Inclusion/Practice Focus -- Each chapter focuses on both inclusion and effective practice, as well as the translation of research into practice. In the past, most books and articles have focused on either inclusion or effective instruction, rarely on both. More often, books and articles have focused on research and practice, but rarely as a central focus.

Multi-Tiered Focus -- There is an emphasis throughout on multi-tiered systems of support. This provides a cutting edge perspective on the intersection of inclusion, effective instruction, and tiered models of service delivery.

Chapter Structure – Chapter authors provide a synthesis of research and other scholarly work regarding a critical issue or topic, describe current trends related to the critical issue, and address the extent to which this research may be translated into practice. Each chapter concludes with robust sections addressing directions for future research and implications for practice.

International Perspectives -- International perspectives on how these issues have been addressed in relation to both student identification and service delivery are also discussed. This includes perspectives from countries that have used substantially different approaches to student identification and service delivery than the U.S.