Universal Design for Learning (UDL)

Dr. Wendy Molina-Solis, Director of MTSS

Kimberly Carrillo, Executive Secretary

626-943-3530

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to teaching and learning that gives ALL students equal opportunity to succeed. The goal of UDL is to use a variety of teaching methods to remove any barriers to learning. It’s about building in flexibility that can be adjusted for every person’s strengths and needs. That’s why UDL benefits ALL learners. It can be very helpful for English language learners, GATE students and students needing further supports to access the curriculum. In essence, UDL is about bringing access into every learning environment and increasing learning for every learner. UDL is a framework within MTSS that helps make certain every AUSD student has the avenue to demonstrate their strengths. UDL helps teachers ensure all their students have optimized learning opportunities based on scientific insights into how humans learn: the why, what and how of learning.

We in AUSD are very proud to have collaborated with the California Coalition for Inclusive Literacy (CCIL) and the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) for the past 3 years to bring professional development to our teachers. All 13 elementary instructional coaches have been trained with the UDL framework and meet monthly with our facilitator from CCIL to increase our capacity with differentiated instruction. Our coaches and some teachers have engaged in hands on learning experiences using the Instructional Rounds Model. Two school sites have centered their site specific professional learning for all educators around UDL. Our goal is that every TK-8 teacher is UDL trained and expand that learning to our high school teachers in the near future.

In short, UDL promotes three main principles:

1. Engagement: Look for ways to motivate learners and sustain their interest. Here are some examples:

Let people make choices
Give assignments that feel relevant to their lives
Make skill building feel like a game
Create opportunities for learners to get up and move around

2. Representation: Offer information in more than one format. For example, the instructor could provide a worksheet along with:

Audio, which could be as simple as saying the written directions out loud
Video showing how to solve one of the problems
Hands-on learning

3. Action and Expression: Give learners more than one way to interact with the material and to show what they know. For example, they might get to choose between:

Taking a pencil-and-paper test
Giving an oral report
Making a video or a comic strip
Doing a group project

To read more about UDL, please visit the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence

To learn more about UDL, please visit the CAST website

To learn more about California Coalition for Inclusive Literacy, please visit the CCIL website.

CA Department of Education UDL Webinar Notes