What is Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework to guide the proactive design of learning environments that are accessible and challenging for all students. The goal of UDL is to support learner agency, defined as the capacity to actively participate in making choices in service of learning goals.
UDL aims to change the design of the environment and instruction rather than to change the learner. When environments are intentionally designed to reduce barriers, it provides the opportunity for all learners to engage in rigorous, meaningful learning across content areas.
An environment or learning task built with the UDL framework provides:
- multiple ways for students to engage in the learning (the “why”),
- multiple ways for educators to represent the information (the “what”) and,
- provides multiple means for students to demonstrate the learning (the “how”).
Planning with UDL in mind.
The following table may be helpful to compare traditional teaching, UDL, and Differentiation. Differentiation is the reactive process of individualizing instruction to meet individual needs where UDL is the proactive process of designing the environment intentionally to reduce barriers and engage all students in rigorous learning.
| Traditional Teaching | UDL | Differentiation |
|---|---|---|
| Generalized plans and expectations for all students | Proactive planning for variable learners | Responsive to individuals and small groups |
| Curriculum and teacher centered | Evaluates fit between students, curriculum, and environment | Evaluates individual students |
| Teacher follows lesson delivery, pacing, and activities as designed | Designed before students arrive with options and choices built-in for learner variability | Responsive to students’ needs for slower pace, choices etc., after students arrive |
| Focus on the “average” student | Focus on variability | Focus on individuals and group |
| Does not consider the margins | Plans for margins | Adjusts to individual margins |
| Does not plan for barriers | Removes barriers | Works around barriers |
Examples of how UDL interacts with the grade level learning standards
- Instruction designed with multiple means of engagement:
- All second graders during ELA instruction are learning about character traits by either reading a text or listening to it being read aloud. Educators provide options for engagement in small groups, use visuals to match character traits (brave, kind, curious) to specific characters in texts, use drawings or digital media to represent characters, or engage in discussions with a partner to explore visual representations of characters. Educators maximize choice, relevance, and value by curating opportunities for students to choose high-interest texts or customize the complexity of the text/media to support access and sensemaking.
- Instruction designed with multiple means of representation:
- All third graders during math instruction are engaged in math content focused on fractions. Educators provide opportunities for students to develop this understanding using paper strip models, colored number blocks, by making granola together with the class, and constructing unit fractions on geoboards.
- Instruction designed with multiple means of demonstrating the learning:
- All second-grade students in science are engaged in developing a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants. Educators provide choices in how students model their understanding via multiple options such as a labeled sketch or drawing, comic strip showing and explaining the process, creating a physical model, by acting out the process, or using technology to show and explain.
Resources to Learn More
There is a wealth of evidence-based professional development materials on UDL that can help educators deepen the use of the UDL framework within their teaching practices.
Visit the OSPI Inclusionary Practices webpage for robust guidance, partner resources, and research supporting inclusionary practices and outcomes for all students.
- Reaching Every Learner Document Suite: Use these tools, grounded in Universal Design for Learning (UDL), to design and provide instruction using accessible, inclusive, and appropriately challenging units for all students, including students with significant cognitive disabilities.
CAST has developed:
- UDL Guidelines that support educators, curriculum developers, researchers, parents, and more to apply the UDL framework to practice. The guidelines offer a set of concrete suggestions that can be applied to any discipline or domain to ensure that all learners can access and participate in meaningful, challenging learning opportunities.
- This Key Questions Guide to Consider When Planning Lessons, which is a helpful guide for educators.
The TIES Center, a state sponsored technical assistance provider in Washington’s Inclusionary Practice Technical Assistance Network (IPTN) has Universal Design for Learning Modules. These modules were developed in collaboration with Washington schools to support educators and systems to collaborate to meet the needs of all students through rigorous learning goals and instruction that reflect high expectations.
The Department of Education’s 2024 National Education Technology Plan highlights UDL through the use of technology to support learning.