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Sarah Ward and Kristen Jacobsen

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Do you have Speech Pathology crushes? I do! I want to share my latest.
Celebrating the work of Sarah Ward and Kristen Jacobsen
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As a Speechie was I was a little late coming to the idea of executive function and my role in supporting it in sessions. However, over the last ten years my knowledge has grown, and my use of strategies has increased.

I attended a professional development session by Sarah Ward, a Speech Pathologist from the United States, 18 months ago and my knowledge has increased significantly. It makes so much more sense.

Here are my big takeaways...

Executive function is a set of mental skills that include working memory, flexible thinking, and self-control. We use these skills every day to learn, work and manage daily life. Trouble with executive function can make it hard to focus, follow directions and handle emotions just to name a few.

Takeaway 1

Executive function skills are mediated by language. Even students with strong language skills who suffer from executive function problems have difficulties using their language to set goals, reason, problem solve and mediate completion of tasks. Students with executive function difficulties need to develop metacognitive skills to organise their language skills in order to benefit from tools that suit their particular learning styles. Students develop the language skills for understanding, analysing and applying more efficient strategies that help them become more efficient and independent learners. You can see how this would have a huge impact on students with language difficulties and disorders.

The other thing which has a huge impact is the ability to visualise. We use episodic memories of our experiences to form schemas and routines. Our ability to record memories and visualise ourselves in them allows us to rehearse our goals, monitor time and use of strategies for the desired outcome. These cognitive skills develop from young childhood through young adulthood.

Takeaway 2

Executive function starts with nonverbal working memory. We think about what will happen. From here it moves to verbal working memory. This is where the language piece comes in. Our verbal working memory includes self-talk and stated intention - such as I will ... I am going to. We start to run through how we are going to do it. Many of our children have problems with this because they don't have self-talk. This is all about working out the plan before it is time to start.

To be able to do this, children need to have orientation to where they are. This is called situation awareness or situation intelligence. Sarah and Kristen call it Situational IQ (I like this! ). They need to read the room.

Children need to think about Space, Time, Objects and People.

Space - navigate the room, what's in the room, what's happening?
Time - get on the timeline, what schedule is being followed?
Object - organisation and what objects do I need?
People - what's my role in the situation?

Imagine morning time in a classroom. Jenny is sitting on the floor, she is looking at the teacher and knows that the routine will start with the attendance roll and instructions for the first activity of the day. Contrast this with James, who is on the floor but focused on last week's experiment that is sitting on a side table. Jenny who has great situation intelligence is set up well for the day, whereas James is not orientated in time, objects or people in the room.
Kids who can't pick up on these don't have situational intelligence and are often distracted by objects or memory. They struggle to pull all the clues together to one meaning.

When I was learning this, my immediate thought was social thinking. I work with many kids on the Autism Spectrum. Children on the spectrum often have executive function difficulties. This difficulty with situational awareness impacts signficiantly on their executive function as well as their social skills.

Takeaway 3

When you combine nonverbal working memory with situational awareness you get a particular skill which is crucial to executive function. This processing is called mimetic-ideational information processing. Essentially what you do is make a mime in your head. A movie if you well. This is a mental simulation of how the future will play out. It is a mental dress rehearsal where through trial and error without any real risk of error you can play it out. It can be reviewed and adjusted to achieve the desired outcome.

To be able to do this we need to teach our students four key things - If they can't do this, they won't be successful. Children need to be able to Mime so that they can then move it over into verbal memory (if then) so that they can use self-talk. Mime it!
M - Future scene thinking - Make an image - stop - what will it look like?
I - Episodic future thinking - What do I look like? Self-projection into the future.
M - Mental time travel - Temporal - spatial - how am I moving to achieve this
E - The future emotion - How will feel? - emotional psychological state

I - If then
T - Self Talk

So..

We are teaching them to have a mental dress rehearsal, so they are efficient and successful.
For example, if you send a child up to their room - it's 7.15 we need to get ready for school. If the child isn't mime mapping, they go up to their room and get distracted. The parent comes up and says come on. This is external prompting. If the child has executive functions skills - the child mimes the future. They self-project themselves to their bedroom and go through the tasks before they even get to their room. When they get to their room, they execute the plan.

This big point is that planning, most of the time, happens in a different space to where it is executed. Let's think about kids at school. They collect their things from their locker before they get to the classroom or before they go home to do their homework. They plan in a different place to where they execute.
If kids are not doing the planning and we are always prompting, they are not learning new skills.
So how do we support kids? We teach them to plan backwards to execute forwards.

1. Done - What does it look like when I am done?
2. Do - What do I need to do to get to the picture?
3. Get ready - What materials will I need?
When we get home - we execute forwards
4. Start - gather materials
5. Check - create time markers - set a halfway point
6. Stop - done - stop clean up review

Takeaway 4

Many programs don't teach this plan backwards, instead starting at the "Get Ready" point. With this approach kids become prompt dependent instead of learning to plan.
For example, when a parent says to their child, "Get ready for school", this creates a problem. The child is starting with verbal memory, whereas to be successful executive function starts with non-verbal memory.
In another example, if a parent says "go upstairs and get your hair done", the parent is the one who has done the spatial and temporal travel rather than the child.
In the past we have given a checklist to kids - but these don't always work, because check lists are verbal memory whereas we know that executive function starts with non-verbal memory.

Takeaway 5

Gesture is a key part of miming - Kids on the autism spectrum don't gesture. Gestures give life to our mental scratch pads - allowing us to perform actions with our hands before we have to do them in real life. Gesture helps infuse memories with an emotional charge that make them last.

One of the first strategies Sarah talks about is driving that nonverbal working memory with photos so that kids can move from the if to the then which is verbal working memory - self talk. She often takes photos of what kids look like when they go to school. She then supports them to plan in reverse - "Tell me your plan to look like this!" Walk me through your plan so that we can get there.
When you use walk me through the plan - it helps kids to gesture.
Executive function is all about being a mind mime.
This is where the get ready, go and done plan comes into play. It's a great way to set out the plan visually and makes the student the planner.

Takeaway 6

Children today are growing up in a digital world. Digital clocks sit on the side of verbal memory. Using an analogue clock, we can make the passage of time visual. Using a clock face, time can be coloured in for Get ready, do and done - using the corresponding colours. When you draw on the clock you are planning and experiencing time.

Other interesting facts about time

Check out more awesome on their website - https://efpractice.com/

360 app is a great resource for sessions. 360 Thinking time tracker

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The brilliance of Sarah Ward and Kristen Jacobsen - Speech Concepts

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Do you have Speech Pathology crushes? I do! I want to share my latest.Celebrating the work of Sarah Ward and Kristen Jacobsen.As a Speechie was I was a little late coming to the idea of executive function and my role in supporting it in sessions.

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Help students understand what they will be doing and stay on task with visual schedules as part of a structured teaching program. Using words or pictures, depending on students’ level of understanding and reading ability, can help them understand what they will be doing, and reassures them about what is coming up next.

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The Assessment of Young Children Through the Lens of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

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The Assessment of Young Children Through the Lens of Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

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UDL + Unit Planning: Assessment Alignment Map

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UDL + Unit Planning: Assessment Alignment Map

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UDL + Unit Planning: Assessment Alignment Map

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UDL + Unit Planning: Assessment Alignment Map

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UDL Flowchart helps teachers to self-reflect on if they are universally designing instruction. Note how it begins with “firm goals” aligned to state standards.

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The Secret to Giving Great Feedback by Lee Ann Renninger

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The Secret to Giving Great Feedback by Lee Ann Renninger

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Humans have been coming up with ways to give constructive criticism for centuries, but somehow we're still pretty terrible at it. Cognitive psychologist LeeAnn Renninger shares a scientifically proven method for giving effective feedback in this 5 minutes Ted Talk

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LeeAnn Renninger: The secret to giving great feedback

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Humans have been coming up with ways to give constructive criticism for centuries, but somehow we’re still pretty terrible at it. Cognitive psychologist LeeAnn Renninger shares a scientifically proven method for giving effective feedback.

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The Joy of Getting Feedback by Joe Hirsch

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The Joy of Getting Feedback by Joe Hirsch

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This 8 minutes TED talk may help you recover from negative feedback. ​

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What if getting feedback wasn’t a source of fear, but joy? In this personal talk, speaker/author Joe Hirsch makes a passionate case for sharing “feedforward,” a new view of human potential. When feedback draws others closer to their future selves, they experience the joy of self-discovery that leads to positive and lasting change.

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This blog from The Art of Education offers ideas for how to collect honest feedback from elementary students.

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Elementary art students often LOVE art class. It's one place they are free to be creative, independent, and messy. It's important to remember despite the age of our students, their honest feedback about art class is important and useful. Authentic feedback from even the youngest students can be an informative tool to help us grow as teachers. Asking for student feedback is also a great way to let students know their voices are heard. In addition, it's a perfect way to collect evidence and data to share with administrators.

Here are 4 ways to elicit honest feedback from your elementary students.

1. Facilitate a Think, Pair, Share Discussion

Think, Pair, Share activities are a great way to get your kids thinking and talking before they raise their hand to answer a question. This is a great way for younger students and English Language Learners to gain confidence and practice their language skills. Don't expect your students to know what a good Think, Pair, Share looks like, model it for them first. Here's how it works.

Think
Pose a reflective question such as, "What did you like best about this project? Why?" or, "What center are you enjoying the most right now? Why?" Give students a minute or two to think silently. It's a good idea to write the question on the board or repeat it verbally for students who need repetition.

Pair
After giving students time to think, ask them to turn to the person next to them and pair up to discuss their ideas. This will give them a little time to work through their thoughts out loud before sharing with the larger group.

Share
Last, have students share! They can present alone or with their partner for support. Keep a list of their shared ideas on your whiteboard. This way, you can reflect on the group's thoughts at the end of class if you have time.

The more you use Think, Pair, Share with your students, the more successful they will be. Use the Think, Pair, Share technique on its own or to enhance student understanding before trying the reflection methods below!

2. Give a Simple Survey

Using a survey is an easy way to collect data. You can administer surveys at the beginning of the year to see what students are interested in, in the middle of the year to gauge how things are going, or at the end of the year to see what changes you might need to make in the future.

Ask students to help you make a list of something. It could be projects or centers they've done, artists they've studied, techniques they've learned, etc...

After the list is compiled, simply ask students to mark their favorites. This could be done with sticky notes or colored magnets on a whiteboard or using a digital survey tool like Plickers.

Leave time to tally the results as a class. Have a discussion about why they think some things were more popular than others. Ask students to offer suggestions about how to improve based on the feedback.

You could even make this into a STEAM or math integration activity by pairing up with a math teacher and creating a large-scale graph or chart on a bulletin board. You could highlight one class or compile the data of the whole school. Make sure to document this process and share it as evidence with your administrator!

3. Have Students Fill Out an Art Reflection Sheet

A reflection sheet is a great way to collect honest feedback from students who are old enough to write. You can provide a place for a name, but allow students to fill them out anonymously if they'd like. You can create reflection sheets for specific projects or centers, at certain checkpoints throughout the year, or as a no-mess, zero-prep, last-day activity!

Download the two-sided End-of-Art-Class Reflection Sheet below to get started!

Download Now!

4. Storytelling

Pose a storytelling question to students to spark their imaginations. For instance, "If I grew up to be an art teacher, I would..." and invite them to tell a short story or draw a picture about how they would run their art class.

Before asking them to imagine their own art room, explain they might choose to share something they wish art could have, something they already love about art or something they've always wanted to try. Then have students close their eyes and guide them to envision their classroom: What are your students making? Do you have anything on your walls? What is special about your art classroom?

Make sure to let students include pie-in-the-sky ideas like, "My art classroom would have a roller coaster in it." These ideas will give you just as much insight as more traditional answers. For example, the previous comment might spark reflection such as:

Do I incorporate enough movement for my kinesthetic learners?

Could I try adding a 3D roller coaster design project into my curriculum next year?

What could I do in my classroom that would really surprise my students?

Share these thoughts with your students to let them know you hear them and their voices are important.

It's important to create a space for your youngest students' voices in the art room. Community building activities are essential when our students only visit us an hour a week. Not only will reflections help your students feel heard, but you will be able to constantly improve to meet your students' unique needs!
How do you use student feedback to enhance your teaching practice? Do you use student reflections in your classroom?
Magazine articles and podcasts are opinions of professional education contributors and do not necessarily represent the position of the Art of Education University (AOEU) or its academic offerings. Contributors use terms in the way they are most often talked about in the scope of their educational experiences.

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4 Ways to Get Honest Feedback From Your Elementary Students

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4 Ways to Get Honest Feedback From Your Elementary Students Assessment Implementation % %

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This article offers insights on how to create optimal conditions for collecting student feedback and offers a step-by-step guide for collecting survey feedback. ​

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Yes, it's scary. Yes, it's easy to assume you already know what students think about your class, how well they're handling the workload, what activities they like the most. Yes, it's possible you know best. Still.

If you've never asked students for serious, honest feedback, you're missing something. If you ask the right questions and give students the time and encouragement to supply quality answers, student feedback can benefit you in so many ways.

The Benefits

1. Increasing Student Engagement

By finding out what learning activities students like the most and least about your class, you'll get better at designing lessons that really engage them. Of course, your job is not to entertain your students 24/7, but if some methods of delivery are better received than others, then they're likely to result in greater learning gains as well.

2. Preventive Discipline

Learning more about each student's experience in your class can go a long way toward improving the relationship you have with them. And that can go a long way toward improving classroom management.

3. Differentiation

Grades and test scores don't tell the whole story. A student who is getting excellent grades might be accomplishing that only with tremendous effort and hours of work at home. Conversely, a student who consistently turns in mediocre work might actually want more of a challenge. By asking students how well the work fits their abilities, you can adjust your instruction to better meet their needs.

4. Bullying Prevention

When students are given an opportunity to share their feelings about your class, they might also include information about students who harass them, or each other. If a student says he hates coming to your class every day, the reason might have more to do with his peers than with anything you're doing. Gathering student feedback is the first step toward discovering the things you don't know about your own classroom.

5. Self-Preservation

Many school systems are implementing teacher evaluation programs that include student feedback. And at the college level, student evaluations can significantly impact a professor's promotion and tenure. Instead of waiting for the "official" forms to be distributed to students, get ahead of the curve by asking for similar feedback early, while there's still time to troubleshoot.

Gathering Student Feedback, Step-by-Step

Start by asking good questions.

Create a written survey you distribute to students. Even if you teach online, you can distribute forms electronically. Here are some questions that should be included:

Is the work in this class too hard or too easy for you?

Do you feel our tests and quizzes are fair?

How easy is it to approach me with questions or concerns?

Do you feel our class time is used wisely?

What do you like most about this class?

What do you like least?

What else do you think I should know?

That last question might seem like a throw-away, but it can elicit some of the most powerful and significant information you'll get. Some students will use it to tell you about a problem they're having with a classmate. Others will tell you that the handle on the class supply drawer is broken. You just never know what you're going to get, so be sure to add an open-ended question like this to your survey.

Next, create optimal conditions for quality feedback.

Distribute the survey at the right time and place. What worked best for me was to set aside 5 to 10 minutes at the end of a class period and have students do it then, rather than having them take it home.

Talk to students ahead of time about the purpose of the survey and your desire to hear their true feelings. Give them examples of "mean" feedback (insulting another person) and "constructive" feedback (describing your own experience). Assure them that if they tell you something critical about your class or your teaching, you will not give them a bad grade or punish them in return.

Make sure the room stays quiet and that students keep their responses as private as they would with a test.

Decide ahead of time if you want students to put their names on their surveys: Anonymity will often get you more honest responses, but without names, it's harder to do much follow-up work on them. I would tell my students that they could leave their names off if that made them more comfortable, but that I would be able to be a better teacher to them personally if I knew what their responses were. Most of the time, students chose to add their names.

Finally, ACT on the feedback.

Gathering information is useless if you do nothing with it. Here are some ways you can respond to student feedback:

Talk. Then talk some more. Written feedback should be considered the first step. Once you've read the forms, follow up with individual students about their comments, and talk to the whole class about what you plan to do in response to what you learned. A few weeks later, check back with students to see if the changes are working for them.

Look for patterns. A complaint from one student is worth noting, but fifty million Elvis fans can't be wrong. Do many students say they don't like silent reading? Do seventeen kids mention "rug time" as a problem? Even if it's something you want to keep doing, a whole-class discussion can help you figure out ways to improve it.

Dig into the mysteries. Students may put cryptic things on their surveys that are just the tip of the iceberg. If there's anything on the form you don't understand, don't brush it off. Pull the student aside and ask her about it.

Solve the easy problems. One of the best things about getting this feedback is that it can alert you to a problem that's easy to fix. If a student mentions that the draft from the window bothers her, just move her. There. You just made the rest of the school year better for that kid.

Watch your ego. Reading even a little bit of negative feedback is no fun for anyone, so be aware that your first reaction to criticism will probably be defensive. That's natural, but it won't solve the problem. Remind yourself that the student took a risk by telling you, so take the problem seriously and resolve to calmly and constructively find ways to solve it.

Notice the positives. If the criticisms are getting you down, go back through and notice all the good things students said - those things matter. Figure out what you're doing right, then do more of it.

A Tool You Can Use Right Now

If you'd like something ready-made for gathering student feedback, here's a form you can use today: the "How's It Going?" Form. You can use it any time of year to get a quick snapshot for how students are experiencing your class. The form comes in two versions: One for elementary students and the other for secondary and college-level students. With each, you'll also get an editable form so you can add to or adjust the questions for your own needs, and a link to a Google Forms option if you want to conduct the survey digitally. Both forms are available in my Teachers Pay Teachers store:

The "How's It Going?" Form
The "How's It Going?" Form
Secondary/College Level Elementary Level

Come back for more.
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5 Reasons You Should Seek Your OWN Student Feedback

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As teacher evaluation systems become more complex and intense, many of us ignore the richest source of information about our teaching. And it's right under our noses.

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How to help students give meaningful feedback

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How to help students give meaningful feedback

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This article discusses why students may not give helpful feedback and how to create conditions where we get meaningful feedback. As you read, think about her explanation of learned helplessness and how that sometimes prevents learners from providing meaningful feedback. How can collecting regular feedback create a different culture where students feel like they will be heard and their feedback matters? ​

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Although the article is about collecting feedback at the end of the year, the strategies could be used any time. ​

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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Empowering Teachers through Soliciting Student Feedback

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Empowering Teachers through Soliciting Student Feedback

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The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Massachusetts developed these instruments to help educators collect feedback:

DESE Model Student Feedback Surveys (for students in grades 3–12 to complete about classroom teachers)

K-2 Discussion Prompts (for K–2 students to respond to about a classroom teacher)

Individual teachers can download and use these instruments to collect meaningful, actionable feedback about their practice.

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Student and staff feedback is an important source of evidence collected during the 5-Step Evaluation Cycle, in addition to artifacts of practice, observations, and measures of student learning, growth, and achievement. By including student and staff feedback in educator evaluation, teachers and administrators gain valuable information to improve their practice, and districts gain the ability to construct the most comprehensive, clear, and descriptive picture of an educator's effectiveness.

Districts have the flexibility to determine feedback instruments (not limited to surveys), administration protocols, and processes for integrating feedback into the evaluation cycle.

For more information read DESE's Quick Reference Guide: Student & Staff Feedback .

Check out DESE's Model Feedback Surveys!

DESE has developed the three instruments to help educators collect feedback:

Individual teachers or districts can download and use these instruments to collect meaningful, actionable feedback about their practice that is aligned to the Standards and Indicators of Effective Teaching and Standards for Effective Administrative Leadership Practice.

Resources & Guidance

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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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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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This is an hour long podcast. A college professor discusses how UDL can be used to make assessments more authentic and “cheat proof.​ It may be more relevant for MS/HS but can still offer some food for thought.

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Academic Integrity through Assessment Design with Mark Glynn

Welcome to Episode 75 of the Think UDL podcast: Academic Integrity through Assessment Design with Mark Glynn. Mark Glynn is the Head of the Teaching Enhancement Unit at Dublin City University. I have been wanting to talk to Mark for a long time about what he is doing with UDL in Ireland and beyond. There are so many things that he and his team are doing to help spread the word and train faculty in UDL, that it was difficult to focus on just one topic. Recently, he has been working on the intersection of UDL, academic integrity and assessment design which has really piqued my interest. And so today's conversation centers on how to make assessments more "cheat-proof" and authentic, so as to work on the prevention of academic dishonesty rather than "catching" students cheating after the fact, so to speak. And the UDL principles are what guides this design! Mark has also graciously provided many resources that he mentions during our discussion and you can find all of those on our ThinkUDL.org website for this episode number 75. Thank you for joining us as we talk about authentic assessments, academic integrity and UDL!

Resources
Teaching Enhancing Unit (TEU) Presentation slides linking AI to UDL UDL Progression checklist Great examples of how assessments have changed captured by Sally Brown Cressey Fraud triangle Dr Sarah Eaton presentation video - Building a Shared Culture of Academic Integrity that we use to promote that "one small change" drive that we have in DCU webpage on assessment design
This blog post for Ouriginal

Transcript

Lillian Nave 00:00

Welcome to think UDL, the universal design for learning podcast where we hear from the people who are designing and implementing strategies with learner variability in mind. I'm your host, Lillian nave. And I'm interested in not just what you're teaching, learning, guiding and facilitating, but how you design and implement it and why it even matters. Welcome to Episode 75 of the think UDL podcast academic integrity through assessment design, with Mark Glenn. Mark Lynn is the head of the teaching enhancement unit at Dublin City University in Dublin, Ireland, and I have been wanting to talk to Mark for a long time about what he's doing with UDL in Ireland and beyond. And there are so many things that he and his team are doing to help spread the word and train faculty in UDL that it was difficult to focus on just one topic. But recently, he has been working on the intersection of UDL, academic integrity and assessment design, which has really piqued my interest. And so today's conversation centers on how to make assessments more cheap, proof and authentic, so as to work on the prevention of academic dishonesty rather than catching students cheating after the fact so to speak. And the UDL principles are what guides this design. Mark has also graciously provided many resources that he mentions during our discussion. And you can find all of those on our think udl.org website for this episode number 75. Thank you for joining us as we talk about authentic assessments, academic integrity and UDL. Thank you so much, Mark Glenn, for joining me today to talk about what you have been doing at Dublin City University. I've been following you for quite a while. So thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today.

Mark Glynn 02:18

Thanks, Lillian. And thanks for the invitation.

Lillian Nave 02:22

I'm very excited about this. So I'm going to go right into my first question, which is, as you know, what makes you a different kind of learner?

Mark Glynn 02:31

I've heard this question so many times at this stage. And all the time as I'm using in the kitchen, how am I going to answer that question? For me, very similar to a lot of your previous speakers, I don't see myself as two different there's little bits and pieces that would make me slightly unique, but not completely different. In so far as my, the people around me, influenced me an awful lot. And I would definitely, if I was looking at a pedagogy type, I'd fit into the social constructivist, you know, but I learned by doing I learned by stuff resonating with me seeing examples. I'm not really big into reading reams upon reams of text. So I much prefer something that's explained in ordinary language. I actually sometimes think it's a skill that as academics, we miss out on we sometimes try to overcomplicate something. And listen, if you can explain it to your granny, you can explain it to anyone. That's the way I'd look at it. And for me, that's the way I like learning and also the way I like teaching.

Lillian Nave 03:43

Right. So making it understandable to your audience. Yeah.

Mark Glynn 03:47

And for me, that was a big difference between college and my school experience. I wasn't a big fan of my school experience. But when I went into into college, they they made it understandable. They made it releasable. And they essentially treated me like an adult as those awkward teenagers who taught he was an adult long before I actually was,

Lillian Nave 04:10

you know, yeah, a wise soul. Right? Or cheeky

Mark Glynn 04:15

soul depends on who you

Lillian Nave 04:19

one or the other, right? Maybe both at once. Yeah, that knowing your audience is so important. I'm, I'm learning that my audience constantly changes to and as you say, you know, wanting to speak to your students as adults. It kind of kept them where they are, where it's authentic, where it makes sense to them. Is I've noticed it's changing a little bit too with my students. I'm getting first year students who have spent the last year and a half during a pandemic during their high school years. So then they come to college and they are not like the students I've had for You know, 18 years before the last two. And so it's it's trying to figure out what my authentic way of teaching is for a students who are, are slightly different, and how am I going to match their, what they're coming into college with. So I think that is really important. And we're gonna be talking about these sort of authentic things coming up to that's what I'm really excited about.

Mark Glynn 05:24

In recent years, my students have actually been different because they're not students or staff, because the main part only role is to support academic staff. So that in itself brings a different challenge when it comes to teaching.

Lillian Nave 05:39

Yes, absolutely. We have to know our audience and, and be able to speak to them, not below them, not above them, but but kind of explain right to where they're going to grasp and kind of start running with the material. And it's, it's a delicate balance. I've, I've definitely struggled with that sometimes. So, okay, so in in my teaching career, you know, I've worked with a lot of different groups of learners. Sometimes students also like you, sometimes staff, I've had first generation students, international students, we also have, I've worked with the T fellows, which are teaching excellence, fellows that come from all over the world, to learn at Appalachian, about how to be better K 12. Teachers. I've taught at different institutions. And I've found that some students don't understand some of the things that we maybe take for granted in academia, including academic integrity, and what academic integrity means. So how would you define academic integrity in your context?

Mark Glynn 06:43

For me, academic integrity definitions are there for everyone to see, you can have it and Google a local, very sort of different places, horrible for me, I want students to see academic integrity as part of their studies, rather than rules to have to follow. You know that that's the way you would look at academic integrity, it should be something that's that's integral to what we do, and something that we aspire to all the time. But that's the way I look at academic integrity. And, like, as I say, you can you can look up the definition anywhere and talk about honesty and morality, morality and commitment to commitment to behaving appropriately. But for me, I just want to see it as part of what we do. It's part of everything we do and strive to be so.

Lillian Nave 07:40

Yeah, yeah, I can, you're making that connection with the personal integrity to like, it's just part of how you learn, right? You don't want to cheat, you want to be a learner that is that has integrity. And that can carry that into the rest of the world, not just in college studies, or, you know, in the training or something like that, that that's part of who the student is. And we often I feel like in our institutions, that academic integrity is, like you said, a set of rules. And it's about, okay, well, you have to cite things this way. And if it's like this, you cite it this way. Or you have to make sure you follow these particular rules, and you note these particular things. And if you don't, then you're cheating, or you are, you are failing, you are, you know, not doing what you're supposed to do. And it it comes down to a lot of rules, we often have to put on our syllabus.

Mark Glynn 08:39

And that's where I see there's different unpeople that only introduce or only view academic integrity at a college level, I think miss out on that, because for me, it's something that should come in from the very, very young level, not just citation and referencing, but it's the ethical approach of doing things, right. Because it's properly proper to do them. Right. And it's just like UDL really, to be honest, it's something we all should just do.

Lillian Nave 09:07

Yes, yes. And and I think we, I wanted to have this conversation, like when we talked preliminarily, I was really excited that this would be our conversation, because we could talk you and I could talk about a whole bunch of things about Universal Design for Learning. And, and that could be a series of episodes, but for this particular, you know, chance, I wanted to talk about that academic integrity, because of, first of all, a lot of changes recently and, and what that means for academic integrity, but also because I don't think we talk about it enough in relationship to Universal Design for Learning. And we haven't really defined it well or maybe understand it well. And it might be part of that hidden curriculum that we don't because we don't explain it to our students well and what it means in our context then students are tripped up, it becomes an artificial barrier, for example, different cultures are going to view academic integrity differently. So some students may come to a university, and they think they have to do everything by themselves, they can't talk to a friend, they can't seek a tutor. That would somehow be cheating, you know, this is kind of an extreme case, but that they, they have to do everything as an individual. Otherwise, they're not learning or they're not smart enough, or they maybe they don't belong there. And I don't agree with that, but, but there are others who might come from a place where we do all this together, we have, you know, we work together, we talk to each other, when we're writing the papers, we have a peer review, we critique each other, where there's a lot of kind of group learning social constructivism, right, where people are really helping each other learn. And yes, you might need to note, hey, I spoke with these two classmates, when I was formulating this paper, you know, I want to recognize their work in my thought process. But that's not cheating, right? That's not against the rules. And we just we haven't really specified I think a lot of times we haven't specified what is academic integrity, and what it might mean, even in your particular class, or your institution, or your educational, you know, experience, you know what it means. And that's, I really have liked what you've been doing around that lately. And that's, I wanted to ask you, yeah,

Mark Glynn 11:37

so for me, we have such similar views on this. Like it is about unethical behavior. First and foremost, today's about whether it's collusion or collaboration, you know, the it's that which one is it? Which one does it fall into? And as you rightly said, there are cultural differences that come into it, whether it's, we have what some international students think it is, it's actually disrespectful if I don't give the views of the experts in the field. And they literally copy and pasted the views of the experts in the field. Whereas older cultures, and older people would say, well, actually, it's more appropriate to interpret their views and reflect on their views and give your own interpretation of it. Or some people, like you said, could have the support to get an extra tutor extra tuition. Maybe it's not putting them at a disadvantage, or sorry, an advantage over other people who don't have the money to get the extra tuition, to get that extra support beyond the people who are well off enough to, to have that or be in a position to do it. Are they cheating? Well, no, they're just doing what everybody does and start helping themselves helping the children get to that next level. But where's that? Where's that? borderline between cheating and actually using all the resources at your disposal?

Lillian Nave 13:00

Right, right. And that's what I love getting out into the open and and making sure that, that instructors, people who are in charge of this, you know, environment, educational environment, are making that known to to their students. So we've got we just have a clear understanding, and everybody's on the same page. So it's true

Mark Glynn 13:22

to exactly that. It's to stop people thinking, this is how to get me this is how to punish me. It's actually how can we do this properly? And and when you have the conversation, and the transparency of the conversation around to academic integrity, it becomes the norm. And that's what you want. It's not that we're trying to cut you out, or trying to help you learn.

Lillian Nave 13:44

Absolutely, yes. Alright. So these, one of the biggest parts then of academic integrity are assessments. And I'm interested in your work and how your work with UDL has influenced your views on assessments.

Mark Glynn 14:03

I'll preface this that I said in the introduction I learned from others. I am literally standing on the shoulders of giants because I'm I'm a lot of the work here that we'll be chatting about today. It's definitely being a team based work so that the people that I work with have collated. I have a wonderful team within the teaching enhancement unit. So reporting on behalf of those I think is the best way forward. But I in the teaching enhancement, you know, we wanted to tackle assessment and academic integrity with a proactive approach. Rather than trying to catch them after they've cheated. We wanted to catch them before they did. And we wanted to do that true assessment design. So working on the basis that prevention is better than cure. We wanted to look see how can we design assessments How can we as an institution behave or how can individual lecturers behave, what approaches they can take to reduce the opportunity for, for plagiarism, to reduce the rationalization for plagiarism and reduce the pressure on plagiarism. Those three points are actually from a thesis theory called the Cressy fraud triangle. And it comes from from the world of banking, but I would apply it to the world of, of education, because fraud, and plagiarism to me are one of the same thing, fraud and cheating. So, what we've decided to do is to look at the literature and see what's out there in terms of proactively eliminating plagiarism. And we found seven different principles when we collated all of these different papers that we pulled on assessment design, we found seven different principles, different ways that we can go about proactively reducing plagiarism. And we took those principles and then circulated it to my counterparts across Ireland, and indeed, well, anywhere grad that I had networks I was pushing it out to. And I said, we found seven, what are we missing. And we got a variety of different responses back from actually several 10s, if not even 20 responses back from different institutions. And we were able to combine all of them together, and condense them down to 12 principles of academic integrity assessment design principles, and I'll circulate them to you for the podcast. But firstly, the principles again, these 12 can be broken down into three distinct areas. So what an institution can do, what a lecture can do. And then the student partnership or student ownership. And again, if I remind you of the Cressi, fraud triangle, each one of them pressure, opportunity and rationalization, we want to look at how those 12 principles can be used to tackle each one of those points of the triangle. And essentially, the smaller we can make that triangle, less chance people have of of committing plagiarism.

Lillian Nave 17:16

Wow, it is fantastic. Can you tell me more about those institutions in what the institution can do, what lecturers can do and what students ownership brings to it? And yes, I will have these in the resources on our webpage for our listeners, Okay,

Mark Glynn 17:32

super. So that what the institution can do is, well, obviously, you can set high standards, you can set the values, you have an academic integrity policy, and you make sure that it's consistent across all the different programs that you don't have one approach in the School of Law and a completely different approach. In the School of Chemistry. You want to make sure that the students has all that detailed information from day one, about breaches of academic integrity, and how they might avoid them, and all that sort of stuff. And essentially, like academic integrity is what we build our reputation on. So an institution cannot risk not having academic integrity embedded in in what we do. So we must take steps to make sure, for example, that we update and edit our assessments and our our program assessment strategies on a regular basis. Because if for example, and I genuinely think this is is unethical, of a lecture to make an assignment and keep that for the next 1020 years, just not edited at all, a lady called Sarah Eaton, who's from your neck of the woods, gave a fascinating presentation. And she was the person actually who gave me that phrase on an ethical behavior from lectures and doing that. So there's different processes that we can put in place as a university regular assessment reviews, putting the academic policies in place, putting the supports in place to enhance academic integrity and having that transparency about academic integrity and having that positive, proactive approach rather than a reactive punitive approach. And from a lecturers point of view, there's so many things they could do. Ensure obviously I talked about regularly updating your your assessments will ensure they're authentic, ensure the current under relevant, give students scaffolding, and again, this is all relevant to UDL. If you scaffold an assessment, maybe for I can think it's a it's an end of semester essay they must do. Well give them key points and milestones throughout the semester as to what they must reach. Rather than leaving all the pressure to the last minute. Give them a rubric to show them what They must do an audit where the marking criteria is, is spread out and what's getting more marks versus less marks, what you expect of your students. And all these little things can be done. And they are just little things. And this is where I love the approach of Tom Tobin, the One Small Change, there's loads of these little things that we can change in each one of our assessments. And it will evolve over time. And that's all we ask people to do is to look at their assessments, look at these 12 principles and say, right, how many of those Am I able to, for want of a better expression tick the box against or how many of those I'm able to address this year, and what will I work on for doing next year. And that would be from a lecture point of view, and then looking at from a student ownership point of view. For me, I would see it as trying to reduce and this is where student ownership comes in is trying to reduce the rationalization element of the Crafty fraud triangle, the rationalization like show them tell them how to cite properly, tell them how to reference properly, gives them the option of choices within the assignment, again, UDL connotations in there with the choices, but give them the element of choice because they can then personalize the assessment. And they can say it wasn't relevant to me. But also, it's harder for them to use the likes of contract cheating services, because you're asking them to do something personal, and maybe related to other course material are related to their own experience outside. So all of these things, all of these elements of the these 12 principles do have direct overlap with universal design, as well as improving academic integrity. So going back to the tick box analogy, you're taking two boxes at once, by being good and ethical behavior.

Lillian Nave 21:52

Right, right. And those so many things that you have said, make my eyes light up with UDL principles. And one of the continuous I think ideas that are in each of these, the institution, the lectures and the students, is this transparency, and that the clarity that we need to give our students from the institutional level, and from our just our classes, like from the lectures or instructors, and even the students being able to understand what is is needed, what they have to do and things like a rubric, or I love providing annotated examples, like here's a great essay, right? And look at what happened in the first paragraph, it laid out the points well, and here's the citation that was used. So they have really good examples. And that's not cheating, either. Right? Some, some instructors, I have heard will say But wait, you know, we want them to figure it out. But providing an example is, is helping them to figure it out. And they still have to do all the work. We're just, I think taking away a barrier of how am I supposed to start this? I've never done this before. I don't even know what it looks like how would you know how would a presentation to accompany look like? I would have no clue because I've never done it before?

Mark Glynn 23:21

And don't exactly you're taking away the fear that students may have? Yeah, the rationalization that they'd have where, oh, well, I've never done it before. So of course, I'm going to copy off Lillian, because she's going to load your time. Or the pressure that you're under, when I have this assignment, I know nothing about it, I need help from somebody else. So I'm going to ask Lillian to help me with this. And, and again, like we need to get into into my head and into your head as students and just sort of think, well, it's done. Okay, how much is it collaboration versus collusion? The point that you brought up earlier on. So for me, if we are transparent if we give them sample answers, and as you say annotations to previous answers, you've shown them what you're expecting from them, you could also redesign the assessment, where there's an element of peer review in this beforehand. So before it even gets to you as a lecture, some of the peers have looked at it, and you could look and say, Oh, I see what Johnny's done with his I'm gonna actually do that with mine. I really liked the way he structured that. Both your grading criteria will change accordingly then as well, because you're you know that they've seen these examples beforehand. So there's a whole load of different things where we can help people designed or assessments better to accommodate more learners and better accommodate more learners.

Lillian Nave 24:50

Yeah, I had a really fantastic result with an assignment I worked on a couple years ago, in which there was a peer review within that session. assignment was an annotated bibliography, which is using citations and very much one of those kind of academic integrity assignments. And I found that students were not, weren't doing well, well, the first time I signed it. And so I realized that I needed to clarify what I was asking because I was not getting, you know, the result that we needed to get right that they were supposed to be finding peer reviewed scholarly journals, and, and then analyzing if it would be a good source or not. And I thought, Okay, well, I need to revamp this assignment and included a day where they brought in their assignment. And then we worked as a workshop. And they passed around their annotated bibliography to three other people. And we had like a rubric in front of us about what is what does it mean to be timed, timely? Is it authoritative, you know, what about the source? And they were able to, you know, to see by looking at one other students, they'll say, Oh, I didn't even think about this. And if they see another student, right, oh, I didn't do that in mind. And I said, That's okay. If by the end of the of the class, you get yours back and you say what you would change and what you would do right the next time, then you've learned something, right? You're much better.

Mark Glynn 26:23

Let's flip that on its head to where we're thinking of the student who has prepared a good annotated bibliography. He or she then can sort of puff out their chest, and they're thinking, Yeah, I did, well, I'm seeing this. And so it gives them confidence as well in their own learning. So it's a win win situation, as far as I'm concerned, and it's, it's not rocket science, because if you cast your your mind back to primary, or what we what you would call Elementary School, Teacher, we did that we passed her homework sheets around the classroom as we were kids, so all we're doing is just the high school that that that college to university version of that, we're just taking it upper level.

Lillian Nave 27:03

Yeah, and we're learning from our peers, and we're learning, you know, learning more ourselves too, as we do it. You know, anytime you have to teach a lesson, you learn so much more than if you're just, you know, getting that lesson from somebody else. So anytime you got to say, I looks like this part, I would, you know, change or it needs some some help here, I couldn't find this, then it's a, it's a different level of learning I found and students really have agents,

Mark Glynn 27:33

yeah. And that's just agencies to keywords, you're giving them agency into their work. So that is going back to the Cressi fraud triangle reducing the rationalization because they're, they're proud of our work, they know how to do what they need to do. So they're going to put the time and effort into it. And if they see you, and going back to your example of within the class, having that workshop to flesh it, I mean, you're spending time and effort on their assignment help promote, so they will feel I'm gonna put time and effort into this assignment. Whereas if you're the lecture that just gives out the same assignment time and time again, and gives out scantly feedback or no feedback at all. Students won't care. They're just sort of, I'll move on to the next one.

Lillian Nave 28:15

Yeah, right. And, and thinking about assignments, if if you've got a an instructor lecturer who's given the same assignment to the same class of 50, or 100, for the last five years, you better believe there's examples online, somewhere, right, 100%.

Mark Glynn 28:30

And now, now, more than ever, it's easier to find stuff online. And for me, one of the challenges that we have and don't get me wrong, I'm possibly one of the biggest kids should know even though we barely know one another, I love the internet and all the different technologies that are available. And when I go on Google and I search for something, all of a sudden, the next ads that I'm looking at, and the next website is relevant to my previous search. Brilliant, of course, yes. However, put yourself in the students shoes, they're getting ads, based on their profile based on their searches. They're getting ads from contract cheating sites. They're getting ads from all these services that we used to be able to detect years ago because they'd have to come in and stick a notice on the student board. And we'd rip it down straightaway. As soon as we'd see us. Well, now, that's gone underground. And we're not seeing that at all. Which comes back to my point about wanting to have the academic integrity conversation out in the open. And let us have it and do everything we can to proactively reduce the amount of plagiarism that goes on.

Lillian Nave 29:33

Yeah, and you know, I think about that to carrying forth into their lives, like wanting to be people with integrity, and then you know, you go into your whatever your job or your life, whatever it takes you that you have that integrity as well. And I think about the the flip side, like what if students are saying, well, I'm never going to use this right? I don't it doesn't matter if I cheat because I'm you know, I'm never gonna do this and that's where that authentic part comes in, right? That needs to be authentic, because I would be more likely to kind of put low effort into something, if I think well, I just need to hand this in to pass this class. And I'm never going to do this, you know, I'll never need to know this term exactly,

Mark Glynn 30:15

I show where there's authenticity in their worth or personalization in there. Because remember, and if you take part time, student, for example, there, they have an awful lot of pressure outside, they have their day job going on, or they have family they need to look after, and then they'd come to study. So if you give them a useless assignment, that means nothing to them in their day job, or in their day life, there'll be like, Oh, just let me get it and get it over and done. Whereas if you give them something that's relevant to their day job, they'll actually do a really good job of it, and then want to improve further their job as well as for college. And you've built that intrinsic motivation, you've tapped into that motivation for students to do better. And whereas the passing a true delight of the text matching services, that's the extrinsic motivation, you know, you wanted to get better results, go for intrinsic every time, make it authentic, make it something they can have a passion about. And you'll get brilliant assignment products for want of a better term, which again, you could learn from as an educator.

Lillian Nave 31:27

Yeah, and you've just described to that whole first column, the green column about engagement and motivation. And the Universal Design for Learning principles is, is creating that, you know, bringing in interest and motivating students sustaining them throughout the process of that assignment, you know, how is it worthwhile? How is it valuable, and helping them to see that value to complete it? With Integrity? It's all I see it very linked, as you do as a link to our Universal Design for Learning principles.

Mark Glynn 31:59

I can I look at the principles and I can nearly draw direct lines between them and under 12 principles that we have, by no means are we saying that the 12 principles are, are to the standards of the cost guidelines. But we can definitely see the relevance. And it's it's taking the two boxes at once. It's helping us design a better learning experience for for students. Again, Transparency is key. Personal choice is key. giving them information upfront is key, all of this UDL and academic integrity, and we even view it on our language is is so important to the language that we use when we're saying improving academic integrity, not catching plagiarism. You know, it's not not catching cheating. Yeah. And it's how to make it, how to make it better how to make the learning experience better. And that's what UDL does, as well. So,

Lillian Nave 32:55

yeah, yes, absolutely. And that word transparency we've been using a lot, I think, is key, if it makes me think of, I'll add this to our resources, the tilt, transparency, and learning and teaching by Marian Winckelmann, I need to get her on the podcast, too. But that that goes along with the idea of the purpose. There's three parts that purpose, task and criteria. So letting your students know what the purpose of this assignment is, like you're doing this so that you can be a better nurse one day, or you can solve a problem in your economics job, right? And then the task lays out exactly what they what a student needs to do to be successful. And the criteria are the things that we've just talked about a rubric, or an annotated example of a student's work, you know, or something, something like that. And that that transparency is, I think, absolutely essential, and something somehow we haven't been doing forever. Like, why didn't we do

Mark Glynn 33:56

this? Yeah, it just went when you think of it, it actually makes common sense. You know, and even when you think about making documents, but making them accessible, since I've learned how to do that, and it only took somebody to show me really a difference that will make but since I've learned to do that, I've actually became better at my job. I've made better documents, I've given better presentations, because I've made stuff. I've used the accessible tools within within the documents. And what I want to do is integrate that into the assessments. So when the students are actually compiling the Word document or compiling the PowerPoint presentation, or whatever it is they're doing, as part of it, that we embed UDL into the assessment as well, that we showed them that they must have all texts and why they should have we showed them that they should use Heading One, Heading Two, Heading Three. And again, not just for screen readers, but it'll generate your table of contents very easily, you know, simple stuff. It just it makes sense. That's what gets me, you know?

Lillian Nave 35:03

Absolutely it does all of this makes perfect sense to me. Now, I don't know why I didn't know it, you know, before I had been introduced to Universal Design for Learning. But now it makes perfect sense.

Mark Glynn 35:16

And it's the same with the academic integrity principles, there is nothing majorly scientific or heavy about the 12 principles, you'd nearly say it's the 12 principles that are bloody obvious. You know, when you're when you're looking down truest. It works, you know. And what we want to be able to do is to not put where we talk, from a UDL point, not put barriers in front of students, we actually don't want to put barriers in front of lectures when it comes to assessment design. Yeah, which is why we made it as simple as we did, and drilled it down to, to the 12, the 12 principles. One of the other things that you mentioned transparency, but one of the other things is connection, is what I think is really useful. And it's the connection between assessments. So why do I point that out, it allows people to connect between modules, because far too often, the chemistry teacher teaches chemistry and doesn't care about biology. And the biology teacher teaches biology and doesn't care about what's going on in the physics class, and so on. But the student has the overall learning experience of the science course. So we need to connect those modules. And connecting those modules helps people not just people with learning disabilities, but helps all students connect, start learning. And even if we do it a simple by connecting our assessments, that the assessment from module one feeds into the assessment for module two, maybe, for example, you mentioned doing an annotated bibliography. So that could be the first assessment. And then the second assessment is taking the topic that you did the annotated bibliography on, write a paper on or do a presentation on. And then your your third assessment, maybe in a different module is about something else that maybe you have to now write a proposal or a solution to a challenge that has came up from the area that you're researching. You could you mentioned rubrics earlier on, you could have rubrics that within the rubric for the second assignment, it says, What have you done with the feedback from the first assignment to make this second assignment better? So simple little things like that structure, a scaffold, and there's your UDL and your assessment design, put into one

Lillian Nave 37:32

Exactly. Right, right. And, and we often can see those connections as lectures or instructors, we know that the assignment for Module One leads into the assignment for Module Two, but we might not have made that really clear to our learners,

Mark Glynn 37:49

same percentage of time we didn't make it, we assume a connection is made on a course the students see it, but in actual fact, they don't.

Lillian Nave 37:58

Yeah, they're so flooded with this new information. And there they are. Really, amateur learners, you know, new in that field, oftentimes, and don't see that, oh, this is building towards this regular product that we always see in this field, the big because they're just not used to the regularity, or they don't know what's coming. And I often think about a.to.id type of drawing, that we look at it and it looks like a sea of dots that don't make sense. But until you follow and connect those dots with all of the numbers, you realize, oh, it's a cat or it's a giraffe, right? Or something like that. It makes sense at the end, but our students are just going from one to the other, not completely confused, not knowing what's going on. So if we can situate it like, here's our first assessment, it's the first step in a large research process that you will be doing all semester, it fits in here, you need to do it. So you can figure out who is a prominent voice in this area, you're going to need to find, you know, a philosopher that is going to be able to speak on the topic that you're going to get to you know, and they don't realize that you have it all planned. But we have to again, make that transparent and make that connection transparent to our students. And I am guilty of that too.

Mark Glynn 39:18

I'm me too. Absolutely. I'm not pretending to be perfect by any stretch of the imagination. But I used a funny you used to dot dot connected dots have never, never made excuse me that for a poem but never made that connection myself. I've, I've used the the example of where when, you know, look at those optical illusions. You know, when you look at the image, you see a lady and when I look at the image, I see a doc and now we see completely different things. But then once you point out where the lady is, then I don't see the duck anymore. All I see is the lady so that's where what I was trying to explain the same point two lectures I said, You think everything is perfect and you think everything is clear. What's your students don't see that you're stupid. See something else, and trying to put yourself into the shoes of the student. And what I think is a really good way to do that. And going back to scaffolding and being transparent with it, is get a student from last year to talk about the assessment from last year. So talk about, that's a great idea. And from this year, they're hearing it in the students voice, though, like because when I went to one the chemist by training way back when I couldn't even tell you what color white lab coat is. Now, let me tell you both. So but when I was doing my, my masters and did various different certificates, teaching a learning reflection is key to what you do. When I was a chemist reflection was looking in the mirror, you know that that's what I taught a section was. So for me, if I when I got or if a chemistry former chemistry graduate, came to me and said, Oh, well, I knew that was our I thought it was looking a mirror. But now this is what it is now, well, I could I can resonate with that person. That would make my learning that little bit easier. So if I got a student from the previous year to talk me through their assessment, and it could be something as simple as recorded video that a lecturer puts up, yeah. And displays to the students in the same way, you would get the lecture to put up sample answers. Get them to put up a couple of just students chatting about the assessment, how they get on last year, what they talked about at first, and what they think about it now, again, trying to make it more authentic for them, get get alumni members get graduates to say, God, I remember Macklin waffling here, but now I realized it was the best subjects because I'm out in the world. And that's what I do all the time. You know?

Lillian Nave 41:45

Yeah. And also our students are going to know their process much better than we would I had students, for example, I had students come back to talk to my friend, first year students about the class and the things that they said for advice was not going to be the things I would say, Well, you know, yeah, things like, You got to make sure you get to the, you know, get the library portion done early, because you don't have enough time because it comes at this point in the semester, when you've got all these other things that of course, I didn't know were happening. But the students were were the experts, at least and in that, and I was always surprised, like, oh, I never would have thought of that. During the semester. Give me

Mark Glynn 42:30

a give me a funny example, when I was teaching chemistry I was, I got the students to find a YouTube video. And I said, Find any YouTube video that is related to some content on our course, on the syllabus. And the deal was that every student had to post the video on the discussion forum, within our VLE. And you couldn't put up a video that somebody else has put up already. Right. So they had the flexibility of finding this video at their leisure. So there was a UDL element there, they could personalize it a video that meant something to them that want to relate against easy experiment and the easy assessment. The students were looking for a catch, you know, it was that easy. Yeah. But what happened was, I said, and give me a couple of sentences about why you think this video is good. And I got there is over 80 students, so I got over 80 different videos come back to me, of which 50 or more actually really good videos. And that's probably being a bit optimistic about but I asked them the students to rate everybody else's video, I said, just just give me your top five, give it a score out of five. And the videos that I taught were absolute childish tripe, the students loved, I did a video on I still remember, this is 20 years ago, and the students found a video about how to name organic chemistry compounds. And so I thought, right, this is very relevant to our syllabus. But it was like a Sesame Street song or the you know, the kids TV problem. But yeah, it's like Sesame Street song on how to do the names for us. And I'm not gonna sing it now. So don't worry about it. But I, if I found that trying to research for my class, I would have ignored it. And so that's a way to challenge yeah, that got the top rating in the class. Yeah, because they taught it to help me remember how to do it. So that I learned a very valuable lesson there that is always try bring the students and and in this case, it was a students as partners now what's known as I didn't know what it was called at the time, but students with partners and assessment rather than doing stuff to the students do stuff with the students. And that opened my eyes, you know?

Lillian Nave 44:48

Yeah. And that's it. That is a very authentic type of collaboration to Yeah, and brings ownership to the

Mark Glynn 44:57

unfolding because the students who replied because obviously they had all of YouTube to search from whereas the students that went second had all the YouTube minus to one video. And it goes student that went at it had to sift through all the others. What happens to things really interesting happened? One, the students that did it the first couple, when they saw other videos posted by the colonics. They said, Oh, can I do it again? So like, How many students do you know what else to do? And assessment a second time? You know, I'm just wow. The second thing was on the students said to me years later, he said, I was one of the last students to submit the video. But what happened was, every time I went onto YouTube, because I'd watch 70 Odd other chemistry videos, they kept on getting recommendations for chemistry videos. So you know, yes, I was teaching them chemistry subversively true the power of Google, you know?

Lillian Nave 45:50

Yes, right. Oh, what a? What a great addition. I love it. So well, we're in a strange time now. And I'm actually going to ask the next two questions kind of combined into one about how you think COVID-19 And the pandemic has changed the assessment landscape and kind of in additionally, how do UDL and academic integrity figure into this change in the assessment lens,

Mark Glynn 46:15

so So for me, and not for one second to go on to paint COVID in a positive light, it's been a horrible pandemic for everybody worldwide. However, there's a silver lining to it. And I think the silver lining, in this case, his assessment, and how it's changed assessment, when we had the height of the pandemic, and we had a lockdown. And for far too many months than I care to remember. But when we had the lockdown, all of our assessments had to change all of our traditional exam hall assessments, which are two hours and we cram however many 100 students into this sweaty exam hall to try do these exams. That to me is on authentic assessments, just that's called a call it what it is. But that had to stop, we had to come up with a different way of assessing, we had to think about the traditional assessments that we've done for aeons of putting people into these examples, under stressful situations, to okay, how am I going to assess it? How am I going to change it? And as much as there were people that had concerns about academic integrity, and they tried to introduce the software that would proctor them remotely, which I think yes, nightmare and totally unaccessible won't even go down that road. But as much as a good portion of people try to do that and try to essentially mimic what they were doing in an exam hall in an online environment. Loads of people took the better approach of actually redesigning their assessment. And what I'd like to think and I don't have to figures, the exact figures off the top my head. But I'd like to think that the large majority of those that made the changes through assessment have kept their changes. Yes. And that to me, is progress. That to me is improving it and yes, you will have your detractors, and you will have the people saying, Oh, well, how do you know it's them? That's doing this. Like, to me, you're always going to get that no matter what assessments you do. And and if you're taking that approach, when he wouldn't have a continuous assessments at all, everything would be in an exam hall scenario. what frustrated me was where the professional bodies are coming to us, telling us how to assess I know you must do it in an exam hall, because if not, we want to credit your program. They were as we should have been driven by the pedagogy, and what's best for the student learning experience. And, and without a shadow of a doubt. What's best is authentic assessment. And for the large portion of modules. Authentic assessment is not a two hour written exam. I can't remember the last time I wrote for two hours, ever. Yeah, no.

Lillian Nave 49:05

You mean it's not an everyday occurrence in your adult life,

Mark Glynn 49:07

but like my daughter would come back now. She's long since graduated. Now when she came back, she in her hands were sore from writing.

Lillian Nave 49:15

Yeah. Oh, I remember that. Yeah, links used

Mark Glynn 49:17

to type when she'd be typing probably quicker and better than she'd be be writing that literally. And it was more more difficult for a lecturer to interpret her writing. Whereas if it's typed, easy to do, spellcheck can be done. Yeah, formatting can be done. It's just a nicer experience for the student and the staff member. So yeah, again, it's a no brainer. I hope those those assessment practices continued. That's, that's that would be my silver lining to the cloud studies. COVID-19.

Lillian Nave 49:49

Yeah, I cannot remember where I heard this, but I heard the term COVID dividend, and there are certain COVID dividends that came like spending a little more time with my family, right? Because we were all at home maybe too much time. But that was a COVID dividend. And I think in academia, this assessment, rebirth really, of authentic assessments and multiplicity of different kinds of assessments, um, has been a dividend that has come from the the COVID 19 pandemic.

Mark Glynn 50:22

And I think what happens with assessment is we get comfortable, and we assess the way we were assessed, and there are electrodes were assessed the way they were assessed, and they think it is the right thing to do. And we don't think of the long term learning attends to be surface learning that happens then, because students cram and students just learn off what needs to be done. Where are they going to learn off? Where they're going to learn after model answers, where are they getting the model answers to get them from somewhere else? So that's academic integrity problems, then that we have. It's not they're tall. So what they're doing, they're regurgitating somebody else's content, even though they're doing it in an exam hall scenario, when we know it's them. It's just you're testing whether they have good memory or not. You're not testing the content.

Lillian Nave 51:08

Right? And will they remember it? Five years later? Actually, probably not.

Mark Glynn 51:12

There's a gentleman called Phil race over in the UK. And I don't use that term lightly. He is an absolute gentleman. And he has many an article about the authentic assessment and the how the exam hall is the wrong approach. And we need to be better, we need to do better.

Lillian Nave 51:30

And I'll have to include that in our resources as well.

Mark Glynn 51:33

Yeah. All little all the stuff fill ratios is brilliant. Okay,

Lillian Nave 51:38

great. So, um, we, I think you have laid out a very good case about why we should be creating authentic assessments and why it is an ethical imperative to, and how universal design for learning figures into it. So if someone is listening now, and is inspired to change around their assessments, what advice do you have for someone who is interested in creating an authentic UDL guided assessment in their higher ed courses, or wherever they're needing to assess learners? And they just don't know where to start?

Mark Glynn 52:19

Where to answer that question. For me, oh, one small change. Again, going back to the Tom Tobin thing, don't be afraid to change. Like an actual fact, by standing still, you're moving backwards with that expression. I can't remember who said that. But for me, you need to change and you need to evolve. So just to one one small bit, maybe give the rubric to students. Maybe and here's a, here's a what could be a game changer. give the students the similarity report, a text matching service report, give it to them before the deadline, allow them to see us before the deadline, because that want to know them learn from us and not be punished by us. You know, I don't know, allow them to submit drafts, or allow them. Again, a lovely one, from Sarah Eaton. Again, the lady I mentioned earlier on, she said, be kind. And and she said there was a policy expression she had, it was a get out of jail card. Right. And I loved that expression to get into jail cards for the assessments where if a student is under pressure and isn't going to meet the deadline, allow them one get out of jail card allowed them to be late, say no questions asked. Just 11th I thought I was a lovely example. And each one of those changes. So give them the rubric in advance, give them the text matching in advance, give them a get out of jail card. That's all in the command of each individual lecture to do 100% Absolutely no doubt about it my mount. So they are three quick examples of one small change.

Lillian Nave 54:05

Yeah, you're, you're making me think I need to apply that Cressy fraud triangle to my assessments and find out if I am pressuring students into rationalization and kind of look at what my parameters are. If I only give them two days to do this really long assignment. I I'm almost pushing them into doing a poor job, right? If it takes a lot longer. And in thinking about how I can rethink from my students perspective, what that might look like to them. And I hadn't thought about the ways that we sometimes as instructors are pressuring our students to cheat because we're not either providing the time or the scaffolding or, or the clarity, I would say for what Students, we

Mark Glynn 55:00

need to look at it for far too often we look at our module, right and have the expression that's my module, but not exist yet program. And the student has several different modules. So where you may think in your module of three assessments, that's exactly what's needed. Actually, no, I put a fourth in because they learned so much better when I give them this extra assessment. Well, if every lecture did that, and all of a sudden the student has 24 assessments or 25 assessments to do in a 12 week time period. Yeah. And more than likely, it's the same deadlines. We have this thing called week seven syndrome, where week seven within the semester, all the assessments start. And you're thinking if lecturers start to talk to one another, and say, Well, God forbid, where if they start talking to one another, and plan their assessments? And going back to what I said earlier on connecting thorough assessments, that that would really, really help.

Lillian Nave 55:57

Yeah, absolutely. The This has given us a lot to think about. And I know our resource page is going to be full of the resources you've told me about. And those are the 12 principles on assessment design. That's going to be really helpful. I'm really excited to put all this together

Mark Glynn 56:17

delighted to share it with you. And as he said, it's really it was a team effort as my colleagues, I won't name every single one of them said, but they I literally have stood on the shoulders of giants in this respect. So be delighted to share all of the content that we have.

Lillian Nave 56:33

Well look at you modeling academic integrity, right. Yeah. Just fantastic.

Mark Glynn 56:38

I just know, I've been slated after they listen to it, if I don't.

Lillian Nave 56:42

That's right. That's right. Oh, that's perfect. Well, thank you so much. I really appreciate the time you've given me and all of this really great information that helps us to be better instructors and lectures. And I just can't thank you enough for the work you've been doing for a long time, and I'm really glad I got a chance to talk to you.

Mark Glynn 57:01

It was absolutely my pleasure. Thank you very much pleasure and privilege.

Lillian Nave 57:16

You can follow the think UDL podcast on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to find out when new episodes will be released, and also see transcripts and additional materials at the think udl.org website. The think UDL podcast is made possible by college star. The star stands for supporting transition, access and retention in post secondary settings, and the website provides free resources and instructional aides based on UDL principles. If you'd like to know more, go to the college star.org website. Additional support for the podcast is made possible by Appalachian State University where if you call it Appalachian, I'll throw in Appalachia. The music on the podcast was performed by the Odyssey quartet comprised of Rex Shepherd, David Pate, Bill Folwell and Jose Cochez, our sound engineer is Tanner Jones and I am your host, Lillian Nave. Thank you for joining us on The think UDL podcast.

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Academic Integrity through Assessment Design with Mark Glynn | Think UDL

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Welcome to Episode 75 of the Think UDL podcast: Academic Integrity through Assessment Design with Mark Glynn. Mark Glynn is the Head of the Teaching Enhancement Unit at Dublin City University. I have been wanting to talk to Mark for a long time about what he is doing with UDL in Ireland and beyond.

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This podcast is 14 minutes long and features Dr. Eric Moore and how you can design UDL assessments using backward design. ​

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This article is written for higher education (colleges and university) and may be more appropriate for MS/HS but has some clear examples of how to remove barriers in assessment.

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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)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0
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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WAB is not a school that teach to prepare students for standardized test, but check out the section on "Whole Child Approach to Education" which affirms our teaching and learning practices

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Nothing lights up public education arguments quite like tests. They're the heroes and/or villains of so many narratives about public schools, unavoidable variables in our arguments about everything from pre-K to early literacy, charter schools, federal accountability, teacher evaluations, and more. They determine how we define quality, success, effectiveness, efficiency, academic growth, and proficiency in public education. Everyone-whether they love or hate tests-uses data from assessments to decide what works in schools.

The heated debates about standardized testing might, however, obscure the real issue. In Chicago, one elementary school is complicating these conversations. Through its testing practices, it's suggesting that the real question isn't one of whether schools should test or not, but of how the schools prepare their students.

Split Down the Middle

One of the central testing debates revolves around "student achievement mandates"-assessments that states and/or the federal government require students to take during their time in public schools. Specifically, under the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), all states administer annual literacy and math assessments to all students in third through eighth grade, and at least once during their high school years. States must also administer a science assessment once in late elementary grades, once in middle school, and once in high school. These are the most controversial assessments in use in the United States today, largely because they form the backbone of the systems that track how schools are doing at advancing student achievement in these subjects. To varying degrees, depending on the state (and other factors), schools where students persistently struggle on these assessments can face pressure and accountability consequences if they do not.

This system aims to provide a public mechanism for pressuring schools to prioritize academic achievement for all students. Unsurprisingly, most civil rights groups have championed these standardized tests as a critical safeguard against educational inequity, in light of the country's long, embarrassing history of marginalizing and/or ignoring many groups of students-particularly students of color-and their educational needs. They argue that these tests shine a light on inequities that would otherwise go unnoticed.

But that hasn't prevented intense arguments since the current form of the federal testing mandate launched almost twenty years ago. Above all, critics have complained that school quality shouldn't be reduced to academic achievement in just two subjects. They warn that these tests unduly punish students growing up in low-income households and students from other historically underserved racial or ethnic groups. They claim that federal pressure has forced schools to shift their models to focus on literacy and math-to "narrow the curriculum" and teach to these tests. They fret that federal support of states' standardized tests is reducing public education to a rote, bloodless, boring experience. Above all, they argue that this narrowing trend is especially common in schools with high percentages of low-income students, who have historically performed poorly on these assessments.

But what if these arguments miss the point? What if the tests aren't the problem...but, rather, how schools have responded to them?

An Alternative, "Whole Child" Approach to Education

Earlier this fall, I visited John C. Haines Elementary, one of the highest-performing campuses in Chicago Public Schools. According to the state's standardized tests, Haines students are doing extremely well-they score in the top 10 percent of Illinois schools for academic performance in math and reading, and fully 51 percent of Haines's students from low-income families scored proficient or better in literacy, compared with just 23 percent of Illinois' low-income students. Similarly, 61 percent of Haines's low-income students scored proficient or better in math, compared with just 17 percent of Illinois' low-income students. Incidentally, nearly 90 percent of Haines students come from low-income families, and almost 30 percent are currently classified as English learners.

How does a school get these kinds of results? Does Haines drill students each day on sample test questions? Does it impose draconian disciplinary regimes to maximize order and student attentiveness?

No. As I wrote in an article for Edutopia last month, the answer at Haines may surprise educators who feel pressured to teach to state academic tests. Instead of intensive test prep,
Haines offers an effective, alternative path, one in which learning isn't reduced to rote drills and test prep worksheets. By engaging students' identities and giving them a voice in shaping their classrooms, Haines prepares students to succeed academically and to think about how their actions can shape their broader community.
At every turn, Haines treats students as individuals who have their own interests and their own ideas about how they learn best. It recognizes that their social and emotional development is a foundation for academic growth-and understands that math and reading skills develop best when they're part of bigger projects.

In essence, Haines educators do the opposite of the just-so curricula-narrowing story about what happens to schools that are forced to regularly administer standardized tests: instead, Haines offers a broader, "whole child" approach to learning that treats academic achievement as one part of healthy, successful development. "The vision and the mission of the school really kind of break down to giving our students all the experiences in their education," says eighth-grade social studies and language arts teacher Cristina Sicora.

In essence, Haines educators do the opposite of the just-so curricula-narrowing story about what happens to schools that are forced to regularly administer standardized tests: instead, Haines offers a broader, "whole child" approach to learning that treats academic achievement as one part of healthy, successful development.

For instance, the walls and staircases are covered with images from diverse cultures' mythological stories, as well as with multilingual messages about persistence and hard work. Given that many Haines students are children of immigrants-and/or immigrants themselves-many teachers select books (and build units) with the U.S. immigrant experience in mind. They pay special attention to texts that relate to students' languages and cultures. "I make it personal, about them, and then their interest is piqued because then they're always doing that comparison with their lives," says seventh-grade English language arts (ELA) teacher Rebecca Grober. "These kids...they have it, they're deep."

This rich, whole-child approach shows up in other ways, as well. School leaders incorporate project-based learning into their curricula. In past years, students have identified a range of neighborhood concerns-such as homelessness and cigarette smoking near the school-and used these as prompts for interdisciplinary academic units with real-world activism as their goal.

The student-empowering element of Haines's model extends to its disciplinary model. Classes run according to their "social contracts," which are systems of rules that each class develops through discussions at the beginning of the school year. In Danielle Scaletta-Bruno's third-grade class, the contract has a list of imperatives: "Be polite. Be respectful. Be here and present. Be helpful." It also asks signatories to "apologize and forgive," and "Always try your best."

Its impact on the class's culture is apparent. One September afternoon, she calls her students to the class rug. "Pretzel feet," she calls out, and her students respond in an echo. "Chocolate cake hands. This is how we understand." Scaletta-Bruno then describes what's next. It sounds more like a community update than a direction. First, she explains her initial lesson plans for this part of the day, but then explains that there have been a few hitches-there are a few students who still need to finish work from their last project, for instance. The class is studying plural nouns, so she asks them to show, using their fingers, their confidence levels with the latest material on a scale of one (still feeling uncertain) to three (could teach someone else). Finally, in just fifteen to twenty more seconds, she sorts the class into groups and sends them off to work on differentiated projects around the room.

The entire process is informal, efficient, and calm. When Scaletta-Bruno speaks, students are attentive and engaged. When they're working independently, most are focused on their tasks. When they finish, students seamlessly transition onto Chromebooks where they work on personalized activities targeted to their needs. "It's a great school," says student Serenity Jones. "We do a lot of learning."

The social contracts make Scaletta-Bruno's efficient, light-touch disciplinary approach possible. Children in this class-and across Haines's campus-are focused, curious, and collaborative partly because they are working in a learning environment of their own construction. Instead of being disciplined into learning by pressure from above, they are engaged in learning as part of a group shaped by rules that they had a hand in drafting. "When students have their own ownership of creating rules, it creates a community in the classroom," says principal Catherine Amy Moy Davis, "And it also fosters a different type of learning for our students, because it came from them."

Embedding Learning, Raising Achievement

Refreshing as it may seem, Haines's approach is hardly a novel one. Research suggests that schools that narrow their curricula to focus on test prep do not generally improve students' test performance. That is, too many American schools are actually misreading their situation: the best way to help students do better on standardized math and reading assessments might well be to spend less time teaching these subjects in artificial isolation. Students learn important academic (literacy, math, science, critical thinking, and more) skills by engaging with rigorous content and complex problems that they actually care about. They develop a more comprehensive understanding of academic content when they can link it to their own cultural identities and communities through intentional engagement with these resources.

Many American schools are actually misreading their situation: the best way to help students do better on standardized math and reading assessments might well be to spend less time teaching these subjects in artificial isolation.

In other words, Haines does well on academic tests by resisting the temptation to organize their school around those tests. And parents are starting to notice. While Haines is a neighborhood school, its performance on academic assessments is drawing interest from families who live all over the city. "When I checked them out online, you know, I looked at the test scores," says Serenity's mother, Tiffany Jones. "And I thought that Haines did pretty well, considering that they're not taking the cream of the crop kids, that they're taking everybody and working with what they're given."

Try to imagine, then, if this approach to the academic assessments took hold on more campuses around the country. What if schools across the country spent more time and resources expanding their curricula and less energy narrowing their schools into test prep factories? What if they gave students more room to explore, meditate, collaborate, and participate in rigorous academic inquiry with their peers? Haines's example suggests a paradoxical answer: by focusing on students instead of tests, schools might do better with both.

Tags: standardized testing, standardized test, Every Student Succeeds Act

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This School Didn't Teach to the Test-And Scored Better

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Nothing lights up public education arguments quite like tests. They're the heroes and/or villains of so many narratives about public schools, unavoidable variables in our arguments about everything from pre-K to early literacy, charter schools, federal accountability, teacher evaluations, and more. They determine how we define quality, success, effectiveness, efficiency, academic growth, and proficiency in public education.

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Short article by Lorna Earl about assessments of, for, and as learning. ​

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Assessment Strategies for Art and STEAM

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The Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM

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Assessment Strategies for Integrated Studies

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There are so many types of assessment to use with arts integration and STEAM. Here's a guide with ideas and practical assessment strategies to try.

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Supporting All Students: Scaffolding Instruction of ELA and Math

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The Supporting All Students Resource Guides were designed through collaboration between the New York State Education Department and partners in the field. The purpose of these guides is to provide teachers with examples of scaffolds and strategies to supplement their instruction of English language…

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What are the benefits of effective scaffolding?

The combination of respectful learning standards and an excellent curriculum is a powerful place to begin the exciting work of helping all learners succeed. However, the needs of some students for processing new learning require thoughtful scaffolding.

A scaffold is a temporary support provided to students to help them achieve a learning goal. Scaffolds are distinct from accommodations or modifications.

An accommodation is similar in concept to a scaffold, but it is usually a legally mandated instructional requirement. An example of an accommodation would be "extra time" on a summative assessment.

A modification goes deeper than a scaffold, and changes the actual content and/or learning standards for students. A modification may be found on a student's Individualized Education Plan, or IEP.

Your problem is to bridge the gap which exists between where you are now and the goal you intend to reach.

Scaffolds should be...

Sensitive to students’ strengths and challenges.

Standards-based.

In alignment with learning targets (objectives).

Applied to the process of meeting the learning target.

Temporary.

Used to provide a student with necessary supports to accomplish a task that is not otherwise possible.

Appropriate to the task.

Respectful for all learners.

EL Education regards successful scaffolding of instruction, then, as a matter of the intersection of instructional tasks, the grade-level standards, and the needs of individual students.

Learning Targets

I can describe a variety of effective scaffolds that maintain the rigor of the Common Core and other standards.

I can explain the benefits of effectively scaffolding a lesson for students.

Watch: Teaching Matters: Scaffolding

What are the benefits of effective scaffolding for students? What practices do you currently have in place to support your students?

What professional support might you need in providing scaffolding for your students?

eMedia Workshop. (2012, September 17). *Teaching Matters: Scaffolding.* Retrieved October 23, 2015 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gNjGD_W3dM.

Read

Digging Deeper on Differentiation Strategies: This excerpt is from EL Education’s text Transformational Literacy (download on this page.)

Think about the students you teach. Which type of scaffolding, front-end or back-end, is preferable in helping these students meet the rigorous standards of the Common Core? Explain.

What are the benefits for students when you effectively scaffold a lesson? What are the challenges for you, the teacher, in offering scaffolded experiences for your students?

Think about an upcoming lesson and the students you teach. How might you scaffold the process for some students toward meeting the learning target(s)?

Three-Level Approach to Scaffolding Can Be Applied to the Teaching of Math: This article, from Educational Research Newsletter and Webinars, proposes a three-level hierarchy of scaffolding practices that strategically support mathematics learning.

What environmental provisions can support students in a mathematical classroom?

Why are reviewing and restructuring math concepts more powerful than telling, showing, and explaining a math concept?

Compare your experiences with developing mathematical thinking within your students. What strategies might you add to your toolbox?

Watch: Learning to Think: A Foundation for Analysis

This video from the Teaching Channel, showcases lessons being delivered by Sarah Brown Wessling, National Teacher of the Year. Consider how she is scaffolding the instruction for her students. What are her critical moves that help her students reach the learning target? Discuss with a partner or journal on your own.

Watch: Scaffolding Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners

How do the teachers scaffold literacy instruction for their English Language Learners? What are the conscientious decisions they make to help all students access complex text?

Observe the cycle of close reading: reading, thinking, talking, and writing. Reflect on or discuss the following:

Why is each part of the close reading cycle critical for comprehension?

Consider your typical lesson around teaching comprehension. How closely do your lessons mirror the cycle highlighted in the video? What might be your next steps in designing or implementing a close reading lesson?

How are the scaffolds in the lessons good strategies for all learners? How might you accelerate more ready learners in a classroom?

Quiz: ELA Scaffolding Scenarios

Click here to go to the scaffolding scenarios. Read each scenario and then decide if the scaffold applied by the teacher maintains alignment to the Common Core ELA shifts or negatively affects alignment to the Common Core ELA shifts. Click to reveal the answer on the next slide.

Tools

Resources to Help Teachers Scaffold Lessons

Continuum of Interventions: A tool developed by EL Education to assist teachers in spontaneous interventions as well as low-preparation and high-preparation scaffolds for ELA. The spontaneous interventions might fit the category of “scaffolds.” Many of the interventions at the more planful end of the continuum fit the category of tiering, which is described more fully on the next page.

Scaffolding Options for ELA: A quick reference guide from EL Education naming appropriate ways to scaffold ELA activities while maintaining alignment to the CCLS.

Dig Deeper

Readings

Additional Work with Complex Texts: This resource, developed by EL Education, is designed to help school leaders, instructional coaches, general education teachers, special education teachers, and intervention teachers think and plan together about strategic ways to best use additional support time beyond the ELA block (download from this page).

Scaffolds for Learning: The Key to Guided Instruction: Appearing in an ASCD publication, this chapter from Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey’s book Guided Instruction offers insight into the brain science of the effects of instructional scaffolding, along with guidelines for supporting students.

Cultivating Students’ Ability to Read Complex Texts Independently: This text is excerpted from New York State’s Revised Publisher’s Criteria for the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts and Literacy, Grades 3–8, by David Coleman and Susan Pimentel (download on this page).

Discuss

For Teachers:

Time is a luxury for most teachers. As you consider an upcoming lesson, think about some low-prep scaffolds you can include to support learners. What steps do you need to take to be sure that these scaffolds maintain the rigor of the Common Core Standards?

What are the most essential considerations, or things to attend to, when planning to use scaffolds in a lesson? Predict the impact that these scaffolds will have on student success.

What seems particularly challenging to you when planning for the use of scaffolds?

For School Leaders:

What support might teachers need in moving students toward more challenging work required by the Common Core while simultaneously ensuring students are receiving appropriate scaffolds?

As an instructional leader, how will you ensure that teachers’ scaffolds are aligned to the rigor of the Common Core Standards?

Using the method of scaffolding, how can you gradually help teachers improve in their practice?

Resource Downloads

Please log in to access the downloadable resources.

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Earl Nightingale, author and entertainer

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Helping All Learners: Scaffolding | EL Education

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What are the benefits of effective scaffolding?

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Check this out! Accomodations for all learners

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Check this out! Accomodations for all learners

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Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is the co-founder and Chief Academic Officer of Marzano Research in Colorado. A leading researcher in education, he is a speaker, trainer, and author of more than 40 books and 300 articles on topics such as instruction, assessment, writing and implementing standards, cognition, effective leadership, and school intervention. His books include The Art and Science of Teaching and Effective Supervision. His practical translations of the most current research and theory into classroom strategies are internationally known and widely practiced by both teachers and administrators.

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Robert J. Marzano, PhD, is the co-founder and Chief Academic Officer of Marzano Research in Colorado. A leading researcher in education, he is a speaker, trainer, and author of more than 40 books and...

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Systematically applying UDL Effective practices

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Systematically applying UDL Effective practices

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Playlists: A Path to Personalizing Learning - Dr. Catlin Tucker

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One reason I am such a big advocate for blended learning is that using the various models allow me to spend more time on the aspects of my job that I enjoy and feel are most valuable for students. I don't want to waste precious class time talking at my students.

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Blended Learning: Building a Playlist - Dr. Catlin Tucker

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A playlist presents a strategy teachers can use to structure learning experiences that are more personalized to specific learners' needs.

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Search Results for "station rotation" - Dr. Catlin Tucker

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As teachers navigate online learning, hybrid schedules, or the demands of the concurrent classroom, I've recommended the station rotation model. I know this recommendation may seem odd given that most teachers are not in classrooms daily with students, or if they are, there are strict social distancing protocols in place.

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Blended Learning: What It Is and What It Is Not – Dr. Catlin Tucker

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The pandemic has elevated the phrase “blended learning.” When schools closed or shifted to hybrid schedules, many institutions turned to blended learning to navigate the new demands placed on teachers and educational institutions. As an outspoken advocate for blended learning over the last 10 years,…

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At the Inclusion Lab, we bring you lots of practical posts about enhancing K-12 classrooms with universal design for learning (UDL). But does UDL work equally well in early childhood settings? Yes-and today's post gives you some simple starting points to help all young children be successful and meet learning standards. It's excerpted and adapted from Six Steps to Inclusive Preschool Curriculum (Eva M. Horn et al.), a practical book on building a UDL-based plan for inclusive preschool instruction.

You may already know the three primary principles of UDL (as identified by , the nonprofit education research and development organization that works to raise awareness and use of UDL):

1) Multiple means of representation to give learners a variety of ways to gain access to information and content

2) Multiple means of engagement to gain and maintain learner interest

3) Multiple means of action & expression to provide learners with a variety of ways for demonstrating what they know

Today we'll briefly take you through all three of these principles and give you some quick tips on how to put them into action in an early childhood setting.

Means of Representation

Young learners all process information differently. Some will understand and retain it better by seeing it, some by hearing it, some by touching it-and others will learn best using a combination of means. Reach all your learners by providing two critical things: multiple forms of communication and multiple levels of complexity.
Providing Multiple Forms for Communication
Support all your students by providing information in multiple ways, using auditory, visual, and tactile formats. When you provide directions or instruction for completing an activity or task, communicate the information by

Verbally stating the information

Providing a picture or other visual model of the steps in the task

Presenting the actual tools/materials students will use to complete the task

Providing for Multiple Levels of Complexity
Children come to your classroom with a broad range of prior experiences and knowledge. Some may need very concrete information to understand new tasks, while others may be able to process explanations that use more complex concepts. Take this into account when you give students instructions and introduce an activity, and deliver the information in ways that reflect multiple levels of complexity.

Model the steps for completing a task while verbally describing them.

Read a phrase with a key vocabulary word in a storybook and then stop and show a vocabulary picture card, state the word, and define it.

Repeat and restate key concepts in different ways so that all students understand.

Break instructions into discrete steps: "First, select the color of paper for your name card. Second, select the first letter of your name from the letters on the table. Third, glue the letter on the first space on the name card."

Young children vary greatly in what captures their attention and motivates them to engage and learn. To get children hooked and keep them focused on your lessons, provide multiple means of engagement for them. The concept of engagement can be divided into two big ideas: recruiting children's interest and sustaining their attention and persistence to a task. Here are some practical tips and strategies for both:
Recruiting Children's Interest

Observe young learners at work. Build on your knowledge of the types of activities and materials that intrigue young learners by observing and listening to same-age children in natural play environments.

Think about learners as individuals. Consider the variety of factors that influence child interests, including gender, temperament, life experiences, and family culture as well as the current popular themes, characters, and toys.

Respect differences. Choose materials and activities that reflect responsiveness to children's differences while communicating that the classroom is a place to freely explore.

Give children choices. Something as simple as allowing the children to choose where they will sit as a small group can entice the children to join the storybook reading group.

Make meaningful connections to children's prior experiences and current environments. For example, as children explore the characteristics of rocks, connect the discussion to the children's prior experiences by asking questions: Who likes to collect rocks? What kinds of rocks are your favorite?

Provide a balance between the novel and the familiar. In the rock-exploring activity, for example, you might include an ice cube to add some novelty, which could spark a discussion on changes in size, weight, and solidness as the ice melts.

Sustaining Children's Attention

Keep an eye on difficulty levels-ensure that that children are challenged by activities and tasks but not bored or frustrated.

Set them up for success. Provide some experiences in which you know your learners will be successful. This will encourage them to continue.

Support children's persistence with other experiences that are just beyond their mastery. Give them appropriate levels of feedback, encouragement, and scaffolding so they can complete these tasks and learn new things.

Vary groupings. Use large groups, small groups, and independent time strategically, to complement the content you're teaching. For example, small-group instruction may be better for introducing new skills and concepts.

Implement proven strategies that are known to be effective in preventing wandering attention and supporting children's persistence.

Don't make activities too long. Pay close attention to the length of your activities and alternate between active participation and more quiet observation.

How can you help children organize what they know and then show what they've learned? Every child has different abilities and comfort levels, so it's important to let them express what they've learned in a variety of ways and formats. You can address the UDL principle of means of expression by considering two key aspects- multiple acceptable formats for making responses and multiple acceptable levels of complexity of responding.
Multiple Acceptable Formats for Making Responses
Every learner approaches a lesson differently, so make sure that your activity plans provide multiple options for responding to your questions. These might include verbal responses, gestures, drawing, finger plays, songs, and writing.

Here's a simple example: Say you're reading a storybook to your students. You ask them questions about an object shown on one of the pages-let's say it's a truck. Give children multiple options for responding to your questions; for example, children might reply by:

Pointing to the truck

Naming the truck

Holding up a matching picture card of a truck

Holding up a real object match (e.g., a small toy version of a truck)

Children who use augmentative and alternative communication may also respond by using their communication board.
Multiple Acceptable Levels of Complexity of Responding
Allow for various levels of complexity and length in your learners' responses, to reflect and respect their different preferences, strengths, and abilities. Here's an example: Say you're reading a storybook about zoo animals to your class, and you ask the children what they see on the page. Children's answers will vary in complexity:

One child may be able to provide a basic, one-word response, such as "monkeys."

Another may answer the question in a multiple-word sentence (e.g., "The monkey is eating bananas.")

Another child may add new information that connects to their own experience (e.g., "I like bananas too. I eat them at breakfast.")

For children who need extra support in sharing their understanding and expressing ideas, think about what kind of scaffolding you can use during your lesson or activity. For example, if you ask how many apple slices are on the table as children prepare a snack, some children will be able to independently answer your question, while others will need support. You might encourage the whole group to count the apples together so the children who need support can follow along and strengthen their skills. If a child needs more support with counting, you might try prompting the child by providing the initial sound of each number.

***

This post gave you some quick tips to use as a UDL launching pad in your early childhood classroom. For more information, (a treasure trove of professional learning opportunities and resources) and explore the other UDL posts on the Brookes Inclusion Lab .

Check out Six Steps to Inclusive Preschool Curriculum by Eva M. Horn, Ph.D., Susan B. Palmer, Ph.D., Gretchen D. Butera, Ph.D., & Joan A. Lieber, Ph.D., with invited contributors. Through practical, evidence-based strategies and guidelines, you'll discover how to equalize access to preschool curriculum content while giving young learners multiple ways to access and process new knowledge.

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Enhancing Early Ed Classrooms with UDL - Brookes Blog

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At the Inclusion Lab, we bring you lots of practical posts about enhancing K-12 classrooms with universal design for learning (UDL). But does UDL work equally well in early childhood settings? Yes-and today's post gives you some simple starting points to help all young children be successful and meet learning standards.

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Pre-K teachers can create outdoor play areas that serve as an extension of the classroom and foster social and emotional learning.

Pre-K students are navigating social skills and developing the independence to engage with preferred and new peers daily. Our playgrounds and outdoor school spaces can be extensions of our indoor classrooms and are optimal environments in which to practice these skills-skills that will enhance learning and future collaboration with nature and build confidence for social interactions.

Outdoor play areas are often equipped with sandboxes, slides, and monkey bars, and while all these large elements are fun and safe for children as they engage in outdoor play, additional materials are typically required for enhanced creativity in the form of sand toys, shovels, jump ropes, or balls.

One of the benefits of play without a lot of structure is that it encourages children to think for themselves and come up with creative ideas. Installing strategically placed signage, activity areas, standalone centers, small gardens, game stations, magnet boards, and art corners on playgrounds and outdoor spaces can allow students to engage on their own, help them discover what interests them, and support self-motivated and self-guided learning.

Getting started

The first step to open this world of possibilities for exploration, fun, and learning is to investigate the areas in the outdoor spaces for nooks and crannies, fences, blank walls, open dirt areas, concrete or brick structures, tree stumps-even staircases are all prime locations. These areas can easily be transformed into cozy spots to ignite and focus children's minds on thinking outside the box. For instance, to get involved and excited, they could try flower collecting, mud pies, rock painting, bird's nest observations, tree identification, planting, pressing flowers, making bird feeders, or tree rubbing.

Pre-K educators can benefit by seizing the opportunities for observation and documentation as their students engage in a well-designed outdoor-exploration play space. A wide range of desired outcomes, including year-end pre-K goals, achieved independently or with teacher support, are possible with an alternative organized outdoor-center-focused environment. Specific learning domains at the core of in-place permanent activities may be Cognitive, Social and Emotional, Communication, and Gross and Fine Motor.

Science and Nature, Sensory, Art, and Games can be cultivated on the playground or within an outdoor space. Each of these four areas can play a part in reaching the particular goals that an educator is trying to support in and outside the classroom.

Science and Nature

Learning domain: Cognitive, Communication, Social and Emotional

Animal, insect, and plant posters in waterproof frames

Small planter pots for herbs or flowers

Tree stumps and wood "cookies"

Clock, thermometer, rain gauge, wind chimes, wind vane

Classroom goals: Curiosity, making predictions, critical thinking, recall, transfer of knowledge, use of extensive vocabulary, expressing thoughts and ideas, being observant, drawing conclusions, and describing similarities and differences

Resources: Etsy is a wonderful website for small and uniquely created materials. Posters in an outdoor space provide interest, conversations, and wonder among students. Ideas include alphabet, animals, shapes, colors, and sign language posters, along with appropriate outdoor waterproof frames that can be mounted to wood fences or hung with wire on metal fences if allowed.

Learning domain: Social and Emotional, Communication

Sound center (metal pans and spoons, wooden spoons, or PVC tubing)

Keys on a ring

Classroom goals: Expresses feelings, sustains cooperative play, waits turn, enjoys special activities, uses play materials constructively, focuses on tasks, manages frustration appropriately, recalls information, and is observant

Resources: Sound center items are available inexpensively at thrift stores or through donations. Plywood to attach metal items can be purchased or donated from any hardware store and painted or left natural. If there's a wooden fence on your playground, it can be ideal for hanging with screws, if permitted. Metal or wooden items like large spoons can be attached to the board with screws or with simple chains of a length for students to reach.

Attach old, loose keys to a large ring, and hang with a zip tie for student manipulation. Keys are fun, and teacher-led conversation can include questions like these: "What do you think this key unlocks?" or "What are keys used for?"

Learning domain: Social and Emotional, Communication

Chalkboard paint (for blank walls or sidewalks)

Plexiglass, mounted (for painting or dry erase marker projects)

Classroom goal: Follows three- to four-step directions, expresses thoughts and ideas, is willing to try new activities, curiosity, focuses on tasks

Resources: Chalkboard paint can be purchased from any local paint or hardware store to use on a ground surface area or a blank wall. Plexiglass is inexpensive and can be mounted on a fence or propped on a wall.

Learning domain: Cognitive, Communication, Social and Emotional

Use outdoor paint to make a hopscotch board

Create tic-tac-toe boards (stones or shells for game pieces)

Classroom goal: Recalls information, follows three- to four-step directions, expresses thoughts and ideas, describes similarities and differences, draws conclusions, makes predictions, focuses on tasks, manages frustration

An information kiosk, if space and regulations permit, can provide a central location for pre-K educators to receive valuable tips, future ideas and plans, and a sounding board for research and documentation. Photographs are a wonderful way to show the adventures of the outdoor space and track the children's joy of play and social interactions.

An oversized, laminated monthly calendar is another way to include not just one class, but other early learners in a grade-wide nature adventure where each day of the month, students can do a different fun outdoor activity, depending upon the students' interest, the seasons, school traditions, school themes, special events, or current classroom curricula.

The mix of nature and permanent exploratory areas is critical in creating outdoor play spaces that supply visual interest, repeat visits, and sustained play. This in turn can provide research ideas and a multilayered, deep-dive curriculum rich with the thoughts and questions directly from students.

Challenge yourself, and create a new adventure for your students; enlist the help of your coworkers, families, your community, and of course your students to design permanent areas in your outdoor spaces to enrich the lives of everyone, creating opportunities for enrichment, camaraderie, kindness, and discovery. Children will learn independence, become inquisitive, and take hold of their thinking as they transfer imaginary play into learned life lessons.

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Self-Guided Learning in Outdoor Play Areas

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Pre-K teachers can create outdoor play areas that serve as an extension of the classroom and foster social and emotional learning.

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Reciprocal Teaching: Why, How, & Examples

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Studying. Retention. Homework. Not only do teachers and students have a vested interest in these topics, but parents also desire information on how they can become actively involved in helping their children become successful in school. By using a technique called Reciprocal Teaching, students can easily improve their retention rates.
Best Practice Research
High-impact teachers turn to data-driven research when analyzing the most effective teaching strategies. In John Hattie's book, Visible Learning, A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-analyses Relating to Achievement, he synthesizes over 800 meta-analyses. Hattie ranked the indicators and found that anything with a score above 0.40 had a direct correlation to student achievement. "An effect size of d = 1.0 indicates an increase of one standard deviation on student achievement. A one standard deviation increase is typically associated with advancing a student's achievement by 2 to 3 years or improving the rate of learning by 50%. ... Research shows that these can be expected to have an average effect size of 0.4 (the 'hinge point') or higher" ( Miller, 2010. p.1.).

Reciprocal teaching ranked d = 0.74 which indicates that this teaching method is extremely effective in improving student achievement ( Hattie, 2009, pg. 203). This simple practice is used throughout successful classrooms everywhere, thus improving the cognitive abilities for thousands of students from preschoolers to the adult learner.
What is reciprocal teaching?
The word reciprocal in this case, is an adjective, stemming from the Latin word reciprocus, meaning "returning the same way, alternating" (Reciproal, n.d.). When a student listens to the teacher explain a concept or idea in a lesson, such as the parts of a plant, the student pays special attention to the various names, learns how each part is related to the whole and studies the purpose or function of each part. The teacher then puts the students into pairs and asks one student to "teach" the other student what they just learned. The first student repeats what the teacher taught in the lesson, naming each part, explains the part's relationship to the whole, and so forth.

After a few minutes, the other child has a chance to reciprocate the action by putting into their own words what they have just learned. Just this simple act of teaching one another helps students retain more making it easier to remember and recall the information when test time comes around.
Neurological Research
As technology improved, we are now able to look inside to see what is actually going on in the brain as we learn. The Dana Foundation, a private philanthropic organization dedicated to brain research, published a set of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) scans showing the various regions of the brain and how they are activated when an individual is listening, seeing, speaking and/or generating words. "A PET scan uses radiation to create 3-dimensional, color images of the functional process in the human body." ( JFK Medical Center, 2017)

When viewing the PET scans from the Dana Foundation, one can see that the temporal lobe, the region of the brain dedicated to hearing, is activated when a person is listening to music for example. The occipital lobe, the region that processes visual stimulation, is activated when a person is looking at something, like a child looking at a picture book. When a person is speaking, the parietal lobe of the brain is stimulated which is the region of the brain dedicated to language, such as reading aloud in class. And when the person has to stop, think, and generate their thoughts, the frontal lobe comes into play. This region is concerned with higher order thinking such as judgment, creativity, planning, etc. This is the area activated when one is asked to answer a question in class ( Carter, 1998).

As a student sits in a lecture hall, he is listening to the instructor and looking at the white board as the teacher posts the class notes. In this example, the temporal lobes (listening) and occipital lobes (vision) are highly stimulated. Only two of the four lobes are actively engaged.

The lecture form of instruction has one of the lowest retention rates because not all regions of the brain are actively engaged. Doesn't it make sense that the more areas of the brain that are stimulated, the better chance the student has in remembering the lesson?
How do we activate more areas of the brain?
When an instructor is standing up in front of the class teaching a lesson, he is looking at the class as well as writing notes on the board (occipital lobes). He is also listening to the students as they answer his questions, and notes any students whispering or not paying attention, etc. (temporal lobes). Because he must talk as he explains the lesson, the neurons in the parietal lobes are constantly firing getting the words out of his mouth. And when he has to stop and generate a question off the top of his head, has to create a diagram that visually explains a concept, or simply just construct a new thought he wishes to express, his frontal lobes are called into play. When he teaches a lesson, all regions of the brain become activated. So, if you really want to learn something, you have to teach it!

In my next blog, Why is Reciprocal Teaching a High Impact Method of Instruction? Part II, I'll explain how teachers can incorporate this method into the classroom as well as give examples of how students can use this technique when studying with their parents or when they're at home by themselves. Until then remember, "If you really want to learn something, you have to teach it!"

For comments and/or questions, please don't hesitate to contact me at
DrLou@meteoreducation.com

Lou Whitaker, Ed. D.
Brain Junkie

About the Author:
Dr. Lou E. Whitaker has a Bachelor of Science in Education from Northern Illinois University, a Masters in Administration from National-Louis University and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University. Having over 35 years of experience in education, she has been a teacher, an assistant principal, a principal, and served as the Associate Superintendent for Schools for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. She is currently an Educational Consultant for Open Minds Enterprises, EdCenter, Global Center for College & Career Readiness, as well as a consultant for MeTEOR Education.

Chosen as one of Dr. Pat Wolfe's Brainy Bunch Members, she has been involved with Dr. Wolfe's continuous study of the human brain. The Brainy Bunch is a group of educators and health professionals who are passionate about brain development and its impact on learning. On a yearly basis, the group invites two outstanding neuroscientists to meet with them and discuss their latest research developments. Then this renowned group of educators, led by Dr. Wolfe, translate neurological research into classroom practice. Dr. Whitaker understands the importance of keeping abreast of what is going on in neuroscience as well as understanding the importance of data-driven best practice research. These are essential for making a positive impact on our students' lives.

Bibliography
Carter, R. (1998). Mapping the mind. Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press.
Dana Foundation. (2017, September 5). (Dana Foundation) Retrieved from Dana Foundation: www.dana.org
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. New York, New York, USA: Routledge.
JFK Medical Center. (2017, September 15). (J. M. Center, Producer, & JFK Medical Center) Retrieved from PET Scan: https://www.jfkmc.org/clinical-services/weight-loss-surgery/20-services/diagnostic-imaging/208-pet-scan
Miller, G. (2010). Visible learning by John Hattie (2009), Summary by Gerry Miller. North Tyneside EZA Consultant. Gerry Miller.
Reciproal. (n.d.). Retrieved September 12, 2017, from Merriam-Webster: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reciprocal

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Why is Reciprocal Teaching a High-Impact Method of Instruction?

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Studying. Retention. Homework. Not only do teachers and students have a vested interest in these topics, but parents also desire information on how they can become actively involved in helping their children become successful in school. By using a technique called Reciprocal Teaching, students can easily improve their retention rates.

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The Jigsaw Method Teaching Strategy - TeachHUB

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Knowing how to successfully complete part of a whole task is a crucial life skill all students should have. Learn about the jigsaw method teaching strategy.

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Setting your class for UDL: Advance consideration

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Setting your class for UDL: Advance consideration

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Before you design your lesson, consider barriers that may be present in the learning environment. For example, if UDL is to be effective, students will have to understand how to self-regulate, collaborate effectively, and use scaffolds available to them. You may need to design lessons so students understand how to collaborate before you can offer options for collaboration.

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UDL for remote vs. hybrid vs. in-person 

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UDL for remote vs. hybrid vs. in-person 

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The core concepts of UDL are particularly helpful for teachers moving between remote, hybrid and in-person teaching.

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How Universal Design for Learning Can Help With Lesson Planning This Year

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The core concepts of UDL are particularly helpful for teachers moving between remote, hybrid and in-person teaching.

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Over the past few months, I've had the pleasure of sharing some excellent UDL success stories from our readers (linked at the bottom of this post, in case you missed them). Today I want to put UDL success in the context of a more specific framework, with the help of a great new book on UDL lesson planning.

In Your UDL Lesson Planner, Patti Kelly Ralabate outlines six critical steps to UDL lesson planning and explores each one in depth. In today's post, I'll give you a brief rundown of these steps to success-and then share three short case studies adapted from the book, so you'll have a few different concrete examples of how teachers can put this six-step process into practice.

1) Define flexible, clear SMART goals. Ask yourself, "What is the goal of this lesson?" (The CCSS or your state standards will often serve as the base for your goal.) Effective learning goals are SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, results oriented, and t ime bound.

2) Consider learner variability. Assess the readiness levels, skills, and needs of your learners and the challenges of the learning environment. Anticipate learning gaps and barriers that may distract, frustrate, or confuse learners. Apply UDL guidelines to plan for learner variability and determine what scaffolds are needed.

3) Determine appropriate assessments. Choose assessments that provide meaningful information, are flexible, and assess individual student growth. Find out what assessment accommodations are listed in students' IEP or 504 plans and provide these during instruction.

4) Select methods, materials, and media. Consider the types of assistance you need to include in order to address learner variability: scaffolds? Supports? Accommodations and modifications? Choose methods, materials, and media that offer flexibility and relevance and balance assistance with challenge.

5) Teach and assess learning. Put it all together and deliver your UDL lesson. Assess student learning with flexible, informative assessments matched to your learning goal.

6) Refine educator learning through self-reflection. Review the data you collected through your assessments and think about your observations. Did your students achieve the learning goal? What worked well? What will you do differently next time?

This basic six-step plan will look different for every teacher, depending on grade level, goals, and the specific needs of students in the classroom. Below are three diverse examples of how teachers can put the UDL "success steps" into action.

LAURA'S LESSON: KINDERGARTEN READING READINESS

Laura teaches a very diverse kindergarten class with different learning needs in the areas of language and early literacy skills:

A few students are already reading at a first-grade level but need to improve listening and social skills. Most students can recognize the alphabet and a few common words like stop and

Three students who are English language learners need support in understanding and using basic English vocabulary.

Two students with special needs have trouble listening for more than a few minutes without calling out in class

Several students are shy, rarely speaking during large group time.

Laura is intrigued by UDL and would love to focus on applying it to her lesson planning, but she's so overwhelmed with the varying needs of her students that it seems like a lot to take on. She wants to go slowly-so to avoid feeling overwhelmed, Laura decides to focus on the UDL Principle of Representation for her next circle time lesson.

Learning Goal

Laura believes her curriculum should focus primarily on building language and social skills. After reviewing the CCSS, she selects a kindergarten-level English Language Arts Literacy standard and uses it to set a learning goal: Students will listen to a poem ("Rain, Rain, Go Away"). With prompting as needed, through a Q&A and group picture-card exercise, students will recall key details from the poem and answer four out of five who and what questions.

Laura's learning goal is flexible and SMART. It has embedded scaffolding that allows all her students to participate. She designs a reading-readiness lesson focused on recalling information from a short poem.

Learner Variability

Laura is careful to address the variable learning needs of her students:

For students who are reading or starting to read, Laura pairs words with visuals to help her students make the decoding connection and build sight vocabulary.

To scaffold vocabulary development for the English language learners, Laura includes gestures and facial expressions as she reads the poem. She also pairs ELLs with students who are already reading and can serve as models.

For shy students, Laura provides multiple opportunities to respond during partner time and keeps a close eye on them.

To keep the attention of students who have difficulty listening in large groups, she moves them close to her and keeps her teacher-talk to a minimum.

Teaching Methods and Materials

Laura selects 5 teaching methods for her lesson: direct instruction, mental modeling, Q&A, discussion, and cooperative learning. As she reviews UDL guidelines for the principle of Representation, Laura adds a representation option she hasn't used before: word cards paired with symbols (e.g., Who, What, Listen, Answer). To clarify vocabulary, sentence structure, and text decoding, she uses a call-and-response technique, physical response (clapping), and photos of students paired with their names. To promote social skills and engagement, she selects a student-to-student Q&A strategy.

Assessment

Laura embeds a simple check for understanding at the beginning of her lesson ("Hold up two fingers"). She uses a skill checklist to keep track of how the students respond to who and what questions during the Q&A and the group picture-card exercise.

Reflection

After planning and implementing this lesson, Laura realizes that she uses a lot of UDL strategies already. This makes embedding them purposefully rather than accidentally a reasonable shift in her thinking. Because all of her students were fully engaged in the lesson with no behavior issues, Laura concludes that UDL is definitely worth doing.

PAT'S LESSON: MIDDLE SCHOOL MATHEMATICS

Pat is a seventh-grade math teacher whose district requires a lesson plan structure based on backward design (i.e., designing curricula by setting goals before choosing instructional methods and assessment). Pat sees some parallels with UDL and wants to work UDL principles into his existing lesson plan. He discusses it with the chair of the mathematics department, who is intrigued with Pat's idea. She agrees to let Pat adapt his current lesson plan if he reports on his efforts at a future department meeting.

Pat agrees. He opts to focus on incorporating the UDL principle of Action and Expression and on building in multiple opportunities for assessment throughout the lesson. Even though his seventh-grade students are engaged during class, almost half of them failed his end-of-unit test-and Pat believes the scores would improve if students had more practice solving high-interest problems during class.

Here's how Pat adapts his lesson plan structure:

Learning Goal

Pat selects a topic of keen interest to his seventh-graders: shopping. His flexible, SMART learning goal is this: Given shopping examples, students will use proportional relationships to solve 10 multistep ratio/percent word problems with 90% accuracy.

Learner Variability

Pat accommodates learner variability in multiple ways:

The students have varied interests, so he creates four different shopping "wish lists" centered around popular student interests: technology, sports equipment, clothes, and music.

Eight of his students read below grade level, three of them at a second-grade level. So Pat incorporates multiple visual representations for these learners, pairing text and mathematical notation with pictures.

Pat arranges his students in mixed-ability groups, believing this will provide good models for the students with weaker reading skills.

He offers students multiple options for producing illustrations of their work, so that students with lower-level writing skills have the scaffolding they need.

Teaching Methods and Materials

As Pat selects materials and media for the math lesson, he focuses on offering flexibility, choice, and many different displays of the concept of proportional relationships.

Pat shows a brief animated video on sales tax to enhance understanding and sustain student interest.

He provides students with multiple representations of the concept, including slides, a math vocabulary word wall, a poster, a spreadsheet of state sales taxes displayed on a U.S. map on a whiteboard, a problem-solving checklist, and a group product planning guide.

He offers different media that the students can use to create their final illustrations, such as an array of materials for creating posters and iPads with apps for producing slides or short videos.

Assessment

Pat would like to be more aware of what and how his students are learning so that he can adjust the pacing of his instruction if necessary. Throughout the lesson, Pat adds multiple opportunities to assess what students know. Through strategies like a stand-up quick check, a team work-product illustration, and real-world application exit cards, he checks their knowledge and progress at multiple intervals.

Reflection

Pat realizes that UDL has been a huge help after implementing this lesson plan. Instead of limiting students to solving a few word problems on worksheets, he can now incorporate flexibility and choice into his lessons. Doing this ensures that his students have meaningful opportunities to practice new content. He's now able to embed any necessary scaffolds almost invisibly, and he has the daily data he needs to adjust his instruction before students start falling behind.

RAY'S LESSON: HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH

Ninth-grade English teacher Ray has concerns about learner engagement-he's known as one of the best teachers in the school, but some of his students still don't participate in class. He wants to change up his lessons because he's bored with doing the same thing year after year, but he's not sure what to do first.

After a UDL workshop, Ray decides to completely revamp the way he plans his lessons. His main focus is the UDL principle of Engagement. He gathers and studies some sample lessons online for inspiration, and then he gets started with his lesson redesign.

Learning Goal

Ray reviews the CCSS and develops this SMART goal focused on determining a themes in a text: Students will create a brief musical summary that demonstrates their analysis of connected details and at least two emerging themes in Kurt Vonnegut"˜s Slaughterhouse-Five (measured by music product rubric).

Learner Variability

In Ray's classroom, student reading levels span the spectrum. One student with special needs reads at a fourth-grade level, a number of readers are highly gifted, and many fall somewhere in between. Ray incorporates multiple strategies to help all students engage with Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five and complete the project.

For students who need an alternate version of the text, Ray offers an audiobook and a video of Ethan Hawke reading the narrative.

Ray highlights big ideas from the text-for example, by adding vocabulary to the word-wall poster of key words from the text.

Some students need vocabulary scaffolding, support for information processing, or help organizing their ideas. Ray gives them copies of key text sections, a vocabulary checklist, a product guide, and character and plot charts.

Ray also provides a library of CDs and sample music organized by genre.

Teaching Methods and Materials

To increase student participation and engagement, Ray knows he has to reduce the time he spends lecturing in front of the class. He designs a cooperative learning task that requires students to work together on the project. Focusing on the UDL principle of Engagement, Ray:

Starts the lesson by highlighting topics that relate to his students' interests.

Asks students to establish personal learning goals and clarifies from the beginning what will happen during the lesson.

Builds in background information so no one feels lost or left behind.

Uses multiple methods to support learner engagement and peer interaction throughout the lesson.

Gives learners choices about how they'll show their knowledge.

Closes the lesson with a summary and discussion of what comes next.

Assessment

At the beginning of the lesson, Ray uses a quick thumbs-up/thumbs-down informal assessment. He observes student engagement as he walks around the room while the students are working in groups. Ray develops a Music Product Rubric to assess the final projects.

Reflection

Ray changes his role in the classroom by focusing on the UDL principle of Engagement, and his teaching becomes better for it. He's no longer standing in front of the class dispensing knowledge-now he's a true facilitator of learning, moving from group to group and offering suggestions and encouragement. All of his students are engaged in the lesson now, and their learning is deeper and more relevant.

***

Have a UDL success story to share? Submit yours here!

6 UDL Myths (and the Facts Behind Them!) Debunk 6 common UDL misconceptions with this post inspired by Loui Lord Nelson's Design and Deliver. Includes an awesome infographic to pin and share!

"Start Small": A UDL Q&A with Loui Lord Nelson . Loui offers valuable real-world tips for getting started with UDL in your classroom.

and The Little School That Could . UDL Facilitator Stephanie Craig shares lessons learned from her own success stories in these two fantastic posts (part 3 is coming soon, so stay tuned!).

The UDL Investment . Educator Joni Degner tells a memorable story about her personal "aha!" moment with UDL.

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6 Steps to Planning UDL Lessons (+ 3 Teacher Stories!) - Brookes Blog

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Over the past few months, I've had the pleasure of sharing some excellent UDL success stories from our readers (linked at the bottom of this post, in case you missed them). Today I want to put UDL success in the context of a more specific framework, with the help of a great new book on [...]

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This graphic organizer is a tool to universally design your lessons. See the two exemplars of how this process can transform a high-quality curriculum into a learning experience that is more inclusive, more equitable, and creates opportunities for students to become expert learners and build executive functioning skills.

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Anita Zucker Centre for Excellence in ECS

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Anita Zucker Centre for Excellence in ECS

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Anita Zucker Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Studies

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The Science of Child Development and Learning

U is for Universal Design

Supporting the Needs of Diverse Learners
Universal design began in the field of architecture with a focus on making buildings and surrounding environments accessible and usable for all people (e.g., adding Braille to elevators for individuals who have loss of vision or cut-out curbs to sidewalks for people who use a wheelchair or walker). The concept of universal design also applies to learning and is referred to as children, including those who are dual language learners and those who have disabilities universal design for learning (UDL). UDL provides practitioners with a framework for intentionally and proactively addressing the needs of diverse learners, thus ensuring their access, participation, and progress across all learning opportunities. The needs of each child are considered relative to three principles of UDL based on the what , how , and why of learning. Research shows universal design for learning is helpful for all . 1

UDL Strategies for Supporting Diverse Learners

To implement universal design for learning in early childhood settings, practitioners follow three strategies, based on guidelines developed by the ,Center for Applied Special Technology 2 that address the what , how , and why of learning.

Strategy 1: Provide multiple means of representation (the what of learning).

Learning happens when information is available in ways that children can access, understand, and have experienced previously. Provide communication and learning opportunities in different formats and levels of complexity based on each child's language, cultural background, or disability. Think about what needs to happen in the early childhood setting so that every child will be able to communicate with adults and their peers.

In order to provide multiple means of representation, practitioners can:

Support all children in an early childhood setting to learn words in the primary language of a child who is a dual language learner to facilitate communication. For example, pause during a shared book reading activity to say a key word from the book in English and in the primary language of a child who is a dual language learner.

Provide opportunities for all children to share culturally relevant objects or pictures with their peers (e.g., a child could bring in a musical instrument or piece of clothing that represents their culture).

Ensure all children in the early childhood setting learn frequently used signs or gestures to facilitate communication and interaction for a child with a hearing loss.

Include visual examples or demonstrations with verbal instructions for all children and to benefit children who need additional visual supports (e.g., refer to a visual schedule as you describe the next activity in the early childhood setting).

Strategy 2: Provide multiple means of action and expression (the how of learning).

All children need to be able to move independently; engage with objects, toys, and materials in their environment; and communicate with others. These means of action and expression are important for play, social interactions, and learning within an early childhood setting. Think about what needs to happen so that every child is able to participate and learn within their everyday routines and activities .
In order to provide multiple means of action and expression, practitioners can:

Make changes to the environment to accommodate each child's physical needs (e.g., add a ramp in addition to stairs and adaptive swings on the playground).

Arrange centers and furniture so that there is enough space for all children, including a child who uses a wheelchair, to access all areas of the early childhood setting.

Display a visual daily schedule with pictures that facilitates all children's understanding and communication about everyday routines and activities, particularly for children who are dual language learners.

Check in with children regularly during activities to make sure every child understands directions.

Strategy 3: Provide multiple means of engagement (the why of learning).

Children are engaged in learning activities when objects, toys, or materials in the environment attract their attention. Facilitating children's motivation to engage in exploring and learning is an important part of the why of learning. As you think about universal design and the why of learning, consider learners with diverse needs, either a child whose primary language is not English or a child who might have a disability. Explore ideas about what changes are needed so that every child will be motivated to engage in learning activities.
In order to provide multiple means of engagement, practitioners can:

Say relevant words and phrases in English for a child who is a dual language learner to facilitate the child's engagement with materials and others during play activities.

Organize play with a "play script" so that all children have a role and interact during play.

Use language to describe materials and activities that are available and interesting to the child and physically orient the child to the location of the materials within the activity and the early childhood setting.

Establish a routine for increasing each child's ability to access and engage independently with the materials.

The Anita Zucker Center and our collaborators are helping early childhood professionals support the needs of diverse learners through Universal Design for Learning.

Learn More:
Embedded Instruction Goal 3
The Impact of Professional Development on Preschool Teachers' Use of Embedded Instruction Practices: An Efficacy Trial of Tools for Teachers is a Goal 3 research project funded by the National Center for Special Education Research in the Institute of Education Sciences at the United States Department of Education. In this project, we compare several approaches to professional development to determine which are efficacious for helping teachers implement embedded instruction practices with young children with disabilities. Embedded instruction helps preschool teachers understand the three principles of UDL.

Embedded Instruction for Early Learning, California
The Embedded Instruction grant connects the California Department of Education's Desired Results Developmental Profile assessment to the California Early Learning Foundations and classroom curricular and instructional practices to strengthen the relationship between assessment and instruction and provide planned and intentional instruction for children with disabilities during everyday activities. Embedded instruction helps preschool teachers understand the three principles of UDL.

CHILD Center for Early Learning
The Anita Zucker Center partners with local groups, including the Southwest Advocacy Group (SWAG), the Early Learning Coalition of Alachua County, and Episcopal Children's Services to maintain the CHILD Center for Learning, a model high-quality early care and education demonstration program for young children in Gainesville, FL. Principles of UDL were used to design the CHILD Center and to inform classroom environments, materials, and interactions.

About Universal Design for Learning
Visit this website for a brief overview of Universal Design for Learning framework, including a short video and links for more information on engagement, representation, and action and expression.

The UDL Guidelines
This website by the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) details UDL guidelines and how to use them as a tool in the implementation of Universal Design for Learning.

Universal Design for Learning: A Checklist for Early Childhood Environments
Download this checklist of the equipment, tools, and materials educators need to ensure they design the learning environment to be responsive to all children's needs.

Integrating Principles of Universal Design Into the Early Childhood Curriculum
Read this article about how teachers of young children can ensure all children have meaningful opportunities to learn. It also includes proven and effective implementation recommendations for diverse learning settings.

Take a Look! Visual Supports for Learning
This article focuses on visual strategies that are considerate of diverse learners. It includes specific recommendations on visual supports that help children know what to do, learn new skills, and feel included.

Using a Universal Design for Learning Framework to Enhance Engagement in the Early Childhood Classroom
This article from the Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship provides a brief overview of evidence-based UDL practices, with a specific focus on the use of engagement strategies for young children.

Articles by Center Members and Collaborators

McLean, M. (2002). Assessing young children for whom English is a second language. In M. Ostrosky & E. Horn (Eds.), Assessment: Gathering meaningful information: Young Exceptional Children Monograph Series no. 4 . Sopris West Publishing.

McLean, M. (2001). Conducting culturally sensitive child assessments. In Serving the underserved: A review of the research and practice in early intervention for culturally and linguistically diverse young children. Council for Exceptional Children/ERIC Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education. Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED454640.pdf

McLean, M. (1998). Assessing young children for whom English is a second language. Young Exceptional Children, 1 (3), 20-25. https://doi.org/10.1177/109625069800100304

Mayfield, P., McLean, M., & Baird, S. (1993). The effect of signing key words with young children who are hearing impaired. Infant Toddler Intervention, 3 (2), 109-118.

Mistrett, S.G. (2017). . Center on Technology and Disability. Retrieved from Universal design for learning: A checklist for early childhood environments http://www.CTDinstitute.org.

Center for Applied Special Technology (2018). Universal design for learning guidelines (Version 2.2). Wakefield, MA.

Brillante, P. & Nemeth, K. (2018). Universal design for learning in the early childhood classroom. Routledge.

Conn-Powers, M., Cross, A., Traub, E., & Hutter-Pishgahi, L. (2006). The universal design of early education: Moving forward for all children. Beyond the Journal: Young Children on the Web.

Darragh, J. (2007). Universal design for early childhood education: Ensuring access and equity for all. Early Childhood Education Journal , 35 (2), 167-171.

Harte, H. (2013). Universal design and outdoor learning. Dimensions of Early Childhood , 41 (3), 18-22.

Horn, E., Palmer, S., Butera, G. & Lieber, J. (2016). Six steps to inclusive preschool curriculum: A UDL-based framework for children's school success. Brookes Publishing.

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Letter U - Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

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The Science of Child Development and Learning U is for Universal Design Supporting the Needs of Diverse Learners Universal design began in the field of architecture with a focus on making buildings and surrounding environments accessible and usable for all people (e.g., adding Braille to elevators for individuals who have loss of vision or cut-out curbs to sidewalks for people who use a wheelchair or walker).

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Early literacy skills lay the foundation for a child's lifelong learning journey. Every child is unique, and they learn and develop at their own pace. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) aims to create inclusive learning environments by providing multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression. When applied to early literacy instruction, UDL can support and empower all children, regardless of their abilities or learning styles, to develop essential literacy skills. Let's explore the principles of UDL and how they can be effectively integrated into early literacy practices.

Multiple Means of Representation

In the context of early literacy, multiple means of representation refer to providing diverse and flexible ways to present information to children. For example, offering visual supports, such as colorful illustrations or real-life images, can enhance comprehension for visual learners. Utilizing audio resources, such as read-alouds or audiobooks, can benefit auditory learners. Incorporating tactile materials, such as textured letters or alphabet blocks, can engage kinesthetic learners. By offering various modalities of representation, UDL ensures that children with different learning preferences can access and understand literacy concepts effectively.

Multiple Means of Engagement

Engagement is crucial for fostering a love for literacy and motivating children to actively participate in learning. UDL promotes multiple means of engagement by providing options that cater to individual interests, strengths, and preferences. For instance, offering a variety of books on diverse topics allows children to choose texts that align with their interests, promoting a sense of ownership and enjoyment. Integrating interactive elements, such as games, digital activities, or hands-on projects, can increase engagement and sustain attention. By embracing different pathways to engagement, UDL supports children in developing a positive attitude towards literacy and a desire to explore and learn more.

Multiple Means of Expression

Expression refers to the ways in which children can demonstrate their understanding and communicate their thoughts and ideas. UDL encourages providing multiple means of expression, allowing children to express themselves in ways that suit their strengths and preferences. Some children may excel in verbal expression, while others may prefer visual or artistic mediums. By offering alternatives, such as drawing, storytelling, acting, or creating multimedia presentations, UDL enables children to showcase their comprehension and creativity in ways that best align with their abilities. This fosters a sense of confidence and self-expression, encouraging children to actively participate in literacy activities.

Differentiation and Personalized Learning

UDL recognizes that children have unique learning profiles and individual needs. By employing UDL principles in early literacy instruction, educators can effectively differentiate instruction and provide personalized learning experiences. For example, using flexible grouping strategies allows teachers to tailor instruction based on individual needs, providing additional support or enrichment as required. Incorporating assistive technologies, such as text-to-speech or speech-to-text tools, can assist children with reading or writing challenges. Through individualized support, UDL ensures that every child has access to appropriate resources, strategies, and scaffolding, enabling them to progress in their literacy development.

Early literacy is a critical period for children's cognitive and language development, and the application of Universal Design for Learning can greatly enhance their literacy skills acquisition. By incorporating multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression, UDL creates inclusive learning environments where all children can thrive and succeed. UDL addresses children's diverse needs and abilities, supporting them in developing a strong foundation in literacy while fostering a lifelong love for reading and learning. Embrace the power of UDL and unlock the full potential of every child's early literacy journey.

Check out this link for information on UDL in early childhood settings: https://eclkc.ohs.acf.hhs.gov/publication/universal-design-learning-udl
Ask a question today!
Lynne Hall is a Research Associate at the Early Childhood Center. She holds a Master of Science in Education and an Indiana instructional teaching license (Early Childhood Education and Services; Elementary/Primary Generalist; Elementary/Intermediate Generalist). She formerly taught preschool in a variety of settings for over 15 years. Her expertise includes early literacy instruction, equity in early childhood education, and inclusive classroom practices.

Email her at hallma@iu.edu
https://www.iidc.indiana.edu/ecc/index.html

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Unlocking Early Literacy with Universal Design for Learning

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Early literacy skills lay the foundation for a child's lifelong learning journey. Every child is unique, and they learn and develop at their own pace. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) aims to create inclusive learning environments by providing multiple means of representation, engagement, and expression.

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Creating Inclusive Environments and Learning Experiences

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When my daughter was a toddler, I regularly spilled milk in front of her during meal time. "Oops, oh well, no big deal, let's clean it up!!" I would say in my high-pitched, goofy mom voice.

Before she could speak, I sensed that she was wired for perfectionism (something very familiar to me), so I attempted to normalize day-to-day mistakes and to show her how easy it was to bounce back from them.

We're in the thick of the spilled-milk journey right now-learning to accept and embrace mistakes on a larger scale. Now that she is 13 years old, I am all the more sensitized to how she responds to mistakes at school, in particular-and how they enhance or detract from her learning.

For many teens, perceived faults loom large as their self-consciousness grows. Theorist David Elkind's classic description of an adolescent's sense of an " imaginary audience" may not be so imaginary these days. Kids are watching each other closely both in school and online-judging, comparing, and evaluating-while mental health conditions like anxiety and depression are on the rise.

Our performance-based school culture may not be helping, but there is an alternative-and it involves guiding our students to embrace the very failures they're trying to avoid.

Mistakes help us to learn

In her 2017 paper " Learning from Errors," psychologist Janet Metcalfe claims that avoiding and ignoring mistakes at school appears to be the rule in American classrooms-and it may be holding back our education system. Drawing on research, she argues that students may actually benefit from making mistakes (and correcting them) rather than avoiding them at all costs.

Focus on errors; don't ignore them: Only a few studies can shed light on how teachers respond to mistakes in the classroom. One famous study of mathematics classrooms in a variety of countries revealed a marked difference between the instructional strategies in Japan versus the United States.

Videotapes showed that American teachers focused on the correct procedures for solving problems-primarily ignoring errors and praising students for correct answers only. Japanese teachers, on the other hand, rarely praised their students and asked them to solve problems on their own. Then, they led discussions of common errors as students explored a variety of pathways to both correct and incorrect solutions.

Because Japanese students outperform U.S. students in math, it's worth taking note of this contrast. Japanese teachers seem to be embracing the learning struggle by acknowledging mistakes rather than ignoring them.

Real learning isn't usually easy. Teaching methods that center on errors may make learning more challenging but can also be more motivating -potentially enhancing metacognition (the ability to think about your thinking) and self-efficacy (a belief in your capability to accomplish a task).

Fail first, then learn: In another study, researchers in Singapore identified the value of "productive failure" in learning. They separated seventh grade mathematics students into a "direct instruction" group and a "productive failure" group.

In the direct instruction group, students learned to solve complex math problems with the teacher helping them along the way. In the productive failure group, however, students struggled and failed at solving problems until the teacher stepped in to help them analyze their failed attempts and find the correct solution.

As a result, the productive failure group outscored the direct instruction group on both simpler and more complex problems during a final test. Further, groups of students who demonstrated multiple approaches to solving problems were also more successful than those who did not.

In addition to understanding the different ways you might err, it seems helpful to actually make errors in the first place.

Be confident and be wrong: If productive failure appears to enhance learning, so does overconfidence. Multiple studies suggest that the more confident you are in the wrong answer, the more likely you will remember the right answer after you are corrected.

In one study, students answered questions on a quiz and rated their confidence level in each of their answers. Then they were given feedback on their incorrect answers. Researchers discovered that students were more likely to correct their initial errors during a final test if they had been highly confident in them.

Why did this happen? Researchers speculate that students focus more attention on corrective feedback when they are both confident and wrong (and perhaps surprised by their error). They also claim that when a learner expresses confidence in wrong answers, the learner's second guess may often be the correct answer. When corrected, some students claimed that "they knew it all along."

Bottom line: If we embrace and even study errors in our classrooms, students may actually learn more. However, there is a glaring caveat here: This only works if students have the emotional resilience to respond to mistakes adaptively and flexibly.

Helping students respond to perceived failure

When children worry that they are making too many mistakes or possibly failing at something, the emotional fallout can be difficult to manage. According to UC Berkeley professor Martin Covington, the fear of failure is directly linked to self-worth, or the belief that you are valuable as a person. Covington found that students will put themselves through unbelievable psychological machinations in order to avoid failure and maintain the sense that they are worthy.

"If we embrace and even study errors in our classrooms, students may actually learn more"

―Dr. Amy L. Eva

In a study of fourth to sixth graders, researchers analyzed students' emotional responses when they made mistakes and identified three distinct styles. The "distance and displace" style (withdrawing and blaming someone else) and the "minimize and move" style (moving on and looking beyond the mistake) reflected patterns of avoidance. However, students who had the "regret and repair" style (featuring some guilt, normalizing of the situation, and self-care) engaged in less self-blame, participated more actively in problem solving with their peers, and earned greater respect from teachers.

Here lies the larger challenge: How can we help kids to accept their errors and failures, particularly in school, so that they might translate this skill to the real world?

Adjust the learning context: "Let's try this another way." In the same study of fourth to sixth graders' mistakes, emotions, and coping strategies, researchers suggested that the context for learning may be important. Students may find it more emotionally challenging to work in a small group when they're having difficulty, and may be better served by working privately. So consider providing options to kids who may need a little space to flounder.

Encourage persistence: "Keep trying. Don't give up!" A 2017 study demonstrates that when adults model persistence in working toward a goal, infants as young as 15 months tend to mimic that behavior. Persistence can be learned. As teachers, we have a lot of power to influence our students' efforts by sharing our own vulnerability and identifying our own self-conscious emotions, our stops and starts during problem solving, and our commitment to keep going. Students who engaged in the "regret and repair" style of coping still felt guilt when they made mistakes, but they continued to engage and keep trying-while also being gentle with themselves.

Model self-compassion: "Be kind to yourself when you're confused; it's okay." If we model and normalize the ups and downs of learning with our students, we can also share the power of self-compassion. They can learn to think: "This is tough, and I don't get it. I'm not alone here; other people get confused just like me, and I'm going to cut myself some slack; it's okay to not know the answer right now. I can be kind to myself and know that I will find my way through this challenge."

Build positive relationships with students: "I see your strengths, and I believe in you." This is particularly important for students who are failure-avoidant. Students are motivated to try their best when teachers they feel attached to value academic tasks. Studies have also shown the inverse to be true-that students are less motivated when faced with teachers who they feel don't care about them.

Focus on resilience: "Even though this is tough, you will find your way." When researchers reviewed over 38 studies of resilience in response to failure, errors, or mistakes, they found that more resilient individuals had higher self-esteem, lower levels of perfectionism, and a more positive way of explaining past events (e.g., I failed the test, but I can study harder next time). However, having high academic self-worth and practicing emotional suppression in the face of mistakes were not linked to resilience.

If teachers can help their students focus on skills and strategies that enhance resilience, students will learn to cope better, recover more quickly, or at least start heading in that direction.

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised that American teachers and students tend to avoid talking about mistakes at school. However, there are good reasons to rethink our approach to mistakes so that we can help our students to ultimately benefit-both academically and emotionally.

It's okay to "mess up" and spill the milk. There is even beauty in vulnerability. It gives us space to find our strength.

Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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Why We Should Embrace Mistakes in School

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If students can see the beauty in spilled milk, research suggests they'll learn better.

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Building a Culture of Student Agency and Autonomy

The pilot study to my dissertation found that personalized learning environments established a culture of student agency. In this post, I review what has been said in my reading about student agency in regards to personalized learning and draw on ideas on learner agency from in and out of formal education settings to inform this study's understanding of student agency.

In regards to personalizing learning, some have called for a level of student voice and choice - or agency - which radically reorganizes what and how we teach, such as the British politician and former Schools Minister David Miliband:

The Welsh Labour politician Aneurin Bevan used to say that the freedom to choose was worthless without the power to choose. This is the power of personalised learning. Not a false dichotomy between choice and voice but acceptance that if we are to truly revolutionise public services then people need to have both. Because students are not merely educational shoppers in the marketplace; they are creators of their own educational experience. Their voice can help shape provision, both as a means of engaging students in their own learning - the co-producers of education - and as a means of developing their talents - using their voice to help create choices. (OECD, 2006, pp. 29-30)

In the U.S., the call for student voice and choice in personalized learning is a bit more measured, such as this statement on student agency in the iNACOL report on personalized learning, "student has voice and choice on level of standards/lesson and some control over how they learn" (Patrick, Kennedy, & Powell, 2013, p. 6). The difference between the two, perhaps, is that between theory and practice. While Miliband was setting forth a vision, the authors of the iNACOL report were providing guidance to practicing teachers, administrators, and policy makers. Why would we want to increase student agency in formal education?

Research points to a connection between student agency and student engagement and motivation. Students who have a sense of ownership and control over their own learning tend to be more engaged and motivated to participate in formal education (R. Crick, 2012; Newmann, Wehlage, & Lamborn, 1992). Student engagement is tied to their sense of agency - their belief that what they are in charge of their learning, that their learning is related to their lives out of school, and that they can succeed at their learning tasks (Newmann et al., 1992; Reeve, 2012). Newmann and colleagues find that students are more engaged when their learning "... meets extrinsic rewards, intrinsic interests, offers students a sense of ownership, is connected to the "real world" (i.e., the world beyond school), and involves some fun" (Newmann et al., 1992, p. 23). Extrinsic motivators include a known pathway between the work in school and the students' subsequent independence and livelihood out of school. Providing students some degree of control over aspects of their work, as explained below, can foster a sense of ownership, align school work to student interests, and provide intrinsic motivation:

Students need some influence over the conception, execution, and evaluation of the work itself. At a minimum this entails flexibility in the pace and procedures of learning; opportunity for students to ask questions and to study topics they consider important; and students' constructing and producing knowledge in their own language, rather than merely reproducing the language of others. (Newmann et al., 1992, p. 25)

On the other hand, when asked, students report being bored every day in class. When asked why they are bored they tell us that they often don't feel what they are 'supposed' to be learning is interesting or relevant to their lives - or efforts in school lacks a connection to the intrinsic interests of students (Yazzie-mintz & Mccormick, 2012). Instead of ownership over learning targets or processes, schools often expect students to wholly comply to the interests and learning structures of others to achieve measured success. Personalized learning designs challenges this compliance-based design by including a degree of student control over the learning process and content, which therefore challenges educators to release some control over these domains while including mastery over learning itself as a target (R. D. Crick, 2007).

We know that youth - even those who have dropped out of school - are highly engaged with communities and creative and constructive activities outside of schools (Charmaraman & Hall, 2011). What is it about these communities that foster such engagement? Youth seek communities, both online and in-person, that share and foster their interests (Gee, 2007; Ito et al., 2010; Jenkins, Purushotma, Clinton, Weigel, & Robison, 2005). Upon entering interest-driven communities, young people begin to make meaningful contributions and are mentored by others as they achieve membership in the community (Jenkins et al., 2005; Lave, Wenger, & Lave, 1991). Participation in these communites is both interest-based and controlled by the student (Jenkins et al., 2005).

Jenkins and colleagues suggest that the designs of formal learning environments may do well to take cues from designs that engage youth in productive work out of school, as well as focus on providing students both the technical and social skills they need to be productive members of these communities (2005). When students have some control over what they learn, they have the opportunity within school to follow their interests. When paired with digital learning tools, students may find communities that share their interests online as well as in school.

Personalized learning environments are oriented to increase opportunities for student choice and agency and therefore provides a compelling opportunity to examine how the concepts of student and interest-driven learning may be supported within formal learning contexts.

From the literature and pilot study, student agency emerges as a defining characteristic of personalized learning, setting it apart from the other pedagogical designs from which it emerges. In the pilot study, students in personalized learning environments were seen to have a degree of control over what and how they learn by being included in the instructional decision making process. Little is known about how instructional decisions are made in these learning environments, or what information forms the basis for these decisions. Mapping the practices and tools that students and teachers use to make instructional decisions may suggest areas for future research exploring how personalized learning may prepare students to be productive members within interest-driven new-media ecologies.
Works cited
Charmaraman, L., & Hall, G. (2011). School dropout prevention: What arts-based community and out-of-school-time programs can contribute. New Directions for Youth Development, 2011(S1), 9-27. https://doi.org/10.1002/yd.416

Crick, R. (2012). Deep Engagement as a Complex System: Identiy, Learning Power and Authentic Enquiry. In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Student Engagement. New York: Springer.

Crick, R. D. (2007). Learning how to learn: the dynamic assessment of learning power. Curriculum Journal, 18(2), 135-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585170701445947

Gee, J. (2007). Affinity Spaces: From Age of Mythology to Today's Schools. In Good video games+ good learning: Collected essays ... (pp. 87-103). Retrieved from http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&btnG=Search&q=intitle:AFFINITY+SPACES:+FROM+AGE+OF+MYTHOLOGY+TO+TODAY?S+SCHOOLS#0

Ito, M., Baumer, S., Bittanti, M., Boyd, D., Cody, R., Herr-Stephenson, B., ... Martinez, K. Z. (2010). Hanging Out, Messing Around and Geeking Out. Cambridge: MIT Press.

Jenkins, H., Purushotma, R., Clinton, K., Weigel, M., & Robison, A. J. (2005). Confronting the Challenges of Participatory Culture: Media Education for the 21st century (Digital Media and Learning). Chicago. Retrieved from https://www.macfound.org/media/article_pdfs/JENKINS_WHITE_PAPER.PDF

Lave, J., Wenger, E., & Lave, J. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Retrieved from http://www.amazon.com/Situated-Learning-Participation-Computational-Perspectives/dp/0521423740/ref=pd_sim_b_3

Newmann, F. M., Wehlage, G. G., & Lamborn, S. D. (1992). Student Engagement and Achievement in American Secondary Schools. (F. M. Newmann, Ed.), Student engagement and achievement in American secondary schools. New York: Teachers College Press.

OECD. (2006). Personalising Education: Schooling for Tomorrow. Paris: OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264036604-en

Patrick, S., Kennedy, K., & Powell, A. (2013). Mean what you say: Defining and integrating personalized, blended and competency education. Vienna, VA. Retrieved from http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&btnG=Search&q=intitle:Mean+What+You+Say:+Defining+and+Integrating+Personalized,+Blended+and+Competency+Education#0

Reeve, J. (2012). A Self-determination Theory Perspective on Student Engagement. In Handbook of Research on Student Engagement (pp. 149-172). Boston, MA: Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7_7

Yazzie-mintz, E., & Mccormick, K. (2012). Finding the Humanity in the Data: Understanding, Measuring, and Strengthening Student Engagement. In S. L. Christenson, A. L. Reschly, & C. Wylie (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Student Engagement (pp. 743-761). Boston, MA: Springer US. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-2018-7

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Autonomy - The What and Why of Building a Culture of Student Agency - Alan Barnicle

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Tap students' intrinsic desire for autonomy and agency by co-creating personalized learning plans - practices supported by research and theory.

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Rep. Tana Senn on Social Emotional Learning programs in Washington State

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SEL 101: What are the core competencies and key settings?

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Foster knowledge, skills, and attitudes across five areas of social and emotional competence;

Establish equitable learning environments and coordinate practices across four key settings that support students' social, emotional, and academic development.

Download more information on the framework (available in and Spanish).

Use our reflection protocol to facilitate a discussion on implementation efforts in your school, district, or other setting.

Read more about the 2020 update to our framework, which highlighted the potential of SEL in promoting educational equity and excellence.

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Communities

Communities. Community partners often provide safe and developmentally rich settings for learning and development, have deep understanding of community needs and assets, are seen as trusted partners by families and students, and have connections to additional supports and services that school and families need. Community programs also offer opportunities for young people to practice their social and emotional skills in settings that are both personally relevant and can open opportunities for their future. To integrate SEL efforts across the school day and out-of-school time, school staff and community partners should align on common language and coordinate strategies and communication around SEL-related efforts and initiatives.
Learn more: CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL - Community Partnerships

Families & Caregivers

Families & Caregivers. When schools and families form authentic partnerships, they can build strong connections that reinforce students' social and emotional development. Families and caregivers are children's first teachers, and bring deep expertise about their development, experiences, culture, and learning needs. These insights and perspectives are critical to informing, supporting, and sustaining SEL efforts. Research suggests that evidence-based SEL programs are more effective when they extend into the home, and families are far more likely to form partnerships with schools when their schools' norms, values, and cultural representations reflect their own experiences. Schools need inclusive decision-making processes that ensure that families-particularly those from historically marginalized groups-are part of planning, implementing, and continuously improving SEL.

Schools can also create other avenues for family partnership that may include creating ongoing two-way communication with families, helping caregivers understand child development, helping teachers understand family backgrounds and cultures, providing opportunities for families to volunteer in schools, extending learning activities and discussions into homes, and coordinating family services with community partners. These efforts should engage families in understanding, experiencing, informing, and supporting the social and emotional development of their students.
Learn more: CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL - Family Partnerships

Schools

Schools. Effectively integrating SEL schoolwide involves ongoing planning, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement by all members of the school community. SEL efforts both contribute to and depend upon a school climate where all students and adults feel respected, supported, and engaged.

Because the school setting includes many contexts-classrooms, hallways, cafeteria, playground, bus-fostering a healthy school climate and culture requires active engagement from all adults and students. A strong school culture is rooted in students' sense of belonging, with evidence that suggests that it plays a crucial role in students' engagement. SEL also offers an opportunity to enhance existing systems of student support by integrating SEL goals and practices with universal, targeted, and intensive academic and behavioral supports. By coordinating and building upon SEL practices and programs, schools can create an environment that infuses SEL into every part of students' educational experience and promotes positive social, emotional, and academic outcomes for all students.
Learn more: CASEL Guide to Schoolwide SEL

Classrooms

Classrooms. Research has shown that social and emotional competence can be enhanced using a variety of classroom-based approaches such as: (a) explicit instruction through which social and emotional skills and attitudes are taught and practiced in developmentally, contextually, and culturally responsive ways; (b) teaching practices such as cooperative learning and project-based learning; and (c) integration of SEL and academic curriculum such as language arts, math, science, social studies, health, and performing arts. High-quality SEL instruction has four elements represented by the acronym SAFE: Sequenced - following a coordinated set of training approaches to foster the development of competencies; Active - emphasizing active forms of learning to help students practice and master new skills; Focused - implementing curriculum that intentionally emphasizes the development of SEL competencies; and Explicit - defining and targeting specific skills, attitudes, and knowledge.

SEL instruction is carried out most effectively in nurturing, safe environments characterized by positive, caring relationships among students and teachers. To facilitate age-appropriate and culturally responsive instruction, adults must understand and appreciate the unique strengths and needs of each student and support students' identities. When adults incorporate students' personal experiences and cultural backgrounds and seek their input, they create an inclusive classroom environment where students are partners in the educational process, elevating their own agency. Strong relationships between adults and students can facilitate co-learning, foster student and adult growth, and generate collaborative solutions to shared concerns.
Learn more: CASEL Guide to Effective SEL Programs

Self-Awareness

Self-awareness: The abilities to understand one's own emotions, thoughts, and values and how they influence behavior across contexts. This includes capacities to recognize one's strengths and limitations with a well-grounded sense of confidence and purpose.

Such as:

Integrating personal and social identities

Identifying personal, cultural, and linguistic assets

Identifying one's emotions

Demonstrating honesty and integrity

Linking feelings, values, and thoughts

Examining prejudices and biases

Experiencing self-efficacy

Having a growth mindset

Developing interests and a sense of purpose

Check out this video from PBS Learning Media for more information.

Self-Management

Self-management: The abilities to manage one's emotions, thoughts, and behaviors effectively in different situations and to achieve goals and aspirations. This includes the capacities to delay gratification, manage stress, and feel motivation and agency to accomplish personal and collective goals.

Such as:

Managing one's emotions

Identifying and using stress management strategies

Exhibiting self-discipline and self-motivation

Setting personal and collective goals

Using planning and organizational skills

Showing the courage to take initiative

Demonstrating personal and collective agency

Check out this video from PBS Learning Media for more information.

Social Awareness

Social awareness: The abilities to understand the perspectives of and empathize with others, including those from diverse backgrounds, cultures, and contexts. This includes the capacities to feel compassion for others, understand broader historical and social norms for behavior in different settings, and recognize family, school, and community resources and supports.

Such as:

Taking others' perspectives

Recognizing strengths in others

Demonstrating empathy and compassion

Showing concern for the feelings of others

Understanding and expressing gratitude

Identifying diverse social norms, including unjust ones

Recognizing situational demands and opportunities

Understanding the influences of organizations and systems on behavior

Check out this video from PBS Learning Media for more information.

Responsible Decision-Making

Responsible decision-making: The abilities to make caring and constructive choices about personal behavior and social interactions across diverse situations. This includes the capacities to consider ethical standards and safety concerns, and to evaluate the benefits and consequences of various actions for personal, social, and collective well-being.

Such as:

Demonstrating curiosity and open-mindedness

Learning how to make a reasoned judgment after analyzing information, data, and facts

Identifying solutions for personal and social problems

Anticipating and evaluating the consequences of one's actions

Recognizing how critical thinking skills are useful both inside and outside of school

Reflecting on one's role to promote personal, family, and community well-being

Evaluating personal, interpersonal, community, and institutional impacts

Check out this video from PBS Learning Media for more information.

Relationship Skills

Relationship skills: The abilities to establish and maintain healthy and supportive relationships and to effectively navigate settings with diverse individuals and groups. This includes the capacities to communicate clearly, listen actively, cooperate, work collaboratively to problem solve and negotiate conflict constructively, navigate settings with differing social and cultural demands and opportunities, provide leadership, and seek or offer help when needed.

Such as:

Communicating effectively

Developing positive relationships

Demonstrating cultural competency

Practicing teamwork and collaborative problem-solving

Resolving conflicts constructively

Resisting negative social pressure

Showing leadership in groups

Seeking or offering support and help when needed

Standing up for the rights of others

Check out this video from PBS Learning Media for more information.

Social & Emotional Learning

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is an integral part of education and human development. SEL is the process through which all young people and adults acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to develop healthy identities, manage emotions and achieve personal and collective goals, feel and show empathy for others, establish and maintain supportive relationships, and make responsible and caring decisions.

SEL advances educational equity and excellence through authentic school-family-community partnerships to establish learning environments and experiences that feature trusting and collaborative relationships, rigorous and meaningful curriculum and instruction, and ongoing evaluation. SEL can help address various forms of inequity and empower young people and adults to co-create thriving schools and contribute to safe, healthy, and just communities.

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Our SEL framework, known to many as the "CASEL wheel," helps cultivate skills and environments that advance students' learning and development.

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I see it, I like, I want it, I got it.

Ariana Grande breaks down a simple truth in her song "7 rings" - when you have your eyes on the prize you can achieve it. We need to heed her advice in the class because, sometimes, when it comes to sharing expectations and goals with students, the criteria may not always be crystal clear. This may cause trouble not only for the student, but also could create more work for you.

Which is why I love rubrics - really clear, well done rubrics!

A rubric is a scoring tool that identifies the various criteria relevant to a learning outcome, and then explicitly states the possible levels of achievement along a continuum.

There are many forms of rubrics out there - but my favorite are ones that are universally designed so students can see it, want it, and get it. When it comes to rubrics, you have three options: holistic, analytic, and single-point.

The Holistic Rubric

The holistic rubric usually gives a range of performance like "Superior to Developing", "A to F" or "4.0 - 1.0". As the name implies, you are evaluating the "whole" assignment and judging how well it meets the objectives. This can be used regardless of how students express their understanding so it lends itself well to Universal Design. For support in determining the most relevant learning targets, you may want to explore the FAR Cycle.

Grade/Point

Characteristics

3

Product models an understanding of UDL, cites evidence from unit resources, answers the essential question, and is clearly organized.

2

Product models an understanding of UDL but does not yet make connections to how unit resources impacted understanding and/or the product lacks organization.

1

Product models an emerging understanding of UDL but does not yet make connections to how unit resources impacted understanding and/or the product lacks organization.

The Analytic Rubric

The analytic rubric is more specific than the holistic rubric. It usually provides a score for 1 to 5 or gives points on some sort of scale and evaluates the assignment on a set of criteria.

3

2

1

UDL Understanding

Product models an understanding of UDL.

Product models an emerging understanding of UDL.

Product does not yet reflect an emerging understanding of UDL.

Cites Evidence

Response clearly cites evidence from unit resources to support the answer to essential questions.

Response alludes to unit resources but does not cite resources nor credit specific resources.

Response does not yet make connections to how unit resources impacted.

Effective Organization

Response is organized in a logical sequence which flows naturally and is engaging.

Response is organized so the audience can follow with minimal difficulty.

Organization would benefit from a revision.

Research on the effectiveness of rubrics has found that analytic rubrics are not always the best course of action for both teachers and students. According to Denise Krane in her Guest Post: What Students See in Rubrics, teachers often spend too much time completing the rubric and the rubric is too robust (long) for students to find value. With this in mind, the single point rubric was born.

The Single Point Rubric

The Single Point Rubric (SPRs) is essentially an evolved version of an analytic rubric. It features one performance metric, typically the "proficient" metric, and offers room for personalized feedback.

Single Point Rubrics are a relatively new form and came out of the research of Black and Williams as discussed in a paper presented by Jarene Fluckiger. Mary Dietz introduced Jennifer Gonzalez to the concept in 2000.

You may know that I wrote a book with George Couros called Innovate Inside the Box: Empowering Learners Through UDL and the Innovator's Mindset . Serendipitously, the paper that Black and Williams wrote was entitled Inside the Black Box: Raising Standards Through Classroom Assessment so I feel an immediate kinship with their ideas and I would like to share my thoughts with you on using single point rubrics from inside the UDL box.

So how can a single point rubric be used with UDL? As I mentioned, SPRs only describe one level of performance...proficient

Almost There

You Got This!

Nailed It!

Product models an understanding of UDL.

Response clearly cites evidence from unit resources to support the answer to essential questions.

Response is organized in a logical sequence which flows naturally and is engaging.

UDL is all about providing options and choices for students so that they can become expert learners. Students cannot become expert learners without multiple options for engagement, representation and action and expression. Also, students cannot become expert learners if they concentrate too much on the final grade and not enough on the process of learning. A major part of all of this is teacher feedback. Teacher feedback is a constant process and rubrics are great tools for providing some of that feedback.

SPRs were originally created as a formative assessment tool for students to self assess and can and should still be used for that purpose. As a self assessment tool an SPR can make the process of self assessment easier and faster by limiting the amount of criteria that need to be reviewed. There has been a recent surge in the last five years on the topic of SPRs as they:

Here is an example of a UDL style holistic SPR that we use in our professional development courses on UDL. This is a rubric for the final project of the course:

Almost There

You Got This!

Nailed It!

Product models an understanding of UDL, cites evidence from unit resources, answers the essential question, and is clearly organized.

Once a learner submits a reflection, the instructor uses the rubric to evaluate the work as with any other rubric but instead of checking off multiple boxes to assess the quality of the work, the instructor concentrates on providing constructive feedback on the positive elements of the work as well as areas for revision and improvement. If the learner does not meet the standard then the work is returned to the student for revision with suggestions for improvement. This is where the "mastery oriented feedback" plays a big role. There are no penalties... just a second (or third) chance to meet all of the standards.

If you haven't already, give a single point rubric a try. All you have to do is take the "proficient" column from one of your holistic rubrics and place it into its own table with lots of room for you to share feedback and resources.

I think that you will be pleasantly surprised by the work that your students do as a result, and you may get back some essential time too! And time - that's something where I know you're going to say: I see it, I like, I want it, I got it.
Download our quick access guide to Universally Designing Rubrics
Resources:

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Holistic, Single-point, and Analytic Rubrics, Oh My!

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Breaking down the pros and cons of holistic rubrics, analytic rubrics, and single point rubrics. Find the right universally designed rubric for you.

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RubiStar is a tool to help the teacher who wants to use rubrics, but does not have the time to develop them from scratch.

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Rubric Maker

Make a standards-based rubric in less than a minute. Common Core ELA and Math, NGSS, C3, Core Art & 21st Century standards.
Sample Rubrics: Writing in Social Studies
CCSS Math Std 6.EE.B.6 + Critical thinking Sample Lessons: Volume of a Ford Escape
Limitations of our History Textbook
Identifying Themes in Literature
Kindergarten W.K.1 writing standard + Creativity standard
QuickStart Lesson Builder

Make a standards-based lesson in as little as 5 minutes! Add an activity or resource to spark higher-order thinking.

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Free contemporary K-12 curriculum design - ThemeSpark

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The ThemeSpark free web-based teacher tool was designed by former teacher David Hunter. The creator of the innovative Zombie-Based Learning curriculum, he founded our parent company EdCourage, Inc. to offer powerful teacher tools that easily add Authentic Learning to standards-based curriculum.

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What is equity and why do children deserve it? video

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What is equity and why do children deserve it? video

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What is Equity and Why Do Our Children Deserve it? Take a look at this 16-minute video from

national Teacher of the Year, Rodney Robinson, as he explains equity.

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What is Equity and Why Do Our Children Deserve it?

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2019 National Teacher of the Year, Rodney Robinson, uses stories from his years teaching in the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center to show the need for teachers of color.

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5 Moore Minutes- presuming competence video

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5 Moore Minutes- presuming competence video

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Watch Shelley Moore talk about Presuming Competence in 5 more minutes with Shelley Moore.

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October 04, 2021: Five Moore Minutes! with Shelley Moore Inclusive Education is not more work, it’s different work! | NITEP - The Indigenous Teacher Education Program

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Five Moore Minutes is back for season 4! Created by Shelley Moore, a currently SSHRC funded Ph.D. candidate here at UBC. Shelley Moore is a highly sought-after teacher, researcher, consultant and storyteller.

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Expert learning, equity & making cookies- Katie Novak blog post

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Expert learning, equity & making cookies- Katie Novak blog post

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One of my best friends, Kate, regularly blesses us with drool-worthy confections worthy of winning fine arts awards. She is the ultimate expert baker. Every cupcake, cookie, and cake is perfection - moist, crunchy, chewy - and just as it should be in its perfect form.

I, on the other hand, am no expert baker. My cookies are flat, my brownies are dry, and I only make cake from a box. I know why. It's not worth the effort. I rarely measure with the precision baking requires. I don't invest in high quality ingredients. I just don't love sweets that much and early on, I decided cooking was not what got me excited (it may have to do with my family's lack-luster reactions to the "spaghetti pie" I baked for them in 7th grade!)

Expert learning is not about being good at everything. It's about focusing on your individual needs, knowing your strengths and weaknesses, and relying on supports in areas where you aren't as strong. It's about doing things the way you need to do them to reach your highest level of success. Expert learners, according to the UDL definition, are:

Purposeful & motivated

Resourceful & knowledgeable

Strategic & goal-directed

If I wanted to become an expert baker, for example, I certainly know I am capable of doing it, by relying on expert learning. For example, I know I am not a natural at pairing ingredients. Recipes would be my first scaffold. I don't like having gadgets in my kitchen (a real barrier to baking!), but I recognize that investing in the right tools would assist me with mixing, frosting, and decorating. I would need to be more careful in my approach: no ingredient substitutes; sift my flour; level my dry measurements with a knife. I know this because I have made mistakes with baking and learned from those mistakes.

When we teach our kids, we often rely on a one-size-fits-all lesson plan. We teach for the kids who are ready to learn, giving them all "equal" treatment. But the fact is, not all kids are dealt the same set of cards. When we focus on equity, we provide kids with the supports they need to be successful by removing barriers. Some kids may get more support, and others will get less, to put them all on equal ground. Expert learning goes a step further to allow kids to have a say in the supports and tools they need and allows them to focus on their needs and preferences as an individual. It isn't about just changing the level of support, it's about changing the kind of support as well.

In our book, " Unlearning," Allison Posey and I discuss equality, equity, and expert learning in great detail. We wanted to share this visual from the book, which is an update on the ol' baseball equality vs. equity visual to show how expert learning builds upon the original concept of equity by promoting engagement and involvement.

Infographic - An example of the difference between Equality, Equity, and Expert Learning.

Equality: Not everyone benefits from the same supports

Equity: We can remove barriers by providing adequate supports based on variability

Expert Learning: When we focus on individual needs, we not only promote equity, but also engagement and involvement

Learn More:

Read the book, Unlearning by Katie Novak and Allison Posey (or download the Book Club Guide to read it alongside your colleagues).

Take a self-paced course to further your understanding of expert learning:

Continue your reading on the blog:

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The difference between equality, equity, and expert learning

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A helpful analogy to help understand what is the difference between equity and equality in education and how expert learning is the goal.

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What Students Can Show Us About How School Is Letting Them Down-and How to Fix It

We've been telling students that doing well in school creates opportunities-that showing up, doing the work, and meeting teachers' expectations will prepare them for their futures. Unfortunately, that's a myth.

Far too many students graduate from high school still unprepared for the lives they want to lead. They enroll in college and land in remedial courses, or start jobs and discover they're missing skills they need. We wanted to understand why.

To do this, we followed nearly 4,000 students in five diverse school systems to learn more about their experiences. What we found was unnerving: classroom after classroom filled with A and B students whose big goals for their lives are slipping further away each day, unbeknownst to them and their families-not because they can't master challenging material, but because they're rarely given a real chance to try.

In fact, most students-and especially students of color, those from low-income families, those with mild to moderate disabilities, and English language learners-spent the vast majority of their school days missing out on four crucial resources: grade-appropriate assignments, strong instruction, deep engagement, and teachers with high expectations. Students spent more than 500 hours per school year on assignments that weren't appropriate for their grade and with instruction that didn't ask enough of them-the equivalent of six months of wasted class time in each core subject. And middle and high school students reported that their school experiences were engaging less than half the time. In classrooms with more access to these resources, students did better-particularly if they started the school year behind their peers.

This lack of access isn't random. It's the result of choices adults make at every level of our educational system. We're asking all adults whose choices affect students' experiences to commit to unraveling the opportunity myth.

Citation: TNTP. (2018). The Opportunity Myth: What Students Can Show Us About How School Is Letting Them Down-and How to Fix It. https://tntp.org/assets/documents/TNTP_The-Opportunity-Myth_Web.pdf

Bring TNTP to your school system

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What Students Can Show Us About How School Is Letting Them Down-and How to Fix It We've been telling students that doing well in school creates opportunities-that showing up, doing the work, and meeting teachers' expectations will prepare them for their futures. Unfortunately, that's a myth.

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2 ways to access:
listen to it here or go to the next tile to read about it

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Allow students a variety of platforms to share their thinking

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Allow students a variety of platforms to share their thinking

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This may include sharing
thinking during the learning process or as a way to display/ share what they have learnt towards the end of a unit

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LUDIA, Your AI-Powered UDL Partner Mindsets To learn with LUDIA, there’s no need to develop your technical skill set. Developing the following mindsets, though, will make a big difference for you and your learners: 1. Barriers do not originate in the learner. When we focus on strengths and embrac...

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Reviewing and First Next boards with picture cues

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Reviewing and First Next boards with picture cues

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Set a space in the classroom for self-regulation and a checklist for self-soothing (drawing your feelings, deep breaths, quiet reflection, reading).

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LUDIA was created as a new kind of entry point and scaffold for developing a Universal Design for Learning mindset, intentionally designing to reduce learning barriers, and discovering the power of Artificial Intelligence.

LUDIA does not just give strategies; they provide context specific and culturally relevant options for instructional design that take all three principles of UDL into account. LUDIA gives guidance about barriers that have not been considered and minimizes threats to unlearning that can lead to shifts in mindsets.

Free, with no paywalls

Understands and responds in multiple languages

Assists everyone; from novices to advanced UDL practitioners

Accessible through touch or voice typing

No prompting skills are needed

Without limits!

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LUDIA was created as a new kind of entry point and scaffold for developing a Universal Design for Learning mindset, intentionally designing to reduce learning barriers, and discovering the power of Artificial Intelligence.

LUDIA does not just give strategies; they provide context specific and culturally relevant options for instructional design that take all three principles of UDL into account. LUDIA gives guidance about barriers that have not been considered and minimizes threats to unlearning that can lead to shifts in mindsets.

Free, with no paywalls

Understands and responds in multiple languages

Assists everyone; from novices to advanced UDL practitioners

Accessible through touch or voice typing

No prompting skills are needed

Without limits!

One of the first chat bots that has actually addressed some cultural biases that we've been concerned about in other use cases! Well done!
- Dr. Jody Britten

Director of Learning Technology at Team4Tech
LUDIA makes UDL more accessible and manageable for teachers. LUDIA requires almost no training or investment, and teachers can instantly obtain targeted, UDL-aligned suggestions for strategies to improve learning for ALL of their students.
- Timothy Thomas

Director of the Munich International School
LUDIA is more than a great tool to empower one's teaching; LUDIA has the potential to put UDL power in the hands of families, community members, and educators to create an inclusive learning environment where possibilities thrive, and students excel.

- Dr. Ron B. Rogers

Director of the UDL Center at OCALI

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LUDIA - Your AI-Powered UDL Partner by Ludia

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Instead of verbal directions or with verbal directions!!! :)

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Universal Design for Learning to Design Standards-Based Lessons!

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Universal Design for Learning to Design Standards-Based Lessons!

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Neutral tones in the classroom, good soundproofing

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More thinking time

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Using word banks and picturs

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Engagement, Representation, Action/Expression

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

Reenvisioning the UDL Guidelines

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

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

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

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This tool outlines the skillset of a UDL practitioner. You will notice that to approach planning to meet the needs of all students, we have to build our efficacy in other frameworks that are critical for equity and inclusion.

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UDL Flowchart helps teachers to self-reflect on if they are universally designing instruction. Note how it begins with “firm goals” aligned to state standards.

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UDL Implementation Rubric is a tool created by an instructional coach that helps educators to reflect on their overall level of UDL implementation.

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If you've had a chance to review the UDL Progression Rubric, you probably recognize that UDL isn't a framework that you can implement overnight. It takes years - not weeks or months - to reach expert level and it's easy to see how anyone, even the most experienced teachers, could get overwhelmed. For those just getting started, evaluating where you are in the UDL implementation process on a checkpoint by checkpoint basis might simply be too much.

When Melissa Toland of Ocean View School District reached out suggesting a simplified version for the time-strapped or overwhelmed teacher, I was totally sold. I love collaborating with others who are equally inspired by the promise of UDL and loved her quick-start so much that I wanted to share it with you all.

This rubric is a great tool for self-evaluation and self-reflection in regards to big picture UDL implementation and also serves as a fantastic reference tool for remembering overall themes of UDL. When you are ready to get a little more granular, the UDL Progression Rubric builds upon this one.

When Melissa introduced the rubric to her district's middle school educators, she encouraged them to use the tool as a road map for next steps to incorporate the principles of UDL into lessons and units.

As you review the tool, Melissa recommends thinking about:

What are your next steps in terms of implementation?

Based on your current level of practice, what is one goal you have for today?

Making commitments to yourself after you self-evaluate is a wonderful way to get started with the process. Remember, UDL implementation is a learning process, one that takes engagement, motivation, grit, resourcefulness, and creativity. You are not alone on this journey. You deserve the same tools, resources, and support that your students will get from you as you implement UDL.

We are always open to sharing new ideas and tools for UDL, so if you have something like this to share, please reach out!

Download the .

Ready to take your UDL game one step further? Enroll in one of our online courses and experience UDL first hand from UDL experts.

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UDL Implementation Rubric - Novak Educational Consulting

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Free resource download - the UDL implementation rubric

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View the UDL Progression Rubric to determine what UDL looks like at each phase of implementation. Notice how ownership of creating pathways moves from the teacher to students as they become more expert in their learning. https://publishing.cast.org/stories-resources/book-product-resources/udl-progression-rubric-novak-rodriguez

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In January 2018, CAST unveiled the new UDL Guidelines version 2.2 website. Now that you've got the latest UDL Guidelines, how do you measure progress in putting them into practice?

Enter the UDL Progression Rubric, a downloadable 8 page PDF tool by Katie Novak and Kristan Rodriguez, authors of Universally Designed Leadership: Applying UDL to Systems and Schools (CAST, 2016).

For each guideline and checkpoint, the authors identify teacher progress as Emerging, Proficient, and Progressing toward Expert Practice. Check it out and let us know what you think!

Download the UDL Progression Rubric (PDF)

Universally Designed Leadership: Applying UDL to Systems and Schools

Universally Designed Leadership by Katie Novak and Kristan Rodriguez is a guidebook for education leaders who are in the early stages of implementing the UDL framework in their building or district.

Order a copy today!

Top of Page

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The UDL Progression Rubric - CAST Professional Publishing

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How do you measure progress in putting the UDL Guidelines into practice? This 8 page rubric from Katie Novak & Kristan Rodriguez can help.

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Managing classroom voice levels by setting up a visual system

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Having voice levels in the classroom is an essential part of maintaining a productive learning environment. It ensures that students are able to stay focused and on task, while also allowing for collaboration and interaction with peers. But voice levels can be hard to get right-too loud or too quiet can lead to miscommunication, confusion, and disruption.

Establishing explicit expectations can be a powerful weapon for classroom management. When instruction begins, providing students with clear direction provides the foundation of success. Far from being mundane or obvious tasks, setting these guidelines allows for smoother execution and comprehension, which ultimately leads to better outcomes across all areas-academically as well socially.

In this article, we'll explore why voice levels are so essential, what they look like in practice, and tips for getting them just right. Especially, you'll know about:

6 Types of Voice Levels in The Classroom

Having voice levels in the classroom is essential for creating an optimal learning environment. It allows students to express themselves without disrupting the learning process, and encourages mutual respect among everyone in the class.

Voice Level 0

Voice Level 0 is when there is no talking in the classroom. This means that everyone is quiet and not talking to each other. This usually happens during silent reading or when students are working by themselves. In a science lab, voice level 0 might happen when the teacher gives instructions at the beginning or when someone else is presenting information. This voice level should be respected so that everyone can focus and learn.

Voice Level 1

This voice level is defined as a low conversation voice. This voice should be used when students are working together in groups, when they are discussing the material and bouncing ideas off one another. 1 voice level should also be used during discussions with the whole class. If a student has a question or comment, they should voice it respectfully.

Voice Level 2

At this level, people are talking in small groups or pairs. Everyone should have a chance to talk, and everyone else should listen. Use a quiet voice so you don't disturb the other conversations.

Voice Level 3

This level is for when someone is talking to the entire class. They should use a voice that projects across the room and can be heard easily by everyone in the class. It shouldn't be too loud, but it should also be confident. This voice level helps define the other three voice levels.

Voice Level 4

It is used when outside the classroom. It needs to be loud enough that everyone can hear you. It should be loud enough to catch the attention of everyone in the surrounding area. This voice is also used when giving directions or safety instructions, so it needs to be clear and authoritative.

Voice Level 5

It is reserved for emergencies only. The only time students should use Voice Level 5 is if there's an emergency situation. It should sound urgent and commanding, and should be loud enough to alert everyone in the building. This voice level is only used when absolutely necessary.

Why is It Important to Set Voice Levels?

It's important to set voice levels in the classroom to create an environment of respect and focus. By establishing voice levels, students learn how to communicate appropriate volume for each situation. This helps students stay on task during class activities and learn how to collaborate with one another at the proper sound level.

Additionally, setting voice levels keeps learning environments free of distraction from high volumes and encourages respect among classmates by teaching appropriate conversation etiquette. In addition, it also sets expectations for teachers when talking with their students by modeling acceptable behavior for them to follow. Overall, setting voice levels is critical for creating a successful and respectful learning environment.

How Can We Establish Voice Levels?

During the first week of school, it's indispensable to establish classroom expectations - and that includes setting proper voice volume. Kids may not understand what a whisper sounds like compared to utter silence; so use this opportunity as an educational moment!

Have students practice sounding out different volumes-from loud clear audio, down to soft whispers, all the way until they can hear complete tranquil stillness. This will give your class a great start on understanding their vocal etiquette in every situation throughout their academic year.

Working in class is a bit like orchestrating an ensemble. I enlist the help of students to show their peers what each voice level looks and sounds like, such as quiet work time or when they can speak at normal volume.

8 Tips About Voice Levels for Teachers

Sometimes your own voice can be too weak. In that case, we recommend that you use a vocal amplifier. In the video below, we review the 9 best teacher amplifiers.

Bonus: Voice Level Poster for Classroom

The voice level system should be revisited periodically, and role-played or practiced in the classroom to ensure that students are familiar with the voice levels and understand when each voice level is appropriate. Doing voice level practice regularly can help to keep voice expectations top of mind for students. Ultimately, it will help to create a respectful and productive classroom atmosphere.

Our readers now have an exclusive opportunity to access our educational poster! We've crafted this resource with the intention of helping you and your students gain a better understanding of this topic. Check it out!

Useful Recourses

Establish voice level expectations at the beginning of each class period by modeling appropriate voice levels and teaching students to self-regulate their voice volume.

Encourage student participation with verbal cues, such as thumbs up and nod affirmations for quiet voices when necessary.

Provide positive reinforcement to reinforce desired behavior and voice levels during class discussions, such as praise or rewards like "cool points" for using appropriate voice levels in the classroom.

Remain calm and consistent in your response to inappropriate voice levels; take a deep breath before responding so that you don't react out of anger or frustration but rather from a place of understanding

Utilize non-verbal communication techniques like facial expressions and body language to communicate desired voice levels without having to interrupt instruction

Use humor when addressing inappropriate voice level issues so that it doesn't become an adversarial situation between teacher/student

Display visual reminders (elevation chart) around the room providing timely reminders about expected voices throughout the day8

Encourage students who are struggling with maintaining appropriate vocal behaviors through one-on-one conversations or small group interventions.

Conclusion

Maintaining voice levels in the classroom is an important part of ensuring a productive learning environment. With these tips and techniques, you can help your students learn how to self-regulate their voice volume and create a culture of mutual respect.

By setting expectations at the beginning of each class period, providing positive reinforcement for appropriate voice levels, utilizing non-verbal communication techniques, using humor when necessary, displaying visual reminders around the room, and offering individualized interventions as needed - you'll be well on your way to creating an optimal learning space where everyone feels comfortable expressing themselves without disturbing others.
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6 Voice Levels in the Classroom: Identify Appropriate Voice Usage

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Get up to speed on voice levels in the classroom! This article lays out 6 voice levels and provides a guide to identifying and utilizing appropriate voice usage.

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Some handy and soft fidget toys to help concentrating

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Adjustable Table trays that can be moved to a different spot

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Adjustable Table trays that can be moved to a different spot

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CLEAR Visual instructions

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Ear defenders

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Mindful or calming down area in the classroom

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Mindful or calming down area in the classroom

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Reduce overhead lighting where possible, using lamps and soft lighting.

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We could provide visuals, or other activities that would improve comprehension such as sequencing, notetaking with teacher pausing when reading, making it into a paired/ group activity instead of individual.

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Incorporate calming techniques throughout the day to help reduce stimulation.

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Visual supports

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Ask Elizabeth Sames about her Loop earplugs

# data[].attributes.headline
Get kids familiar with none-verbal communication strategies.

# data[].attributes.subject
Get kids familiar with none-verbal communication strategies.