Mack, S., 2020. NPR Choice Page. [online] Npr.org. Available at: https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2014/04/08/300587823/putting-student-data-to-the-test-to-identify-struggling-kids [Accessed 8 August 2020].

Cox, J., 2020. How To Keep Struggling Students Working. [online] ThoughtCo. Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/strategies-to-keep-struggling-students-working-4088407 [Accessed 8 August 2020].

Cox, J., 2016. 10 Teaching Strategies To Keep Struggling Students Working - Teachhub. [online] TeachHUB. Available at: https://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies/2016/09/10-teaching-strategies-to-keep-struggling-students-working/ [Accessed 8 August 2020].

Osewalt, G., 2020. 5 Common Techniques For Helping Struggling Students. [online] Understood.org. Available at: https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/instructional-strategies/5-common-techniques-for-helping-struggling-students [Accessed 8 August 2020].

Schimidt, A., 2020. Understanding The Mindset Of A Struggling Student. [online] Where Learning Clicks. Available at: https://blog.edgenuity.com/understanding-the-mindset-of-a-struggling-student/ [Accessed 8 August 2020].

K12.wa.us. 2020. How Special Education Works | OSPI. [online] Available at: https://www.k12.wa.us/student-success/special-education/special-education-families-ospi/how-special-education-works [Accessed 8 August 2020].

Teach Students Perseverance;
Do Not Give Your Students the Answer;
Give Children Time to Think;
Do Not Take "I Don't Know" for an Answer;
Give Students a "Cheat Sheet";
Teach Time Management skills;
Be Encouraging;
Teach Students to Move On;
Promote Cognitive Thinking;
Teach Students to Slow Down;
(Cox, 2020)

Fight the Urge to Tell Students the Answer;
Allow Student to Explain Their Answers;
Write Down All Directions;
Take it One Task at a Time;
Yield the Chronic Hand Raisers;
(Cox, 2020)

1. Differentiated Instruction
   With this approach, teachers change and switch around what students need to learn, how they’ll learn it, and how to get the material across to them. When a student struggles in one area, the teacher creates a plan that includes extra practice, step-by-step directions, and special homework.

2. Scaffolding
   This is a method that breaks learning into chunks. The chunks follow a logical order and move toward a clear goal. Teachers form a bridge between what students already know and what they cannot do on their own. These bridges are referred to as “scaffolds.” They can include charts, pictures and cue cards.。Teachers often use this method by presenting a model of high-quality work before asking students to work on their own. Just as they’re used when constructing buildings, scaffolds are removed when they’re no longer needed.

3. Graphic Organization
   Using this method, a teacher draws a picture to map out thoughts and ideas. Graphic organization can help younger students with activities like identifying the characters in a story they’ve read. This can also help them plan and organize a story they’ll write. Older students can “map out” history, like the events leading up to World War II, or compare and contrast people or topics.

4. Mnemonics
   Students use special phrases to help them remember information. Here’s an example: Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally is often used to remember the order of operations in math: Parentheses, Exponents, Multiply, Divide, Add and Subtract. This strategy can also help with learning vocabulary. For example, a child can learn the scientific name for the common frog, Ranidae, by using rain as the keyword along with a picture of a frog sitting in the rain.

5. Multisensory Instruction
   This method links what students see, what they hear, how they move, and what they feel. When students learn using all of their senses, they remember the material better. Math teachers might use base ten blocks and two-sided counters so that students learn through touch. Drawing might help students learn new vocabulary by capturing the meaning of a word and sketching it.

A student’s self-esteem has a direct effect on their academic performance. Students who struggle with confidence may believe there is no point in trying, and that where they are now is where they will always be. When asked to write a paper or work through a challenging math concept, they are often convinced they’ll do poorly before they even begin. When teachers ask if they need help with a difficult assignment, they may say no, or not respond at all. We can help these students by praising small steps in the right direction. Let them know what you like about their work in specific terms: “You’re on the right track with that equation. You got this.” And try to show them tangible proof of their growth by comparing early classwork to what they are doing now, which can help build self-efficacy in a concrete way.(Schimidt, 2020)

When given a rigorous task, students can be too afraid of making a mistake to try. They can take failure personally, lacking the understanding that failure is a part of the learning process. Creating autonomy with these students is still possible, though; take, for example, The University of Montana’s Best Fail Ever campaign. The University aimed to “increase students’ resilience and convey the message that it is okay to fail sometimes.” Here, students became more comfortable with acknowledging their self-efficacy by sharing their own “best fail ever” stories publicly across campus. Programs like this demonstrate to students that failure can be a path to growth. When teachers find ways to alleviate students’ anxiety of failure, students are more likely to focus on learning.(Schimidt, 2020)

Life is always distracting, and students (and adults) are dealing with more distractions than ever now. Often, students struggle with separating their study time from their lives, and that became more difficult as schools closed, forcing learning to take place at home. According to Dr. Weimer, “these students are easily distracted by their work, their friends, their social life, and even perhaps responsibilities at home. They respond to what’s pressing at the moment, and that’s often not studying, which can be done at the last minute with the phone on and with text messages coming in.” However, research has continually demonstrated that doing too much at once can be overstimulating for the brain. According to John Sweller’s cognitive load theory, “working memory has a very limited capacity. When too much information is presented at once, we feel overwhelmed, and much of that information is lost.” As educators, we can help redirect our student’s cognitive capacity to the right place by providing students with proactive tips on how to be productive when doing school work.(Schimidt, 2020)

Often, students will choose to do the minimum. They are often satisfied with less than their best—if the course is a requirement, and the content is not interesting to them, they see no reason to put forth much effort. They may view assignments as things to complete as quickly as possible. They can prefer easy learning. According to Dr. Weimer, “they don’t want courses or assignments that tax their ‘mental muscles’ too much.” These students prefer specific directions with little room for interpretation or critical thinking. They would rather work on worksheets than answer open-ended questions, and they steer clear of assignments where they could be wrong and it might be their fault.(Schimidt, 2020)

Step 10: Transition
A transition plan is developed and included in your student’s IEP. (How Special Education Works | OSPI, 2020)