Universal Design for Learning (UDL): A teacher’s guide

By Allison Posey, MEd, CAST, Inc.

What you’ll learn

 Why use Universal Design for Learning?

 What does UDL look like in the classroom?
 How can I use the three principles of UDL?
 How can families support this at home?
 How do I use UDL during distance learning?
 Additional CAST resources to explore

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework developed by CAST, an Understood

founding partner. UDL guides the design of learning experiences to proactively meet the needs
of all learners. When you use UDL, you assume that barriers to learning are in the design of the
environment, not in the student. UDL is based on brain science and evidence-based educational
practices. It also leverages the power of digital technology.

Imagine this: Your students are going to write an essay on the stages of butterfly
metamorphosis. 

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Some students have seen butterflies grow through the different stages at a local science museum.
These students are excited to share what they know. Other students don’t know anything about
butterflies and are nervous about writing on this topic. And some students don’t like to write —
they dread this activity from the moment you say “essay.”

In any class, you know there’s a wide range of enthusiasm, background, and skills among your
students. When you plan with this range in mind, you can approach the lesson in several ways.

You could share a mini-lesson on butterfly metamorphosis and have students use a guided
worksheet as they write. Or you could set up stations where students are grouped using flexible
grouping around understanding of the topic, language ability, or reading level.
But take a step back. In any lesson or task, you can anticipate this range of variability among
your students. There’s another approach you can take to plan for this variability in all your
lessons: Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

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Why use Universal Design for Learning?

The ultimate goal of UDL is for all learners to become “expert learners.” Expert learners are
purposeful and motivated, resourceful and knowledgeable, and strategic and goal-directed about
learning.

UDL is a powerful approach because from the very start of your lesson, it helps you anticipate
and plan for all your learners. It can help you make sure that the greatest range of students can
access and engage in learning — not just certain students.

You don’t need specific tools or technologies to follow UDL’s principles either. Instead, your
students choose from the tools and resources you already have. They might use them in different
ways.

Also, UDL may change how you think about what prevents students from learning. Instead of
thinking that something needs to change about the students, UDL looks at the learning
environment. The learning environment can include barriers to learning, like the design of the
curricular goals, assessments, methods, and materials. In this way, the learning environment
itself can be “abled” or “dis-abled.”

UDL gives you a framework to follow so you can reduce the barriers to learning. The main way
to do this is to prepare a learning environment where students have what they need to flexibly
meet learning goals. 

What does UDL look like in the classroom?

Universal design can be found just about anywhere you look — both inside and outside your
school. Curb cuts change sidewalks so that they’re accessible to the greatest range of users,
including people who use wheelchairs and those pushing strollers. Closed captions make
television accessible to people who are deaf or who have hearing loss, as well as people at the
gym or spouses who can’t agree whether or not to keep the TV on at night. No two forms of
universal design are the same. 

Universal Design for Learning looks different in every classroom. But there are commonalities.
To start with, there’s always a focus on building expert learning for all. Other common elements
of a UDL experience include:

 All learners knowing the goal

  Intentional, flexible options for all students to use
 Student access to resources from the start of a lesson
 Students building and internalizing their own learning

In a UDL environment, students rarely do the same task in the same way at the same time. The
flexible options will differ across developmental ages. But the framework for having clear goals
and flexible options is consistent no matter the grade level or content areas. 

Watch a video of what UDL looks like in the fifth-grade classroom of Understood Teacher
Fellow Eric Crouch.

How can I use the three principles of UDL?

UDL describes human variability based on parts of the brain that manage the “why” (affective
network), the “what” (recognition network), and the “how” (strategic network) of learning.
Watch as CAST co-founder David Rose explains why UDL emphasizes variability instead
of disability. 

CAST developed UDL guidelines that are based on three main principles that align with these
learning networks. The three UDL principles are engagement, representation, and action and
expression.

The chart below includes the three UDL principles adapted from CAST. It also gives you some
questions to consider and lists some examples of the principles in action. You can print a one-
page version of this chart to have on hand while planning a lesson, activity, or routine for your
students.

Provide multiple means of engagement

Examples:
How can I engage all
students in my class? • Survey students about
their interests,
• In what ways do I strengths, and needs.
give students choice Incorporate the findings
and autonomy? into lessons.

• How do I make • Use choice menus for

learning relevant to working toward goals.
students’ needs and
wants? • State learning goals
clearly and in a way that
• In what ways is my feels relevant to
classroom accepting and students.
supportive of all
students?

Provide multiple means of representation

How can I present Examples:
information in ways
that reach all • Make it easy for
learners? students to adjust font
sizes and background
• Have I considered colors through
options for how technology.
printed texts, pictures,
and charts are • Provide options for
displayed? engaging with texts,
such as text-to-speech,
• What options do I audiobooks, or partner
provide for students reading.
who need support
engaging with texts
and/or with auditory
learning?
Provide multiple means of action and expression

How can I offer Examples:

purposeful options
for students to show • Provide calendars and
what they know? checklists to help
students track the
• When can I provide subtasks for meeting a
flexibility with timing learning goal.
and pacing?
• Allow students to
• Have I considered show what they know
methods aside from through a variety of
paper-and-pencil tasks formats, such as a
for students to show poster presentation or a
what they know? graphic organizer.

• Am I providing • Provide students with

students access to access to common AT,
assistive technology such as speech-to-text
(AT)? and text-to-speech.

How can families support this at home?

Families may not be familiar with the concept of students being active participants in setting
their learning goals. They may have questions about letting students make their own learning
choices. 
Explain at back-to-school night or in a class email that you’ll be using Universal Design for
Learning. You can even share a family-friendly article about the UDL approach to teaching. 

Assure families that you have high expectations for all students to become expert learners in
your classroom. And explain that you’ll keep working with the students and their families to
build the skills and interest to make that happen.

How do I use UDL during distance learning?

Read these articles to learn how to use UDL with distance learning.

 Distance learning: 6 UDL best practices for online learning

 How to plan online lessons with Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
 Online assignments: Best practices for teachers to use with students

Additional CAST resources to explore

 Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice, by Anne Meyer, David H. Rose, and David
Gordon
 UDL Now! A Teacher’s Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning in Today’s Classrooms,
by Katie Novak
 Let Them Thrive: A Playbook for Helping Your Child Succeed in School and in Life, by Katie
Novak

CAST, an Understood founding partner, develops innovative approaches to education

based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). 
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About the author

Allison Posey, MEd, CAST, Inc. is a curriculum and design specialist at CAST.
Reviewed by

Brittney Newcomer, MS, NCSP is the associate director of thought leadership at Understood.
She has served in public schools for more than a decade as a teacher, evaluator, and curriculum
manager.
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