<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; ">Hello Kate, and others, <br><div><br></div><div><div>On Nov 30, 2007, at 10:57 AM, <a href="mailto:Kate.Brandt@mail.cuny.edu">Kate.Brandt@mail.cuny.edu</a> wrote:</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><blockquote type="cite">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? <br></blockquote><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>In the proposed AALPD Professional Development Standards there is a reference, in two of the indicators under standard 2, to "universal design":</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div><div><div><div class="MsoNormal">-----------</div><div class="MsoNormal">Standard 2. <i>Prepares practitioners to appreciate and respond to the needs of all students, create supportive environments, and hold high expectations for all learners. </i></div> <div class="MsoNormal"><i> </i></div> <div class="MsoNormal">Indicator (a) <i>PD planning takes into account the principles of universal design</i></div> <div class="MsoNormal">Indicator (b) <i>PD providers are trained in the principles of universal design</i></div> <div class="MsoNormal">-----------</div> </div> </div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>Universal Design</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>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. </div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>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. </div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>Universal Design and Technology</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>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. </div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>For more information on universal design you might look at:</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div><div><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_design">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_design</a></div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>For a definition of universal design in a learning environment, you could look at:</div><div><div><a href="http://www.cast.org/research/udl/index.html">http://www.cast.org/research/udl/index.html</a></div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>or</div><div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div><a href="http://telr.osu.edu/dpg/fastfact/undesign.html">http://telr.osu.edu/dpg/fastfact/undesign.html</a></div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>or</div><div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div><a href="http://www.nectac.org/topics/atech/udl.asp">http://www.nectac.org/topics/atech/udl.asp</a></div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>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.</div><div><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div>David J. Rosen</div><div><a href="mailto:djrosen@comcast.net">djrosen@comcast.net</a></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>