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We have to first identify the barriers to student learning before we can reduce or remove them! 

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Download as a word doc and save as your own.

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CAST Top 10 Tips for Developing Learning Goals

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CAST Top 10 Tips for Developing Learning Goals

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What does UDL "look like" by Katie Novak 

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What does UDL "look like" by Katie Novak 

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What Does UDL Look Like?

I really struggle when someone asks me, "What does UDL look like?" It is not because I don't know the answer, in theory. It's because I don't know what it looks like for YOU. As the brilliant Dr. Liz Berquist explains in UDL: Moving from Exploration to Integration , "Because the implementation of UDL is variable and unique-in this sense it is a model of UDL itself. UDL looks different in every learning environment, just as it looks different in every school, district, and state. Although there are patterns to be found in this variability, there is no right way to implement the UDL framework."

So, maybe the better question to ask is, "What are the patterns of UDL?"

To put it simply, when teachers implement UDL, students have choices. And those choices allow all students to access rigorous, standards-based curriculum. What kind of choices? There are four interrelated components of a UDL curriculum and when implemented well, students have choice in all four areas. First, let's unpack those four areas.

Four Components of a UDL Curriculum

Goals

As CAST notes, "within the UDL framework, goals themselves are articulated in a way that acknowledges learner variability and differentiates goals from means." Oftentimes, teachers create goals that include embedded methods. For example, "All students will learn how to write arguments by giving a persuasive speech about which new club belongs in our school." When teachers can step back and see the goal, "Write arguments," they could provide numerous choices for students to achieve that goal that doesn't require all students to stand up in class and read a speech about a club. Ask yourself this: Is the standard actually requiring that students all do the exact same thing in the same way? (The answer is always no!)

Methods

The instructional decisions, approaches, procedures, or routines that expert teachers use to accelerate or enhance learning. Oftentimes, however, all students are expected to follow the same procedures in how they learn or express their knowledge (read a short blog on UDL and the Death of Lecturing).

Materials

Materials are usually seen as the media used to present learning content and what the learner uses to demonstrate knowledge, but oftentimes, the same materials are provided to all students. I call this "packet syndrome." CAST calls it, "one-size-fits-all," teaching and learning.

Assessments

Assessments are an expression of student learning. When designing assessments, it's critical that teachers consider exactly what students need to know and do and then strip away any specific methods that have been tied to the goal. Essentially, when reviewing your standards, you will ask yourself, "How will students provide evidence that they met the goal? Can they have choices?"

Now that you have a better sense of the types of choices you're looking for, you may still be wondering how each of the principles of UDL translates into choices for students. The following may be helpful.

Visions of UDL in Each Principle

Representation

Content and skills are presented in multiple ways and students have a choice about which methods and materials to use to reach the goal.

What does this look like?

Learning objective or standard is posted and visible to students so they know what the ultimate goal is. All students could tell an observer the goal of the lesson.

"More than one presentation method is apparent and students are accessing different experiences: lecture, reading text, audio, video, reciprocal teaching. If there is one predominant presentation method, there are additional representations embedded (i.e, teacher reads directions while projecting them with document camera, or students watch a video with closed captioning.)

"Teacher pre-teaches vocabulary and activates prior knowledge. May use Frayer models, vocabulary tables, images etc...

Teacher provides opportunities or stations where students can learn information on their own (i.e, read a text, view a video, listen to audio, work in collaborative group, etc...)

Allows students to access technology (IPads, Nooks, etc...) so they can customize the display of information.

Action and Expression

Students are provided with choices and/or scaffolding when expressing their knowledge in formative and summative assessments.

What does this look like?

"Not all students are completing the same assessments in the same way (but it's because they made the decision - not just the teacher). For example, if all students are asked to solve an equation, students may have the choice of using math reference sheets, manipulatives, calculators, scratch paper, in small groups, with a partner, etc....If students are working toward a written task, they may have the choice of writing on paper, using a device, accessing a graphic organizer, exemplar, rubric, etc...

Teacher may offer engaging choices for assessments, so students can express their knowledge or skills in many different ways: simulations, mock interviews, poetry slams, blogs, debates, essays, multi-media presentations, etc...

Teacher uses think-pair-share, private think time, partner tasks, exit tickets or other dipsticking method so all students are assessed daily.

When teaching specific methods, such as solving an algebraic equation or writing an essay, teacher provides the following: Work exemplars, rubrics, frequent mastery-oriented feedback, and all necessary resources and materials necessary to complete assignment (i.e, textbooks, pencils, paper.) but not all students have to use the same methods or materials. It's up to them to self-reflect and create strategies that will allow them to meet the goal.

Engagement

Students are engaged in authentic, relevant learning opportunities.

What does this look like?

There is a clear culture that values creativity, risk-taking, growth mindset and the fact that there are many ways to arrive at the same destination but that journey is different from everyone.

Students have an opportunity to personalize their goal. For example, if students are writing arguments, they are all writing about topics of interest to them, exploring the resources that work for them, and express what they know with an authentic product.

Rich, mastery-oriented feedback is provided from teachers and peers consistently - including feedback from students to teachers so they can become an integral part of the design and delivery of their own instruction.

There are many opportunities for students to self-assess their progress, make changes if necessary, and get feedback on how to continue to work toward their goals so they can make better decisions about methods and materials in the future.

Teacher is monitoring the classroom to keep students on task, helping them stay organized and prevent frustration, but students also collaborate to push each other to continue to apply effort and persistence.

UDL in Action

In UDL-topia, students have choices in all four interrelated components, and these choices are both engaging and accessible. But early UDL implementation may be only focused on providing choices in one or more areas, so when you're looking for the UDL principles in action, you may see glimpses in a class that is not yet universally designed for all learners to be able to personalize their learning experience in meaningful ways. So, how do you move from point A to point B? As with all things UDL, you need to personalize that process for you and your students, and that starts with asking them for their feedback.

In UDL, student voice is optimized. Strong UDL practice starts with collaborating with students to ask students what they need to be successful. David Rose once said, "Teaching, at its core, is emotional work." I truly believe that students know what they need to be successful and that everything that they need to follow their passion and achieve their dreams is inside of them. We as educators have a tremendous opportunity to learn more about our teaching from our students if we are open and ask the right questions and listen to their answers.

So, here is my official answer: If all students are working toward the same rigorous standards but making choices that allow them to honor their strengths, challenge themselves and follow their passions, then that's what UDL looks like.

If you're wondering how this is different from Differentiated Instruction, click here.

If you'd like to learn more about implementing UDL in the classroom, check out UDL Now!

Million Dollar Question: What Does UDL Look Like?

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Million Dollar Question: What Does UDL Look Like? - Novak Educational Consulting

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What Does UDL Look Like? I really struggle when someone asks me, "What does UDL look like?" It is not because I don't know the answer, in theory. It's because I don't know what it looks like for YOU.

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Key Questions to Consider When Lesson Planning

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Key Questions to Consider When Lesson Planning

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Top 10 Tips to Design Engaging Learning Environment 

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Top 10 Tips to Design Engaging Learning Environment 

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UDL and Clarifying Intended Learning Chart  (1)

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Formative Assessment is not for Grading 

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Formative Assessment is not for Grading 

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Difference Between Assessment and Evaluation 

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Difference Between Assessment and Evaluation 

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"Fair doesn't always mean equal."

As an elementary school teacher, sometimes it is necessary to help young students to develop a more sophisticated understanding of fairness. Part of building classroom community is helping students understand that we all have different needs, and that everyone has an equal right to learn. ​This picture usually comes to mind when I think of this topic:

In the first image of this picture, everyone is given the exact same support. They are being treated equally, but they are not being treated fairly. If we are striving to teach all of our students fairly, then some students may be given different supports which gives everyone an equal chance of success. This often results in accommodations, such as providing extra time, or printing worksheets in larger print for those who need it.

The picture above is definitely more widely distributed than this one:

The third image in this picture is an excellent example of universal design for learning. The need for additional supports is eliminated altogether because the systemic barrier has been removed. For teachers who wish to implement UDL in their classrooms, we must think of ways to reduce the need for additional supports.

As teachers, we may not have the ability to completely remove the need for accommodations in our classroom, because we lack control over some of the systemic barriers that make learning challenging for some students. For example, we may lack funding for technology, or we may be obligated to follow a set regulations for the administration of standardized assessments.

But we can at least make the effort to empower ourselves to remove as many barriers as we can in our own classrooms in ways that are affordable and feasible. Here are just a few ways that we can help remove barriers in our own classrooms:

We can make classroom materials accessible - we can put materials within everyone's reach, add labels with words and pictures, keep them in a consistent location so students can remember where they are kept, and make small purchases that increase accessibility in the classroom (e.g. left-handed scissors, magnifying glasses, fidgets)

We can offer flexible seating - we can have a variety of seating arrangements in the classroom to maximize comfort for all students (traditional desk and chair, stools, stability balls, yoga mats, standing desk, etc). We can allow students to sit on the floor, under tables, anywhere where they feel comfortable, provided that they are following classroom expectations for work. We can also allow movement from one seat to another because some students need more movement than others.

We can offer accommodations to all students - not everyone will need them, but making them available to everyone takes the stigma away from those who rely on them and can benefit everyone. For example, taking away time limits from a test is not only beneficial for those who need more time, but it can also help alleviate anxiety for those who become anxious when they are being timed.

We can establish and follow predictable routines - many students thrive on routine, and they like to know what to expect. We can have well-established routines for passing out and collecting materials, transitioning between activities, getting ready to go outside, etc. We can post a visual schedule in a prominent area of the room and follow it.

We can activate background knowledge before discussing a given topic. Students come to school with a diverse range of experiences and some students may benefit from learning a little bit about a topic before jumping into a lesson. For some students, skipping this step can make a learning activity completely inaccessible to them. And for other students, we can improve the quality of their work by refreshing their memory about a given topic. For example, if we are asking students to write out instructions for making a snowman, we cannot assume that every student has experience with this. Maybe their parents do not allow them to play outside, or perhaps they have moved here from a warmer climate. Before the writing activity, we can discuss the steps involved in building a snowman, watch a video of children building a snowman, or take the entire class outside to build snowmen (if you live in a snowy climate).

Heighten the salience of goals/objectives - Some students need to have a sense of purpose in learning tasks. They need to know why they are doing what they are doing... or what the point of an activity is. Taking time to review a lesson's objectives in simple language at the beginning of a lesson can help students understand what they need to know and why.

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"Fair doesn't always mean equal." As an elementary school teacher, sometimes it is necessary to help young students to develop a more sophisticated understanding of fairness. Part of building classroom community is helping students understand that we all have different needs, and that everyone has an equal right to learn.

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UDL Barriers by Deborah Taub---good example of how UDL is not the same as Differentiated Instruction 

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UDL Barriers by Deborah Taub---good example of how UDL is not the same as Differentiated Instruction 

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5.c.UDL Barriars Taub and UDL_DI intersection articles

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Barriers to Student Learning short video 

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Barriers to Student Learning short video 

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Universal Design for Learning Explained with Lego

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10_Why Standards Are Difficult to Understand (1)

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5 keys of effective formative assessment 

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5 keys of effective formative assessment 

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5 keys of effective formative assessment

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By CAST, Understood Founding Partner

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to teaching aimed at meeting the needs of every student in a classroom. It can be helpful for all kids, including kids with learning and thinking differences. But UDL takes careful planning by teachers. Here are just a few examples of how UDL can work in a classroom.

Having goals helps students know what they're working to achieve. That's why goals are always made apparent in a UDL classroom. One example of this is posting goals for specific lessons in the classroom. Students might also write down or insert lesson goals in their notebooks. The teacher refers to lesson goals during the lesson itself.

In a traditional classroom, there may be only one way for a student to complete an assignment. This might be an essay or a worksheet. With UDL, there are multiple options. For instance, students may be able to create a podcast or a video to show what they know. They may even be allowed to draw a comic strip. There are tons of possibilities for completing assignments, as long as students meet the lesson goals.

UDL promotes flexibility in the learning environment. That's why in a UDL classroom, there are flexible work spaces for students. This includes spaces for quiet individual work, small and large group work, and group instruction. If students need to tune out noise, they can choose to wear earbuds or headphones during independent work.

With UDL, students get feedback - often every day - on how they're doing. At the end of a lesson, teachers may talk with individual students about lesson goals. Students are encouraged to reflect on the choices they made in class and whether they met the goals. If they didn't meet the goals, they're encouraged to think about what might have helped them do so.

5. Digital and audio text

UDL recognizes that if students can't access information, they can't learn it. So in a UDL classroom, materials are accessible for all types of learners. Students have many options for reading, including print, digital, text-to-speech and audiobooks. For digital text, there are also options for text enlargement, along with choices for screen color and contrast. Videos have captions, and there are transcripts for audio.

Tell us what interests you

About the author

About the author

CAST, Understood Founding Partner develops innovative approaches to education based on the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

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UDL Examples: Universal Design for Learning in the Classroom

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Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to teaching aimed at meeting the needs of every student in a classroom. It can be helpful for all kids, including kids with learning and thinking differences. But UDL takes careful planning by teachers. Here are just a few examples of how UDL can work in a classroom.

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Search for lesson plan examples

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IRIS Module includes lesson plan example 

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IRIS Module includes lesson plan example 

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Video examples and observation feedback 

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Video examples and observation feedback 

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Educator Evaluation

These videos depict a range of practice to support within-district calibration activities that promote a shared understanding of instructional quality. Select the video(s) that best meet your needs by grade, content area, or length.

Grades K-2

Grades 3-5

Grades 6-8

Grades 9-12

English Language Arts

Math

Kindergarten Mathematics (53 m)

4th Grade Spatial Reasoning with Polygons (15 m)

4th Grade Visualizing with Fractions (15 m)

7th Grade Problem Solving/Graphing (15 m)

Science

4th Grade Motion Science (32 m)

10th Grade Science (16 m)

Social Studies

4th Grade Social Studies (14 m)

10th Grade ELA/Social Studies (38 m)

High School Social Studies (37 m)

Planning a Calibration Training Experience with Sample Observation & Feedback Calibration Activities

Sample Observation & Feedback Calibration Activities

The Subject Administrator (Revere Public Schools)

Video-Based Calibration Protocol (Amherst-Pelham)

Rating Practice & Providing Feedback (ESE)

Adapted CAP Observation & Feedback Training Workshop (ESE)

What to Look For? Content-Specific Observation Guides (ESE)

What to Look For: Inclusive Practice (ESE)

Observation Feedback Resource: Inclusive Practice

Calibrating Practice: Rubric-Aligned Observation Protocol (ESE)

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massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education

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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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Classroom Instruction Videos and Sample Observation & Feedback Calibration Activities

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The goal of the Massachusetts public K-12 education system is to prepare all students for success after high school. Massachusetts public school students are leading the nation in reading and math and are at the top internationally in reading, science, and math according to the national NAEP and international PISA assessments.

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UDL Podcasts with teachers reflecting on their practice 

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UDL Podcasts with teachers reflecting on their practice 

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CCSS ELA and Math bookmarks...

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Unpacked Math standards at all grade levels

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Unpacked Math standards at all grade levels

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The ideas presented in these documents can be utilized in conjunction with current local curriculum and instruction. Educators are encouraged to add on to these documents and adapt them to best fit the needs of their learners, as well as work through the process of unpacking other grade-level stand…

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John Hattie developed a way of synthesizing various influences in different meta-analyses according to their effect size (Cohen's d). In his ground-breaking study "Visible Learning" he ranked 138 influences that are related to learning outcomes from very positive effects to very negative effects. Hattie found that the average effect size of all the interventions he studied was 0.40. Therefore he decided to judge the success of influences relative to this 'hinge point', in order to find an answer to the question "What works best in education?"
Originally, Hattie studied six areas that contribute to learning: the student, the home, the school, the curricula, the teacher, and teaching and learning approaches. (The updated list also includes the classroom.) But Hattie did not only provide a list of the relative effects of different influences on student achievement. He also tells the story underlying the data. He found that the key to making a difference was making teaching and learning visible. He further explained this story in his book " Visible learning for teachers ".

John Hattie updated his list of 138 effects to 150 effects in Visible Learning for Teachers (2011), and more recently to a list of 195 effects in The Applicability of Visible Learning to Higher Education (2015). His research is now based on nearly 1200 meta-analyses - up from the 800 when Visible Learning came out in 2009. According to Hattie the story underlying the data has hardly changed over time even though some effect sizes were updated and we have some new entries at the top, at the middle, and at the end of the list.

Below you can find an updated version of our first, second and third visualization of effect sizes related to student achievement.
Order VL for Teachers!

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Hattie effect size list - 256 Influences Related To Achievement

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Hattie's updated effect size list of 256 influences across all areas related to student achievement.

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Scaffolding suggestions for English learners 

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Scaffolding suggestions for English learners 

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Designing and Teaching Learning Goals and Objectives

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How to design clear learning goals for students ppt 

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How to design clear learning goals for students ppt 

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. Why is it important to make learning objectives explicit?

2. How do students participate in SWBAT?

3. Objectives are specific and measurable, while learning goals may be more broad. How could you use both in your practice?

School Details

Think College Now School
2825 International Boulevard
Oakland CA 94601

Data Provided By:

Teachers

English Language Arts Math Social Studies / 5 / Teacher

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Madeline begins by introducing the SWBAT strategy. SWBAT stands for "Students will be able to." The learning objectives in Madeline's class always start with "SWBAT." Madeline explains how she writes the objectives on the board and how students repeat back the objectives in a rhythmic way.

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100,000+ site visitors since our launch in July 2014!

In the past 4 months, visitors to my website were from all over the US and ... Japan, Spain, India, Phillipines, Finland, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Uganda, Nigeria, Kuwait, Malaysia, Cuba, Austria, Bulgaria, Peru, Germany, Algeria, Curacao, Panama, Singapore, Thailand, Czechia, Sri Lanka, Hungary, Viet Nam, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, France, Columbia, Palestine, Romania, Morocco, Turkey, Argentina, Canada, Switzerland, Indonesia, Latvia, Australia, Cayment Islands, UK, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Italy, Taiwan, Kenya, United Arab Emerates, Lebanon, Jamaica, Saudia Arabia, Pakistan, & South Africa... I am in awe and humbled.

Karin Hess, Ed.D, is a recognized international leader in developing practical approaches for using cognitive rigor and learning progressions as the foundation for formative, interim, and performance assessments.

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Karin Hess, Ed.D, is a recognized international leader in developing practical approaches for using cognitive rigor and learning progressions as the foundation for formative, interim, and performance assessments.

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Doug Reeves on Grading Policies and Zeros 

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Doug Reeves on Grading Policies and Zeros 

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What strategies have the highest impact on student learning?

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In our February 2018 blog post , we wrote about the power of assessment-capable visible learners. This work is derived from John Hattie's seminal research on what matters for student learning. Those of you that have been following Hattie's work know that he has created a list of 250 influences on student learning. His work on Visible Learning has changed the way classrooms and schools around the globe operate. In visible learning classrooms, students take an active role in their learning. A significant number of those influences come from within the student. Yet too often we only focus on what the teacher is doing. Meanwhile, we fail to factor in what our students can do, if only we would let them. Without them, it's like being in a fight with one hand tied behind your back.

The Hallmarks of an Assessment-Capable Visible Learner

Assessment-capable learners don't have to rely only on their teacher to tell them when they have learned something. They know when they have learned something. And when they aren't progressing, they recognize it and know what to do about it. With John Hattie, we have developed a definition of assessment-capable visible learners. Can you recognize them in your classroom?

They know their current level of understanding.

They know where they're going and are confident to take on the challenge.

They select tools to guide their learning.

They seek feedback and recognize that errors are opportunities to learn.

They monitor their progress and adjust their learning.

They recognize their learning and teach others.

But assessment-capable visible learners don't simply arrive at our classroom doors. The conditions that make learning visible to students are created with intention by assessment-capable teachers. These classrooms are noticeably different from others because of the presence of a crucial factor: Goal setting. This is your secret weapon for getting your students in the learning game.

Goals drive much of what we do every day, from morning routines to housekeeping tasks to completing work assignments. But students too often rely on us to determine goals for them. Yet the evidence is that goal setting has a strong influence on learning, at a 0.50 effect size (Hattie, 2012). Goals for learning might be daily, weekly, or at the unit level. They have less to do about grades ("I want to get an A in Spanish"), and more about the learning ("I want to learn Spanish."). And consider what they need to know to set useful goals for themselves-an understanding of their present level of performance, and a clear vision of the destination. Drench your classroom in goal setting by discussing success criteria, then asking them how they will know they are successful. Their answers are the start of the goal setting process.

Personal Records (PRs)

That said, personal records (PRs) can be great goals, and have the bonus of being motivating, too. Invite your students to set a new PR on a fluency assessment or arithmetic drill. Challenge them to reach a new personal best in the number of pages they read in a week. Propose a new number of words per minute students write in timed power writing exercises. Then encourage them to track their own progress so they can see the gains they are making. Meet with students individually to look together at their progress toward larger goals, and discuss with them what it will take for them to reach it.

Disrupt Dependency

Students who set goals and monitor their progress take the lead in their own learning. They become less dependent on us to tell them when they have learned something, because the proof is right there in front of them. Assessment-capable visible learners are independent learners. Not because they don't need us. But rather, because they are fully in the learning game.

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author: Douglas B. Fisher and Nancy Frey

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author: Jeffery Wilhelm and Adam Fachler

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Goals: The Secret Weapon for Getting Students Into the Learning Game | Corwin Connect

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Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Linkedin In our February 2018 blog post, we wrote about the power of assessment-capable visible learners. This work is derived from John Hattie's seminal research on what matters for student learning. Those of you that have been following Hattie's work know that he has ...

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Hattie on Learning Goals and Success Criteria 

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Hattie on Learning Goals and Success Criteria 

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John Hattie explains the importance of sharing learning intentions.

The basic premise is that the students have the same idea as their teacher what is going on in the classroom, and what they should be learning as a result of doing. Many students are not going to know this unless it is clearly signposted - learning intentions (or objectives), and learning outcomes (or success criteria) provide this direction.

You could try several different ways to share and even co-construct success criteria with students for maximum impact:

1. Doing it wrong so the students correct you, or not completing them, so that they do.

2. Show a finished product, so that they can see what a good one looks like

3. A comparison of two products is even better as it gives an indication of quality (why is this one better than that one?).

4. Sloppy success criteria giving rise to incorrect methods or work. The students then decide together how to make the success criteria better.

5. Retrospective creation of success criteria is useful when the product or process is so big it's not immediately obvious what went into it. This is especially useful in breaking down aspects of enquiry.

6. Revisiting existing success criteria, to see if you can make it better.

Active Learning Through Formative Assessment (Clarke, S. 2008) gives a great description of how you can use learning intentions and success criteria
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGyvDvOegXE

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John Hattie explains the importance of sharing learning intentions. The basic premise is that the students have the same idea as their teacher what is going on in the classroom, and what they should be learning as a result of doing.

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Why

Why is this important for higher education? From cultural and linguistic proficiences to unbridled enthusiasm for study, to desperate anxiety about the challenges ahead, students vary. Reducing cognitive, linguistic, executive, and affective barriers is of vital importance as students negotiate college and university expectations differently, according to their widely ranging background experiences.

UDL Connection

Types of Assessment

The purpose of assessment in postsecondary courses varies as well. Assessments are often designed to gather student data that will yield information about accountability, student progress, and instruction.

Accountability: Assessing student performance with respect to job preparation, prerequisites, and university or college program goals

Student Progress: Assessing changes in student performance over time as a result of instruction (assessment of learning)

Instruction: Probing student responses to instruction in order to optimize the course of learning (assessment for learning)

Assessment is used in courses to determine how well students are meeting goals that have been set (e.g., goals around job performance, goals around changes in knowledge). Measurable outcomes from assessments should be comparable with or benchmarked against set course goals. Assessment outcomes, in turn, should inform further instruction.

Assessing Variable Learners

Provision of options within the design of both formative and summative assessment helps to ensure that all learners can act on new information and demonstrate what they know. This requires a distribution of the demands and benefits of any one kind of assessment among all students. For example, students with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) may have issues with working memory that would make long multiple choice assessments challenging. If this is the only way students are assessed in a course, students with working memory challenges will have more demands and fewer benefits when it comes to assessment. If writing long responses to text passages is the only option for assessment, students who are not native English speakers will have more demands and fewer benefits, especially if they do not have access to aids such as a glossary or dictionary or if there is time pressure to respond. In sum, greater attention must be paid to issues of learner variability in the design of assessments. Further, consideration needs to be given to embedded design features in digital assessments (such as text-to-speech capability, availability of key word definitions, hints or coaching tips, etc.) so that assessments support students that vary in terms of their strengths, weaknesses, and learning needs.

[White text appears on magenta background: "UDL On Campus." The colors are inverted and a wave of orange slides over the "UDL On Campus" magenta text. Grey text appears below: "Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education."]

FEMALE VOICE: UDL On Campus: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education.

[The title appears onscreen.]

FEMALE NARRATOR: An Introduction to UDL and Assessment.

[The screen opens to a montage of scenes on a college campus: a health sciences classroom, an academic support center, a welcome center, a campus directory map, and students working on computers in computer labs and libraries. The last two scenes show a female student on her laptop and a male student and his tutor working together on a paper-based assignment.]

FEMALE NARRATOR: Reducing learning barriers is of vital importance in postsecondary settings as learners arrive in colleges and universities with a diverse set of experiences; what may be a preferred learning mode for one individual may be an obstacle for another.

[A montage of more college and university life: a lounge area, a student working with a Bunsen burner in a lab, and an auditorium of students. The same female student is spotlighted: we see her working on a mass and wind project on her laptop. She looks at different visual data and engages with a colorful diagram.]

FEMALE NARRATOR: In learning environments, individual variability is the norm, not the exception. Instructors of postsecondary courses set goals for learners. Assessment is used in courses to determine how well learners are meeting instructional goals. Goals need to be clear, and separate from the means of achieving them. Assessments should offer more than one route for demonstrating mastery.

[The scene changes to a split screen of close-ups of two students: the female student working on her laptop and the male student writing on paper. The images split open like sliding doors to reveal text underneath: "Construct." The definition fades in below: "the term used to define the knowledge, skills, and abilities to be assessed."]

FEMALE NARRATOR: A critical part of assessment is the construct. "Construct" is the term used to define the knowledge, skills, and abilities to be assessed.

[Different text appears onscreen: " Construct Relevant Factors." The definition fades in below: "type of presentation or response that are related to the construct that the test is intended to measure."]

FEMALE NARRATOR: Construct relevant factors refer to factors such as type of presentation or response that are related to the construct that the test is intended to measure.

[Another montage of scenes appears: a hand pressing a button on a graphing calculator, a close-up of the graph it formed, and a handwritten chart of math symbols.]

FEMALE NARRATOR: Many assessments include features that are not relevant to the construct being assessed. These are considered construct irrelevant items. These features may pose barriers for some learners and impact their performance on the assessment.

[Text appears onscreen: "Universal Design for Learning." Three sections fade in below the heading: "Affective Networks," with a brain highlighting these portions in green; "Recognition Networks," with a brain highlighting these portions in purple; and "Strategic Networks," with a brain highlighting these portions in blue. Text fades in below: "the WHY of learning," "the WHAT of learning," and "the HOW of learning." Each network then appears individually with their corresponding brain: Recognition Networks and " Multiple Means of Representation," Strategic Networks and " Multiple Means of Action and Expression" and Affective Networks and " Multiple Means of Engagement."]

FEMALE NARRATOR: That's where Universal Design for Learning, or UDL, comes into play. As a set of three principles for curriculum development, UDL provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, assessments, methods, and materials that work for the widest possible range of learners. This flexible approach to curriculum development can positively impact how learners perform on assessments and result in a more authentic appraisal of learner achievement.

[Lines move in against a white background. A purple box and the text "Multiple Means of Representation" push in. Video footage is shown of the female student working on different diagrams for her mass and wind project. Text appears below: "presentation of information."]

FEMALE NARRATOR: The first principle, representation, focuses on the ways in which information, including assessment items, is presented. These can be charts, graphs, images, videos, demonstrations, or objects to manipulate.

[Lines move in against a white background. A blue box and the text "Multiple Means of Action and Expression" push in. Video footage is shown of a different female student working on a whiteboard, followed by a whiteboard animation. Text appears below: "learners demonstrate what they have learned."]

FEMALE NARRATOR: The second principle, action and expression, focuses on how learners demonstrate what they have learned. Do they have the option to write or draw? Do they have the option to present their capabilities through multimedia or a recording?

[Lines move in against a white background. A green box and the text "Multiple Means of Engagement" push in. Video footage is shown of the male student working with his tutor on a paper-based assignment. Text appears below: "enhancing learner motivation and persistence."]

FEMALE NARRATOR: The third principle, engagement, focuses on enhancing motivation and persistence. When their achievement is assessed, are they sufficiently but not overly, challenged? Do they have options and variety in how they are assessed to help reduce anxiety?

[The screen changes to show a teacher in a mathematics classroom addressing students. A montage of students follows: a student using a Braille writer, the female student working on her mass and wind project, the male student and his tutor working on his paper-based assignment, and a student working on a physics assignment with an enlarged screen display.]

FEMALE NARRATOR: It is important for instructors to be aware of the inherent variability of learners-the existence of barriers that may impede both the acquisition of information and expressing their competencies. Designing assessments with these challenges in mind will allow for greater flexibility to ensure learner success.

[A white background appears with the following credits:

A Production by CAST
Script Rhianon Gutierrez, Skip Stahl
Narration Mary O'Malley
Editing Ge Vue, Rhianon Gutierrez

Developed as part of the Open Professionals Education Network (Logos for OPEN, CAST, and Creative Commons)

References
Rose, D. H., Hall, T. E., & Murray, E. (2008, Fall). Accurate for all: Universal design for learning and the assessment of students with learning disabilities. Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 23-28.

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"Welcome to Bristol Community College," by Bristol Community College,
Source: http://www.youtube.com/ Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)
"Juna Gjata Video Series," & "Alessia's Story," by NCAIM at CAST, Inc.
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UDL On Campus: Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education]

Construct Relevance

Assessments are designed to measure knowledge, skills, and abilities. Constructs are the knowledge, skills or abilities being measured by an assessment. By their nature, however, most assessments include features that are not relevant to the construct being assessed. Often the methods and materials used in assessments require additional skills and understanding. These are considered to be construct irrelevant. Construct-irrelevant features of assessments may pose barriers for some students, preventing an accurate measurement of the construct.

Math assessment that includes word problems to assess students' understanding of math concepts.

Essay exam in a Biology class that is both timed and closed book.

The ability to read fluently is construct irrelevant. Even though it is an important skill, it is not part of the construct being measured. Learners who have difficulty with reading may miss certain items even though they may have a good grasp of the underlying math concepts.

Construct-irrelevant factors include motor coordination (handwriting or typing skills), short-term and working memory, organization and time management, attention, and the ability to work under pressure. The additional measurement of these many factors can prevent gaining an accurate picture of a student's Biology content knowledge.

Minimizing construct-irrelevant factors does not lessen the rigor of an assessment but instead gives a more accurate picture of what learners are actually learning in terms of the knowledge, skills, and abilities identified in the course goals. Having an accurate picture of student learning is particularly important for formative assessments, where results can be used to revise instruction as a course progresses. Minimizing construct-irrelevant factors helps to focus in on where students are actually struggling with content, skills, or abilities that the assessment is meant to measure.

It is important to consider construct relevance when creating assessments. For example:

Supports can be provided to reduce the measurement of construct-irrelevant factors, such as providing text-to-speech so that reading ability is not being measured in an assessment of content knowledge in mathematics.

Students can be provided with options for how they demonstrate what they know, such as presenting a project either through an open-book essay or an oral presentation.

When construct irrelevance cannot be avoided, such as when administering a standardized test that has not been designed with attention to construct relevance, it is important that the instructor is aware of learners for whom there may be barriers and how it would impact their performance. The demands and benefits of any one form of assessment will differ depending upon who is taking it.

By providing supports and options around how to demonstrate knowledge, and by developing awareness of what barriers different forms of assessment create for different students, faculty can better distribute the demands and benefits of any one form of assessment among all learners.

UDL Principles and Assessment

In learning environments, individual variability is the norm, not the exception. Learners differ from one another, and an individual learner differs over time (students may be tired or hungry on a given day), depending on the task in front of them (students may be bored or feel over challenged), and the context for the assignment (students may consider the material to be controversial or feel that the material is not relevant to them).

Three primary principles of UDL, which are based on research in the learning sciences, guide UDL. These principles can be helpful in thinking about the design of assessments.

Provide Multiple Means of Engagement

Providing multiple means of engagement (the why of learning) means supporting interest, motivation, and persistence. Just as students learn more effectively when they are engaged and motivated, their performance on assessments can be enhanced by increasing engagement.

Do students think that they can be successful? Emphasizing the importance of effort and motivation and expressing confidence that students can meet high expectations can improve their performance.

Do assessments provide different levels of challenge? One way to do this is to provide options on essay exams so that students can choose a question they feel they can answer well. Another way is to allow students to answer essay questions in different formats. Perhaps students could write a classic essay, create a short play, or create a video response. Once an instructor has addressed the question, ""What do I really want the learner to learn?" (i.e., construct relevance) then the individual motivations and desires of learners and the time constraints of their instructors may be the only limits to the possibilities.

Are different formats used for assessments over the course of a semester? As mentioned earlier, the demands and benefits of any one form of assessment will differ for each student. Therefore, the options and supports provided for the first two UDL principles (representation andaction and expression) can enhance engagement in the assessment process.

Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression

Providing multiple means of action and expression (the how of learning) means providing different ways for students to work with information and content and to demonstrate what they are learning.

In assessment, consider the ways in which students will demonstrate what they have learned.

Will they need to write or draw?

Will they demonstrate an action?

Do they need to organize information mentally, or can something be provided to help them organize the information (e.g., concept mapping software)?

Again, consider which actions are actually relevant to the construct being measured and which ones can be supported or varied in order to gain an accurate picture of what each student has learned.

Provide Multiple Means of Representation

Providing multiple means of representation (the what of learning) means presenting information and content in different ways and making connections between them. When planning assessments, consider the ways in which the items are presented-text, graphs, charts, images, videos, demonstrations, objects to manipulate.

Do the ways in which items are presented create barriers for any students?

Are there alternatives that could be used that would still allow accurate assessment of what students should know or be able to do?

Are the representations used construct relevant?For example, if students need to be able to interpret information in graph format, then the graph itself is relevant. If they only need to be able to use the information in the graph, consider providing different formats for displaying the information. Tables, charts, infographics, or even plain text may be a more accessible format for some students. Remember, the goal is to find out what students are actually learning. Keep in mind basic accessibility requirements for images (including images of tables, charts, and graphs). Any text in an image needs to be readable by a computer or other assistive device that a student might need for access. All images should have alt text. Additionally, along description is needed when an image is complex and cannot be described briefly.

Applying the UDL Principles

When applying UDL principles to assessment, it can be helpful to consider first where there might be barriers that would impact the performance of some learners. Below are examples of barriers and some options for minimizing them. Keep in mind that constructs can be assessed in many ways, and the goal is to minimize factors that are construct irrelevant.

Possible Barriers

Assessments that create anxiety in some students

Assessments that do not engage some students

Assessments that require persistence

Assessment Options

Remember that every assessment instrument is automatically measuring each student's reactions to the motivating conditions present in that assessment. For example, some students are enthusiastic about spontaneity and novelty around assessment conditions, while other students experience great amounts of anxiety under such conditions and seek comfort and support.

Offering choice and variety in assessment conditions can reduce these barriers. For example, developing a web site vs. giving a presentation. Offering options between quizzes, journaling, and specific assignments or projects can provide variety.

Possible Barriers

Assessments that have a single response mode (asking learners to draw diagrams for every answer)

Using the same format for response for all assessments (using only multiple choice, written response)

Assessment Options

The demands associated with responding to any assessment are not always construct relevant. In other words, if the goal of the assessment is to understand the processes involved in cell division, then asking the learner to write an essay and grading the construction of the essay may not be relevant to the task of understanding that the learner really needed to know. Supporting strategic and organizational abilities and allowing students to express acquired knowledge and skills in diverse ways can be built into a variety of assessments.

Choices, again, can be helpful. For example, an assignment on identifying barriers to economic expansion in post-World War II Europe could include the options of an essay, PowerPoint presentation, video, or infographic to achieve the same goal. Demonstrating understanding of text can be expressed by students choosing keepers (items from the text the learner finds important and relevant) and generating queries (questions created by the learner to be answered later) about the content. These can be expressed in written or verbal form, in a group or alone.

Possible Barriers

Assessments that provide relevant information in a single format (for example, using tests from a textbook in the same format for every assessment, such as end-of-chapter questions)

Using the same forms of representation for all assessments (for example, requiring students to integrate new information from their instructor with a PowerPoint presentation only)

Assessment Options

Side-stepping a "one size fits all" assessment allows for students to access key ingredients. For example, highlighting critical features in a text or graphic, providing definitions for vocabulary, and scaffolding reading strategies to support comprehension can open up a variety of options for students to engage in the goals of the assessment. It is, of course, important that these supports do not impact construct relevance. In other words, if it is important for the student to be able to glean relevant information from a graphic representation (such as they might encounter in the workplace), then the assessment must include relevant information in a graphic representation.

In order for students to "show what they know, providing choices in how to access information is key. For example, start with content students have had success with in the past; then work from there, checking to see what other options for representation could be available. Ask, "Are there other media available; are there more choices learners can have to show mastery?"

Examples in a Mathematics Course

There are many ways to apply the guidelines of UDL within assessment in a specific course. Below are just a few specific examples that could help to address barriers for some students.

Provide options for physical actions

Provide open-book quizzes

During quizzes and tests completed individually, provide scheduled breaks so students can communicate with each other and their instructor in order to become "unstuck" while working on complex equations and problem solving. For example, during tests, one mathematics instructor writes some of the complex equations on whiteboards around the room. During a ten-minute break, students have the option to approach a problem and talk through their thinking in order to progress to the next step in the activity if they are stuck.

Provide options for expression and communication

Allow for small group work

Use a computer program, such as software for creating drawings, to demonstrate lesson goals and objectives

Provide options for executive functions

Allow students to take a video of themselves solving a problem and talking through their thought processes

Provide a choice of mathematical problems for students to complete to demonstrate mastery of a learning objective

Review

Ongoing assessment is an essential part of any course. Learners vary in the ways in which they learn and can demonstrate what they are learning. Because of this variability, construct-irrelevant features in assessments can create barriers that prevent some learners from accurately demonstrating what they have learned. The principles of universal design for learning (UDL) can be applied to help identify and address construct-irrelevant barriers in assessments.

Notes

¹Rose, D. H., Hall, T. E., & Murray, E. (2008, Fall). Accurate for all: Universal design for learning and the assessment of students with learning disabilities. Perspectives on Language and Literacy, 23-28.

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Why is this important for higher education? From cultural and linguistic proficiences to unbridled enthusiasm for study, to desperate anxiety about the challenges ahead, students vary. Reducing cognitive, linguistic, executive, and affective barriers is of vital importance as students negotiate college and university expectations differently, according to their widely ranging background experiences.

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Matt:
Hello SEL education community, my name is Matt Pearsall. I am the community manager here in the SEL and education community and I am really excited to be able to share with you today at the beginning the inauguration of our of our new speaker series when we start- we're having a regular series of community members and other people coming in and talking to us giving brief talks around various different topics on social emotional learning and I am not only excited to be kicking off this event but also really excited to be able to kick off at this event featuring somebody who had a chance to meet here before A long time SEL champion in the SEL education community, Lynn Thomas. And so we're gonna be talking about supporting learner variability and without further ado I wanto kind of introduce you all to Lynn Lynn can you tell everybody a little bit about yourself before we jump in?

Lynn:
Hi I'm Lynn Thomas I'd love to Matt. I'm really happy to be here. Really excited about speaking to everybody I'm an ed secondary school english teacher from dunville ontario and I'm also an HP Teaching Fellow and I really advocate for mental health support and mental wellness and social emotional learning. I'm really excited to be here today.

Great! And so this topic of supporting learner variability one of the things on it that I really appreciated when I heard that you wanted to talk about this was that this is something that we all, we, every educator deals with every single day and so kind of hearing how you this connection you found in a little bit you were telling me about it before we started got me really excited. So can you tell us a little bit more about about this this this tool that you've been using and and why it's so exciting?

Well yes definitely. I'm really excited to share it with you so um it's a tool that was introduced to me through being an HP Teaching Fellow and it's something that has been created by Digital Promise who are a non-profit organization who research and try and fill the digital learning gap. And the wonderful thing about it is like learner variability as we all know our kids come to school with all kinds of stuff in their backpack and everybody learns different and we try to adjust and do everything in our programs to try and support all those students and that's a real feat how do you do it for you know 30 odd kids in a room and that kind of thing and a lot of times it can be overwhelming when we try and think about well but how do I account for trauma? How do I account for social emotional learning? how do I account for any cognitive issues? How do I account for background knowledge? You know English language learner, there's so many things that it can feel overwhelming.

And how do you put all that together so the really cool thing about it - and it's called the Learner Variability Navigator - is that it does put all those things together and I love the fact that a lot of times we often think about when we want to do a social emotional learning activity it's very explicit and what I love about this is it offers strategies that are based on research to support any of the different variables or factors that affect learning. And it gives you teaching strategies and methodologies that support those things so you can build it as a thread throughout your program, like every single day and every single lesson without feeling like you're adding more. You know it's switching to how you teach something as opposed to teaching one more thing. And I think that sometimes can really you know it's it's a hard thing to figure out how to do. And you know what are those things it supports so well.

Matt: I think we got you got muted there Lynn there we go you're back

Lynn: okay so I'm having trouble picking which screen I want. That's the one. I got it. Okay sharing. Okay is it right can you see the Learner Variability Navigator? Yep okay.

So this is the Digital Promise's Learner Variability Project. As I said, Digital Promise is an independent nonprofit and their mission is to accelerate innovation and improve opportunities for learning. So basically, what they've done is they've taken research and put it at our fingertips. This is open source and free for all educators. So, you can see as we move down through their research, they've defined basically four pillars that are the main areas that they look at.

So you know here we have social emotional learning, and but we also have content cognition and student background. And then what they did is created looked at those pillars and looked at them in these different models. So they've broken it down basically into kind of numeracy and literacy, which basically they can hit on every single subject. Right, so for ease and because it's the one I'm most familiar with. So you know we'll have a look at the grade 7-12 model and explore the factors. So the first time I saw this, I was blown away by this part so here you can see the four pillars divided in the columns and you can see the factors that they discovered affected learning the most what's really marvelous is when I hover over any one of these factors you can see how some fade out and highlight and it shows automatically right there visually how they're interconnected. And I thought that was just brilliant because sometimes we would forget like you know I wouldn't have thought reading fluency would be affected that much by social emotional learning right and it really emphasized the importance of integrating everything together to support the whole child. And you know you can see like hearing is a factor you know it. I thought it was marvelous, but it gets better.

So on any one of these I can click on and it will take me to a summary page. And then basically outlines what the factor is here it can go it goes into a little more deeper explanation about those connections you know critical literacy so it talks about why is emotion why does critical literacy get affected by emotion you know why does competition get affected so those it really helps. It's, it's like the best teacher PDA out there, I think also.

And again explains all the main ideas so in emotion and if you continue down the page it gives you lots of opportunities to learn more. And I like this - the view measures and references. And it's a little different on for each of the factors, but what's wonderful is one you could dig into the references if you wanted to, but it also gives you measures. So sometimes, these are specific sorts of assessments that you could use in the classroom sometimes they're more specialized where it might be your school psychologist or something like that would deliver and interpret these sorts of assessments but there's a lot of them that the classroom teacher could utilize to then give themselves a better base of understanding so then if we go back and as I said sometimes there's a couple of different measures in there and and then you can see it goes into what are the strategies for this factor and before we get into there I will go back up to the top and you'll notice here we have strategies. So I'll show you that and again here we can see all the different areas down the left hand side and on the right hand side we see all the various strategies again that have been extensively researched and you can see just by the color coding what ones support each of the different factors and for example we can look at annotating. And again like before when I click on annotating I'm taken to a summary page that gives me an overview of what is this strategy and what is it like. But it's really awesome because it then gives me a perfect like a lovely example of it in action in a classroom. It also on the right hand side gives me an example of a technology tool that does a really good job in supporting this specific factor, so you know if you want to need to want to etcetera integrate technology you can find out what ones are really good at supporting that factor.

And as before you there's a ton of examples so you can really learn how are people using this strategy in their classroom and find something that really works for you and learn about it better and even dig into more research if you want to go down rabbit hole, which I have you know so and you can really find out different strategies and what they look like and how successful they can be and work in the classroom.

And finally up here in explorers what's really cool is you can create your own workspace and I'm just gonna show you directly the workspace that I created and what it does. Basically, it's you can go and select five or six factors that maybe you want to focus in on. You know, your class needs etc and that's what I did with this where I was given a new course to start this year our whole board is shifting our grade english courses to indigenous literature and so looking at that coming into coming back to school this year obviously I had a lot of things that I had to think about so I selected specific factors that I thought were going to be really important. So background knowledge because it's kind of lacking critical literacy always important in the english classroom but I also looked at given the emotions and adverse experiences and it's great because this workspace you can give annotation notes so you know I thought okay there's a lot of things that might be triggering just because of the subject matter this year emotions are probably going to be a big factor because of coming out of you know isolation etc and you can share the workspace so you could collaborate with colleagues wow you can just share it straight as a view viewing piece and the strategies that it came up with now it gives me a really great panorama I guess strategies that I can use and build on in my classroom so I know I'm supporting those different factors throughout what I'm teaching, no matter what the content material is.

This is really cool. This is, it's amazing yeah - the depth and breadth has just been phenomenal and the learning possibilities like as a teacher to see how those things are connected and learn the strategies that can support so many different things at the same time is just phenomenal. Yeah I think I mean one of the most powerful things I think from this is I hear a lot, I hear people saying "Well how do we move social motion learning into the classroom?" and I think there's a lot of real there's a lot of high level ways that we talk about that a lot but this really makes it very concrete it's like here's this teaching strategy that that probably most educators will recognize They'll say "oh I already do that, yeah like a gallery walk." How many of us do gallery walks all the time? Well now it's like, "Oh look at that, it supports emotion and it supports motivation. Wow, I wouldn't have thought that." Yeah right - or a guided inquiry. Like, "oh it didn't occur to me that that could be a social emotional learning tool."

Lynn: Yeah and and when when when when we kind of are aware of that then we can be a lot more intentional about how we're approaching it and saying that I'm not just doing this as an academic exercise I'm doing it as a social emotional learning exercise at the same time.

Yeah. Yeah, and I thought it was really cool you know obviously we still need those explicit times where you know maybe we're looking at the vocabulary and the social emotional word wheel or you know and that check-in and that kind of thing but to then carry it throughout the day in the various ways that you teach I think is just phenomenal. Yeah, wow. I really appreciate you you sharing this with us. I think I'd like to ask just one one question here at the end before we before we wrap up and say that that for people approaching this for the first time, what's the what's the where should they start? What's the what's the what's the first place they should go to, you know, What I - just again - it's pretty straightforward how they have it set up is just go to the Learner Variability Project, and I believe you put that n the chat for people to grab and I also gave you a link to a slideshow. Oh yeah let me put that I I made surrounding the learner Navigator Yeah sorry the Learner Variability Navigator and there's a ton of links in there and one specific link at the end resources is basically kind of a one-pager of how to get started and how to create your own workspace. And it's like a one-pager and there's a ton more examples of workspaces that are really really helpful to see how people have utilized it like one teacher used it and sent the link home of her workspace because it explained to the parents all the different strategies and factors

That is a really cool yeah really neat idea because I feel like that's that's something that that's often a real that's a it's a gap in communication between families and educators about about why are we doing things what are the what are the reasons what are the reasons that we do this why does education look different than it used to that sort of those sort of conversations though yeah exactly exactly. So you know there's a wide array of ways that you can use it you know for for your own learning to improve your own practice but also to reach out and make connections with your parents and community

Matt: Well thank you so much for sharing this Lynn, I know the thing I'm going to dig into in this as soon as we get off of here is I'm going to go look at the assessment tools that are laid out in there because that is something that I come that comes up all the time about what are some different ways that we can assess things that are that are they can be done alongside academics. This would be is going to be really useful to a lot of people. That's where I'm headed, yeah for sure.

Lynn: And like I said you could get lost going down the rabbit hole in this Navigator, but it's well worth it.

Matt: Cool! Well again Lynn, thank you so much. I really appreciate you joining us, and for those of you watching at home, I just wanna remind everyone that this is the this is the first of our of our social emotional learning kind of speaker series we're having in the SEL and education community you can continue the conversation right here you see the link to our group. We'd love to see you there. We'll be doing more of these. We've got another one coming up a week from from today with JV Johnson talking about emotional motion management. So, without further ado thank you very much, and we will see you all next week take care everybody. Thank you, Lynn.

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Learner Variability Navigator | Learner Variability Project

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Matt: Hello SEL education community, my name is Matt Pearsall.

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History/SS Framework resources from San Diego COE 

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History/SS Framework resources from San Diego COE 

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Sal Khan: Let's teach for mastery -- not test scores

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Would you choose to build a house on top of an unfinished foundation? Of course not. Why, then, do we rush students through education when they haven't always grasped the basics? Yes, it's complicated, but educator Sal Khan shares his plan to turn struggling students into scholars by helping them master concepts at their own pace.

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John Hattie Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

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Implementing Universal Design for Learning in the classroom can seem like a huge undertaking at first, which is why it's best to start small. Making small changes, then continually building upon them is how I have managed to incorporate elements of UDL in my classroom. I may not be exactly where I want to be yet, but by making small changes over the years, my teaching and how my students are learning is much more engaging than it once was.

I've blogged before about promoting engagement through goal setting. But this school year I have built upon this idea ways that are very easy to implement in a classroom, and this process has also put students in a role to help keep me on task, which they love!

One of the guiding principles of UDL is to heighten the salience of goals and objectives (CAST guiding principle 8.1). In order to apply this principle in the classroom, for years I have been writing curriculum outcomes on my lesson plans, and displaying these outcomes in my classroom in student-friendly language. But it made very little impact, and in spite of my efforts to use student friendly language and display the outcomes prominently on the wall, the reality is that many students just tuned it out.

I wanted to make learning goals an ongoing part of student dialogue in our classroom, not for the sake of students knowing what I wanted them to learn, but so that they could understand the why of learning... to help them understand that each activity they do will take them closer to learning something. For example, they're not just completing a worksheet, playing a game, or working in a group... these activities are designed to help them learn how to skip count/read a map/write a recount/classify data/etc.

Here's how I have put learning goals at the forefront of learning, and engaged students in the process:

I have created a goal wall in my classroom, which is divided by subject areas.

In each subject area, a small number of goals that they are currently working on are written in student-friendly language.

One of my classroom jobs is Goal Reader. At the beginning of each subject each day, the goal reader's responsibility is to read the goals aloud to the class. The students enjoy this job, and this has helped keep me accountable. It motivates me to keep the goals updated, and to keep learning goals an ongoing part of classroom discourse.

On all written assessments, the goals are recorded at the top of the page in student-friendly language. The goal reader reads these aloud before students complete the assessment.

My class goal board was very easy to setup. I purchased four whiteboards with magnetic backings, as I have mine placed on top of a chalkboard. Then I used Ready Letters for "Our Goals," and name plates for labels for the subjects. I have a Language Arts board, a Math board, a Science/Social Studies board, and a board for Community/Wellness. The Community/Wellness board covers basic rules and routines, as well as what we are learning in Health and Personal Wellness.

I alternate black marker and colour marker on each board to make it easier to see each individual goal. I update the goals as needed, usually about once a week, depending on subject area. Some goals are ongoing or last for the duration of a unit, so I'm not changing every single goal every week. It's really manageable. Also, I don't include every single outcome we're working toward... but I do try to write the goals in a simple and general way that touches on most of the outcomes, and so that they are easily understood by students.

Keeping all of the goals in one place, instead of scattered all over the room (e.g. I used to keep the Math outcomes on the Math wall, the LA outcomes on my word wall, etc.), has made it easy for students to locate all of our goals at any given time, which makes it more accessible. By creating a class job to read the goals to the class (which rotates weekly), I've made students active participants in the process, which has increased their engagement with their goals. And by putting students in charge of reading the goals aloud, not only does it help keep me accountable (in terms of updating the goals and making sure they are stated regularly), it allows every student in the class to hear about their learning goals from someone other than me!

Overall, this has been a positive change in my classroom, and has definitely fine-tuned the way I heighten the salience of goals and objectives in my classroom, which has helped to further promote student engagement.

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Putting goal setting at the forefront of learning

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By Jana Nicol Implementing Universal Design for Learning in the classroom can seem like a huge undertaking at first, which is why it's best to start small . Making small changes, then continually...

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