A 21st Century Mission: The First CAST Institute on Universal Design for Learning

By Lucinda M. O'Neill

In the sultry warmth of an early August heat wave, 52 educators from all over the U.S. gathered in the small New England town of Ipswich, Massachusetts, to learn about a new approach to teaching and learning called Universal Design for Learning. Although endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs in 1998, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is only recently being widely introduced to educators.

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Children's book publishers Hope Borghi (right) and her sister Pamela Rigsbee (left) share a moment at the computer with Susan Pemsler (standing), a teacher at the Young Achievers Science & Mathematics School in Boston, MA.

As readers of Exceptional Parent may be aware, UDL takes advantage of the power of computer technology to create digital learning materials with the flexibility to be adapted to meet the needs of a diverse range of students in inclusive general education classrooms. CAST (the Center for Applied Special Technology) in Peabody, Massachusetts, pioneered the UDL approach to meet a growing need among teachers and parents for new technology and methods to enable students with disabilities to gain access to and achieve success in the general education curriculum. "Teachers need guidelines to support them in introducing UDL in their classrooms," says Dr. Brenda Matthis, CAST Director of Professional Development. "The CAST Institute was created so they could learn about UDL from soup to nuts."

"Meaningful access to the general curriculum" is mandated by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997, which established "high expectations for children with disabilities to achieve real educational results" and "strengthens the role of parents in educational planning and decision making on behalf of their children."

Collaboration between general and special educators is crucial to the success of UDL in creating such meaningful access. In fact, several districts sent teams of general and special education teachers, technology coordinators, administrators, and even principals to attend the CAST Institute together. Parents of children with disabilities were also encouraged to participate (see accompanying story).

Educators Learn about the Importance of Digital Text

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Jo Ann Bruhn (left) and Eileen Daneri (right) of the Amherst Public Schools work together on their UDL action plan.

Central to the implementation of UDL in the classroom is the use of electronic (or digital) text. Typed or scanned into the computer, digital text is highly adjustable. It can be read using assistance devices such as single-switch scanning and text-to-speech programs, and its size and color can be adjusted to make it more readable. For students with physical challenges who are unable to turn the pages of a book, or those with visual impairments, the educational benefits of digital text and digital tools for access and self-expression are profound.

School districts in Concord, New Hampshire, and Schaumburg, Illinois, have embarked on large-scale projects to convert the print curriculum to digital format. Both districts sent representatives to the CAST Institute. Carol Leffler, Chair of the Assistive Technology Department of the 17,000-student Schaumburg district, feels fortunate to be part of a district that has the resources and vision to implement an innovative approach like UDL. She also confesses to feeling frustrated at times by the slow pace of progress. "Lots of people don't know what digital text is, or that it can be manipulated. So we're adding two half-day trainings before school starts."

Leffler was especially thrilled that the CAST Institute gave her the opportunity to meet Donna Palley, an educator on the forefront of integrating UDL methods and technology into classroom practice. As special education coordinator for the Concord, New Hampshire Public Schools, Palley is leading a district-wide curriculum-digitizing project, and came to the CAST Institute to share her ideas and experiences with other educators on the same path. Leffler and Palley have agreed to exchange digital text and resources to accelerate the progress of their respective projects.

Educators Create a UDL Action Plan

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The Institute's four-day immersion in UDL technology and practices gave educators many opportunities to ask questions and to share their own knowledge and experience.

The heart of the Institute's four-day immersion in UDL philosophy and its practical applications in classroom settings was the UDL "action plan" that teachers created to take back to their schools. The action plan details how individual educators and districts can:

• Create a vision of what UDL can be in their everyday settings;
• Take stock of their current school situation, including the barriers and challenges they face and the stakeholders, such as parents, who can help achieve the UDL vision; and
• Develop strategies for achieving their vision, including clearly defined goals, objectives, and benchmarks; develop a catalogue of available resources; and identify who will be responsible for which aspect of introducing UDL into classroom practice.

Working from UDL templates developed by CAST, the teachers developed action plans to fit their own school situations. "There is no one path to UDL," Matthis points out. "There are many paths and many ways to start." Even extensive technological know-how is not a prerequisite. For Harriet Anagnostopoulos, a language arts teacher in the Lowell, Massachusetts Public Schools, the Institute provided a gradual introduction to technology that helped her feel comfortable about diving into the new approach.

One UDL template that CAST Institute participants found particularly helpful was the Class Learning Profile, which helps teachers identify the strengths, challenges, and preferences of each student in the class and how these qualities have an impact on learning. "Sometimes it takes a long time to discover a student's strengths," commented Noreen Conlon, a Title I teacher for the Lowell Public Schools. "Usually you hear more about a student's weaknesses." The Class Learning Profile prompts teachers to look beyond students' obvious challenges to name hidden strengths. For example, the Class Learning Profile might help a teacher recognize that a student with a learning disability who draws exceptionally well might be better served, within the context of a particular learning goal, to express his or her knowledge through a series of drawings than by writing an essay. Furthermore, UDL practice shows that extending options, even for the sake of one learner, can open opportunities for the whole class.

Educators Gain a New Perspective on Inclusion

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Teachers from the Lowell, Massachusetts Public Schools become acquainted with promising software for students with disabilities.

Many participants left the CAST Institute with a new vision for special education in their school systems. Geneva Oatman, assistant to the Special Education Officer of the Chicago Public Schools, attended the Institute because Chicago has become aware of UDL and "has the interest, the curiosity, the willingness to look further." Chicago administrators see UDL as offering promise in decreasing the burden on special needs programs by helping students with learning and language-based disabilities succeed in general education classrooms. With 56,000 special needs students and a significant shortage of special education teachers in Chicago's 601 schools, the district is currently retraining general education teachers to meet the demand. For those children who remain in special education settings, Oatman hopes to equip their teachers with UDL-based tools and methods.

For Jo Ann Bruhn, a grantwriter for the Wildwood Elementary School in Amherst, Massachusetts, the CAST Institute has prompted her to redefine inclusion. "UDL is this whole concept of how you create an environment that's inclusive of everyone. I like the fact that it's general education driven, that it's really providing an opportunity for classrooms teachers to identify their needs in addressing the needs of a wide range of students."

Eileen Daneri, a teacher who works with students who are deaf and hearing impaired in the Amherst Public Schools, says UDL "has really helped me move from an assistive technology, tool-based mindset. I just keep seeing this door opening and walking in, and you're living it, you're breathing it. Yeah, there's work involved, it's not magic. But it can happen."

To learn more about upcoming UDL Institutes offered by CAST, contact Grace Meo, Director of Programs and Services, 781-245-2212, ext. 263, gmeo@cast.org, or visit the CAST Web site at www.cast.org.

Lucinda M. O'Neill is a staff writer at CAST.

A Parent Shares Her Thoughts on Universal Design for Learning and the CAST Institute

Hope Benton Borghi is a passionate advocate for using computer technology to help children with disabilities succeed in inclusive educational settings. As a technology advisor for a parent group representing students with disabilities in Upper Arlington, Ohio, Hope came to the CAST Institute to learn about new changes in the law and in technology. As a publisher of children's books about real-life heroes and heroines with disabilities, she came also to learn how to convert these stories to accessible, digital format for young readers with disabilities. Finally, she came to honor the memory of her daughter Kathryn, who, with the help of computer technology, flourished in an inclusive classroom despite having cerebral palsy (Exceptional Parent, November 2000). Kathryn died suddenly in 1996, at the age of fifteen, but Hope continues her personal mission to raise awareness about the role technology can play in helping kids with disabilities "be all that they can be."

Teachers want students to succeed but often they don't have the support or time to learn the new technologies. Anything a parent can due to lessen this burden will make all the difference. As a parent, it is difficult to be told by educators that there isn't any money or that the programs won't work. More often than not, it's really the lack of funds that motivate the decision-making. Parents need to be proactive in finding the monies elsewhere if need be. I never felt the need to blame the schools if they couldn't afford the software--it was wasted energy. If I had waited for the schools to buy the software or hardware, Kathryn would never have experienced real inclusion.

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Kathryn Borghi

Parents know that time is of the essence for students with disabilities. The earlier you introduce alternative means for access and self-expression, the greater the chance of success for these students. That is why parents need to advocate for the use of computers in elementary schools today. I was once told that if I let Kathryn read using audiotapes instead of trying to learn to read the conventional way, she might not learn to read. Well, believe me, children want to learn to read. Parents know that the attitude of their children's teachers is more important than any software or hardware. If they believe in the technology, then together parents and teachers will find a way. As a parent, you gather all the information that you can and you share it with the hope that teachers will embrace and educate your child to be all that he or she can be. Every parent wants that for their child-it is no different for the parent of a child with disabilities.

What amazed me most about the CAST Summer Institute was that so much has changed: the advances in technology have exploded. The laws are more inclusive for individuals with disabilities, and the people at CAST have a 21st Century mission. It was so wonderful that words cannot describe it. I was also impressed and somewhat amazed by the professionals who attended the Institute. These teachers, administrators, counselors, and consultants expected students with disabilities to be included and to have alternative means of accessing information and expressing what they know. That surprised me and made me feel good. These educators were dedicated, motivated and driven to learn as much as they could.

As a parent, I found myself wanting to be a thorn in their sides at times, to spur the workshop participants to understand that it is not happening with all students in all schools around the United States. In school systems that can afford to update computers and software, or pay for staff development and support, it is happening. I held my tongue because the spirit of these teachers was so overwhelmingly positive. It warmed my heart and soul to hear them talk with such automatic and unequivocal support for IDEA, ADA, and Section 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Acts. It gave me renewed hope that CAST's message is being heard and being implemented.

I left the summer institute wanting to spread the word and to share the information with teachers back home. Teachers need to learn more about Universal Design for Learning. No teacher in America should be teaching students without this knowledge.