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IB - Meeting Student Learning Diversity in the Classroom (UDL & Equity)

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IB - Meeting Student Learning Diversity in the Classroom (UDL & Equity)

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Meeting Student Learning Diversity in the Classroom

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Dr. C. Michele Rice - Head of DEI at the IB (LinkedIN)

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Dr. C. Michele Rice - Head of DEI at the IB (LinkedIN)

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Equity and Inclusive Education in the IB (website)

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Equity and Inclusive Education in the IB (website)

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The IB believes in an inclusive approach to education designed to remove or reduce barriers so that every student can fully participate in IB programmes.

Inclusive education is facilitated in a culture of collaboration, mutual respect, support and problem-solving involving the whole school community.

Across the world, inclusive education has grown from a movement that was about the inclusion of students with disabilities to a holistic approach that is about all learners and values the diversity of the student population.
The IB approaches equity and inclusive education in two main ways:

inclusive principles in the design of IB programmes

inclusive education practices in IB World Schools.

Inclusive principles in the design of IB programmes

IB programmes are designed to ensure inclusivity and equitability-allowing all IB learners to have equal opportunities to learning pathways, learning experiences and educational recognition. The IB applies these principles for programmes and subjects.
When designing and developing the curriculum, the IB aims to meet the principles of equity and inclusive education through:

designing and developing a universally designed curriculum that is inclusive, fair and accessible for all IB learners

taking into consideration planned access and adaptations (inclusivity and accessibility for groups of students who would need specific access) and student well-being

drawing upon the full range of ways of knowing and incorporating experiences, contribution and histories from across cultures, nationalities, backgrounds, identities and perspectives

ensuring representation across cultures, nationalities, identities and experiences.

The above will allow all learners to feel represented and seen in the curriculum-to feel they each belong. Students are encouraged to think critically and holistically about a subject with an awareness of their biases. This can help reduce or remove cultural bias, and expose learners to multiple co-existing narratives and ways of knowing.

IB assessments address inclusivity, equitability and accessibility by:

using the principles of universal design of assessments, including cultural diversity and sensitivity to personal identity, in assessment design and development

considering student well-being during assessment design and development

providing inclusive access arrangements for students with access requirements

supporting students who are impacted by adverse circumstances during examinations

ensuring that evaluation of achievement is carried out in a reliable and valid manner by providing instructions to IB examiners to reduce or eliminate bias during the marking process.

Inclusive education practices in IB World Schools

The IB creates and maintains policies and creates resources to support equity and inclusive education in IB World Schools.

Access and inclusion policy

The access and inclusion policy is designed to enable full participation of all students across all four IB programmes in teaching, learning and assessment (formative and summative), by reducing and removing barriers using appropriate and well-planned access arrangements.

Each year tens of thousands of students with learning, physical, sensory, emotional, medical and other long-term challenges are supported in their IB assessments (Diploma Programme, Career-related Programme and MYP eAssessments). Students whose learning, emotional and functional stability are impacted by personal, family, social or other life circumstances (such as mental health difficulties, gender and sexual identity-related challenges, or being affected by war etc.) are also supported through this policy.
Read the access and inclusion policy (PDF, 3.1 MB)
Adverse circumstances policy

The adverse circumstances policy supports individual students who are impacted by circumstances such as bereavement, injuries, illnesses, or groups of students impacted by circumstances such as natural disasters during the assessment period.
Read the adverse circumstances policy (PDF, 2.6MB)
The IB principles of equity and inclusive education focus on all students-equal opportunities for every IB learner. Equal opportunities in the learning journey will not mean equal outcomes, but the focus is on all IB students fully participating and engaging in IB programmes. The principle is to emphasize similarities and strengths and not differences and what divides us.

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Equity and inclusive education in the IB

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The IB believes in an inclusive approach to education designed to remove or reduce barriers so that every student can fully participate in IB programmes.

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The UDL Implementation Rubric was authored by Melissa Toland, and you can read more about it here. This is an adapted version of The UDL Progression Rubric by Dr. Katie Novak and Dr. Kristian Rodriguez. In the original version, teachers can self-evaluate their performance on each individual checkpoint of the UDL guidelines, whereas the adapted version is less specific in scope and focuses on performance in more general terms in the following areas: multiple means of engagement, multiple means of representation, and multiple means of action and expression. You can view this rubric to see where you may be in your UDL journey across a spectrum ranging from UDL explorer to UDL idol. Click the link below to download the pdf version of this document.

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CAST UDL Guidelines The two files below outline the UDL guidelines by multiple means of representation, multiple means of action & expression, and multiple means of engagement. Knowing the UDL...

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Neurodiversity describes the idea that people experience and interact with the world around them in many different ways; there is no one "right" way of thinking, learning, and behaving, and differences are not viewed as deficits.

The word neurodiversity refers to the diversity of all people, but it is often used in the context of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), as well as other neurological or developmental conditions such as ADHD or learning disabilities. The neurodiversity movement emerged during the 1990s, aiming to increase acceptance and inclusion of all people while embracing neurological differences. Through online platforms, more and more autistic people were able to connect and form a self-advocacy movement. At the same time, Judy Singer, an Australian sociologist, coined the term neurodiversity to promote equality and inclusion of "neurological minorities." While it is primarily a social justice movement, neurodiversity research and education is increasingly important in how clinicians view and address certain disabilities and neurological conditions.

Words matter in neurodiversity

Neurodiversity advocates encourage inclusive, nonjudgmental language. While many disability advocacy organizations prefer person-first language ("a person with autism," "a person with Down syndrome"), some research has found that the majority of the autistic community prefers identity-first language ("an autistic person"). Therefore, rather than making assumptions, it is best to ask directly about a person's preferred language, and how they want to be addressed. Knowledge about neurodiversity and respectful language is also important for clinicians, so they can address the mental and physical health of people with neurodevelopmental differences.

Neurodiversity and autism spectrum disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is associated with differences in communication, learning, and behavior, though it can look different from person to person. People with ASD may have a wide range of strengths, abilities, needs, and challenges. For example, some autistic people are able to communicate verbally, have a normal or above average IQ, and live independently. Others might not be able to communicate their needs or feelings, may struggle with impairing and harmful behaviors that impact their safety and well-being, and may be dependent on support in all areas of their life. Additionally, for some people with autism, differences may not cause any suffering to the person themself. Instead, the suffering may result from the barriers imposed by societal norms, causing social exclusion and inequity.

Medical evaluation and treatment is important for individuals with ASD. For example, establishing a formal diagnosis may enable access to social and medical services if needed. A diagnostic explanation may help the individual or their family understand their differences better and enable community connections. Additionally, neurodevelopmental conditions may also be associated with other health issues that require extra monitoring or treatment. It is important that people who need and desire behavioral supports or interventions to promote communication, social, academic, and daily living skills have access to those services in order to maximize their quality of life and developmental potential. However, approaches to interventions cannot be one-size-fits-all, as all individuals will have different goals, desires, and needs.

Fostering neurodiversity in the workplace

Stigma, a lack of awareness, and lack of appropriate infrastructure (such as office setup or staffing structures) can cause exclusion of people with neurodevelopmental differences. Understanding and embracing neurodiversity in communities, schools, healthcare settings, and workplaces can improve inclusivity for all people. It is important for all of us to foster an environment that is conducive to neurodiversity, and to recognize and emphasize each person's individual strengths and talents while also providing support for their differences and needs.

How can employers make their workplaces more neurodiversity-friendly?

Offer small adjustments to an employee's workspace to accommodate any sensory needs, such as

Sound sensitivity: Offer a quiet break space, communicate expected loud noises (like fire drills), offer noise-cancelling headphones.

Tactile: Allow modifications to the usual work uniform.

Movements: Allow the use of fidget toys, allow extra movement breaks, offer flexible seating.

Use a clear communication style:

Avoid sarcasm, euphemisms, and implied messages.

Provide concise verbal and written instructions for tasks, and break tasks down into small steps.

Inform people about workplace/social etiquette, and don't assume someone is deliberately breaking the rules or being rude.

Try to give advance notice if plans are changing, and provide a reason for the change.

Don't make assumptions - ask a person's individual preferences, needs, and goals.

Be kind, be patient.

Resources to learn more about neurodiversity

Neurodiversity in the Workplace

About the Authors

Nicole Baumer, MD, MEd, Contributor

Julia Frueh, MD, Guest Contributor

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What is neurodiversity? - Harvard Health

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The term neurodiversity conveys the idea that there is no single right way of thinking, learning, or behaving, and is often used in the context of autism spectrum disorder. A growing self-advocacy movement aims to increase acceptance and inclusion of all people while embracing neurological differences.

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Antiracism & UDL:  Andratesha Fitzgerald (YouTube Webinar)

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Antiracism & UDL:  Andratesha Fitzgerald (YouTube Webinar)

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Sharing Stories: Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning with Andratesha Fritzgerald

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Learner Variability/UDL  (YouTube video)

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Learner Variability/UDL  (YouTube video)

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Representation/Engagement/Action and Expression (UDL)

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There is plenty of confusion between UDL and Differentiated Instruction (DI) in the education world these days, and it is easy to see why. From the very onset, when examining both approaches, there are many commonalities and overlaps between UDL and Differentiated Instruction. In both models:

The standards and expectations are the same for all learners

There is flexibility in lesson design and student groupings

Individual learning strengths and limitations are considered in planning

A wide variety of tools and technology are used to assist student learning

Supports and scaffolding are both integral in lesson design

The question then arises, how are they different? What distinguishes them from one another? Let's examine those differences.

UDL

UDL is more focused on student-centered learning where the learning experiences are proactively designed so there are options that are accessible for every learner.

The goal of UDL is to remove the barriers to learning so students can achieve optimum knowledge and become expert learners.

UDL asks us to design flexible goals, methods, materials, and assessments by keeping in view diverse learner needs from the very beginning.

UDL provides multiple means of engagement, representation, and action and expression to all learners from the start. Students are encouraged to self-differentiate and choose the best path for themselves.

Differentiated Instruction

Differentiated Instruction (DI) can be seen as a responsive practice where adjustments are made based on the individual needs of the students.

Oftentimes, differentiation is done after the data is collated and trends are noticed.

The goal of differentiation is to provide a responsive and optimal learning environment for individuals/groups of learners.

DI provides targeted strategies that are teacher-directed as teachers choose which strategies students receive.

UDL and Differentiation are both positive approaches toward learning as both are student centrist. Both approaches help students achieve success in accessing the content by using strategies and scaffolding. When looking closely, one important point that makes UDL more proactive is that it tries to eliminate the barriers of learning from the very beginning by keeping the variability of learners in mind.

The strategies and scaffolds are embedded within the learning experiences from the planning stage and are available to all students. UDL, in name, communicates universal, inclusive education whereas DI, in name, communicates different ways of learning. Inclusion is the best way to move forward hence UDL covers more ground in planning for variability, firm goals, and expert learning. In inclusive classrooms, we need to be proactive and design lessons with UDL and then be responsive and use data to differentiate instruction.

Sharmila Choudhury, born and raised in India, has 14 years of experience working as an early-year educator at Stamford American International School in Singapore and 5 years of experience in special needs education. In her free time, she enjoys reading, traveling, cooking, and spending time with her family.

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Differentiating between UDL and Differentiated Instruction

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What's the difference between UDL and differentiated instruction and which one do we start with? Learn from Sharmila Choudhury's guest post.

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Listen to the interview with Katie Novak and Mirko Chardin:
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As a teacher, I loved the annual PTO teacher appreciation breakfast: tablecloths featuring pencils, hearts, and shiny red apples, bouquets of pink mini carnations, and a coffee and tea cart fit for a barista. And the buffet! Like mead halls of yore, long banquet tables were lined with fruit salad, homemade quiches, scrambled eggs, miso soup, and gallo pinto. Bagels, croissants, chapattis, and churros sat atop a bread table. Little folded cards identified casseroles that were gluten-free or vegan. Options for everyone! I wanted to sample every single one.

A school down the street didn't have it so good. Their breakfast served a single option-a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich on a biscuit. No substitutions.

Now, I personally love a good ol' brekkie sammy, but it certainly won't meet everyone's needs. Some staff members may be vegetarian, lactose-intolerant, or gluten-free. Some may be watching their waistlines. And some will just think that the sandwich is G.R.O.S.S. We all can predict the outcome. Many will leave hungry, frustrated, and needless to say- un appreciated.

The bacon/egg/cheese saga represents the one-size-fits-all scenarios we often see in our classrooms: Every student is expected to read the same book at the same pace, listen to the same lectures, and complete the same math problems using the same materials. These inflexible solutions expect compliance and favor students who don't face significant barriers to traditional learning. Many of the "tried and true" techniques and curriculum in classrooms perpetuate privilege rather than focusing on learning, autonomy, and empowerment.

When we design the same learning pathways for all learners, we might tell ourselves we are being fair, but in fact, single pathways are exclusionary. Beverly Daniel Tatum, author of the critically acclaimed book, Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? And Other Conversations About Race, challenges us to focus on impact over intentions. It may not be our intent to exclude our learners, but the reality is that many students do not have opportunities to learn at high levels or to access curriculum and instruction that is accessible, engaging, culturally sustaining, and linguistically appropriate.

Luckily, there is a framework that rejects these one-size-fits-all solutions and empowers educators to proactively design learning experiences so all students can increase their brainpower and accelerate and own their learning. The framework is Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

UDL is a framework for designing learning experiences so students have options for how they learn, what materials they use, and how they demonstrate their learning. When implemented with a lens of equity, the framework has the potential to eliminate opportunity gaps that exclude many learners, especially those who have been historically marginalized. If we want all students to have equal opportunities to learn, we have to be incredibly purposeful, proactive, and flexible. UDL creates a learning environment that is the least restrictive and most culturally responsive, trauma-informed environment for all students.

CORE BELIEFS OF UDL

This work begins with asset-based beliefs about students and the power of design to eliminate barriers. A UDL Practitioner believes:

Variability is the rule, not the exception. Students may need to learn in different ways, using different materials, and share what they have learned in different ways to reach the same goals.

All students can work toward the same firm goals and grade-level standards when provided with adequate challenge and support.

All students will become expert learners if barriers are removed and they are given opportunities to self-differentiate.

Belief 1: Variability

Variability is the unique mix of skills, interests, needs, and preferences each and every learner brings to the classroom. Variability goes beyond differences between students and explores differences within students, based on context. Because of variability, what students need is ever-changing and evolving. So providing options for students to reflect on the barriers they are facing and choose pathways that best meet their needs is critical to build self-awareness and expert learning.

In traditional instruction, many educators attempt to define how students learn with one-dimensional labels. For example, many educators will ask me, "What does UDL look like for English language learners/black and brown students/students with disabilities?" My answer is always the same, "The students in those groups are not the same and they don't need one-size-fits-all solutions."

Let's connect back to the breakfast buffet. Imagine you are labeled as a member of the "vegan group." As a result, every day you and the other vegans have plates set aside for you with sliced tomatoes and plain oatmeal. Here's the thing-not all vegans like or eat the same thing. You will want choices too and you will likely make different decisions depending on the day, your mood, and how your tummy feels. Intrapersonal variability matters just as much as interpersonal variability. And if none of the foods work for you, you will definitely need an opportunity to share what you need.

Belief 2: Firm Goals, Flexible Means

Every student can learn at high levels. When creating a universally designed learning experience, educators should ask themselves: "At the end of this lesson, unit, or professional development series, what do my learners have to know or what do they need to be able to do?" Once you identify the firm goal, ask yourself, "Based on the variability in my class, what barriers may prevent learners from working toward that goal and how can I eliminate those barriers through design?"

For example, if the firm goal is "Write arguments to support claims with clear reasons and relevant evidence," you may predict that some students will struggle with organization. Worry not! You can create a buffet with flexible means to support learners. If you proactively provide a graphic organizer, an annotated exemplar with notes about organization, a resource that includes words, phrases, and clauses to help clarify the relationships among claim(s) and reasons, and the opportunity to sign up for small group instruction on organization, you can empower students to choose what they need to organize their writing.

Belief 3: Expert Learning

In his book, Learning to Choose, Choosing to Learn, author Mike Anderson discusses the concept of incorporating student choice into every lesson. Many educators are afraid of handing over the reins to their students, believing they won't make the best choices. The truth is they are right to be afraid; students may make poor choices about their learning, particularly when they are first given this power.

For example, a student may choose to work in a group with his friends in which he becomes distracted instead of working alongside the teacher, where he would have been more successful. But the evaluation of that choice is where the real teaching moment comes into play. Through Anderson's "choose, do, review" method, teachers transition their roles to the facilitator and can provide feedback that guides students to understand and self-evaluate their choices, determine what works for them and what doesn't, and give them opportunities to make better choices in the future and provide feedback about learning design.

If students don't have these opportunities to "choose, do, review" their way to expert learning, they will become what Zaretta Hammond has coined as "dependent learners." Dependent learners are overly reliant on the teacher to carry the load of cognitive tasks and are unsure of how to tackle new tasks because they aren't given opportunities to learn how to be expert learners.

UDL IN ACTION

Imagine this scene in a 6th-grade health classroom: Students are sitting quietly at their desks. The learning target written on the board notes that students will identify ways to reduce their risk of spreading or contracting communicable disease. The agenda outlines classroom activities: (1) watch a CDC video and (2) write an essay on how to reduce the risk of spreading and contracting COVID-19. The lesson is aligned to grade-level standards and features a high quality resource, so what is the problem? The learning experience will not meet the needs of all students because it is one-size-fits-all, so let's give it the UDL treatment. For a lesson to truly be "universally designed," it must meet the following criteria:

Provide Multiple Means of Engagement

Learners differ in the ways they can be engaged or motivated to learn. Because there is not one means of engagement that will be optimal for all learners; providing options to build interest and commitment is essential. At the beginning of the class, the teacher projects a list of communicable diseases including the common cold, strep throat, COVID-19, and Influenza A (the flu). Each disease is paired with a visual. Some learners take out their phones to look at their throats and ask their friends, "Does my throat look like that?" The teacher asks if anyone wants to add a communicable, or spreadable, disease to the list. One student offers, "mono," so she writes it down.

For the next 10 minutes, students have the option to work independently, with a partner, or in a small group with the teacher to list as many symptoms as they can for at least one of the diseases. Students have the option to write words or draw images to represent symptoms on a provided graphic organizer. As they work, they are encouraged to use their devices for research and to find a place conducive to their learning. Two students work at a standing desk while others grab clip boards and gather on the floor with their devices.

Provide Multiple Means of Representation

The second principle of UDL reminds educators to provide multiple means of representation to build knowledge and comprehension in all learners. Not all learners comprehend information in the same way, have the same background information or funds of knowledge, or have access to the same language. When teachers present information, they often use a single representation. This is often done in a lecture, by playing a video, assigning text, or teaching vocabulary, etc. Because there is significant variability in students, they differ in the information they need to learn.

In the health lesson, after students complete the activator, there is a mini-lesson unpacking target vocabulary: risk, communicable disease, and community spread. One student's father is a nurse, so the teacher arranges for a short Zoom call where Dad talks about the importance of washing hands and wearing masks. The closed caption feature is used and students are encouraged to ask questions.

After a short discussion, the teacher provides options for students to learn more about how to prevent the spread of communicable disease: watch the CDC video in English or Spanish, read an article on Newsela, review pamphlets from the nurse's office, or explore a combination of these resources. They are provided with essential questions to support their learning. As students work, the teacher checks in with each of them, asks questions, and provides feedback.

Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression

It is devastating when students aren't able to express their understanding because of inflexible assessments. Traditionally, students have been asked to share their understanding using only a single pathway, like a multiple-choice test, essay prompt, and/or project without any flexible scaffolds or supports. When teachers provide students with multiple options that are authentic and personalized, learners are able to practice executive functioning skills as they analyze the task and choose the best option to demonstrate that they met the intended outcome.

After learning about how to reduce their risk of spreading or contracting communicable disease, students are provided with numerous options to share what they have learned. They can write a response, record a video or podcast, create a pamphlet or infographic, or suggest an alternative. The teacher provides a word bank with the target vocabulary, a single-point rubric, and a checklist so students can self-assess their work before submitting it. One student asks if he can write and produce a rap as long as it meets the rubric. "Absolutely," the teacher replies. "I can't wait to hear it."

ARE UDL AND DIFFERENTIATION THE SAME?

You may be reading this and thinking, "This sounds a lot like differentiated instruction." The frameworks are similar, and complementary, but they are not the same.

Carol Tomlinson leads the field of differentiated instruction, As Tomlinson shares in her book The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners, teachers in a differentiated classroom begin with their current curriculum and engaging instruction and then adapt the content, process, product, and environment to ensure that students receive the targeted intervention, support, and enrichment they need. This responsiveness is incredibly important, but may not set students up to reflect on their learning and make choices for themselves.

In the breakfast buffet analogy, you don't want to be a part of the "vegan group" where decisions are made for you. Even with the buffet, hosts need to be responsive and reflective, noting when some people aren't eating and figuring out how the buffet could be designed differently the next time. When differentiation is combined with the practices and principles of UDL, students have opportunities to reflect, make choices, and build ownership of their learning; they also benefit from more explicit support when necessary.

Unlike differentiation alone, UDL empowers students to self-differentiate their learning and build autonomy and independence; this sends a powerful message. In her book Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning, Andratesha Fritzgerald notes that this kind of design honors our students, that when we provide them with choice and voice, we communicate these things:

You are more important than the systems we serve.

You are more important than my personal preferences.

You are more important than the way the content is packaged.

I am willing to learn about you to help you reach your life goals.

You are important and I will honor you with instruction that holds you accountable and empowers you to take ownership of your own learning.

Proactively designing curriculum and instruction through the lens of UDL, and supplementing that design with differentiated instruction, is a pathway to equity-one that will have an incredible impact on learners.

As Mirko Chardin and I shared in Equity by Design: Delivering on the Power and Promise of UDL, "Educators hold incredible power: power to design learning experiences, power to set expectations for students, power to elevate and celebrate student voices, power to inspire and motivate students, the power to create consequences, and the power to allow for choice and personalization. We have to understand that all of us carry that power and privilege and we must use it as a tool to confront and dismantle inequities so all students have equal opportunities to learn."

Universal design is one path toward dismantling those inequities. Start your UDL journey now.

Learn More

As a next step, here is a buffet of high-quality resources to learn more about UDL and educational equity. Just like the Teacher Appreciation Breakfasts that I loved so much, check out your options, and choose what's best for you. And if you're like me and you want to try a little bit of everything, treat yourself!

Read It

Read this blog, written by Mirko Chardin and I, that shares that the time for equity (and UDL!) is now.

Read Chapter 1 in UDL Theory and Practice: Re-Envisioning Education through UDL (free with free login). The book is a universally designed text book, so you can read, have it read to you, or watch videos that explore concepts more deeply.

View a PDF copy of the UDL Flowchart, which is a tool to think about UDL lesson design. If you'd like to read a blog that introduces the flow chart, you can access it here.

View the UDL Progression Rubric to determine what UDL looks like at each phase of implementation.

Use the UDL Implementation Rubric to consider where your current practices are within UDL. There are no right or wrong answers. This is simply an opportunity to reflect on your current implementation. Choose the descriptor that best meets your practice and consider how you can continue to grow in UDL to create more equitable, personalized learning experiences for your students.

Read "Equity in Our Schools: A Pretty Little Lie" an article co-written with Andratesha Fritzgerald, the author of Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning.

Listen to It

Listen to this podcast on Cult of Pedagogy, Ten Ways Educators Can Take Action in Pursuit of Equity, featuring Pedro Noguera, Distinguished Professor of Education at the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA.

Listen to this podcast from Paula Martin Johnson, where she shares concrete strategies for how educators can create a climate and curriculum that reflects students' racial and economic backgrounds, languages, religions, funds of knowledge and family structures.

Watch It

Come back for more.
Join our mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration that will make your teaching more effective and fun. You'll get access to our members-only library of free downloads, including 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half, the e-booklet that has helped thousands of teachers save time on grading. Over 50,000 teachers have already joined-come on in.

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This framework rejects one-size-fits-all teaching and offers options for how to engage, what materials to use, and how to demonstrate learning.

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3.Teaching / SOGI 1 2 3 / British Columbia

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Find elementary and secondary lesson plans and educational activities aligned with the BC curriculum that are inclusive of all sexual orientations and gender identities (SOGI) and reflect the LGBTQ+ diversity in society.

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UDL and Science/NovakEducation (Lesson Plans)

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UDL and Science/NovakEducation (Lesson Plans)

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When you think of implementing Universal Design for Learning into science lessons, it may not always be the easiest right off the bat. But we can assure you that implementing the UDL Framework within science is very possible and helps to create a better experience for all of our learners! Through the use of UDL strategies, we encourage learners to develop as expert scientists, to make meaning from science and the seven crosscutting concepts (CC) that are the foundation of all sciences.

UDL and Science are a perfect match as science explores a wide range of possibilities, and creative thinking and problem-solving are encouraged, practiced, and explored.

The National Science Teaching Association has developed a set of standards for science and engineering that many state departments of education have used as a basis for statewide standards.

By growing students' skills in the practice standards, we empower them to become expert learners of science. To demonstrate this, my colleague Tom Thibodeau and I started with three different lesson plans that were submitted to us by your fellow teachers.

Lesson Plan Makeovers

Key Takeaways

Always post lesson goals and target success criteria. By sharing goals and standards with students, it sends them a powerful message that you value them as learners, that you trust them to keep you accountable, and that you believe they deserve to know about their education. Providing goals and success criteria offers the opportunity to highlight and reinforce mathematical vocabulary and procedures.

Reactivate student knowledge! Without any reinforcement or connections to prior knowledge, information is quickly forgotten-roughly 56 percent in one hour, 66 percent after a day, and 75 percent after six days. Before you build on a previous lesson, reactivate that knowledge. Science teachers are especially aware of how a strong foundation in basic information is key to understanding more complex information.

Remind students of the different strategies that are available to them. This helps to build expert learners and problem solvers.

Encourage active engagement during explicit instruction - and provide options for expression! Students need to recognize the science that exists in the world around them. Remember, what is necessary for some is important to provide as options for all.

Remember, you do not need to implement all UDL tips at the same time. As you reflect on your lesson planning process and reflect on grade-level standards, consider incorporating 1-2 strategies in each lesson until it becomes more a part of your practice. If you begin simply by asking students where in their lives they have used science, or when they have needed to understand the cause and effect relationship, you encourage them to model their lives with science(CC2). As you provide direct instruction in specific procedures, ask them to compare them to prior knowledge and reflect on the efficiency of those procedures (CC4 & CC6). Also, be sure to ask students to reflect on the options and choices that are most relevant, authentic, and meaningful as that will help you to plan future lessons that embrace variability, target grade-level goals, and foster student expert learning and collaboration ( UDL Guideline 8.3).

Implementing UDL is a process. Start small. Look at one of your lessons and give it a UDL makeover. If you are looking to deepen your learning, explore our math makeovers or submit your lesson plan for a possible feature in an upcoming post.

Looking to implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) to provide rich learning opportunities for all students.in your science classroom?

Explore our self-directed course, Inclusive Practices in the Science Classroom. Learn strategies and approaches to design for students to think and act like scientists!

Inclusive Practices in the Science Classroom

Self-Directed Course | Grad Credits Available
Learn More This was post was created by Allison Posey and Tom Thibodeau.

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When you think of implementing Universal Design for Learning into science lessons, it may not always be the easiest right off the bat. But we can assure you that implementing the UDL Framework within science is very possible and helps to create a better experience for all of our learners!

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UDL and Math/NovakEducation (Lesson Plans)

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UDL and Math/NovakEducation (Lesson Plans)

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Previously we shared our "UDL Accommodations Faculty Meeting Protocol" designed to help educators better understand how to incorporate accommodations and scaffolds to improve outcomes for all learners. (If you haven't already, check it out here!). The protocol begins before the meeting - asking all educators to bring a lesson plan. At the conclusion of the meeting, teachers are encouraged to choose an assignment or assessment of their own that could benefit from scaffolding and more flexibility and revise it.

We practice what we preach and provide exemplars to help you to design your lessons from the UDL lens - starting with makeovers on math lessons. Oftentimes, math remains a bit of an outlier when beginning to implement UDL. At first glance, it may not seem as easy to redesign lessons for inclusion when speaking in terms of numbers. Math teachers may feel concerned that, by offering a choice of activities, students may miss out on needed skills practice. They may worry that during a self-differentiated learning experience, students will not use the most effective strategies. They may ask whether giving access to reference sheets and other tools will lead to students who can't remember formulas and procedures for high stakes tests. And we hear you! With the help of the brilliant Nathan Lang-Raad and Karen Gartland , we have pulled together tips to implement the UDL Guidelines with a specific math focus which your math teachers can use to review their lessons.

We assure you that implementing the UDL Framework within math is very possible and helps to create a better experience for all of our learners! Through the use of UDL strategies, we encourage learners to make meaning from mathematics and persevere in their work (MPS1), to communicate their ideas and to critique other's reasoning (MPS3) , and to select and utilize appropriate tools (MPS5). By growing students' skills in the practice standards, we enable them to become expert learners of mathematics. To demonstrate this, my colleague Libby Often and I started with three different lesson plans. Check out the UDL Makeovers below.

UDL Lesson Plan Makeovers

UDL Makeover for Grade 3

Original

UDL Makeover

Methods
Grade 3 Eureka Math, Module 4, Lesson 11

Fluency practice

Application problem

Concept development

Problem Set

Student debrief

Fluency practice options

Provide an option for students to participate in one of the fluency activities outlined in the Eureka lesson. Create stations with directions on all four activities. Encourage students to choose the activity that would challenge and engage them.
Application problem options

Problem A: The banquet table in a restaurant measures 3 feet by 6 feet. For a large party, workers at the restaurant place 2 banquet tables side by side to create 1 long table. Find the area of the new, longer table.

Problem B: One-fourth of the banquet table has an area of 9 square feet. If the width of the table is 3 feet, what is the length? What is the area of the table?

Concept development options
Provide explicit instruction for learners on 36 square units. Next provide the following options to continue with 24, 48, and 72 square units.

Stay with teacher in small group

Watch recording of Grade 3.4, Lesson 11 with Duane Habecker who creates mini-lessons on youtube for every Eureka lesson. The video can be paused, replayed, etc for those who need repeated viewing of the concept. Note: The Edpuzzle platform allows educators to extend the work of a video, by placing multiple choice or open-ended questions at strategic points throughout the video.

Use the Zearn website to review and extend the work of the lesson. Zearn is a free website that mirrors the Eureka lessons

Student debrief options
At the end of the lesson, allow students to participate in the debrief by reflecting in writing, on Seesaw, or by chatting with a partner or small group regarding one of the following questions:

How did the Application Problem connect to today's lesson?

How did the Fluency Practice help prepare you for the lesson?

Assessments
Problem Set
Problem Set

Complete on paper or on Edulastic

Provide extension activities for when students finish including the following options:

Go back to fluency activities

An Open Middle problem. UDL tip: Provide challenge options that delve deeper into mathematical concepts and create connections across domains

A math fact fluency game/activity

Ensure that the following materials are available:

Manipulatives

White boards

Number lines

UDL Makeover for Grade 6

Original

UDL Makeover

Goals

Goal: To identify and represent rates and to use them to solve problems

Subgoals: Define rates as a special kind of ratio, identify and solve unit rates

Prior Knowledge: Students have already defined and used unit ratios and equivalent fractions

This will be used for: Students will use this knowledge to solve problems involving scale factor, and to represent linear relationships where the rate represents the slope of a line

Begin by activating prior knowledge. Put on a timer for 5 minutes. Ask students to review what they know about unit ratios and equivalent fractions. Options: they can talk with a partner, write/draw the answer and/or review their notes/online textbook for a refresher.

Next, introduce the goal of the lesson: Options: Ask students to explain the goal to each other or write it in their own words.

Provide the vocabulary words (Rate, Ratio, Unit Rate, Units of Measure, Quantity) and ask students to complete a vocabulary rating scale

Methods

Launch: Remind students of a commonly used rate, miles per hour. Ask students to list QUANTITIES that they see every day (e.g. desks, students, pages, hours) Then create ratios that compare these quantities (e.g., desks: student, pages: hours).

Explore worked examples

Student work from online textbook

Students summarize what they learned

Students create ratio poster and discuss

During the launch, provide explicit instruction where you pre-teach vocabulary, model a worked problem, and ask students to reflect on their level of understanding.

Provide 10 minutes for self-differentiated learning where students can work with you in a small group diving deeper into vocabulary (this connects back to the vocabulary rating scale), watch a Brainpop video on ratios, or watch the Khan Academy video on intro to ratios.

When you ask students to summarize what they learned, provide the option for them to write a summary or share a short video summary and post on a Padlet, for example.

Instead of requiring all students to make the same poster, provide them with options to create a representation of ratio, rate, and unit rate. Students can draw the poster, create an infographic on Canva, write a poem about the three concepts, or make a short video like the Khan Academy video .

Students can share their representation in small groups and have a discussion. Be sure to provide discussion questions like, "How did this assignment help you better understand the difference between ratio, rate, and unit rate?"

Assessments

All students complete:

Homework from online textbook

Summative Assessment: Quiz and Unit Test on Ratios and Rates

When you assign homework and assessments, ensure students have appropriate scaffolds.

When students take the unit test, encourage them to use the online textbook, their notes, and the representation they created about ratio, rate, and unit rate.

Include a super challenge problem on the assessment for bonus points so see which students are prepared for an additional level of challenge.

Provide an opportunity for a retake if they attend an extra help session first and reflect on the mistakes they made on the assessment.

UDL Makeover for Grade 9

Original

UDL Makeover

Goals

The original lesson has clear goals.

Illustrate the solution set to a system of linear inequalities on a coordinate plane

Use systems of linear inequalities to solve problems in context

Begin by activating prior knowledge. Put on a timer for 5 minutes. Ask students to review what they know about systems of linear equations.. Options: they can talk with a partner, write/draw the answer and/or review their notes/online textbook for a refresher.

Next, introduce the goal of the lesson: Options: Ask students to explain the goal to each other or write it in their own words.

Provide the vocabulary words (plane, intersection, system of linear equations) and ask students to complete a vocabulary rating scale.

Methods

Warm-Up

Introduce vocabulary

Provide explicit instruction

Practice - provide a point in the solution set

Warm-Up/ Vocabulary Considerations Explicit Instruction Considerations

Fun tip: Pre-survey students to determine interest areas and provide warm up word problems that incorporate their interests.

Provide explicit instruction where you pre-teach vocabulary with visuals, examples, non-examples, etc., model a worked problem, and ask students to reflect on their level of understanding.

Provide 10 minutes for self-differentiated learning and at the end of the time, ask them to complete the warm-up.

Work with you in a small group diving deeper into vocabulary (this connects back to the vocabulary rating scale)

Review a tutorial on systems of linear equations on PurpleMath

Watch the Khan Academy video (2 minutes) on systems of linear equations

Provide options for students to review sections in online textbooks, supplemental curriculum resources, etc...

Provide an engaging scenario (word problem) and provide options for students to discuss, brainstorm, write how they would approach solving the problem.

Remind students of the different strategies that are available to them when deciding where to shade (i.e, choosing a test point, changing the format the inequality is written in)

Encourage active engagement during explicit instruction through modeling, asking students to writing/type notes, and asking students to annotate diagrams either in hard copy or digitally.

You may want to provide colored pencils to help students differentiate shading but also provide the option to use different patterns for students who may be colorblind.

Use the practice problem as a formative assessment to ensure that students are comfortable with graphing equations and inequalities. The results of the formative assessment will allow you to create flexible groupings. Students who are successful with practice problems can move on to classwork, while students who struggle will continue to work in a small group for targeted instruction.

Assessments

All students complete:

Classwork/Homework Considerations

Make explicit connections between homework problems and explicit instruction, as in, "Problems 1-3 are similar to the practice problem we completed today," so they have an example as they are working.

When students complete homework, encourage them to use the online textbook, their notes, reference sheets, Desmos link...

Include a super challenge problem on the assessment for bonus points so see which students are prepared for an additional level of challenge.

Provide an answer/solution key to at least some of problems so students can ensure their strategy is correct.

Encourage students who are struggling to begin to review solution key and describe the set they do not understand as an alternative homework assignment.

Key Takeaways

Always post lesson goals and target success criteria. By sharing goals and standards with students, it sends them a powerful message that you value them as learners, that you trust them to keep you accountable, and that you believe they deserve to know about their education. Providing goals and success criteria offers the opportunity to highlight and reinforce mathematical vocabulary and procedures.

Reactivate student knowledge! Without any reinforcement or connections to prior knowledge, information is quickly forgotten-roughly 56 percent in one hour, 66 percent after a day, and 75 percent after six days. Before you build on a previous lesson, reactivate that knowledge. Math teachers are especially aware of how counting numbers leads to integers and on to irrational numbers -- without a strong base, the building will fail.

Remind students of the different strategies that are available to them to build expert learners and problem solvers.

Encourage active engagement during explicit instruction - and provide options for expression! Students need to recognize the math that exists in the world around them. Remember, what is necessary for some is important to provide as options for all.

Remember, you do not need to implement all UDL tips at the same time. As you reflect on your lesson planning process, and reflect on grade-level standards, consider incorporating 1-2 strategies in each lesson until it becomes more a part of your practice. If you begin simply by asking students where in their lives they have used ratios, or when they have needed to estimate the price of snacks they picked up at the store, you encourage them to model their lives with mathematics (MPS4). As you provide direct instruction in specific procedures, ask them to compare them to prior knowledge and reflect on the efficiency of those procedures (MPS3 and MPS8). Also, be sure to ask students to reflect on the options and choices that are most relevant, authentic and meaningful as that will help you to plan future lessons that embrace variability, target grade-level goals and foster student expert learning.

Implementing UDL is a process. Start small. Look at one of your lessons and give it a UDL makeover. We would love to hear from you. Share your work @KatieNovakUDL or submit your lesson plan for a possible feature in an upcoming post.

Looking to implement Universal Design for Learning in your learning community? Contact us.

Take the next step on your learning journey.

Learn how to engage in best practices from the Standards for Mathematical Practice and UDL strategies to increase your ability to effectively engage your students in learning mathematics. Discover more about the self-directed courses:
Mathematics for ALL: UDL for Middle School Mathematics for Everyone: UDL for Elementary Mathematics. Libby Often is currently the Mathematics Department Chair at Lowell High School in Lowell, Ma. She is a graduate of the EdD program in Math and Science at UMass Lowell. Her work has been published in Techniques magazine, published by ACTE, and the Annual Colloquium Journal, published by UML GSE. Connect with Libby @e_often.
30 Continuing Education Hours | Option for 3 Graduate Credits + 15 Additional Continuing Education Hours With Completion of Final Project

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UDL Lesson Plan Makeovers: Math Lessons (+ Math Resource Download)

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Learn to universally design your math lesson plans. See the results of the elementary lesson plan, middle school lesson plan, and high school lesson plan

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Teaching About Ableism - Teachers for Social Change

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Teaching About Ableism - Teachers for Social Change

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Ableism is prejudice or discrimination against people with disabilities and can be intentional or unintentional. Ableism is ultimately founded in the belief that people with typical abilities are superior, and in turn, those with disabilities are inferior. There are many harmful stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalizations about people with disabilities. Though many incidents of ableism occur in day-to-day conversation by people who unknowingly use ableist language, there are plenty of systems in place in society that discriminate against people with disabilities.

Teaching about ableism is important because there is a portion of our population-a crucial portion-that is being oppressed. Students should be given the opportunity to learn about how people with disabilities are affected by ableism and what they can do to help eliminate ableism!
Resources
There are many resources available online for teaching students about ableism. For educators who are interested, United 4SC also offers Teaching About Disability and Teaching About Neurodivergent Communities.
Lesson Plans

1. What Is Ableism?: Learning for Justice has created a lesson on ableism. In this lesson, students will share prior knowledge on physical disabilities, stereotypes regarding people with disabilities, and issues of fairness and accessibility. They will also start learning vocabulary for talking about physical disabilities and ableism. Educators who are looking for their students to evaluate their own knowledge and questions about disabilities should check out this resource!

2. Understanding and Challenging Ableism: The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) provides a lesson on ableism in which students will be given the opportunity to understand ableism, identify and categorize specific examples of ableism, learn about the different ways ableism takes place, and consider the ways they can be allies and actions they can take to challenge ableism. Students will do so through participating in several different activities, such as a turn and talk, an information sharing, and a reading activity. ADL has also offered the links of additional lesson plans related to ableism: Equal Treatment, Equal Access - Raising Awareness about People with Disabilities and Their Struggle for Equal Rights, "The Present" and Living with a Disability, Children's and Young Adult Books on Ability, Disability and Ableism, and others!

3. Challenging Ableist Language: GLSEN provides a lesson on challenging ableist language. The lesson focuses on ableism and how to avoid using ableist language. The main resource used is the Huffington Post article Doing Social Justice: 10 Reasons to Give Up Ableist Language, which will encourage students to discuss how ableist language is used in their daily lives and society as a whole.

4. Unit on Ableism: This unit on ableism is divided into five different sections: Introduction and Photos, Disability, Ableism, Fighting for Access, and lastly Organizing/Action. In the introduction, students will explore the concepts of "ability" and "disability," review stereotypes of "normal" and "abnormal" appearance and behavior, and view photos illustrating mistreatment of people with disabilities. In Disability, students will explore the experiences of having a disability and of coming across a person with a visible disability. The section Ableism requires students to examine three aspects of the oppression of ableism: stereotypes, violence, and institutionalized mistreatment. In Fighting for Access, students will review how people with disabilities have resisted ableism and brainstorm ways to improve access in the classroom for the disabled. Lastly, the section Organizing/Action provides a template to help teachers and students alike stay organized throughout the lesson.

5. Undoing Ableism - Teaching About Disability in K-12 Classrooms: Academia has published Undoing Ableism: Teaching About Disability in K-12 Classroom. This paper discusses why educators should teach about disability and ableism in K-12 education, the foundations for teaching about disability and ableism, teaching and learning as critical inquiry, and more! Teachers can learn so much about how to teach about disability and ableism in their classrooms from this resource, and the only thing they have to do to download this paper is to create a free account with Academia!

6. Ableism 101 Part One: What Is Ableism? What Is Disability?: The Disability Resource Center at the University of Arizona provides Ableism 101 Part One presentation slides, Ableist words and terms to avoid, and the Ableism 101 Workbook for the first session of their workshop series. Educators can utilize these resources however they would like!

Articles

1. The Teacher's Guide to Combating Classroom Ableism: Planbook provides a teacher's guide to combating classroom ableism. This guide explains how to identify ableism and why it matters, understand diagnosis and context, utilize inclusive educational content, and find resources for teaching acceptance. For educators who are beginning the process of deciding how to teach ableism, this guide lays out an easy and effective way to do so!

2. What is Ableism? Teachers Share 8 Things They Wish the World Understood: Rasmussen University offers an article that discusses ableism and shares several things teachers and others who work with people of varying ability wish the world understood about ableism. Educators and experts alike share how everyone has strengths and limitations, children with differing abilities are still children, a little accommodation can make all the difference, and more!

3. Words Matter, And It's Time To Explore The Meaning Of "Ableism.": Forbes has published an article exploring the meaning of "ableism." The article breaks down the definitions of ableism, personal ableism, and systemic ableism in a detailed manner. For educators who are introducing ableism into their classrooms for the first time and want their students to deepen their understanding of this prejudice, this article is very helpful.

4. The Harmful Ableist Language You Unknowingly Use: BBC provides an article discussing the harmful ableist language our society unknowingly uses on a daily basis. Some of the most common expressions used in our society have a damaging effect on millions of people. Students and teachers alike may utilize some of these sayings and hurt others without realizing it, so this article will help each one of us to recognize ableist language and ultimately stop using it in conversations.

5. Why You Need to Stop Using These Words and Phrases: The Harvard Business Review has published an article discussing why people need to stop using ableist words and phrases. As the author of this article explains, ableism is bigger than language, as it reveals our unconscious biases, makes us internalize harmful biases about disability, and stigmatizes already marginalized people. Thus, it is important for all of us to make a conscious effort to improve our vocabulary!

Informational Sites

1. NCCJ - Ableism: The National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ) provides a multitude of information on ableism. This resource offers definitions on terms related to ableism, history, videos, articles and handouts, statistics, and questions to consider.

2. Ableism 101 - What It Is, What It Looks Like, And What We Can Do To Fix It: Access Living provides a brief informational article on ableism. The article explains what ableism is, what ableism looks like, what 'everyday' or minor ableism looks like, what ableist microaggressions are, and what we can do to recognize and avert ableism.

3. #Ableism - Center for Disability Rights: The Center for Disability Rights offers a brief explanation of ableism.

4. Stop Ableism - What is Ableism?: Stop Ableism provides an abundance of information on ableism. The site specifically offers information on what ableism is, why accessibility is good, accessible businesses, how to welcome customers, business accessibility test, interacting with people with disabilities, barrier free elections, ableism history, and financial assistance.

Conclusion
Teaching about ableism is very important! While teaching about this topic, it is key to remember that students may have witnessed or experienced ableism themselves. Teachers should always be sensitive to students' feelings and give them space to share them if they want to do so. Also, it is important to note that schools are a common place for people to experience ableism, depending on their physical accessibility to buildings and materials along with the ways in which they are treated by those around them. Therefore, it may be beneficial for teachers to have conversations with students about how their school treats people with disabilities and work on improving circumstances if needed!
Additional Resources

12 Ways Disabled People Experience Internalized Ableism: The Mighty provides a brief article that discusses several ways that disabled people experienced internalized ableism. The Mighty is a digital community created to connect and empower people facing health issues and disabilities. Therefore, the information in this article about internalized ableism comes from members of the communities themselves. Overall, this resource will help students understand the discrimination individuals with disabilities face.

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Teaching About Ableism - Educators 4 Social Change

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Introduction Ableism is prejudice or discrimination against people with disabilities and can be intentional or unintentional. Ableism is ultimately founded in the belief that people with typical abilities are superior, and in turn, those with disabilities are inferior. There are many harmful stereotypes, misconceptions, and generalizations about people with disabilities....

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Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (California Dept of Education)

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Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (California Dept of Education)

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Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy builds on decades of asset-based pedagogical research including Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (Ladson-Billings) and Culturally Responsive (Gay and Hammond) and Linguistic (Hollie) Pedagogy.

Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy affirms and respects the key components of the Asset-Based Pedagogies that preceded it, but also takes them to the next level. Instead of just accepting or affirming the backgrounds of students of color as seen in Culturally Relevant Pedagogy; or connecting to students' cultural knowledge, prior experiences, and frames of reference as we see in Culturally Responsive Pedagogy; Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy views schools as places where the cultural ways of being in communities of color are sustained, rather than eradicated.

Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy promotes equality across racial and ethnic communities and seeks to ensure access and opportunity. Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy also supports students to critique and question dominant power structures in societies.

Django Paris and H. Samy Alim describe the key features across culturally sustaining educational settings in an Education Week Author Interview: 'Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies' .

Feature

What it Looks Like

Students' languages, literacies, and cultural ways of being are centered meaningfully and consistently in classroom learning instead of being considered as "add-ons."

Educators and schools are in conversation with communities about what they desire and want to sustain through schooling.

Educators connect present learning to the histories of racial, ethnic, and linguistic communities both locally and nationally.

Educators value and sustain the cultural and linguistic practices of the community while providing access to the dominant culture (white, middle class, and standard English speaking).

Resources

H. Samy Alim and Django Paris, eds., Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching and Learning for Justice in a Changing World, Teachers College Press (2017).

Gloria Ladson-Billings, "Culturally Relevant Pedagogy 2.0: a.k.a. the Remix" , Harvard Educational Review (Volume 84, Number 1, p.74-84, Spring 2014), accessed October 2019.

Ferlazzo and Paris, "Author Interview: 'Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies'" , EdWeek (2017), accessed January 2020.

Culturally Sustaining/Revitalizing Pedagogy

Culturally Sustaining/Revitalizing Pedagogy extends Paris and Alim's research to Native American learners. The Western colonization of the United States historically erased Native American culture, belief systems, and languages. Culturally Sustaining/Revitalizing Pedagogy specifically relates to reclaiming or revitalizing what Native American learners lost through the process of colonization.

Most Native American learners in the United States attend schools outside of reservations and constitute very small percentages of public school populations. Disparities on the National Assessment of Educational Progress, as well as in graduation rates, overrepresentation in special education, and college completion rates are evident when comparing Native American students to their White counterparts.

Culturally Sustaining/Revitalizing Pedagogy is a promising practice in utilizing Native culture and language to positively impact Native learners' achievement. Deeply embedded in these practices is the teaching of Native languages in order to allow students to deeply connect with their cultural communities. Culturally Sustaining/Revitalizing Pedagogy ensures that Native culture is present throughout the curriculum as well.

Resources

Michelle M. Jacob, Leilani Sabzalian, Joana Jansen, Tary J. Tobin, Claudia G. Vincent, and Kelly M. LaChance, "The Gift of Education: How Indigenous Knowledges Can Transform the Future of Public Education" (PDF) , International Journal of Multicultural Education (Volume 20, Number 1, 2018), accessed October 2019.

Teresa L. McCarty and Tiffany S. Lee, "Critical Culturally Sustaining/Revitalizing Pedagogy and Indigenous Education Sovereignty" , Harvard Educational Review, accessed October 2019.

Questions: Teacher and Leader Policy Office | TLPO@cde.ca.gov | 916-445-7331

Last Reviewed: Thursday, March 09, 2023

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Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy builds upon the Asset-Based Pedagogies that came before it but presents the need to not only affirm and connect to students' cultural backgrounds, but also to sustain them through schooling.

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WashU researchers share findings about student belonging and growth mindset.

In the CTL's new guidebook for instructors, Promoting Student Well-Being in Learning Environments, one of the keys to well-being that we highlight is Belonging & Growth Mindset. We encourage faculty to show students that mistakes are part of the learning process and help them work through challenges in a way that encourages self-compassion and promotes a sense of belonging.

At WashU's Center for Integrative Research on Cognition, Learning, and Education (CIRCLE), led by Dr. Mark McDaniel, researchers have been examining students' sense of belonging and growth mindset. Dr. Angela Fink, lead author on several recent projects, shared why CIRCLE is interested in these topics, saying,

"Research shows that students' beliefs about themselves and their connections to peers influence not only their well-being but also their academic success, and we are eager to explore those findings among WashU students and promote instructional practices that help all students learn and prosper."

Fink and colleagues found in a 2020 study that a student's early-semester sense of belonging in General Chemistry 1 and 2 helped to predict their performance in the classes-students who felt a greater sense of belonging scored higher on exams. While the effect was small, it held even when accounting for other factors such as academic preparation. Moreover, sense of belonging at the end of the first semester predicted persistence into the second semester course. Students with a strong sense of belonging had almost no chance of leaving the course sequence, while students with only a mild sense of belonging had closer to a 20% chance of leaving.

Ongoing research from CIRCLE is showing that the factors underlying a student's belonging can vary from student to student. One key strategy for promoting a sense of belonging among our students is encouraging them to approach courses with a growth mindset. In analyses combining across many studies, researchers have shown that people who believe that psychological traits such as intelligence are malleable, rather than fixed, are more likely to approach tasks with the goal of mastery (Burnette et al., 2013). When they face challenges, growth-oriented students may be less inclined to doubt themselves and their belonging in class and are prepared to overcome obstacles.

In particular, surveys with WashU students through the HHMI Inclusive Excellence Project show the importance of instructors expressing openness to student questions and helping students view mistakes as a normal part of learning. This fits with research from outside of WashU showing that when students perceive that their instructors believe they can improve, students feel a greater sense of belonging and perform better (Muenks et al., 2020). As an example, when asked about what makes classes feel inclusive, one WashU student said,

"My instructor is very open to questions and never makes it seem like an answer is stupid, even if it's wrong. They take care to correct when people say things wrong but pick out the portions of their answer that are correct and build from there."

Article by: Angela Fink, Chris Wally, and Ali York
Want to learn about strategies that WashU instructors are using to support student belonging and growth mindset? Check out our recent Faculty Spotlight!

This post is part of our ongoing series on Promoting Student Well-Being in Learning Environments, check back in a few weeks for our next post about Social Connection!

References:

Burnette, J. L., O'Boyle, E. H., VanEpps, E. M., Pollack, J. M., & Finkel, E. J. (2013). Mind-sets matter: A meta-analytic review of implicit theories and self-regulation. Psychological Bulletin, 139(3), 655-701. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0029531

Fink, A., Frey, R. F., & Solomon, E. (2020). Belonging in General Chemistry Predicts First-Year Undergraduates' Performance and Attrition. Chemistry Education Research and Practice. DOI: 10.1039/D0RP00053A

Muenks, K., Canning, E. A., LaCosse, J., Green, D. J., Zirkel, S., Garcia, J. A., & Murphy, M. C. (2020). Does my professor think my ability can change? Students' perceptions of their STEM professors' mindset beliefs predict their psychological vulnerability, engagement, and performance in class. Journal of Experimental Psychology. General, 149(11), 2119-2144. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000763

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Research Spotlight: Belonging & Growth Mindset

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"Research shows that students' beliefs about themselves and their connections to peers influence not only their well-being but also their academic success, and we are eager to explore those findings among WashU students and promote instructional practices that help all students learn and prosper."

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Teacher as Interrupter (Dr. Sealey-Ruiz) 

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Teacher as Interrupter (Dr. Sealey-Ruiz) 

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Yolanda Sealey-Ruiz - Teacher as Interrupter

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Shifting to Emergent Bilingual Learner (from ELL)

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Shifting to Emergent Bilingual Learner (from ELL)

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Throughout IDRA's almost five decades, we have paid close attention to how we speak about people in terms of race or ethnicity, gender, etc. Words matter.

Almost 5 million students in U.S. public schools are learning English as a second language. That's over 10% of the student population. The number almost doubled over the last 15 years. IDRA recently took another look at the terminology used to identify these students and the implications of using certain labels.

Most state policies refer to students with a first language other than English as English learners or English language learners, while 10, including Texas, use some form of limited English proficient students (LEP).* The Texas Education Agency also uses English learners in documents. At first glance, these labels may seem neutral and plainly descriptive; however a closer inspection reveals that these terms are deficit-based, that is, they define students by the knowledge they lack, rather than the strengths and abilities they already bring into the classroom.

Such terms can affect how we understand students and their potential. They can cause us to give English more legitimacy and power than a student's first language. Additionally, because of the language used to define students, many may see them as a needy, expensive to educate, monolithic group, rather than a diverse group of students who represent a necessary resource and asset.

In Texas, for example, almost one in five students are designated English learners. Labeling almost 20% of Texas students as limited English proficient students or English learners can negatively affect how policymakers and educators measure those students' potential. It starts with a deficit understanding of their abilities, labels them in terms of a cost that schools struggle to afford, funnels them into particular pathways according to perceptions, and often limits their access to critical learning opportunities, such as college-level coursework (Martinez, 2018). Because emergent bilingual students are seldom viewed as college material, only one in 10 are deemed college ready at graduation (TEA, 2018).

IDRA believes in the value of bilingualism and biculturalism. Schools must protect the civil rights of all students by preserving and celebrating the cultures and experiences tied to the diverse languages students bring into the classroom. For these reasons, IDRA prefers using the term emergent bilingual students.

Coined and popularized by Dr. Ofelia García in 2008, emergent bilingual focuses on the unique potential for bilingualism possessed by students who are learning English in school. This terminology demands that we take an asset-based view of the capabilities of emergent bilingual students, who are simultaneously acquiring a new set of linguistic capabilities in school and building on the valuable knowledge of their first language.

By adopting the emergent bilingual distinction, we hope that education stakeholders at all levels begin to imagine classrooms where linguistic diversity is praised rather than shunned, and where students are intentionally invited to leverage their full linguistic and social repertoire in all learning environments (Ascenzi-Moreno, 2017). To propel this change, IDRA also is working with state lawmakers and education agencies, school districts and community members to encourage the use of the term emergent bilingual in state law, administrative codes and at the school level.
* In some regions of the country, the term "dual language" learner is used, which can be confused with the instructional program that is also called "dual language."
Resources

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (Fall 2017). From Deficit to Diversity: How Teachers of Recently Arrived Emergent Bilinguals Negotiate Ideological and Pedagogical Change. Schools: Studies in Education, Vol. 14, No. 2.

City University of New York. (2019). Vision statement - Emergent Bilinguals: Emergence, Dynamic Bilingualism, and Dynamic Development. CUNY-New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals.

Education Commission of the States. (2020). 5 0-State Comparison: English Learner Policies - How is "English learner" defined in state policy? webpage.

García, O., Kleifgen, J.A., & Falchi, L. (2008). From English Language Learners to Emergent Bilinguals. Equity Matters: Research Review, No. 1.

Martínez, R.A. (2018). B eyond the "English Learner" Label: Recognizing the Richness of Bi/Multilingual Students' Linguistic Repertoires. The Reading Teacher.

Rosetta Stone. (2020). Emergent Bilinguals Are the Future. Rosetta Stone.

Texas Education Agency. (2020). 2020 Comprehensive Biennial Report on Texas Public Schools. Austin, Texas: TEA.

Araceli García is an IDRA Education Policy Fellow. Comments and questions may be directed to her via email at [email protected].

[©2021, IDRA. This article originally appeared in the February 2021 IDRA Newsletter by the Intercultural Development Research Association. Permission to reproduce this article is granted provided the article is reprinted in its entirety and proper credit is given to IDRA and the author.]

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Words Matter - The Case for Shifting to "Emergent Bilingual" - Language Magazine

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Throughout IDRA's almost five decades, we have paid close attention to how we speak about people in terms of race or ethnicity, gender, etc. Words matter. Almost 5 million students in U.S. public schools are learning English as a second language. That's over 10% of the student population.

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BC K12 Indigenous Knowledge and Perspectives (Social Studies)

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BC K12 Indigenous Knowledge and Perspectives (Social Studies)

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What is neurodiversity? Find out what neurodiversity means and how the concept can benefit people with learning differences.

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UDL in 15 Minutes | a podcast by Loui Lord Nelson

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UDL in 15 Minutes: Where educators share their implementation of Universal Design for Learning with host Loui Lord Nelson.

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WHAT IS THE MODEL MINORITY MYTH?

The " model minority " myth commonly refers to East, Southeast and South Asian communities in North America that are considered to be inherently advantageous, intelligent, and hardworking compared to other minority groups.

The term "model minority" was coined in the U nited States by sociologist William Petersen in 1966 during the civil rights movement.

The concept of a model minority creates a false positive and a harmful narrative that reinforces systemic racism , does more damage than good, and ignores significant anti-Asian racism that many have experienced throughout Canadian history.

IT ERASES THE DIVERSITY AMONG DIFFERENT INDIVIDUALS

The model minority myth groups the experiences and sentiments of a large group of people under one misrepresented stereotype , the myth actively eliminates any kind of diversity among Asian communities and places immense pressure on individuals to fit the unreal stereotype. For example , he poverty rate of Chinese Canadians is double that of white Canadians at 22 percent. did you know t

This myth actively eliminates any kind of diversity among Asian communities and places immense pressure on individuals to fit the unreal and problematic stereotype.

IT PERCEIVES ASIAN CANADIANS AS PERPETUAL FOREIGNERS

The myth groups all Asians under a single stereotype, and thus separates them from the rest of the population. Perceived as only possessing foreign qualities, the myth renders Asians as perpetual foreigners and raises questions like "But where are you from, originally?"

Did you know Canada benefits greatly from the ongoing contributions of Asian Canadians. Contributions dating back to 1884 when 15,000 Chinese labourers completed the BC section of the CPR, with more than 600 of them perishing under adverse working conditions.

IT ERASES THE RACISM FACED BY ASIANS IN THE PAST & PRESENT

Stereotyping Asians as "privileged" and "successful" ignores the historical and ongoing struggles and the systemic, and institutionalized discrimination and racism that has impacted and continues to impact these communities.

The myth disregards Canada's problematic anti-Asian history, including the Chinese head tax , the Chinese Exclusion Act, Japanese internment during W orld War Two , and the Komagata Maru i ncident .

The model minority myth completely ignores centuries of systematic, institutional, and structural discrimination and racism, which many continue to experience the impacts of to this day.

IT HINDERS THE FIGHT FOR RACIAL JUSTICE

The success of most Asian communities is often held as an example for other minorities to strive for and suggests that if other groups simply "work harder" and "get over their histories of oppression", they too can succeed.

This is simply incorrect.

It pi ts people of colour against each other. The myth is a tool of colonialism and increases the obstacles of achieving racial justice and liberation for all.

Sources & Contributions

The Model Minority Myth (thepractice.law.harvard.edu)

What Is the Model Minority Myth? (learningforjustice.org)

The Model Minority Myth: Harmful for Society, Harmful for the Workplace (campaignmonitor.com)

The 'Model Minority' Myth Explained. What you need to know about how it has propped up anti-Asian racism in Canada (thestar.com)

Special thanks to Rose Wu, Jennifer Lu, and Hanae Tsukada for their contributions!

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DEBUNK: The Model Minority Myth - UBC Equity & Inclusion Office

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WHAT IS THE MODEL MINORITY MYTH? The "model minority" myth commonly refers to East, Southeast and South Asian communities in North America that are considered to be inherently advantageous, intelligent, and hardworking compared to other minority groups. The term "model minority" was coined in the United States by sociologist William Petersen in 1966 during the civil rights movement.

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Use these hashtags to access discussions on LinkedIN and Twitter. #udl #udlchat #equity

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UDL and Visual Arts/CAST (YouTube webinar)

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UDL and Visual Arts/CAST (YouTube webinar)

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Stories from the Field: Visual Arts & UDL

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Removing the Barriers: Planning for ALL!

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The Myth of Average:  Todd Rose at TEDxSonomaCounty

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First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness

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First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness (Website and Image)

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First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness (Website and Image)

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​​​​​​​​Vision

​​​The First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness aims to visually depict and describe the First Nations Health Authority : Healthy, Self-Determining and Vibrant BC First Nations Children, Families and Communities.

Visual D​​epiction

This visual depiction of the Perspective on Health and Wellness is a tool for the FNHA and First Nations Communities. It aims to create shared understanding of an holistic vision of wellness. This image is just a snapshot of a fluid concept of wellness: it can be adapted and customized freely and is not confined to remain the same.

The original image was created from researching other models; from feedback and ideas gathered from BC First Nations over the past few years and from traditional teachings and approaches shared by First Nations healers and elders at gatherings convened by the FNHA and its predecessor - the First Nations Health Society. This representation was developed by the FNHA with input from our Federal and Provincial government partners to create the Wellness Streams.

Understanding the Perspective

Centre C​ircle

The Centre Circle represents individual Human Beings. Wellness starts with individuals taking responsibility for our own health and wellness (whether we are First Nations or not).

Seco​nd Circle

The Second Circle illustrates the importance of Mental, Emotional, Spiritual and Physical facets of a healthy, well and balanced life. It is critically important that there is balance between these aspects of wellness and that they are all nurtured together to create a holistic level of well-being in which all four areas are strong and healthy.

Third ​​Circle

The Third Circle represents the overarching values that support and uphold wellness: Respect, Wisdom, Responsibility and Relationships. All other values are in some way essential to the four below:

Resp​e​ct

Respect is about honouring where we come from: our cultures, traditions, and ourselves.

Respect is intergenerational. It is passed on through our communities and families. It is the driving force of the community because it impacts all of our life experiences including our relationships, health, and work. It is defined as consideration and appreciation for others, but there is also recognition that respect is so much more in First Nations communities: it entails a much higher standard of care, consideration, appreciation and honour and is fundamental to the health and wellbeing of our people.

There is an intuitive aspect to respect, because it involves knowing how to be with oneself and with others.

Wis​do​​m

Wisdom includes knowledge of language, traditions, culture and medicine.

Like respect, wisdom is an understanding that is passed on by our ancestors from generation to generation and has existed since time immemorial. It is sacred in nature and difficult to define.

Responsi​​bility ​

Responsibility is something we all have: to ourselves, our families, our communities and the land.

Responsibility extends not just to those with whom we come into contact or relate, but also to the roles we play within our families, our work and our experiences in the world.

Also entailing mutual accountability and reciprocity, responsibility intersects with many areas of our lives, and involves maintaining a healthy, balanced life as well as showing leadership through modelling wellness and healthy behaviours.

Relations​​hips

Relationships sustain us.

Relationships and responsibility go hand in hand. Like responsibility, relationships involve mutual accountability and reciprocity. Relationships are about togetherness, team-building, capacity building, nurturing, sharing, strength and love.

Relationships must be maintained both within oneself and with those around us.

Fourth Circle

The Fourth Circle depicts the people that surround us and the places from which we come. Land, Community, Family and Nations are all critical components of our healthy experience as human beings.

Land is what sustains us physically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally.

We use the land for hunting, fishing, and gathering. The land is where we come from and is our identity. It is more than just the earth. It includes the ocean, air, food, medicines and all of nature.

We have a responsibility to care for the land and to share knowledge of the land with our people. Land and health are closely intertwined because land is the ultimate nurturer of people. It provides not only physical but emotional and spiritual sustenance, because it inspires and provides beauty; it nurtures our souls.

Com​​mu​​nity

Community represents the people where we live, where we come from, and where we work.

There are many different communities: communities of place, knowledge, interests, experiences and values. These all have a role in our health.

Fami​​ly

Family is our support base, and is where we come from.

There are many different kinds of families that surround us, including our immediate and extended families. For First Nations people, family is often seen as much broader than many Western perspectives. Our immediate and extended families are often interchangeable, so Western descriptions and definitions don't always apply.

Our families may also include who we care for, support systems, and traditional systems in addition to (or instead of) simply blood lines. It is important to recognize the diversity that exists across British Columbia, that there are different family systems that exist (e.g. matrilineal).

Nat​ions

Nations include the broader communities outside of our immediate and extended families and communities. In essence, Nation is an inclusive term representing the various Nations that comprise your world.

The Fif​​th Circle​

The Fifth Circle depicts the Social, Environmental ​, Cultural and Economic determinants of our health and well-being.

So​​​cial

Social determinants such as security, housing, food, prevention, promotion, education, health awareness, and outreach supports, are all critical aspects of our health and well-being.

Environ​​mental

Environmental determinants include the land, air, water, food, housing, and other resources that need to be cared for and considered in order to sustain healthy children, families and communities. Safety and emergency preparedness are critical components.

Cul​​tural

Cultural determinants include language, spirituality, ceremonies, traditional foods and medicines, teachings, and a sense of belonging.

Econo​mic​

Economic determinants include resources which we have a responsibility to manage, share, and sustain for future generations. There is a need to create balance in how we use our resources and a need for good leadership to help us create this balance.

Outer Circle

The people who make up the Outer Circle represent the FNHA Vision of strong children, families, elders, and people in communities. The people are holding hands to demonstrate togetherness, respect and relationships, which in the words of a respected BC elder can be stated as "one heart, one mind." Children are included in the drawing because they are the heart of our communities and they connect us to who we are and to our health.

Colo​urs

The colors of the sunset were chosen specifically to reflect the whole spectrum of sunlight, as well as to depict the sun's rotation around the earth which governs the cycles of life in BC First Nations communities.

Back​ground

The First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness started as a draft visual concept of wellness created by the Traditional Wellness Working Group and staff and advisors from the FNHA.

The visual model and description was presented to BC First Nations at Gathering Wisdom V in May 2012. The feedback gathered at Gathering Wisdom V was then incorporated into the current visual model and description.

The First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness is intended to serve as a starting point for discussion by First Nations communities on what they conceptualise as a vision of wellness for themselves and the FNHA.

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First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness

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​​​The First Nations Perspective on Health and Wellness aims to visually depict and describe the First Nations Health Authority : Healthy, Self-Determining and Vibrant BC First Nations Children, Families and Communities. This visual depiction of the Perspective on Health and Wellness is a tool for the FNHA and First Nations Communities.

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National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD)

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Universal Design for Learning in Physical Education

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Building Classroom Community Through Daily Dedications