Hi, I'm Dr. Katie Novak and I'm here to talk about Universal Design for Learning
and how it provides a foundation for a multi-tiered system of support. But
before we go too much into UDL, let's talk about how it's different from
differentiated instruction. Differentiated instruction and UDL are
terms that are often used synonymously because both frameworks use the term
"differentiation" but it's important to know that differentiated instruction is
far more reactive than Universal Design for Learning. UDL is really all about the
fact that variability is predictable and, before I get to know my students, I know
that there's going to be some students who face barriers to learning. Instead of
waiting for students to struggle, I'm going to make sure that I proactively embed
flexible opportunities for all students to learn. For example, imagine that you
want your class to read a book, a book like Old Man and the Sea, for example.
If we have Old Man and the Sea, I know that if you give me a really wide range
of students, that some students may struggle with access or engagement if I
provide them with that book. Instead, I want to empower them to self
differentiate. Differentiated instruction might be, "I'm going to actually get an
easier version of the book and I'm going to give it to students who struggle" and "I
might get a really deep article on Hemingway and give it to
students who need challenge." In fact, there are some curriculums who will
actually say that: do this for students who are struggling; do this for students
who need more challenge, as opposed to recognizing that there are absolutely
barriers in Tier 1 for all students and those are predictable. Some students
might not get it yet and some students might have it already and so how can I
embed flexibility in the design of teaching and learning so that all
students can make choices in Tier 1 so they're equally challenged and supported
with options and choices that are culturally sustaining and linguistically
appropriate? So, if we go back for example to the concept of Old Man and the Sea, I
might want to do a close reading of the text and I want to make sure that every
student has access to that text. I don't want an easier
version of the text because my responsibility as a teacher is to design
something where all students have equal access to really high expectations and
standards-based curriculum. But I also know that if I just hand a copy of the
text to every student, that might be inaccessible. Instead I'm going to
make sure that there's an audio version. I'm going to make sure that students
have an opportunity to translate it in their language. And I'm also going to
make sure that there's a lot of visuals for the section, that we're going to be
co-teaching because it's very heavy on fishing vocabulary, and then I might
optimize challenge and relevance by giving them a choice of a text that
they're going to read in addition to that: another text about Cuba, or another
text about fishing. or Joe DiMaggio, giving them the options and choices to
determine how they're going to meet the standard. This concept of
variability is huge because I don't see variability as a weakness in a
universally design classroom, I look at that as the rule. It's about diversity
and one size fits all will never fit all students in a variable classroom.
Variability is really the ever-changing mix of strengths and weaknesses which is
so critical for all educators to embrace. All of our students are the best at
something and when we require all of them to read the same text in the same
way and respond in the same way, what we're really doing is we're saying that
we expect them to be the same but they're beautifully different: their
strengths their weaknesses, their culture, their background, their background
knowledge. UDL reminds us to provide three different principles to
ensure that we're providing options and choices that students need. The first is
to provide multiple means of engagement. When we're providing multiple means
of engagement, what we really have to ask ourselves is are we recruiting student
interest? Are we providing them with options and choices to sustain effort
and persistence as they work to meet goals? Are we providing them
with strategies to self-regulate? What do students do when they're faced with a
challenge? Do we provide opportunities for brain breaks?
Do we provide them with mastery oriented feedback and opportunities to
collaborate? The next is to provide multiple means of representation. When
students are building knowledge, when they're actually building their
understanding, we can't just provide them with the text.
We can't just provide them with the video. We have to provide them with
multiple options for them to choose to build their background knowledge so they
really are understanding vocabulary, so they're building their background
knowledge, and so they can build understanding in a way again that is
both challenging and supportive to them as learners. The third principle of
UDL is to provide multiple means of action and expression. This is when
students share back what they've learned. At the beginning, we inspire them, then
we move towards teaching them in ways that they can access, and then lastly we
focus on multiple means of action and expression where we make sure that they
have numerous options to express what they know, to communicate what they've
learned, and to communicate how they can meet our skills. Then we also need to
provide them with opportunities to build executive functioning. Students do not -of
course we want them to be compliant, don't get me wrong - but just asking
students to be compliant and follow directions on assessments is not what
they need to be future ready because of course they're competing with robots who
are really good at following directions. We want them to be creative problem
solvers and to do that we have to be proactive about designing a curriculum
that has embedded choices that students can actually personalize their learning
as they work towards a goal or standard that is at grade level. So, in Tier one,
UDL is very proactive. What we do know in a multi-tiered system, is even
when we design Tier 1 to be incredibly proactive and to
meet the needs of all learners, some students based on data like universal
screening tools or progress monitoring tools, may need additional targeted
support. This is where differentiated instruction is like the icing on the
cake of UDL because some students are going to need more. They're
not going to need "instead of" and we're always reminded when looking at federal
grant money that we have to supplement and not supplant. So when we design Tier
1 so it's universally designed so all students have access to academics,
behavior, and social-emotional learning by providing multiple means of
engagement, representation and action and expression, all students can be a part of
a classroom where they're working towards grade-level standards. But the
reality is is some of our students might need additional layers of support and we
do that in a Tier two setting. It could still be in the same classroom, but
think about providing the service in addition to. So saying, "okay, so I'm going to
pull a small group of students in my classroom and we're going to focus on this."
It might be that you have a schedule that allows for students to have an
intervention or an enrichment block. It might be that you have a reading
specialist and they'll go to a different place at another time. But the reality is
that sometimes we do absolutely have to differentiate instruction in addition
to the fact that we're universally designing. And when we do that, we're
ensured that Tier one is really focused on building expert learners. We are
inspiring kids to be purposeful and motivated, we are providing them with
numerous resources so they can make choices and learn how to become
resourceful as they become knowledgeable, and also we want to make sure that we're
providing them with opportunities to be strategic and goal directed. When we
do that, they really have the opportunity to design their own path for learning.
When we universally design it also is an amazing opportunity for us to make
sure that our instruction is culturally sustaining and culturally
responsive. We know that students come to us from many different places and when
we embrace variability, we embrace all that makes up students culture: their
family, their language, their background, what they are interested in...and when we
design as educators, it's very difficult to know exactly what all students need
but when we empower students to design their own education, that is when we can
really embrace what it means to be sustaining because students can choose
the books and articles that are meaningful to them. They can choose
authentic assessments and projects that allow them to participate in the
community in ways that that matter to them. So, the most important thing
about UDL is how it's so driven by student choice and student voice and if
we're gonna honor everything that students bring to the table, and all of
their strengths, we need to allow them time to reflect on what their strengths
are and what's important to them and how they want to learn and how they want to
share what they know and how they're going collaborate with each other.
Then we can create a learning community that really works for all learners.
Whereas, if we're not focused on UDL and we're focused on traditional education,
my dominant culture generally will drive the learning environment because I've
made choices about what I feel like should be covered and why and there is
no way for me to ever truly honor every single student without empowering them
to make suggestions about how they're going to learn, why they're going to
learn, and how they're going to show me what they have learned. In UDL
we're really creating a Tier one community of learners as opposed to a
classroom that is merely designed by the teacher. It's something that we designed
together and we give each other feedback. We're always collaborating and we're
learning and growing. In a multi-tiered system, we use data
from numerous forms of assessment to differentiate instruction for those
students who need a little bit more in order to close these achievement gaps
because what we know is that every student can if we create a system that
allows them to. So when we universally design curriculum and instruction, we are
providing equitable access for all students to be a part of Tier one. Now, if
we unpack what it means for equitable and access, it's pretty clear: access is
essentially that you get a seat in the classroom. You go to second
grade and you are in a second grade general education classroom. You go to
tenth grade, you have access to advanced coursework. Equitable access
means that you get a seat in that classroom regardless of any group that
you're a part of. What's really, really important about UDL is that we
recognize that the only reason why students wouldn't all be educated
together is because some of them may face barriers academically, social
emotionally, or behaviorally. And when we zoom back - and if our goal is
equitable access - all kids successful having access to advanced coursework,
having access to curriculum that is challenging and supportive and
culturally sustaining. When we design with that lens, what we are doing is we
are eliminating the barriers that make Tier one too restrictive for some
students. Universal Design is a way to make sure that all students have
equitable access to a Tier one classroom that supports them academically,
behaviorally, and social emotionally. We do that, of course, by zooming back and
thinking about those implementation drivers you learned about in previous
videos. So, it's a full package. If we believe in equity, if we believe in
inclusion, we have to focus on implementing UDL as a Tier one
foundation for equitable access and then ensure that we have a structure and
schedule so we can provide some students with additional targeted support as they
need it in ways, of course, that are similarly challenging accessible and
culturally responsive.