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An article from ISTE on technology tools specifically geared toward UDL (updated Feb 2022)

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In 1984, amid technological advancements and school reform, a group of education researchers founded the Center for Applied Special Technology or CAST, to harness new technologies for improving education for students with disabilities.

As they refined their approach, they developed UDL, a flexible method to enhance education for all learners.

Today, UDL guides CAST’s research and development, leading to innovative solutions in curriculum planning, software development, policy, teacher preparation, and education research through strategic collaborations.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

Because the UDL Guidelines are meant to be informed by feedback from the field as well as new research, they have been updated several times in the past. We are in the process of updating the Guidelines once again in our UDL Rising to Equity initiative.

This update will focus specifically on addressing systemic barriers that result in inequitable learning opportunities and outcomes. CAST aims to develop a transparent, inclusive, and community-driven process. If you are interested in collaborating and staying updated on our progress, we invite you to complete a brief survey.

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The UDL Guidelines are a tool used in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning, a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for all people based on scientific insights into how humans learn. Learn more about the Universal Design for Learning framework from CAST. The UDL Guidelines can be used by educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and anyone else who wants to implement the UDL framework in a learning environment. These guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.

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CAST + Katie Novak in conversation about Katie's book, UDL Now! (3rd edition)

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CAST + Katie Novak in conversation about Katie's book, UDL Now! (3rd edition)

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Resources from the book: https://info.novakeducation.com/udl-now-templates-download-form

(Consider joining Novak Education’s mailing list: ​​https://info.novakeducation.com/sign-up)

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“UDL Now!” New Edition: Third Time is a Charm - CAST Professional Publishing

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Access the recording of a conversation with bestselling author Katie Novak! She’ll highlight how her book supports educators to get started with UDL, develop a strong foundation to reach all learners, and build meaningful connections around this work.

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An overview from Understood, a website for educators and families to support all learners

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An overview from Understood, a website for educators and families to support all learners

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework developed by CAST, an Understood founding partner. UDL guides the design of learning experiences to proactively meet the needs of all learners. When you use UDL, you assume that barriers to learning are in the design of the environment, not in the student. UDL is based on brain science and evidence-based educational practices. It also leverages the power of digital technology.

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

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

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

You could share a mini-lesson on butterfly metamorphosis and have students use a guided worksheet as they write. Or you could set up stations where students are grouped using flexible grouping around understanding of the topic, language ability, or reading level.

But take a step back. In any lesson or task, you can anticipate this range of variability among your students. There's another approach you can take to plan for this variability in all your lessons: Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

Why use Universal Design for Learning?

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

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

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

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

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

What does UDL look like in the classroom?

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

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

All learners knowing the goal

Intentional, flexible options for all students to use

Student access to resources from the start of a lesson

Students building and internalizing their own learning

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

How can I use the three principles of UDL?

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

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

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

How can families support this at home?

Families may not be familiar with the concept of students being active participants in setting their learning goals. They may have questions about letting students make their own learning choices.

Explain at back-to-school night or in a class that you'll be using Universal Design for Learning. You can even share a family-friendly article about the UDL approach to teaching.

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

Additional CAST resources to explore

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

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UDL stands for Universal Design for Learning. When you teach using UDL, your lessons are designed in flexible ways to meet the needs of individual learners. Read more about UDL.

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Jennifer Gonzalez interviews Mirko Chardin & Katie Novak on her podcast Cult of Pedagogy

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Jennifer Gonzalez interviews Mirko Chardin & Katie Novak on her podcast Cult of Pedagogy

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Join them as they unpack UDL and its deep connections to building equity.

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/udl-equity/

UDL content starts at 4:50

Mirko & Katie wrote the book Equity by Design: Delivering on the Power & Promise of UDL

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Listen to the interview with Katie Novak and Mirko Chardin:
Sponsored by Hapara and Kiddom

This post contains Amazon Affiliate links. When you make a purchase through these links,
Cult of Pedagogy gets a small percentage of the sale at no extra cost to you.

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.
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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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Content from Katie Novak to build baseline knowledge, especially the difference between UDL and differentiated instruction

Differentiating between UDL and Differentiated Instruction

UDL vs Differentiated Instruction (DI): The Dinner Party Analogy

What Every Pre-Service Teacher Should Know About Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

The Ultimate Guide to Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

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Practical reading full of application ideas for implementing UDL

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Practical reading full of application ideas for implementing UDL

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Ms. Talbert felt great about the lessons she had planned for her high school seniors using Universal Design for Learning, a framework for differentiating learning experiences. Her learning intentions were for students to evaluate sources of evidence and use evidence they gathered to support claims. The lessons built from activities like combing through social media and news sources to find claims that weren't adequately supported to making their own claims supported by evidence. Ms. Talbert included issues and topics that were on students' minds. She clarified vocabulary and used multimedia, print, and audio as ways to access the content.

Later in the year, her students explored and analyzed the effects of baseless claims made online through fast-spreading social media. Finally, the class moved into discussions and debates. The class discussion became close to tense at times when students had conflicting opinions, all supported by evidence they deemed credible. But with Ms. Talbert's feedback and guidance, the groups used the class norms of collaboration to work through the dialogue in a productive manner. She beamed with pride as she watched the groups navigate difficult topics, strong opinions, and conflicting evidence.

Not everyone spoke in class or led discussions-but Ms. Talbert knew some students showed their best work by writing, others by speaking, and others through producing a creative product. She provided all these options for students to show their learning over time and was open to students' additional ideas of how that learning could be shown.

Why We Need Universal Design for Learning

Like Ms. Talbert's, every classroom is filled with individuals who vary wildly-and interestingly-in who they are as people. Their many experiences and genetics make them who they are-each one unique and wonderful. Some are strong with math, others are talented artists; some light up when it's time for science, and others love nothing more than getting lost in a fictional work. Some students speak multiple languages, but struggle in the language of instruction that is new to them.

For every student who loves a particular subject, there is another who is afraid of it, and another who finds it uninteresting.

Students not only vary in their skill level and preferences for academic content, but also in their social-emotional skills, development, and learning. This diversity in our classroom can pose instructional challenges, but it's also an asset! It presents the opportunity for students to learn from and with one another, gain an understanding of the interdependence within society, and celebrate one another's unique qualities. Diversity is in no way a limitation as long as we keep it top of mind when designing instruction and assessment.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL), originally designed by the organization CAST, is a framework that guides proactive design of classroom instruction and learning opportunities to make them effective for a broad range of learners (see ). UDL offers guidelines on how we can make our instruction and classroom environments welcoming, responsive, supportive, and flexible, so that the fewest students possible require additional support or adaptations.

The developers of the framework organized UDL strategies into three categories: (1) multiple means of engagement-how we engage and sustain students' interest and persistence; (2) multiple means of representation-how we ensure our instruction is accessible and improves students' understanding; and (3) multiple means of action and expression-how we support students to show their learning in multiple ways. Such strategies, individually, are neither new nor revolutionary. But UDL, informed by these three principles and connected to neurological and educational research, offers an actionable framework that educators can use to increase the accessibility and power of every lesson we design.

Planning for Multiple Means of Engagement

Every teacher can relate to occasional difficulty in gaining students' interest. What if, when a student is having trouble engaging in the classroom, instead of attributing the problem to the student, we reframed it as our problem with engagement, asking ourselves what the students' behavior might say about our teaching?

If we presume variability in students' interest and plan our engagement strategies with the least engaged student in mind, we'll probably engage all the students in the class. Figure 1 shows some smart strategies for universal engagement.

Figure 1: Strategies for Engagement

1. Start by connecting with students using positive interaction.

2. Demonstrate clarity of intentions and criteria for success.

3. Connect the purpose of the lesson to something of current relevance and value to students.

4. Provide students choices-from simple to significant-for their learning.

5. Make the learning space safe for taking risks and making mistakes.

6. Use novelty to gain students' interest.

7. Design activities that involve active exploration.

Include opportunities to investigate, reflect, make, create, or dialogue.

Have students move about the room during learning.

8. Design for small group instruction.

9. Use strategies to balance participation.

10. Offer strategies for students to cope with frustration, anxiety, and low confidence.

Planning for Multiple Means of Representation

Fifteen years ago, you may have had a phone, a camera, a calendar, a video recorder, a device for listening to music, and a computer for accessing the Internet. For traveling, you may have used a GPS or map and books for translating languages. Now, all these needs are met with one device. Because we have a customizable device with many options and functions, fewer people need specialized equipment. And while some still may prefer a physical calendar, say, we'd be hard pressed to find many people who own and use all those items.

Think of multiple means of representation-how we make our instruction accessible to all students-as a smartphone with many features and apps. Without a base of multiple means of representation planned into each lesson, teachers become exhausted trying to continually figure out how to differentiate content and deliver support to meet individual needs and maximize strengths. By investing effort in multiple means of representation during lesson planning, we minimize special adaptations, because we've designed up front for many types of variability. Figure 2 shows some strategies for doing so.

Giving options for multiple ways you present information to students is not the same as segmenting students using the long-debunked notion of different learning styles. It simply means that, in instruction, you always present content in various ways that resonate with students' different strengths and preferences for processing information-based on what you know of each learner and what you've seen in their learning experiences.

Figure 2: Strategies for Multiple Means of Representation

1. Teach metacognitive strategies for learning within context of this concept or skill.

Use analogies and metaphors.

Teach notetaking and study strategies.

Present a mnemonic orally and visually to help students remember new information-or help students create a mnemonic, such as a song.

Connect the concept to something students already know, using several modalities.

Chunk material into smaller pieces.

Create study guides with strategies for learning embedded.

2. Use multiple means to represent content, concepts, and skills.

3. Provide help with vocabulary, syntax, notations, and symbols.

4. Gradually release support to promote independence.

5. Create experiences for deliberate practice, spaced over time.

6. Give formative feedback.

Provide clear, ungraded feedback on products of learning and the process of learning.

Guide students to evaluate their own learning.

Conference with individual students about a product or process; help them generate a plan for what to do next.

Share feedback in ways that show confidence in the student's ability to learn.

Connect feedback to specific learning goals.

7. Use formative assessment to change instruction.

Use formative assessment of students' work and learning to:

Planning for Multiple Means of Action and Expression

There are many ways to measure a student's learning of any given skill or understanding. But too often, we use a single, teacher-designed assessment for all students. The premise is that a standardized assessment makes for a fairer assessment. In fact, giving a single option for showing learning advantages those students with strengths in that option. Some of our students are talented presenters but lack confidence as "test takers." Some find tests easy but are afraid of speaking in front of the class. Some have strengths in writing or graphic design. For many, the idea of something being timed produces a great deal of stress and interferes with showing their learning.

This variability in performance under different conditions affects educators' ability to see what students understand and can do if they only use a single type of assessment. For example, if the only option we give is a timed test, then students who have test anxiety or need more time for processing can't show what they know. The validity of the test is compromised because we didn't offer another option. The assessment is less fair because it's standardized.

This isn't to suggest that we give students options for the level of proficiency they show, only for the way they show it. We can have the same expectations for skills and understanding shown through a class presentation, say, as through a paper, test, or other measure. (Note that even when we use alternative measures, it's still important to document the need for extended time for students with disabilities, who will need this accommodation for state or national testing.)

Figure 3 shows many of the nearly countless ways we can have students demonstrate their understanding and skills. If the idea of giving students many different options for showing their learning feels overwhelming, teachers can start by identifying the typical assessment for an upcoming unit and selecting one alternative. Regardless of whether educators take this on full force or start small, the need for this practice is pressing.

Figure 3: Strategies for Multiple Means of Action and Expression

Ways Students Can Demonstrate Their Learning

Videorecorded presentation

Live presentation to the class-or to a teacher or external audience

Individual conference with a teacher

Written answers to given questions

Lesson taught live to another person

Physical model student constructs

Illustration or other visual art product

Essay, story, or other written product

Revision or improvement of an existing product

Solutions to given problems

Service activity related to the content/skill

Being interviewed on the content

Verbal response to given questions, or responding with a gesture or image

Realizing Their Brilliance

Many teachers recognize that each of their students is (wondrously) different, in how they take in information, how they practice and engage with content to learn it, and in how they show their learning. UDL gives teachers a way to present information in many formats, as Ms. Talbert did in her unit, so instruction can hit as many students' preferred ways of learning as possible. And UDL strategies make the most of assessment, since the purpose of our day-to-day classroom assessment is to inform teaching and learning. Providing students with options for how to express their learning gives each student the chance to show their best work. The resulting assessment types lend much more valid information and give teachers more precise direction on how to maximize learning for each child.

Without providing multiple means of presenting concepts and information, we won't reach all students. And without providing options for expression, we may never fully realize the brilliance many of our students have-brilliance often disguised by a counterfeit definition of how success in school must look.

Author's note: "Ms. Talbert" is a hypothetical teacher and situation. The strategies outlined here for engagement, representation, and expression are drawn from UDL resources, the professional research literature, strategies I've used, and my observations within classrooms. For additional strategies for applying UDL in lesson planning, visit http://udlguidelines.cast.org/ .

Copyright © 2021 Lee Ann Jung

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Lesson Planning with Universal Design for Learning

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Using UDL principles upfront means making fewer adaptations later-and reaching more students.

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Defines UDL principles and describes what they look like in action (the what, why & how are clearly unpacked for personal use or coaching):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ez_SLkUYtMzx6fq__5OytNSqveCiEX8LycYok0ytlpI/edit

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10 UDL Observations in the Classroom_Novak Education

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Understood's lesson planning tools for UDL

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Understood's lesson planning tools for UDL

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UDL lesson planning can help you teach all students. Learn how to lesson plan with UDL and download a UDL lesson plan template.

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Well-organized, including tools for planning and assessment.

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UDL Resources to give you practical guidelines on Universal Design for Learning and to help you implement UDL in your school and/or classroom.

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Webinar with Katie Novak on her book Let Them Thrive: A Playbook for Helping Your Child Succeed in School and in Life

(Electronic handouts & links via this page as well)

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Let Them Thrive with Katie Novak - CAST Professional Publishing

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Join CAST on Wednesday, December 13, 2017 for a free online workshop with Katie Novak to discuss the most effective strategies for supporting all kids and using the UDL principles to unlock the doors to academic success.

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The Wireframe podcast from Adobe: UDL is a way of thinking outside of education, and this podcast has several episodes focused on UDL in “the real world” outside of schools.

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The Boston Mayor’s Office wanted more people to report problems through 311. Would they be able to transform their human-operated phone line into an automated mobile app?

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Andratesha Fritzgerald’s book is Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning and you can access learning with her here:

Tesha’s webinar with CAST:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuDeI5m26-g and the handouts from this webinar: https://bit.ly/AntiracismCASTWebinar

Tesha’s interview with Dr. Catlin Tucker, on her podcast

https://catlinthebalance.podbean.com/e/antiracism-and-universal-design-for-learning-with-andratesha-fritzgerald/

An overview of Tesha’s book with strategies highlighted:

https://mlpp.pressbooks.pub/mavlearn/chapter/10-strategies-for-engaging-learners-with-universal-design-for-learning-and-antiracism/

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Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning: Building Expressways to Success - CAST Professional Publishing

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Andratesha Fritzgerald reveals UDL as an effective framework to teach Black and Brown students, showing how teachers open new roads of communication, engagement, and skill-building for students who feel honored and loved.

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LINK HERE - 5 min overview video of this Padlet page

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LINK HERE - 5 min overview video of this Padlet page