education vacancies, extremely large caseloads, compensatory services owed to students, and teachers trying to fit more services into schedules that are already full.

In those circumstances, the immediate question is often: How do we cover the service?

But there is another question that matters just as much:

How do we make sure the instruction students receive is actually designed to help them make progress?

That distinction is at the heart of specially designed instruction.

SDI isn't simply additional academic support, tutoring, or an accommodation. It is individualized instruction designed around a student's disability-related needs and IEP goals. And importantly, it isn't defined by where that instruction happens.

So, Can Specially Designed Instruction Be Delivered Virtually?

Yes—but simply putting a student and teacher on a video call isn't enough.

High-quality virtual SDI should hold itself to the same standard as in-person instruction: Is it individualized? Is it aligned to the student's IEP goals? Is the student engaged? Is instruction changing in response to progress? And, ultimately, is the student growing?

Virtual delivery can also create opportunities for highly individualized instruction. Depending on the student, teachers can work one-to-one or in very small groups, adjust pacing in real time, provide immediate feedback, incorporate interactive tools, and personalize instruction around how a student learns best.

Grace is one example of what that can look like.

Her progress didn't happen simply because her instruction was virtual. It happened because her instruction was specially designed for her.

Engagement Can Tell Us Something Before the Data Do

One of the biggest lessons from our work in virtual SDI is that academic growth isn't always the first change we see.

Sometimes, the first change is a student who is eager to answer a question.

Or attempts a task without being prompted.

Or asks to try again.

Or simply starts believing they can do it.

Those behaviors matter because engagement can be a leading indicator of academic growth. Students first need meaningful access to instruction before measurable academic gains can follow.

For Grace, increased engagement, participation, and confidence eventually translated into measurable gains in reading fluency.

And that's ultimately what districts should be looking for—not whether a service was simply delivered, but whether instruction is creating meaningful progress for the student.

A Framework for High-Impact Virtual SDI

Our new white paper, Virtual Specially Designed Instruction, takes a deeper look at what makes that possible.

Amber Izrael, EdD, SDI Clinical Manager, and A. Jordan Wright, PhD, ABPA, ABPP, Chief Clinical Officer, introduce Parallel's High Impact Virtual SDI Framework, built around three pillars: alignment between IEP goals and instructional design, intentionally engineered engagement, and instructional responsiveness.

The full paper explores the research behind the framework, different virtual SDI models, strategies for engaging students, approaches to measuring outcomes, lessons learned from implementation, and Grace's full story.

Because when staffing is difficult and caseloads are high, getting a provider in front of a student is important. But what happens once they're there matters even more.

Download Virtual Specially Designed Instruction to explore the full framework and what high-impact virtual SDI can look like in practice.

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