Michael-- this is beautiful-- I have forwarded it to a group of committed ESOL teachers who are striving to make their instruction more universal--  I say this in many ways, but you say it more eloquently!    It is so important for teachers to understand that these adjustments are to the advantage of those who need them, not giving an advantage to those who don't really need them.   After all we, really want our students to demonstrate what they KNOW and are learning, not race against a time limit or struggle to line up figures in an addition problem.   Thanks so much for these wise words.   Robin Lovrien Schwarz 


 


 

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Tate <mtate at sbctc.edu>
To: The Adult Literacy Professional Development Discussion List <professionaldevelopment at nifl.gov>
Sent: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 1:45 pm
Subject: [ProfessionalDevelopment 1772] Re: Universal design, evidence-based teaching practices






















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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