Universal Design Q&A for Educators and Administrators - Page 4

Legislation Relating to Universal Design and Assistive Technology

How does Universal Design for Learning help guarantee students equal opportunities to learn?

Both IDEA and NCLB recognize the right of all learners to a high-quality standards-based education. The laws preclude the development of separate educational agendas for students with disabilities and others with special needs. They also hold teachers, schools, districts, and states responsible for ensuring that these students demonstrate progress according to the same standards.

Neither law adequately addresses the greatest impediment to their implementation: the curriculum itself. In most classrooms, the curriculum is disabled. It is disabled because its main components"the goals, materials, methods, and assessments"are too rigid and inflexible to meet the needs of diverse learners, especially those with disabilities. Most of the present ways to remediate the curriculum's disabilities"teacher-made workarounds and modifications, alternative placements etc."are expensive, inefficient, and often ineffective for learning.

By addressing the diversity of learners at the point of curriculum development (rather than as an afterthought or retrofit), Universal Design for Learning is a framework that enables educators to develop curricula that truly "leave no child behind" by maintaining high expectations for all students while effectively meeting diverse learning needs and monitoring student progress.

How does UDL Address the Core Principles of No Child Left Behind?

Universal Design for Learning supports:

• Greater accountability by guiding the development of assessments that provide accurate, timely, and frequent means to measure progress and inform instruction for all students;
• Greater flexibility and choice for teachers, parents, and students by guiding the development of curricula that provide high expectations for every student and meaningful choices to meet and sustain those high expectations.
• Greater use of evidence-based practices by guiding the design of high-quality curriculum that include research-based techniques for all students, including those with disabilities.

I've seen the term universal design in federal legislation, such as IDEA, but not the term Universal Design for Learning. What's the difference?

The term "universal design" refers to the movement in architecture and product development that aims to create places or things that are accessible to as many people as possible, including those with disabilities. Speakerphones, curb cuts, and close-captioned television are all examples of universal designs"innovations that benefit a variety of users, including individuals with disabilities. When applied to education, the term "universal design" generally concerns eliminating physical barriers to educational places or materials"e.g., providing accessible textbooks.

Of course, increasing physical access is an essential first step. But it is only the beginning. Genuine learning requires much more than physical access"it requires cognitive (or intellectual) access, too. A student with a learning disability may be able to see text clearly (physical access) but may have difficulty understanding the assignment or purpose for reading, finding main points, organizing notes, and expressing understanding (cognitive access). Conversely, a student with cerebral palsy may fully understand an assignment and have clear ideas for executing it (cognitive access) but be blocked from expressing those ideas by inappropriate tools (physical access).

Universal Design for Learning recommends ways to provide cognitive as well as physical access to the curriculum. Students are provided with scaffolds and supports to deeply understand and engage with standards-based material. They not only have access to content and facts, but they learn to ask questions, find information, and use that information effectively. They learn how to learn.

IDEA mentions the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). How does NIMAS support Universal Design for Learning?
The most common learning technology in classrooms — the printed textbook — raises many barriers for students who have disabilities or other differences. Students who are blind or dyslexic for example, find many barriers to learning in such textbooks.

The key to Universal Design for Learning is maximizing flexibility"in materials, in learning strategies, and in assessments"that both reduce barriers and provide alternative paths to the same high standards for all students.

IDEA 2004 made an important first step in ensuring the flexibility of classroom materials by establishing the National Instructional Materials Accessibility Standard (NIMAS). NIMAS (pronounced NYE-mas) helps state and local education agencies meet IDEA's mandate to provide qualified students with alternate-format versions of core curricular materials, such as textbooks.

The digital "NIMAS" version is very flexible and can be readily transformed into student-ready versions for students with a variety of different "print disabilities." The flexibility of the NIMAS versions provides a great foundation for Universal Design for Learning. NIMAS does not meet the needs of all students, however. In the future, NIMAS will be seen only as the first step toward full Universal Design for Learning.

Adapted from the Universal Design for Learning Webinar, co-sponsored by the National Center for Learning Disabilities, the Arizona Literacy and Learning Center and the Council for Exceptional Children.