Implementing New Curricular Learning with

Universally Designed Experiences

The Magnolia Public School was awarded a four-year mathematics grant from the state of New Jersey, Department of Educational Technology.  Through this grant, the district will strive to develop and maintain an atmosphere of high-performing inclusive classrooms while considering the strengths and abilities of all students and by designing instructional strategies that meet the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards in mathematics. Teachers will determine success through assessing outcomes that are tied directly to instruction while using a wide range of technology in meaningful ways.

It is the goal of our grant project to design high-performing inclusive mathematics classrooms by utilizing the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) model, the development of Professional Learning Communities for our middle school teachers and instituting a Response to Intervention (RTI) program for students in grades five through seven. The students in the inclusive mathematics classroom will come from a heterogeneous population with diverse learning styles where cooperative learning occurs and differentiated instruction takes place.

Through an intensive professional development plan to include Universal Design for Learning strategies, the implementation of professional learning communities which are based on a shared mission, vision and values;(Dufour, 1998) and instituting a Response to Intervention (RTI) program. RTI provides high-quality instruction and intervention that is matched to student needs and that monitors student progress.

With professional development, collaborative meetings, the re-designing of the general education classroom model and mathematics intervention with our higher education partner, Rowan University, it is our four-year goal to provide all students with the tools necessary to become mathematically literate and life-long learners.

Inclusive Practices Team

Marlon Meyer

Kelly Livingston

Patricia Fewer

Karen Macpherson

Steve Kreal

Michael Morgan

Shaun Williams

David Cogan

UNIVERSAL DESIGN FOR LEARNING

 
Universal Design for Learning is an educational framework pioneered by CAST that offers great promise in helping to improve educational outcomes for all students, including those with disabilities. The “universal” in Universal Design for Learning (UDL) does not imply one optimal solution for everyone, but instead underscores the need for inherently flexible, customizable content, assignments and activities, and assessments characterized by:

Multiple representations of information—as there is no single method for the presentation of information that will provide equal access for all learners;

Multiple methods of expression—as there is no single method of expression that will provide equal opportunity for all students; and

Multiple means of engagement—as there is no single way to ensure that all children are engaged in a learning environment.

The term “universal design” is borrowed from the architectural concept of the same name, which called for curb cuts, automatic doors and other architectural features to be built into the design to avoid costly after-the-fact adaptations for individuals with handicaps. But, in reality, these features benefit many other people, including cyclists and parents with strollers. Universal Design for Learning applies the same concept to learning—creating a curriculum with numerous built-in features to meet the learning needs of a wide range of students, including those with disabilities and special talents.

Students differ from one another in many ways and present unique learning needs in the classroom setting, yet high standards are important for all students. By incorporating supports for particular students, it is possible to improve learning experiences for everyone, without the need for specialized adaptations down the line. For example, captioned video is of great help to deaf students—but captions are also helpful to students who are learning English, students who are struggling readers, students with attention deficits, and even students working in a noisy classroom.

UDL will not eliminate the need for assistive technologies. Children with physical disabilities, for example, need properly designed wheelchairs, adaptive switches to control devices, or speech synthesizers, but in educational environments where UDL is the norm, assistive devices will be used for the same reason we use eyeglasses—to enhance our abilities rather than to compensate for inadequately designed learning materials.

Bringing Universal Design for Learning into classrooms and educational practice may sound like a difficult task. In fact, in a classroom supplied only with conventional materials—such as textbooks— it is. But today’s teachers have access to a variety of tools such as digitized text, multimedia software, video recorders, tape recorders, and the World Wide Web. These tools have the flexibility teachers need to accomplish Universal Design for Learning and to provide for a broad spectrum of students.

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