The Power of Baby Steps: Why Special Educators Must Recognize Small Wins

Special educators often carry dreams for young people who cannot yet dream for themselves. Many of our students come to us weighed down by emotional struggles, family instability, or years of academic setbacks. In these circumstances, it’s natural for educators to hold big visions — sometimes much bigger than what our students believe they are capable of.

But here lies the challenge: while we dream big, our students grow in small, often quiet steps. True progress may not always look like a grade-level leap or a polished essay. It may look like a student writing two sentences instead of refusing to write at all. It may look like showing up to class after weeks of wandering the hallways. These are the “baby steps” that matter — the ones that build momentum and open the door to surprise breakthroughs.

As educators, our responsibility is not only to keep believing in our students, but also to consistently recognize and celebrate these incremental gains. When we fail to notice them, we miss opportunities to build confidence and resilience. When we honor them, we reinforce for students that they are improving, even if the pace is slower than we hoped.

Here are two strategies that can make a big difference:

1. Regularly Update Students on Measurable Progress

Don’t keep growth data to yourself — share it. When a student moves from zero sentences to one, acknowledge it. When they move to two, celebrate again. Let them hear their timeline of improvement: “When we started, you didn’t write at all. Then you wrote one sentence. Now you’re at two.”

The same principle applies to larger milestones. When you advance a student to more challenging work, explain why: “We’re moving on because you’ve mastered this skill.” Hearing progress framed in measurable ways reinforces the evidence of growth. Over time, this builds self-belief — the most powerful motivator of all.

2. Review Portfolios Together

Invite students to look back at their own work. A portfolio — even a simple folder of writing samples or math assignments — tells a visual story of growth. Ask students to read their earlier work and reflect on how far they’ve come. This turns progress into something they can see and name for themselves.

One student I tutored moved from a third-grade reading level to a seventh-grade level in two years. Part of what sustained his motivation was not just the test scores, but also seeing the shift in the number and complexity of words he could read. Reviewing his portfolio allowed him to own that progress in a way a single grade never could.

Recognizing baby steps does not mean lowering expectations. It means building stepping stones toward the larger dreams we hold for our students. Every small gain — sitting in the classroom, writing a new sentence, tackling harder words — is evidence that the future we imagine for them is possible.

Our students will progress at their own pace. Our role as special educators is to keep dreaming for them, to celebrate the steps they take along the way, and to remind them, often, that those steps add up to something much greater.

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Edutopia. (2022, October 12). A “Small Wins” Approach to Special Ed Challenges. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/special-education-challenges-small-wins

Edutopia. (2023, May 4). Using Incremental Progress to Foster Students’ Intrinsic Motivation. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/fostering-intrinsic-motivation-students

Cook, B. G., & Odom, S. L. (2025). Using Incremental Science to Improve Inclusive Special Education. Educational Psychologist, 60(2), 145–159. Taylor & Francis. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00461520.2025.2486140