UDL is a framework to think about how different tools and resources can be leveraged to reduce barriers and support every learner to engage in challenging ways of thinking.

~CAST

What is UDL?

Why UDL?

Download

CAST describes UDL as "a framework to improve and optimize teaching and learning for

all people, based on scientific insights into how humans learn"*. It is the framework and foundation for designing and delivering instruction that supports all learners' variability, making it the best practice for teaching all students in an inclusive learning environment.

UDL believes that everyone is a variable learner and rejects the idea of an “average learner.” “Yet our educational system is designed around the idea that most people learn the same way and that a “fair” education is an identical one”*.

Dive Deeper: Todd Rose explains this concept in his
“Myth of Average."

UDL believes that barriers are in the environment and not the student. The learning context itself (e.g., the environment, the methods, the materials) effects whether an individual characteristic of a student becomes a barrier to learning, or not. Think of a student who is deaf. If a class is taught in spoken English only, this presents a barrier. If the same instruction is provided in sign language that barrier may be eliminated. The disability is contextual, and not inherent in a person. A major goal in implementing UDL is to remove barriers and design to the edges of your classroom.

Dive Deeper: Watch master educator Shelley Moore explain these concepts in “the Bowling Analogy”

UDL believes that all learners, to be successful, must learn and grow as learners, not just build content knowledge alone. The goal of UDL is to support learner agency, the capacity to actively participate in making choices in service of learning goals.

The GOAL of UDL is learner agency that is...

Purposeful & REFLECTIVE

Resourceful & AUTHENTIC

Strategic & ACTION-ORIENTED

UDL Guidelines

CAST created the UDL Guidelines as a scaffold for teachers to use as they build flexibility into the learning environment. These guidelines are based on three principles that directly relate to the learning networks of the brain.

Teachers are GUIDED to provide students with…

Multiple means of

Engagement

(The Affective Network)

Multiple means of

Representation

(The Recognition Network)

Multiple means of

Action & Expression

(The Strategic Network)

It is important not to regard UDL as a "checklist." In a UDL environment, teaching serves as an iterative design process in which educators consistently consider the rationale and methods behind their instruction while reflecting on student learning outcomes. The considerations outlined under each guideline offer practical recommendations for addressing and planning for the inherent variability present in any classroom setting. These strategies are grounded in a multi-year review of thousands of research articles that have identified specific empirically validated instructional techniques, adaptations, and interventions.