This book examines evidence-based practices that facilitate effective teaching to ensure optimum educational achievement for school-age students. It identifies key strategies with extensive research evidence that confirms their effectiveness in improving student outcomes. The book offers guidelines for teachers to use in distinguishing between strategies that are evidence-based and those with little or no supporting evidence. It describes common instructional strategies often found in schools despite having little evidence to support their effectiveness. In addition, the book identifies eight key evidence-based teaching practices that can be directly implemented by classroom teachers, reviews the theoretical and research base of each of these strategies, and provides guidelines for special and general education teachers on how to apply them most effectively, with links to video examples of their use in classrooms. The text also examines common barriers to the use of evidence-based practices in schools. It explores implications for teacher education, focusing on training educators to identify and implement evidence-based strategies effectively, avoiding those lacking evidence, even if they are popular in schools.  Essential Evidence-Based Teaching Strategies is a must-have resource for researchers, professionals, and graduate students in educational psychology, child and school psychology, and social work who are interested in learning about and implementing effective teaching methods that improve student engagement and academic achievement, strengthen social-emotional learning, and reduce school dropout rates.