The quality of instruction in the classroom is the most powerful leverage point for school improvement because it is the only thing over which educators have a significant degree of control. As student assessments change to reflect the higher expectations of Common Core State Standards (CCSS), it is important that the assessment and development of teaching correspond with those expectations. The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of student engagement in general education classrooms and then compare the engagement of individual students with special needs with the engagement of their general education peers. The goal was to determine whether or not Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals were being met when services were provided in the general education classroom. The Protocol for the Assessment of Common Core Teaching (ProACCT) is an integrated observation instrument that measures academic engagement on three dimensions: student participation, the cognitive demand of lesson tasks, and the academic language used by students when they are learning content. The protocol was adapted to measure academic engagement individually so stakeholders could understand the levels of support required to ensure students with special needs have access to effective Common Core instruction.