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Allowing students to have choice over process, product, and/or environment can allow for all types of learners to be successful in a regular classroom environment. Allowing students to choose appropriate materials, or topics may increase interest. Allowing choice in the product will give students flexibility in showing their skills, and creating levels of support to allow the student to learn the skill at their own pace can create successful classroom differentiation. Using tables, groupings, or quiet spaces can also support specific learners to overcome the barriers faced in the classroom.

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The classroom is an important part of learning. Having space, easily accessible tables, positive messaging, and a positive attitude are important. Creating a shared space that centres around respect for self, others, and the space is really key. The classroom and the class are a team, and allowing for opportunities to move, share, speak out, interact, and engage in different ways is important to making the classroom feel warm and welcoming.

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This is a great summary of some of the important aspects of designing a classroom space.

"An inclusive classroom is designed to welcome all types of learners, lends itself to differentiated instruction and sets the stage for student success. An inclusive classroom isn’t designed just for average students. It’s designed to be universally accommodating for any student" (Advancement Courses, 2018)

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It's the night before the first day of school. Lynn is laying in bed, eyes wide, her thoughts racing. She imagines everything that could possibly go wrong the first day.

She worries that she's not ready.

Lynn's biggest fear is that she has no idea who will be in her class - she won't find out until she gets to school. Lynn has been texting her friends with last-minute thoughts about the day ahead - her friends can't sleep, either. The hours tick by, and before she knows it, it's time to get up and face the day.

Lynn hopes she will get to eat lunch with her friends - the other teachers.

Universal Design

Every teacher, whether it's his or her first year or 20th, knows that sleepless, night-before feeling. Every teacher wants the first day to be perfect - an amazing first day can set the tone for a successful, productive year. Teachers hope that every student who walks into their classroom feels welcomed as part of a community of learners and hope that each student finds the self-confidence to know he or she is smart and capable.

But how do we create this magical environment that gives all students what they need? The truth is, no matter how many times we've set up our classrooms and planned opening-week activities, we still worry that something has been overlooked. We ask ourselves if we have everything in place that our students will need to learn and grow. There are so many variables that teachers can't control: students' past experiences, what goes on in students' homes, the fact that there is more pressure every year to deliver better results on high-stakes tests. Most teachers are going to find a diverse group of learners looking up at them that first day - students from different backgrounds, with learning differences, physical differences and emotional differences. How do teachers accommodate a room full of learners with such a wide variety needs? How do teachers set up classrooms to give each student the best chance of success? Our classroom environment is one part of our teaching practice in which we have some autonomy. An inclusive classroom is designed to welcome all types of learners, lends itself to differentiated instruction and sets the stage for student success. An inclusive classroom isn't designed just for average students. It's designed to be universally accommodating for any student.

An inclusive classroom is designed to welcome all types of learners, lends itself to differentiated instruction, and sets the stage for student success.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) ensures that students with disabilities will be educated in the least restrictive environment to meet their needs. This does not mandate inclusion in every circumstance, but inclusion (either full-time or part-time) is always preferred when determining placement. Research indicates that students with disabilities are more successful, both academically and socially, when they are included in general education classrooms. This means that every teacher should expect, and prepare for, learners with IEPs (Individual Education Programs) who have unique physical, emotional, or learning needs. Differentiated instruction is expected in every classroom - it's simply best practice to be responsive to learners' needs, whether they have an IEP or not. There are also steps teachers can take long before class lists are distributed to ensure that their classrooms are ready to welcome any learner who walks through their door. Simply adhere to the principles of Universal Design.

Universal Design for Learning

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) embraces the concept of universal design to ensure that instruction is accessible to all students. The Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST), originators of the UDL framework, define UDL as "a research-based set of principles to guide the design of learning environments that are accessible and effective for all." There are three principles of UDL, all based on neuroscientific research:

Provide Multiple Means of Representation

Present academic content via a variety of formats (visual, auditory, kinesthetic) to accommodate different learning strengths. The more multisensory opportunities students have to interact with content, the greater the likelihood of transfer of knowledge. Determine students' level of background knowledge and activate or supply it. Provide clarification of vocabulary and symbols. Never assume that students' silence indicates comprehension.

Provide Multiple Means of Action and Expression

Allow students to show what they know in a variety of ways (written, verbal, kinesthetic). Ensure access to assistive technologies such as text-to-speech, speech-to-text and tools for organization such as graphic organizers. As students become more independent using a variety of media, scaffolding can be scaled back as students' executive functioning increases.

Provide Multiple Means of Engagement

Some students will learn best via highly structured approach; some students prefer to work collaboratively and others independently. Providing students with choice increases their motivation and engagement by allowing them to access information. For example, provide a choice board or menu from which students can choose to illustrate, write about or discuss the content. Allow students to choose from both collaborative and individual activities. This promotes self-regulation and the acquisition of coping strategies as students gain independence.

Universal Design for Instruction

The Universal Design for Instruction (UDI) incorporates both universal design concepts and the Universal Design for Learning framework to address the entire learning environment. UDI considers the physical aspects of students' classroom experience, instructional and assessment methods, and the classroom culture. There are nine principles of Universal Design for Instruction:

Equitable Use

Instruction is useful to and accessible by all; provide the same means of use for all students when possible, equivalent when not. Some students may need to use voice-to-text technology to complete a writing assignment, for example, but they are still doing the same work as their peers.

Flexibility in Use

Instruction accommodates a range of individual abilities; provide choice in methods of use. For example, if you provide silent reading time in your classroom, some students may be listening to an eBook with headphones.

Simple and Intuitive Use

Instruction is designed to be straightforward and predictable. Eliminate unnecessary visual clutter and complexity. Provide visual cues to indicate important information, such as bold text or symbols.

Perceptible Information

Information is communicated effectively, regardless of student's sensory abilities. This principle ties in with UDL's multiple means of representation; provide auditory, visual and kinesthetic experiences. If learners are watching a video, it should include captioning.

Tolerance of Error

Instruction anticipates variation in individual learning pace.

Low Physical Effort

Instruction minimizes nonessential physical effort.

Size and Space for Approach and Use

Instruction is designed to provide appropriate size and space for approach, reach and manipulations regardless of student's size, posture, mobility, or communication differences. For example, a student in a wheelchair may have difficulty accessing a microscope that requires the user to stand during use.

A Community of Learners

Instructional environment promotes interaction and communication. Establishing a classroom culture in which students respect each other's differences, where students feel safe to make mistakes, is essential for the inclusive classroom. This requires daily intentional work, especially at the beginning of the year, but will result in a positive return on the investment as students embrace a growth mindset. Allow students to have input on classroom norms to increase ownership.

Instructional Climate

Instruction is welcoming and inclusive with high expectations for all students.

One conundrum teachers face every year is how to arrange students' desks and best utilize the space they have. In fact, the Danielson Framework for Teaching includes "organizing physical space" as one of the components of teacher evaluation. However, there is not one classroom arrangement that is perfect for every situation. UDI principles tell us that students should be able to move easily and safely, teachers should be able to quickly and easily access students and students should be positioned so that they can see and hear with minimal distractions. Be flexible. Sometimes a U-shape works best, sometimes students need to work collaboratively, so a cluster of four desks pushed together are ideal. If you have different groups of students throughout the day, you may find that some classes do well with the cluster arrangement, while others are too distracted by it. Traditional rows allow easy access to students, but make collaborative work difficult. Trust your judgment and be responsive to the needs of your students - you will find an arrangement that works for your class.

Your Inclusive Classroom

Both Universal Design for Learning and Universal Design for Instruction may be incorporated under the umbrella of Universal Design for Education. Many teachers are already intuitively providing these experiences in their classrooms because they have realized that all students benefit, not just students with learning disabilities or learning differences. Whether you will be setting up your classroom for the first time, or you are excited about the opportunity to start fresh next year, apply the principles of UDI and UDL as you plan your classroom's physical environment and classroom culture. Sleep well the night before the first day of school knowing that you are ready to welcome every student who comes through your door and empower all of them to do their best.

As shown above, there are numerous ways to make your classroom more inclusive and equitable for your students. Learn more inclusive learning strategies with a pair of our courses, Preparing for Inclusion and Bridging the Gap: Tech Tools for the Inclusive Classroom (K-5 & 6-12). You'll be able to foster academic and social success in your classroom with the tools you learn from these courses.

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Designing an Inclusive Classroom | Advancement Courses

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It's the night before the first day of school. Lynn is laying in bed, eyes wide, her thoughts racing. She imagines everything that could possibly go wrong the first day. She worries that she's not ready. Lynn's biggest fear is that she has no idea who will be in her class - she won't find out until she gets to school.

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Some awesome activities and classroom strategies for UDL. I love the simplicity of some of the strategies. I also LOVE jigsaws and use them regularly.

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1. Define "Think-Pair-Share." Explain to students that a Think-Pair-Share allows them to activate their prior knowledge and share ideas about content or beliefs with peers. This structure gives students a chance to organize their ideas-first in their own minds, then in a smaller group setting before sharing with the entire group. In a Think-Pair-Share, students Think individually about the question or idea(s) put forth, Pair up with someone to discuss their thinking, and then Share their conversation with their table group, and then finally with the whole group.

2. Display Think-Pair-Share prompts about a concept or topic. Give students 1-2 minutes to think about the prompt on their own. Then discuss with a partner for another few minutes.

3. Facilitate a whole group discussion.

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LibGuides: Universal Design for Learning (UDL): UDL Aligned Strategies

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Universal design for learning (UDL) is an innovative approach to teaching and learning that "designs to the edges." No longer the average, but a tapestry woven into the uniqueness of the individual. Breaking free from the "myth of average," standardized c

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She discusses that there needs to be SPECIFIC TEACHER TRAINING that lasts over several years to be able to do this properly. There is disconnect. I found this barrier to be the most important and the most challenging through all the material we read.

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Inclusion - Down Syndrome Resource Foundation

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- Build respect
- Have rules and enforce them
- Be flexible with students
- Give choices
- Create a classroom space that is easy to move around in and allows for discussion and engagement
- Give students a voice
- Allow them to show learning in a variety of ways
- Focus on the skill
- Give examples
- Allow for questions
- Check for understanding
- Create connections
- Use storytelling

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The Respecting Diversity Program - used at the beginning of the school year to develop student self-concept, respect for diverse others, and an inclusive classroom climate.

I actually use multiple intelligences and a lot of these same strategies/lessons (What am I good at and what do I like? what are my goals? What are my challenges? What makes me unique?) as part of my Career Education curriculum and it is always the first unit. The entire course is based on this self-awareness and I find it really helpful to unpack a lot of the negativity students have about their self-image. I feel like doing this in all subjects using the core competencies is really starting to take shape at our school through self-reflection and artifact gathering each semester.

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1. Modifications are meant for students only who cannot meet grade level standards with adaptations.
2. Modified students should still be included in classroom activities as often as possible
3. UDL design is meant to support ALL learners. Things like checklists, provided notes, visuals, examples, and graphic organizers are all ways to incorporate UDL and make adaptations easy to use for students.

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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.

This video features the following media:
"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.
Source: http://aem.cast.org/
Used with permission from NCAIM at CAST, Inc.

(Logos for Creative Commons CC, BY, and SA)
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International (CC BY-SA 4.0) license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0

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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Interesting Resources and tools - quick sheets for UDL

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Interesting Resources and tools - quick sheets for UDL

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Planning & Strategy Templates for: Getting to Know Our Learners Curriculum Design Universal Design Instructional Design Assessment Strategies to support Teacher Professional Development Who am I? Profile for Teachers Who am I? Profile for Teachers (Editable) BC Curriculum Scavenger Hunt ...

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Introduction Sheet for Designated Learners

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Introduction Sheet for Designated Learners

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1 - Visuals can help many types of learners.
2 - There is a tech resources for pretty much everything - but it's best to choose one or two to focus on each year.
3 - Tech = more choice for kids. More choice = differentation and UDL.

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Storyboard That: The World's Best Free Online Storyboard Creator

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Create storyboards with our free storyboard software! Filmmakers, teachers, students, & businesses all love using Storyboard That for storyboarding & comics online

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Super excited to try this resource: Nearpod

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Super excited to try this resource: Nearpod

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is to create a visual choice board for students. OR visual routines for certain students.

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https://www.commonlit.org/

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For full functionality of this site it is necessary to enable JavaScript. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your web browser.

World-class content

Access thousands of reading lessons and our comprehensive ELA curriculum, CommonLit 360.

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Discover thousands of free, supplemental lessons and quizzes in English and Spanish - all featuring great authors.

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CommonLit definitely keeps me organized. It's easy for me to grade and it's easy for me to see students' reading growth increase throughout the year.

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The CommonLit assessment questions are aligned to our ELA standards, which is extremely helpful when prepping for the state exam.

Teachers trust CommonLit to foster students' reading comprehension

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CommonLit | Free Online Reading Passages and Literacy Resources

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CommonLit is a comprehensive literacy program with thousands of reading lessons, full-year ELA curriculum, benchmark assessments, and standards-based data for teachers.

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I really learned how valuable graphic organizers can be for all students. It's an important part of Universal Design that can benefit all students. I also have a better understanding of the types of reading and writing programs that exist, and some new ways of identifying struggling readers. I think that most challenging piece of reading and literacy in general, is that it needs to be a focus in all classes. Students need to be aware of strategies, and they need to have time to practice these reading strategies. There needs to be less focus on content and more on skills at this point. I often wonder how much COVID has hurt student's abilities in reading and writing.

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In PPT form, these work great for various types of writing.

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Browse Educational Resources | Education.com

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Browse Educational Resources. Award winning educational materials designed to help kids succeed. Start for free now!

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Can be used to practice spelling in a way that breaks down words.

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Reading Worksheets, Spelling, Grammar, Comprehension, Lesson Plans

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Below you'll find our free, printable K12reader high school spelling words program that helps students master words that are most commonly misspelled. The program is designed for developing spelling proficiency for students in 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade and 12th grade. However, you may also find the program helpful for those in 8th grade.

The K12reader High School Spelling program is based on comprehensive research conducted originally by Thomas Clark Pollock and printed in The English Record ( English Record; v22 n1 p46-53 Fall 1971) , with permission granted to K12reader by the New York State English Council. Click here to view more detail about the background research.

Five major groups of errors were noted in the research: (1) misspelling of endings of words, (2) misspelling of vowels, (3) misspelling of homonyms or near homonyms, (4) misspelling of consonants and (5) misspelling of prefixes and combining forms.

Master Spelling Words List

Master High School Spelling List (36 weeks)
The master list includes each week's word list as well as an overview of the different areas covered by each week. Download Master High School Spelling List

Spelling Rules Handout

Here's a handy spelling rules handout that students can use when they are studying.

Student Materials - High School Spelling List Worksheets (PDF Format)

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High School Spelling Words Program | Free, 36 Weeks

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Below you'll find our free, printable K12reader high school spelling words program that helps students master words that are most commonly misspelled. The program is designed for developing spelling proficiency for students in 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade and 12th grade. However, you may also find the program helpful for those in 8th grade.

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Are spelling programs useful if they are out of context? Is it better to practice spelling in a way that is more connected to the unit or topic of study? What is the best way to help students improve spelling outcomes?

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Should We Teach Spelling? Part 1 | Reading Rockets

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I taught 3rd grade for 29 years. We had a variety of Spelling programs over that time period. Most programs connected weekly Spelling words to stories in Reading program, & a phonics "rule" . A few sight words were added to the list each week.

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I really liked this resource. I thought the visual was really well done, and I like this concept for teaching writing. Having students CLEARLY understand what they need and what they are doing is really the difference between successful work and unsuccessful work.

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1. Games can make math fun and more hands on - and can allow for more formative assessment to occur
2. Vertical spaces, movement, and white boards are a great way to include different types of learners
3. Math journals are a way to include literacy and learning (as well as core competencies) into math curriculum
4. The Numeracy 10 assessment is a good baseline for students to assess their skills. Various courses can practice these problem solving skills, but math is shifting to more problem solving based assessments.

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White boards/vertical spaces

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June used it the next day. It did not go well. A forest of arms immediately shot up, and June moved frantically around the room answering questions. Many students gave up quickly, so June also spent much effort trying to motivate them to keep going. In general, there was some work attempted when June was close by and encouraging the students, but as soon as she left the trying stopped. This continued for the whole period.

The following day I was back with a new problem. The results were as abysmal as they had been on the first day. The same was true the third day. Over the course of three 40-minute classes, we had seen little improvement in the students' efforts to solve the problems, and no improvements in their abilities to do so. So June decided it was time to give up.

I wanted to understand why the results had been so poor, so I stayed to observe June and her students in their normal routines. After three full days of observation, I began to discern a pattern. That the students were lacking in effort was immediately obvious, but what took time for me to realize was that the students were not thinking. More alarming was the realization that June's teaching was predicated on an assumption that the students either could not or would not think.

Once I realized this, I proceeded to visit 40 other mathematics classes in a number of schools. In each class, I saw the same thing-an assumption, implicit in the teaching, that the students either could not or would not think. Under such conditions it was unreasonable to expect that students were going to be able to spontaneously engage in problem solving.

This motivated me to find a way to build, within these same classrooms, a culture of thinking. I wanted to build what I now call a thinking classroom-one that's not only conducive to thinking but also occasions thinking, a space inhabited by thinking individuals as well as individuals thinking collectively, learning together, and constructing knowledge and understanding through activity and discussion.

Over 14 years, and with the help of over 400 K-12 teachers, I've been engaged in a massive design-based research project to identify the variables that determine the degree to which a classroom is a thinking or non-thinking one, and to identify the pedagogies that maximize the effect of each of these variables in building thinking classrooms. From this research emerged a collection of 14 variables and corresponding optimal pedagogies that offer a prescriptive framework for teachers to build a thinking classroom.

1. The type of tasks used: Lessons should begin with good problem solving tasks. In the beginning of the school year, these tasks need to be highly engaging, non-curricular tasks. Later these are gradually replaced with curricular problem solving tasks that then permeate the entirety of the lesson.

2. How tasks are given to students: As much as possible, tasks should be given verbally. If there are data, diagrams, or long expressions in the task, these can be written or projected on a wall, but instructions should still be given verbally.

3. How groups are formed: At the beginning of every class, a visibly random method should be used to create groups of three students who will work together for the duration of the class.

4. Student work space: Groups should stand and work on vertical non-permanent surfaces such as whiteboards, blackboards, or windows. This makes the work visible to the teacher and other groups.

5. Room organization: The classroom should be de-fronted, with desks placed in a random configuration around the room-away from the walls-and the teacher addressing the class from a variety of locations within the room.

6. How questions are answered: Students ask only three types of questions: proximity questions, asked when the teacher is close; "stop thinking" questions-like "Is this right?" or "Will this be on the test?"; and "keep thinking" questions-ones that students ask in order to be able to get back to work. The teacher should answer only the third type of question.

7. How hints and extensions are used: The teacher should maintain student engagement through a judicious and timely use of hints and extensions to maintain a balance between the challenge of the task and the abilities of the students working on it.

8. Student autonomy: Students should interact with other groups frequently, for the purposes of both extending their work and getting help. As much as possible, the teacher should encourage this interaction by directing students toward other groups when they're stuck or need an extension.

9. When and how a teacher levels their classroom: When every group has passed a minimum threshold, the teacher should pull the students together to debrief what they have been doing. This should begin at a level that every student in the room can participate in.

10. Student notes: Students should write thoughtful notes to their future selves. They should have autonomy as to what goes in the notes and how they're formatted. The notes should be based on the work already on the boards done by their own group, another group, or a combination.

11. Practice questions: Students should be assigned four to six questions to check their understanding. They should have freedom to work on these questions in self-selected groups or on their own, and on the vertical non-permanent surfaces or at their desks. The questions should not be marked or checked for completeness-they're for the students' self-evaluation.

12. Formative assessment: Formative assessment should be focused primarily on informing students about where they are and where they're going in their learning. This will require a number of different activities, from observation to check-your-understanding questions to unmarked quizzes where the teacher helps students decode their demonstrated understandings.

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Over more than a decade, the author has developed a 14-point plan for encouraging students to engage deeply with math content.

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A colleague explained this strategy and I love it. It's simple but similar to the literacy strategy I liked. Students need to be able to explain things to others, in a simple and clear way, to be able to fully comprehend it.

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Any great teacher or coach is constantly assessing performance and giving timely and direct feedback. Formative assessments are paramount in the math classroom. There are some assessments that are more formal than others, but you have to plan them in order to make sure they happen. Also, you shouldn't do assessments just because you're supposed to do them. As teachers, we use, and value, formative assessment because they inform our feedback to students and the way we'll deliver instruction in the future.

Sometimes you need to slow down the instruction, or maybe you need to speed things up. Formative assessments reveal the misconceptions and missteps that students make. You can respond quickly and reinforce the correct process for students. If you just give assignments and correct them for grades, without specific feedback or adjustments in teaching, then the assessments won't have the impact on learning that you crave.

I'd like to share a list of formative assessment that I love to use when working in my grade level math class as well as my intervention classes. Usually, intervention classes are smaller and that gives you so much more opportunity to assess and give feedback. The best math teacher I ever worked with was also the teacher that gave more specific and timely feedback than anyone else I've ever seen. I watched the impact her daily feedback had on her students over the year. It reinforced for me that the more feedback you give students, the more you help students move forward in their math learning.

I start each class with formative assessments in the form of math mazes. This is my go to as students walk into the room. They pick up their maze and start working on it. The daily maze has problems related to what we're learning. Watching students work through their daily maze gives me information about where the whole class is with the topic as well as each individual student.

I personally check each student's maze every single day. This gives me a chance to check in with every student and give them feedback. If they have no errors, then they get a stamp and they move onto the problem of the day (a more complex problem that takes some time to work through). When there's an error I either ask students a probing question, or give them a quick pointer. This gives formative assessment to every students every day. It's a great way to start my class each day and ensures that students get feedback and I get a snapshot of how my students are doing. I'm not sure what's better than that.

Want to try out a free math maze today? Sign up for the Maze of the Month club and get a free maze on middle school math concepts sent right to your inbox each month. Plus, you'll get an adding and subtracting integers maze right away.
YES! Sign me up for the Maze of the Month Club!
Can't wait to see you there.

Personal whiteboards

There are only a couple of things that I couldn't live without as a teacher, and personal whiteboard sleeves is one of them. You can pose a question or problem on the board and then you can see the whole class' response instantly.

Once again, with a quick check you can see how students are doing. Then, you can let students know if they got it or if there is something that they need to go and fix. As a teacher this takes a lot of concentration, but you'll be able to see students really learn when they go through this process. We use these whiteboards just about every day. As I'm talking about many of the other types of formative assessment, the personal whiteboard sleeves are a tool that can easily facilitate these strategies.

Exit ticket poster

A couple of years ago one of my colleagues had this idea to have a poster with 5 questions on it. Then, we used this poster as a quick go-to for exit tickets. I've placed the poster in two different places in my room as well as in students' notebooks. When it's time for an exit ticket I can just tell everyone to respond to question 4. Boom! Simple and done.

I give students a post-it or a quarter sheet of paper to complete this exit ticket on. No matter which question I use I get great formative assessment info that helps inform my instruction for the next day.

We use task cards as a practice activity in every unit that I teach. Usually, students don't have time to complete all of the task cards. One little trick I've learned is to keep a couple sets of taskcards on hand as formative assessments. I have student complete the problems on their whiteboards and I can see quickly where they are tripping up.

Taskcards are great for a quick formative assessment- just choose one or two to have all students answer and then move on. (They're also great for quick sponge activities, cyclical review, and more.)

My Favorite No

A few years ago at one school we read the book Making Thinking Visible, and it introduced the strategy of "my favorite no". It became a fan favorite to use at my school. In this strategy, you give some form of exit ticket or assessment. Then, you go through the answers and make a pile of yes and no based on who's got it and who doesn't yet. Finally, look through the no's and find the one that illustrates a common misconception or is the closest to being correct.

The next class, share with students your "favorite no" and why you liked it. You can explain what the student got right, and then what we can learn from the mistake they made.

This strategy is super simple and it helps incentivize actually looking through the exit tickets because you have a plan of what to do with them. It also gives students a chance to look at others' work and try to figure out why an answer was the teacher's favorite no. It's formative assessment at its finest.

Google Form

I have loved Google Forms since we started using them years ago. They're easy to make and assign, and you get feedback right away. Google Forms are my go-to assessment for my intervention class. Students complete one every day and then analyze their errors.

You can use Google Forms to create math problems or reflection questions. Also, you get a lot of information from the responses- they even create little graphs and chart for you. My heart gets a little happy every time I see these graphs and charts that are made for me. With a quick glimpse I can see how students are doing overall. With just a little bit more time, you can also see each students' quiz individually.

If you have access to tech devices for students, Google Forms are an invaluable way to instantly get formative assessment information.

Which mathematician is right?

There are a variety of ways to analyze errors. The "Which mathematician is right?" strategy is similar to "my favorite no" because students analyze other "students'" work. Then, they decide who they think did the problem correctly and explain why they agree and disagree with hypothetical students' work. If your students struggle to know why one solution is right and the other isn't, then they might not really get the concept.

After students have created their responses in writing they can share them with their partner. I like to give them a minute or two to compare their answers with their partners and then let them share out with the class. Everyone doesn't need to share out, but letting 3 or 4 kids share their insight provides good conversation. This exercise pushes to students to a deeper level of analysis, revealing their understandings or misunderstandings.

Muddiest Point

The muddiest point is an exit ticket where students identify what is still unclear for them. It can be used as an exit ticket on paper, or you can have students write their muddiest point on their whiteboard. It just depends on the situation and how long you think the responses will be. The responses on the whiteboards really shouldn't be longer that a sentence or they get really hard to read.

You can see which parts of the concept are difficult for everyone at a glance. You might want to start them off with a sentence starter like: After today's lesson I am still confused about... This gives them the words they need to get started. When all is said and done, once they've told you where they're getting stuck, you can give them some quick pointers to get them back on track.

Fist to 5

I use "fist to 5" insead of thumbs up/thumbs down. There's a lot of variation in understanding and students can show that one one hand. A one means that they don't get it at all and a 5 means that it is crystral clear. This is a quick check you can do between the lesson and the practice. It will give you an idea of who to check on at the beginning of the practice.

Emoji scale reflection

The emoji reflection exit ticket is very similar to the 1 to 5 scale except that students shade in the emoji that matches their understanding the best. They also have to justify their choice by writing an I can statement of what they can do or what they need to work on.

Doing this assessment with the emojis seems to take down some student anxiety about self-evaluation. Students are familiar with emojis and they don't have to show the whole class their response.

Two truths and a lie

Playing two truths and a lie makes a great formative assessment strategy. It comes from a game I remember playing as a child. We often played it to introduce ourselves and we had to create two truths and a lie about our own lives. It's fun and for math purposes it gets students to identify two correct answers and one lie. They have to think a little differently about the math.

Another twist on this strategy is for the students to create the statements. There's a lot of thinking that is involved and you'll see if they can purposely make a mistake. Then, you can read students' stories to the whole class to review learning. You could really ham it up and act like you are on a tv talk show (or not).

Explain it to an alien

Sometimes a great way to see if students understand something is for them to just explain the steps. Instead of telling them to rewrite the steps you can have them explain it to an alien, a 5 year-old, or a monkey. This will make them have to not just copy their notes, but to use language that makes sense to them AND to someone else who doesn't know how to do what students have been learning about.

Sentence starters with quick writes

I've mentioned sentence starters already in this post, but they deserve their own section. For 5 years I taught English Language Learners. Many of them came to me with no English skills. I learned the power of the sentence stem back then and have used it with all sorts of students.

I find that some students just can't get started, but with just a little boost they have great ideas and thoughts to write. If you try nothing else from this whole blog post please use sentence starters. Give the kids who need scaffolding some easy support.

Check out 3 ways we use sentence starters to help students show what they know.

Kahoot

Kahoot is a game that students love to play. It's a whole class game and can easily be used as a formative assessment. At the end of the game it gives you the option to save the results to a Google Sheet. It will give you a detailed report of how students did. You can so this quickly at the end of class with a short game of 3 to 5 questions. My favorite Kahoot games are short and sweet.

When playing, you'll want to have student show their work on a paper or a whiteboard and keep reminding them that getting it correct is better than fast. When you download the report at the end of the game, you'll quickly see how the whole class does, and each individual student as well.

Quizizz

Quizizz is a similar to Kahoot, but students can go at their own pace (I like to assign as "homework" and turn off the question timer). There is still a game component, but they work on their screeen at their pace. They think it's fun and you get a lot of data from it. I used to use Quizizz for my daily quizzes. It works well for that.

Making a formative assessment plan

Keep in mind that this is a short list of ideas for formative assessments. One of my favorite math teacher books has 75 formative assessments. So, now make a plan for how you are going to incorporate formative assessment into you class and what actions you will take as a result. We can't wait to hear more about what you're doing in your classroom. Let us know on Instagram @ideagalaxyteacher or on Facebook at Math Idea Galaxy.

Thanks so much for reading. Until next time!

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15 Math Formative Assessments Strategies That Rock - Idea Galaxy

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Any great teacher or coach is constantly assessing performance and giving timely and direct feedback. Formative assessments are paramount in the math classroom. There are some assessments that are more formal than others, but you have to plan them in order to make sure they happen.

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1. Adaptations and modifications can go hand in hand; however, they are not the same. Students should not have modifications if they are able to use adaptations to meet grade level standards
2. Strength based profiles are more effective at getting to know a student and working through their core competency goals
3. It is important to include a summary sheet for TTOCs or other staff so they understand the student's needs and programming

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This chart helps a LART to understand whether the student will need adaptations or modifications in their programming. It shows the change towards core competency strength based learning profiles, and reminds us that we do not need to update on curricular competencies (learning standards) unless the student is not meeting expectations.

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/many-benefits-strengths-based-ieps

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The Many Benefits of Strengths-Based IEPs

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Individualized education programs that focus on learner competencies enhance student growth and increase parental involvement.

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Has examples and a great chart to figure out what support a student needs.

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- Access to technology
- More time for assessments
- Less questions
- LAC Block
- Preferred seating near adult
- Check ins
- Quiet work area
- Calculator allowed
- Not marking spelling or grammar
- Alternative texts (audiobooks)
etc.

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- Changes in curricular competencies (less questions, simplified assignments, simplified responses)
- Schedule changes
- Reader and scribe for all work
- Sentence starters
- Graphic organizers instead of full assignment
Etc.

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Audiobooks are a great way to allow for UDL and to support all readers.

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Listen to popular audiobook - Page 1 - hoopla

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Listen to audiobooks right now on hoopla. Stream audiobooks from one of the largest collections of online audiobooks. No commercials and free to you in partnership with your local library.

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1 - Inclusion needs to happen in all classrooms.
2 - Barriers to inclusion make it challenging - teacher training, funding, lack of resources, etc. exist in our system.
3 - UDL can break down barriers

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There needs to be CLEAR parent communication before a student can move to the next stage of an RTI. I think this is key.