Make Curriculum Accessible to All by Supporting Teachers' Individual Needs

Purpose & objective

Teachers and administrators will walk away from this workshop with an understanding of the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) which is a requirement of all teachers under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 and IDEIA. The purpose is to provide teachers with a toolkit of digital resources and tools to meet all students' personalized learning needs in their classroom regardless of the class, subject matter, and/or discipline to meet content standards and measure student mastery and growth. Participants will walk away with an understanding of how UDL can help at the curriculum design phase how to meet all learners needs through the use of multiple means of representation, action & expression, and engagement in units of instruction to support teachers and learners with the implementation and assessment of and for student learning.

Outline

1. Definition of Universal Design for Learning

2. Presentation of the Benefits of UDL
a. PD models to support teachers
b. How this supports students and teachers alike
3. Brief Presentation of the Benefits of Digital Learning with UDL.
a. Different learning models including remote, hybrid and in-person learning
b. synchronous and asynchronous learning
4. Presentation and Sharing Tools to Use for UDL and Digital Learning

Supporting research

Universal design for learning (UDL) has been defined as a part of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) of 2015 as a requirement under law for school districts to implement as part of the inclusion of all students in the general education curriculum (ESSA, 2015).Classrooms in secondary public schools increasingly include a variety of different learners in a traditional setting with a subject area expert teacher to support their curriculum and teach all students. The complexities of students needs have increased because of federal legislation including the Every Student Succeeds Act and Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) which declare that all students are entitled to the least restrictive learning environment (LRE) which is most often the general education classroom. Thus, teachers of traditional teaching methods need the proper training and supports to meet these changing demands of the learners in their classrooms, particularly those with special education needs. Universal design for learning (UDL) provides a framework for teachers to meet these challenging demands in their classrooms. UDL needs to be properly introduced to teachers in order for them to buy-in to implementing these practices at the secondary level where the focus of learning often becomes about the content and not on each individual student learning the fundamentals. Not all students are able to learn subject area content with the traditional modes of teaching and learning in an inclusive environment. Technology tools are often utilized to meet the variety of needs in any classroom environment to support multiple means of engagement, action & expression, and representation.
Resources.

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