What should teachers understand to facilitate success for all students?
Page 3: Universal Frameworks and Practices
Every student learns in their own way based on their individual strengths, needs, preferences, and interests. Because a one-size-fits-all approach to instruction is unlikely to be effective for all learners, educators often wonder, How can I address such a broad range of needs? Fortunately, two complementary frameworks—Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and differentiated instruction—address the needs of the widest range of students (e.g., gifted students, successful learners, struggling learners, students with disabilities, English learners). Within each framework, educators can enhance student learning by using explicit instruction and embedding evidence-based practices (EBPs). When they leverage these things, educators are more likely to meet the needs of most students. Additionally, they are creating a strong instructional foundation on which additional supports can be added as needed to help special student populations. Let’s explore each of these in more detail.
explicit instruction
An instructional approach in which educators clearly identify learning expectations, highlight key details of concepts or skills, offer precise instruction, and connect new ideas to previous lessons. Also referred to as explicit, systematic instruction.
evidence-based practices (EBPs)
Techniques and strategies that have been shown to be effective through multiple high-quality experimental research studies or large-scale research field studies; the criteria for identification of these practices varies by organization or agency.
UDL is a framework that helps educators proactively anticipate learner variability and design flexible instructional experiences that incorporate options for learners. These options help to address barriers that interfere with student learning. When educators recognize that learning barriers stem from the design of instruction—rather than from the students themselves—they have the power to eliminate or decrease such barriers within their goals, assessments, methods, and materials. The UDL framework is built on three principles:
learner variability
The natural differences among learners that affect how they engage with learning, how they make meaning of what they learn, and how they express their learning.
- Design multiple means of engagement—When designing with this principle in mind, educators proactively plan more than one way to incorporate students’ interests and identities (e.g., cultures, languages, disabilities) to encourage their efforts. Examples include:
- Inviting students to choose their own relevant topics for an assignment or project
- Incorporating authentic activities that reflect real-world situations
- Generating multiple examples to connect new content to students’ backgrounds and experiences
- Design multiple means of representation—When designing with this principle in mind, educators make sure to use more than one way to present information, to clarify and promote a shared understanding of the language and symbols used in the content, and to build students’ knowledge. Examples include:
- Presenting alternatives to text-based information (e.g., images, videos, interactive media, simulations)
- Offering text-to-speech software (when decoding is not the focus of instruction)
- Providing graphic organizers to guide information processing
xtext-to-speech
A technology feature that reads digital text aloud.
xgraphic organizer
Visual aid designed to help students organize and comprehend substantial amounts of text and content information.
- Design multiple means of action and expression—When designing with this principle in mind, educators plan more than one way for students to interact with learning experiences, to communicate their thinking and understanding, and to effectively use strategies (e.g., setting goals, organizing information, monitoring progress). Examples include:
- Supplying a variety of task-specific tools (e.g., physical or virtual manipulatives, calculators)
- Offering students varied media options for composition (e.g., text, speech, comics, music, visual art, digital art, video)
- Creating checklists or planning templates for projects
manipulatives
Objects—both physical (e.g., popsicle sticks) and virtual (e.g., clickable dice on an app)—that students can interact with to understand processes or abstract concepts and to solve problems.
Differentiated instruction is a framework that educators can use to tailor their instruction to meet students’ various learning needs. Two core principles are the use of ongoing assessment data and the use of flexible grouping. Once they know their students in terms of readiness, interests, and preferred learning preferences, educators can meet their needs by adjusting four instructional elements:
flexible grouping
A dynamic method in which groups are temporary and membership changes to meet the different needs of students.
- Content—This refers to the knowledge and skills students need to learn. Educators can differentiate content using strategies such as:
- Offering an assortment of materials based on readiness levels and interests
- Presenting content using a variety of media and formats that allows students to choose what works best for them
- Providing instructional scaffolding when necessary for students who struggle with learning a new skill or content
instructional scaffolding
A process in which educators add supports for students to enhance learning and aid in the mastery of new skills before gradually removing the supports as students master skills. Sometimes referred to as scaffolding.
- Process—This refers to how students learn the content. Educators can differentiate process by using strategies such as:
- Learning centers
- Tiered activities, which are challenging for students at different levels of readiness
- Providing manipulatives for students who are having difficulty understanding a concept
- Product—This refers to how students demonstrate their understanding and can be accomplished through strategies such as:
- Tiered products, which are challenging for students at different levels of readiness
- Learning menus, which offer students options for demonstrating their learning
- Environment—This refers to the physical and social aspects of the learning space. For instance, educators can:
- Create different areas in the classroom that support the unique needs of students (e.g., group tables, quiet spaces)
- Use flexible grouping—a dynamic method in which groups are temporary and membership changes to meet the different needs of students
For Your Information
During this process, the teacher also:
- Presents lessons that build on one another, moving from simple skills and concepts to more complex ones
- Breaks complex skills into smaller, more manageable chunks
- Prioritizes and sequences tasks from easy to more difficult
- Scaffolds instruction by providing temporary supports (e.g., manipulatives, written prompts or cues)
Explicit instruction involves teaching a specific concept or procedure in a highly structured and carefully sequenced manner. During this highly structured instruction, the teacher:
- Clearly identifies the skills or concepts to be learned, which might include highlighting important details
- Connects the new content to previous learning
- Gives precise instructions
- Models concepts or procedures in a step-by-step manner and includes think-alouds—the teacher verbalizing their thought process while demonstrating the concept or procedure
- Provides opportunities to practice, using:
- Guided practice—First, students and the teacher work on problems together, with the students gradually solving more of the problem.
- Independent practice—Next, students work independently or in small groups to solve problems.
- Encourages the student to verbalize the strategy used to solve the problem and the reasons for doing so
- Offers specific feedback about correct and incorrect actions, followed by time to correct errors; includes reteaching and clarifying instructions
- Checks for and promotes maintenance
maintenance
The continued performance of a skill or behavior after an intervention has been withdrawn.
EBP Examples
- Task analysis
- Prompting
- Video modeling
- Peer tutoring
In general, an EBP is a practice or program whose effectiveness is supported by rigorous research. In other words, research shows that the practice or program works. Once an educator has identified the skill or behavior to address, the next step is to choose a practice or program that will work for the students and can be implemented in the classroom with available resources. Next, the educator should implement the practice or program as intended by the researchers or developers (i.e., fidelity of implementation). This consists of three key components:
- Following the instructional procedures of the practice or program as they were intended (e.g., implementing all components of the EBP in the correct order)
- Implementing the practice or program for the recommended amount of time (e.g., 40-minute sessions three times per week for 12 weeks)
- Delivering the EBP using good teacher practices (e.g., implementing with enthusiasm, making time for student questions and feedback, managing transitions)
Finally, the educator should evaluate whether the program was effective for the students. This can be accomplished by monitoring student outcomes, monitoring fidelity of implementation, and examining the relationship between learner outcomes and fidelity of implementation.
In addition to implementing instructional frameworks and practices, educators should create a well-managed and structured classroom. A poorly managed and unstructured classroom is likely to facilitate disruptive behavior that interferes with learning. However, by creating a well-managed and structured classroom environment—which includes both physical structure (classroom arrangement) and the classroom’s daily routines—educators can promote student engagement as well as limit factors that might lead to disruptive behaviors. To do this, educators can:
- Arrange classroom furniture to create a smooth traffic flow that allows the teacher and students to easily move throughout the room
- Establish clear rules and easy-to-follow procedures
- Provide predictable and consistent routines and schedules
For additional information about content discussed on this page, view the following IRIS resources. Please note that these resources are not required readings to complete this module. Links to these resources can be found in the Additional Resources tab on the References, Additional Resources, and Credits page.
Universal Design for Learning: Designing Learning Experiences That Engage and Challenge All Students This module examines the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework and discusses how educators can apply UDL to proactively design learning experiences that are flexible enough to challenge and engage all students and that promote learner agency (est. completion time: 2.5 hours).
Differentiated Instruction: Maximizing the Learning of All Students This module discusses the importance of differentiating three aspects of instruction: content, process (instructional methods), and product (assessment). It explores the student traits—readiness level, interest, and learning preferences—that influence learning (est. completion time: 3 hours).
Evidence-Based Practices (Part 1): Identifying and Selecting a Practice or Program This module, the first in a series of three, discusses the importance of identifying and selecting evidence-based practices (est. completion time: 1.5 hours).
Evidence-Based Practices (Part 2): Implementing a Practice or Program with Fidelity This module, the second in a series of three, discusses implementing an evidence-based practice or program with fidelity (est. completion time: 1 hour).
Evidence-Based Practices (Part 3): Evaluating Learner Outcomes and Fidelity This module, the third in a series of three, examines how to evaluate whether an evidence-based practice is effective for the young children or students with whom you are working (est. completion time: 2 hours). |
