Learner Variability Resource
Universal Design for Learning Module 2
According to the National Education Association, student groups experiencing achievement gaps include students from diverse racial and ethnic groups, students with limited English proficiency, students from families with low income, and students with disabilities (National Education Association, 2012).
Understanding UDL
Learner Variability and the Myth of Average
Innovation
We’ve said that meeting the needs of all learners will require educational innovation. Would you recognize educational innovation if you saw it? Our Instructional Framework for Teaching and Learning offers the following guidance to observers: If the content being presented is aligned to the standard(s), new strategies are created to meet the needs of specific students, or the class as a whole and EVERY student in the class is exhibiting the “desired effect” of the strategy, the teacher is considered INNOVATING.
But how do we get EVERY student to exhibit the desired effect when they are so diverse and how can we think differently to create new strategies that will make learning more accessible? The flexible framework of Universal Design for Learning, takes into account learner variability and is designed to identify, foster and capitalize on the inherent diversity among all learners to identify new kinds of learning, new kinds of teaching, and new kinds of success. (Meyer & Rose, 2005)
With our Instructional Framework for Teaching and Learning focusing on specific characteristics of effective teachers and providing a framework for effective instruction. Universal Design for Learning principles provide a blueprint for creating flexible instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone – instead of a single, one‐size‐fits‐all solution, UDL builds in flexible approaches that take into account learner variability and can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.
UDL & MTSS
We have the capacity for INNOVATION when UDL, our Instructional Framework for Teaching and Learning, and MTSS are employed synchronously to remove barriers to learning, provide teachers with effective classroom strategies and behaviors, and incorporate the use of data in instructional planning. As this professional learning module progresses, you will go deeper into the UDL Framework, to learn how UDL principles transform the goals of education from mastering content to mastering learning, enabling all learners to become “expert learners.”
Our Multi‐Tiered System of Support framework, known as MTSS, is an essential teaching and learning process that represents a data‐based approach to instructional planning. MTSS is a method for identifying specific curriculum and instructional deficits and strengths, in order to develop appropriate educational services for all students, and provide early support for students who vary in their readiness for learning in their responsiveness to instruction. The delivery of services in a multitiered model supports inclusive instruction because it assures that all students in a population receive research-based instruction and all decisions are made using data. Most importantly, MTSS models incorporate awareness of student diversity in race, culture, background, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and educational need.