Group+5+-+Chapter+8

** Chapter 8: Making Universal Design for Learning a Reality **
 * Group 5 - Chapter 8 (T/Th section) **

[|Chapter 8 Prezi]



Building Locally: Concord Works for District Change
In 1994, Concord,New Hampshire set about to rebuild the technological infrastructure of their school system. Concord's special educational coordinator, Donna Palley, seized this opportunity to integrate a better students with special needs into the standard classroom.

With the help of the CAST group's guidance, change began to happen from the top down, from the administrative level on down to the teacher level. This new model placed a new point onto the teachers, they had to to be willing to look at the limitations of the curriculum as a part of the failings of students, and not solely blame the limitations of the students for their failings. What ultimately emerged from this change was a plan that focused on impacting one teacher, one student, and one unit of the curriculum at a time.

Making UDL Work in Practice: The Concord Model
The seven steps of implementing UDL, as based by the Concord model: 1. Building and Supporting a Technology Infrastructure 2. Enlisting Administrative Support 3. Developing Teacher Training and Support 4. Redefining Teacher Roles 5. Collaborating to Plan, Develop, and Implement Curriculum 6. Involving Parents and the Community 7. Developing Creative Funding Practices

Working for Large Scale Change: National Models and Resources
In order for UDL to be practical, there must be change on a regional, state and national level. It must be a top down process as opposed to starting at the local level and working its way up. Educational policy makers must demand UDL curriculum, designers need to create it, publishers need to distribute it, teacher's need to be prepared to implement it, and professional and parent organizations must embrace it.

NCAC is working to change issues involved with school policies as well as legislation. They are also working to transform curriculum design to fit a more universal model as well as to improve teacher preparation and training.

Teachers must understand that there are alternatives to inaccessible core curricular materials. Administrators and textbook adoption committees must require UDL materials and specify what flexibility these materials should offer. Parents must be aware that they can ask for UDL materials so that their children can participate in the general curriculum at the highest possible level. Publishers must also figure out how their information can be transformed into digital versions, as well as take advantage of new technology to help students.

The Universal Learning Center (ULC) proposed by the NCAC will have four main components: a website to act as the portal to the materials housed within the ULC, a digital database of digital materials that can be found on the world wide web, a content library and tools catalogue that will hold a centralized collection of digital materials securely, and lastly consultation to help publishers and other producers of content.