UDL: Moving from Exploration to Integration

Copyright © 2017 by CAST, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017944244

Paperback ISBN 978-1-930583-58-0

Ebook ISBN 978-1-930583-01-6

Published by:

CAST Professional Publishing

an imprint of CAST, Inc.

Wakefield, Massachusetts, USA

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please email [email protected] or telephone 781-245-2212 or visit www.castpublishing.org

Cover and interior design by Happenstance Type-O-Rama

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Author photo by Kanji Takeno

Printed in the United States of America.

To Dr. David H. Rose, for being the teacher so many of us need and for inspiring us to be the same to others

Foreword

Are there any stories more exciting than those of pioneers? Pioneers are curious and daring. They are willing to cut new trails, travel unknown roads, sail uncharted seas. They inspire us, encouraging us to venture into places of discovery, wonder, and promise. They also inform, providing maps and reconnaissance, warnings and advice.

In this timely new collection, UDL: Moving from Exploration to Integration, Elizabeth Berquist has brought together some early pioneers of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) implementation. Although UDL was first defined in the 1990s at CAST—a nonprofit organization with a mission to make education more inclusive—the framework was largely applied to product design in those early years. Only in the past dozen years have serious efforts been made to infuse UDL into education practice in classrooms, schools, and school systems.

In this book, these pioneers discuss many important topics related to implementation, such as the need to build effective professional learning communities, to cultivate support among school faculty and parents, and to integrate UDL with existing initiatives so that it does not become just one more flavor of the month. The authors—all proven leaders at the school, district, and state levels—don’t mind forging into details to carve out paths of success for you, the reader.

Especially helpful is the discussion throughout of the need for a change in beliefs and mindset. UDL is a conceptual shift; rather than asking students to adapt to an inflexible curriculum via accommodations and retrofitted solutions, UDL expects that the curriculum will made flexible enough so it can adapt to the needs of variable learners (Meyer, Rose, & Gordon, 2014). To make such a shift in thinking is a tall order for educators. Prior beliefs and experiences—of educators but also of students and their parents—are not easy to change. Several chapters in this book provide helpful and realistic advice for how to foster and nurture such change in professional communities and in the community at large. The authors wisely understand that any sustainable effort to improve schools will require the buy-in and cooperation of all relevant stakeholders.

Who better to bring these authors together in one volume than Liz Berquist? Dr. Berquist herself was one of those pioneers, serving as one of Baltimore County’s UDL facilitators when it participated in a national project funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to explore UDL implementation. Dr Berquist is a talented educator who has been engaged in schools as a teacher, administrator, central office curriculum expert, and college professor. I have observed her excellence in all of these varied roles. She has the rare combination of academic and intellectual talent, engaging people skills, and total dedication to student and teacher success.

In 2012, while I was Maryland’s State Superintendent of Education, Maryland became the first state in the nation to formally incorporate Universal Design for Learning into its education policies. In particular, the regulations called for integrating UDL principles into the development and provision of instructional methods and materials, assessment, and teacher professional development. Since that time, UDL has become increasingly become part of the larger conversation on education improvement. The Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 and the National Education Technology Plan of 2016 endorse UDL implementation, and states and districts across the United States and Canada are putting the principles into practice.

As more and more educators take up the challenge to implement UDL, there will be new lessons learned and added to the literature. But this enterprising book is an excellent place to start that journey, filled as it is with wise and hard-won lessons from these UDL pioneers.

—Nancy S. Grasmick, PhD

Preface

If I have seen further than others, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.

— Isaac Newton

Iwonder if, when David Rose, Grace Meo, Anne Meyer, Skip Stahl, and Linda Mensing met in a Massachusetts pizza parlor in 1984 and set in motion the idea that became CAST (learn more at www.cast.org ), they imagined that, thirty years later, an entire book would be dedicated to the implementation of the framework they developed or that their framework would be embedded in national policy that guides the practice of educators across the United States. In the past thirty-plus years since the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework made its entrance into the education field, CAST has worked diligently to blend high-quality research with thoughtful, proactive design to support the development of products and learning environments that improve education for all learners.

Maybe you are a reader just beginning to explore UDL because you have read one of the many texts describing the UDL framework and its applications, or maybe your interest was piqued by attending a workshop or training on UDL and you see it as a way to meet the challenges of learner variability. Maybe you are a classroom teacher who wants to implement UDL in order to reach more students in the margins, and you want to engage your colleagues in the process. Or, maybe you are a building administrator who sees value in using the framework to increase student engagement. You also could be a district- or state-level administrator wondering how to integrate UDL as a large-scale initiative. Regardless of your role, I believe you will find strategies and resources in this text that will help you build your plan to implement UDL.

This book attempts to answer the question What does UDL implementation look like and how do we get there? This question is most often asked following an introductory UDL training, and it is nearly impossible to provide a quality response in less than five minutes. Why is it so hard to answer? Because the implementation of UDL is variable and unique—in this sense, it is a model of UDL itself. UDL looks different in every learning environment, just as it looks different in every school, district, and state. Although there are patterns to be found in this variability, there is no one right way to implement the UDL framework. It is up to you, the reader, to learn from the experiences of others and build your own path.

Current Context for UDL Implementation

Some chapter authors have decided to provide background on UDL, whereas others assumed that readers interested in a text on UDL implementation have a foundational knowledge of the framework. In the spirit of UDL, I feel it is necessary to activate the background knowledge of those readers who may need some additional context for UDL implementation.

CAST describes UDL as a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people, based on scientific insights into how humans learn. The UDL framework has evolved considerably since its inception more than thirty years ago, based on research in numerous fields, including developmental psychology, neuroscience, computer science, and architecture (Rappolt-Schlichtmann, Daley, & Rose, 2012). The framework of UDL has been further extended in books written by scholars at CAST: Teaching Every Student in the Digital Age: Universal Design for Learning (Rose & Meyer, 2002), The Universally Designed Classroom (Rose, Meyer, & Hitchcock, 2005), A Practical Reader in Universal Design for Learning (Rose & Meyer, 2006), and Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice (Meyer, Rose, & Gordon, 2014). CAST created the UDL guidelines to support application of the UDL framework in the field, based on research from several disciplines.

The UDL framework recently was endorsed in the Every Student Succeeds Act of 2015 (ESSA), the current reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, which was originally developed to address the need for greater equity and opportunity in public schools. ESSA cites the definition of UDL first described in the Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008:

The term UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING defines a scientifically valid framework for guiding educational practice that

provides flexibility in the ways information is presented, in the ways students respond or demonstrate knowledge and skills, and in the ways students are engaged; and

reduces barriers in instruction, provides appropriate accommodations, supports, and challenges, and maintains high achievement expectations for all students, including students with disabilities and students who are limited English proficient.

UDL is also highlighted in the 2016 National Educational Technology Plan published by the U.S. Department of Education, which sets out a vision and plan for learning enabled by technology and is aligned with the activities supported by ESSA. UDL is presented as a way to design and implement accessible curriculum and assessments for all learners in the Learning and Assessment sections of the plan. The Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation (see chapter 8) is applauded as a district that has successfully embedded the UDL framework in its decision-making process in order to support all learners most effectively.

Learner variability is the norm in today’s classrooms, and both ESSA and the National Education Technology Plan encourage educators to carefully consider how they will develop the content knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will enable all learners to reach their maximum potential. Each reference to UDL in current policy demonstrates that multiple means of engagement, representation, action, and expression will be woven into the fabric of future education and curriculum design. As the application of UDL continues to grow rapidly, we must determine how best to introduce the UDL framework into the professional development experiences of educators who are seeking to apply the framework to their practice. The chapters in this book present what leaders in the UDL field have experienced through the phases of implementation: exploration, preparation, integration, scaling, and optimizing. The book offers effective strategies for designing high-quality professional learning experiences to those responsible for introducing the UDL framework into their workplace or for moving from UDL awareness to integration.

Overview of This Book

This book is divided into three sections that focus on (1) professional learning using the UDL framework, (2) UDL implementation at the school level, and (3) UDL implementation in the district and state. You may choose to read this book from start to finish or to consider each chapter individually. Although the chapters are designed to provide an overview of implementation from the micro to the macro level, there is no need to read them in order.

In Section 1: Professional Learning the UDL Way, the authors describe how they successfully used the UDL framework in their practice as a lens to develop professional learning opportunities. In chapter 1, I explain how using a conceptual change-based instructional model can help those responsible for professional development to design more targeted instruction about the UDL framework. I also offer specific strategies for applying the UDL Guidelines to the design of professional learning and highlight the design process of some of the most talented presenters in the field: Loui Lord Nelson, Jon Mundorf, Katie Novak, and Kavita Rao. In chapter 2, Lisa Carey, Patti Ralabate, Bill Sadera, and I extend the discussion of using UDL to design professional learning by providing insight into coaching strategies that support professional learning communities. We summarize a study that explored change in teacher beliefs, knowledge, and practices, and describe how understanding participants’ conceptions can have a positive impact on the design of professional learning. Chapter 3 offers a vision for designing online professional learning opportunities using the UDL framework. Lisa Katz, an outstanding instructional designer, explains the importance of designing with a digital learning mindset and makes a case for using UDL to develop high-quality online learning experiences.

In Section 2: UDL Implementation in Schools, we turn to the application of professional learning in schools that are seeking to implement the UDL framework. Chapter 4, by Jennifer Mullenax and Nicole Fiorito, is a case study of how one elementary school built a culture of professional learning using the principles of UDL. This chapter clearly outlines a plan for guiding a staff to see the connection between UDL, professional growth, and student achievement. In chapter 5, Nicole Norris, who was principal at Lansdowne Middle during the Gates/CAST UDL implementation project and is the current principal at Prettyboy Elementary, shares Lansdowne’s journey from UDL awareness to implementation. She describes how a UDL culture developed with the start of a small professional learning community and grew to become the driving force behind instructional improvements that impacted the entire school. In chapter 6, Rene Sanchez, Kirsten Omelan, and I describe a multiyear UDL project from theperspective of a collaborative leadership team consisting of regional staff, high school faculty, and UDL consultants. We demonstratehowa committed group of leaders and teachers can move UDL from being yet another initiative tobecome the central framework guiding a high schoolcampus. Chapter 7 illustrates how co-teaching teams of general and special education teachers can use UDL for their inclusive classrooms. Kavita Rao and I demonstrate how co-teachers can apply UDL to goals, assessments, methods, and materials, and provide an example of a co-teaching conversation that illustrates how a general education and a special education teacher can incorporate UDL for a standards-based lesson.

Section 3: UDL Implementation in School Systems examines implementation at the district, state, and regional level. Chapter 8 is a collaborative effort by one of the most focused and goal-driven UDL teams in the nation: Rhonda Laswell, George Van Horn, Tina Greene, Angie Wieneke, and Jessica Vogel of the Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation in Columbus, Indiana. They share their process for district-level UDL implementation and, after eight years of implementation at Bartholomew, offer strategies on how to scale and optimize the framework. William Burke offers a large-district perspective on UDL implementation in chapter 9. He explains how implementing UDL across an entire district requires a strategic plan that aligns the work of many offices and departments. Burke describes strategies for embedding the UDL framework into the curriculum, material selection, and professional learning to build a learner-centered environment. Finally, in chapter 10, UDL leaders in Maryland describe how the state became the first in the nation to adopt legislation focused on UDL. They explain how a state department can support UDL implementation, and then highlight these efforts in selected districts.

Are these the only examples of UDL implementation in practice? Of course not! Such efforts are taking place across the United States and around the globe. The examples highlighted in this book are just that—examples designed to give readers ideas about how to move from the initial exploration of UDL to full-scale implementation. There is no right or wrong way to begin implementing UDL, but the experiences and examples shared in this text, when taken as a body of work, can provide a strong foundation to guide your own journey. The UDL framework encourages us to communicate, collaborate, and build community. Those of us active in the UDL field are adamant about sharing and supporting one another, so as you review these chapters, take away the points that will help you to grow and do not hesitate to build on the foundation laid by others to help you go further—we certainly have.

Section 1

Professional Learning the UDL Way

Chapter 1

Using the UDL Framework as a Guide for Professional Learning

Elizabeth Berquist

Guiding Questions

How does the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework guide professional learning?

Why is it important to understand educators’ current conceptions of UDLwhen designing professional learning experiences?

The purpose of this chapter is to share the experiences of educators who have utilized the Universal Design for Learning framework to design professional learning opportunities that have moved schools, districts, and states from an exploration of UDL to integration and, ultimately, scaling. Like students, educators vary in the ways they engage with content, in how they perceive information, and in the strategies they use to make sense of what they know. Professional learning opportunities must recognize and address this variability. This chapter provides a rationale for using a conceptual change model to explore educator conceptions about teaching and learning, and identifies specific strategies for designing short (one- or two-day) professional learning experiences that are aligned with the UDL framework.

Introduction

Consider this scenario. Your district or school has decided to introduce the UDL framework as a way to meet the needs of diverse learners, for the following reasons: the framework is found in numerous federal policies and documents designed to guide decision making (Every Student Succeeds Act, 2015; Higher Education Opportunity Act, 2008; U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, 2010, 2016); school districts are sharing data that support increased student achievement since they adopted UDL (Nelson, Arthur, Jensen, & Van Horn, 2011); and some states have adopted UDL in their curriculum development process (e.g., Code of Maryland Regulations [COMAR], 2012). After your district or school has decided to implement UDL, a group of administrators and practitioners attend a mandatory professional development session to learn about UDL. The UDL framework is presented, the background described, the Guidelines distributed, and the educators are then sent back to their classrooms to apply their new knowledge. Will these educators begin to espouse the benefits of UDL and apply the Guidelines in their classrooms?

The literature tells us that the answer is no. For real change to occur, learners must progress through a series of stages, during which they come to alter their beliefs (e.g., Dole & Sinatra, 1998; Pintrich, Marx, & Boyle, 1993; Posner, Strike, Hewson, & Gertzog, 1982; Tillema & Knol, 1997). In the previous scenario, no attempt was made to identify educators’ underlying assumptions, beliefs, or knowledge about the use of UDL, and the design and delivery of the professional development session made no attempt to model the UDL framework.

We must confront the challenge of developing effective professional learning experiences by moving the conceptual change process and the proactive application of the UDL framework to the forefront of the instructional design process. The first step in successful UDL implementation is to design high-quality professional learning