Universal Design for Learning

Discover how this curriculum design approach customizes instruction and materials to serve all learners
Teaching Cute Visuals Can Distract Students From a Lesson: 3 Tips for Teachers
Playful visuals may make a lesson more fun, but they can also get in the way of learning.
Alyson Klein, July 9, 2024
4 min read
High angle shot of a man assisting his students at computers
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Ed-Tech Policy National Ed-Tech Plan Outlines How Schools Can Tackle 3 Big Digital Inequities
There's great potential for districts to use technology to meet all students' individual learning needs, federal plan suggests.
Alyson Klein, January 22, 2024
3 min read
Blind person using computer with braille computer display and a computer keyboard. Blindness aid, visual impairment, independent life concept.
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Special Education Q&A Creating Inclusive Classrooms for Blind Students Can Benefit Everyone. Here's How
6 questions with a teacher who has dedicated her career to teaching and supporting blind children.
Caitlynn Peetz, August 10, 2023
6 min read
Personalized Learning Opinion Ed Tech and Universal Design for Learning: Because One Size Fits None
The UDL guidelines offer a valuable framework for educators who have embraced next-generation learning to improve teaching and learning for all people by designing at the margins.
Contributing Blogger, November 30, 2018
9 min read
BRIC ARCHIVE
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Equity & Diversity Opinion When It Comes to Universal Design for Learning, Don’t Wait to Be an Expert
When teachers create flexible learning environments, they support all different types of learners, Kyle Redford writes.
Kyle Redford, January 24, 2018
6 min read
School & District Management Opinion Design Thinking as Pedagogy - For Students and Educators
In this podcast, Sandy Speicher, partner and managing director of education at IDEO, chats with me on what design thinking is and why it's so important for teachers and education leaders right now.
Tom Vander Ark, February 15, 2017
3 min read
Education Opinion How Universal Design for Learning Creates Culturally Accessible Classrooms
Universal design for learning can play an important role in helping teachers create culturally competent classrooms, writes Joni Degner.
Joni Degner, November 15, 2016
6 min read
Students Cindy Chen, left, and Rendy Zhong practice reading in a classroom at Southside Elementary School, in Columbus, Ind. The school is part of a district that practices universal design for learning, an instructional framework that seeks to open up multiple routes to learning. It can touch on everything from teaching and assessment strategies to classroom design and the outline of the school day.
Students Cindy Chen, left, and Rendy Zhong practice reading in a classroom at Southside Elementary School, in Columbus, Ind. The school is part of a district that practices universal design for learning, an instructional framework that seeks to open up multiple routes to learning. It can touch on everything from teaching and assessment strategies to classroom design and the outline of the school day.
Clay Lomneth for Education Week
Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA Spotlights Strategy to Reach Diverse Learners
An instructional framework called universal design for learning, or UDL, which supports multiple ways to teach lessons, has found a niche in the Every Student Succeeds Act.
Christina A. Samuels, February 23, 2016
6 min read
Special Education Opinion Don't Wait: Six Simple Ways to Support Your Struggling Learners Tomorrow
"These modifications all embrace the principles of UDL (Universal Design for Learning) which caution against teaching to the imaginary average student. The truth is, our classrooms are full of students who are difficult to categorize because they present quirky profiles."
Kyle Redford, February 17, 2016
6 min read
Teaching Profession CTQ Collaboratory Sparking Up Lessons With Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Universal Design for Learning is the perfect go-to teaching tool to guide instructional decisions, Elizabeth Stein says.
Elizabeth Stein, October 19, 2015
5 min read
David H. Rose
David H. Rose
Special Education Q&A Learning by Universal Design
Neuropsychologist David H. Rose, a principal architect of Universal Design for Learning, says classrooms need a richer mix of resources and more emotion.
Anthony Rebora, June 18, 2014
10 min read
School & District Management Study Finds Districts Buying Into Universal Design
But many education leaders still aren't entirely sure what UDL is.
May 22, 2012
4 min read
School & District Management Study Tracks Growing Understanding of UDL
But state and district special education directors say there are still widespread misperceptions about the universal design for learning concept.
May 15, 2012
5 min read
Special Education Standards Open the Door for Best Practices From Special Ed.
As schools rewrite curricula, the timing is right for UDL, RTI, according to experts.
April 23, 2012
8 min read