Hi David, and others,

 

Universal design would also include 1) making a class syllabus available
prior to the start of the class, so slow readers and those who know they
will have other claims on their reading time during the quarter can
start early, 2) designing tests without time limits, so that those who
have slow processing speed or who find the best answers by reflecting on
the question and the answer over a longer time frame are not
disadvantaged,  3) designing tests that allow students to demonstrate
their knowledge orally, in short answers, or through projects, 4)
designing calculators into math classes and tests, so that those who
have short term memory deficits or who understand the principles but get
tangled up in the calculations can demonstrate their knowledge.  

 

For evidence based instruction, 1)  build strategy instruction into
lessons so that teachers teach how to use a  reading strategy  so
students can practice it on the coming essay assignment, 6) build your
class around graphic organizers, so that students can understand how the
classes connect to their goals, and how today's lesson connects to the
class goals.  Strategy instruction and graphic organizers are essential
for students with LD, and are very beneficial to the rest of the
students in class.  Another evidence-based practice, feedback, again is
crucial for students with LD, but again is beneficial to all students.
Have teachers build activities and classes that have frequent feedback
points, so students can gauge how well they are mastering a learning
point.  Ideally, the feedback would be multimodal as the instruction has
been.  

 

As a field we underuse haptic and kinesthetic approaches, so building
hands-on activities into classes will be beneficial for all learners
while being critical for students with disabilities that interfere with
listening or reading. 

 

Michael Tate

 

From: professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov
[mailto:professionaldevelopment-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of David J.
Rosen
Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 6:59 AM
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1767] Universal design,evidence-based
teaching practices

 

Hello Kate, and others, 

 

On Nov 30, 2007, at 10:57 AM, Kate.Brandt at mail.cuny.edu wrote:

 

	I also  have some questions about the standards.  What is
"universal design?"  And exactly which evidence-based teaching practices
will we, as staff developers, be expected to pass on to teachers?     

 

In the proposed AALPD Professional Development Standards there is a
reference, in two of the indicators under standard 2, to "universal
design":

 

-----------

Standard 2. Prepares practitioners to appreciate and respond to the
needs of all students, create supportive environments, and hold high
expectations for all learners. 

 

Indicator (a)  PD planning takes into account the principles of
universal design

Indicator (b)  PD providers are trained in the principles of universal
design

-----------

 

Universal Design

 

This is evironmental design that helps everyone, not just people with
disabilities. A curb cut in a sidewalk, for example, makes crossing a
street easier for those pushing strollers and those on roller skates,
bicycles and skateboards, (the great majority of the people who use curb
cuts) as well as those in wheelchairs.  

 

In a classroom or computer lab universal design refers to the idea that
it is not sufficient to have separate, sometimes stigmatizing assists
for learners with disabilities; instead, the entire learning environment
-- including technology -- should accommodate the widest range of
learners, including those with physical and learning disabilities. 

 

Universal Design and Technology

 

An example of universal design in technology is a software feature,
found now in nearly all  personal computers, that allows users to
increase the size of the text.  This helps people who have difficulty
seeing small text, including those who are more severely sight-impaired.
Another technology example is the text-to-speech software found in many
computers, and that could easily be installed in all computers, that
enables people who are legally blind to have text, including web pages,
read out loud. This software may also be useful to those who have
specific reading disabilities.  

 

For more information on universal design you might look at:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_design

 

For a definition of universal design in a learning environment, you
could look at:

http://www.cast.org/research/udl/index.html

 

or

 

http://telr.osu.edu/dpg/fastfact/undesign.html

 

or

 

http://www.nectac.org/topics/atech/udl.asp

 

 

As for which evidence-based practices should be "passed on", the AALPD
standards are not intended to be prescriptive in this area, but they do
embrace both research (not necessarily "gold standard") and professional
wisdom (which in my opinion has not yet been adequately defined in our
field). Standard 5 focuses on practitioners' abilities to evaluate and
apply research (including professional wisdom) and theory. I believe
that the idea of Standard 5 is not to push any particular evidence-based
practice but rather to help practitioners become skilled in evaluating
and applying (and then judging the results of using) evidence-based
practices.

 

David J. Rosen

djrosen at comcast.net

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