The purpose of this study was to design and evaluate the effectiveness of Concept Diagrams and a related Concept Teaching Routine when used by regular class teachers to present concepts to heterogeneous groupings of students, including learning disabled pupils, in regular classrooms. The study focused upon both teachers and students. The teachers' ability to prepare Concept Diagrams and to implement a Concept Teaching Routine in the classroom was measured. Students were evaluated relative to performance on Tests of Concept Acquisition, regular classroom tests, and notetaking before and after implementation of the Concept Teaching Routine. Results indicated that teachers can select concepts from content material, prepare Concept Diagrams from those concepts, and present concepts to their classes. Both students with learning disabilities and students without learning disabilities showed gains in their performance on Tests of Concept Acquisition and in notetaking when the Concept Teaching Routine was used in the classroom. Gains in performance on regular tests were associated with the Concept Teaching Routine combined with a review procedure.

The understanding and use of historical concepts specified in national history standards pose many challenges to students. These challenges include both the acquisition of content knowledge and the use of that knowledge in ways that require higher order thinking. All students, including adolescents with learning disabilities (LD), are expected to understand and use concepts of history to pass high-stakes assessments and to participate meaningfully in a democratic society. This article describes Content Enhancement Routines (CERs) to illustrate instructional planning, teaching, and assessing for higher order thinking with examples from an American history unit. Research on the individual components of Content Enhancement Routines will be illustrated with data from 1 of the routines. The potential use of integrated sets of materials and procedures across grade levels and content areas will be discussed.

The Common Core State Standards for literacy in history and social studies present opportunities and challenges for teachers of and adolescents with learning disabilities (LD). In addition to reading challenges, students must engage in higher order thinking and reasoning. To provide opportunities for students to successfully respond to such challenges, teachers must have an understanding of the expectations in the Standards, and of the learning needs of students with LD. Teachers can assure success for adolescents with LD by selecting proven instructional procedures and engaging in collaboration to provide students with the supports they need. Examples of one evidence‐based practice, Content Enhancement, are provided to illustrate instructional protocols for teachers of diverse classes that include adolescents with LD.