This is the first book to consider scaled-up implementation of Universal Design for Learning in schools, districts, and even states. In this collections of case stories, veteran educators and administrators share their stories, tips, and lessons learned from implementing UDL in a variety of settings. Elizabeth Berquist, a leading voice in the burgeoning UDL field, edits and contributes to the collection. In addition to specific strategies for scaling up UDL, the book provides ideas for improving teacher professional development and classroom practice.

You know that Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can improve teaching and learning in higher education. You want to share UDL's innovative best practices on campus and throughout your institution. Yet getting buy-in for trying new approaches can be tough given the many different stakeholder interests represented by faculty, departments, and administrative offices. It can feel like you are navigating through dark woods. That's where this book can help. Jodie Black and Eric J. Moore have been at the vanguard of UDL implementation at their respective institutions. In UDL Navigators in Higher Education: A Field Guide, they share strategies and resources for introducing UDL to postsecondary systems. Topics include: Program-level design Course-level design Instructional experience Technology selection and use Accessibility services Professional learning Since no two postsecondary institutions are alike, Black and Moore group their advice in themes that can be transferred and tailored to address the particular needs, culture, and values of your setting. UDL Navigators in Higher Education: A Field Guide--don't set off without it!

Anne Meyer and David Rose, who first laid out the principles of UDL, provide an ambitious, engaging discussion of new research and best practices. This book gives the UDL field an essential and authoritative learning resource for the coming years. In the 1990s, Anne Meyer, David Rose, and their colleagues at CAST introduced Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a framework to improve teaching and learning in the digital age, sparking an international reform movement. Now Meyer and Rose return with Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice, an up-to-date multimedia online book (with print and e-book options) that leverages more than a decade of research and implementation. This is the first significant new statement on UDL since 2002, an ambitious, engaging exploration of ideas and best practices that provides the growing UDL field with an essential and authoritative learning resource for the coming years. This new work includes contributions from CAST's research and implementation teams as well as from many of CAST's collaborators in schools, universities, and research settings. Readers are invited to contribute ideas, perspectives, and examples from their own practice in an online community of practice. --

Universal Design in Higher Education looks at the design of physical and technological environments at institutions of higher education; at issues pertaining to curriculum and instruction; and at the full array of student services. Universal Design in Higher Education is a comprehensive guide for researchers and practitioners on creating fully accessible college and university programs. It is founded upon, and contributes to, theories of universal design in education that have been gaining increasingly wide attention in recent years. As greater numbers of students with disabilities attend postsecondary educational institutions, administrators have expressed increased interest in making their programs accessible to all students. This book provides both theoretical and practical guidance for schools as they work to turn this admirable goal into a reality. It addresses a comprehensive range of topics on universal design for higher education institutions, thus making a crucial contribution to the growing body of literature on special education and universal design. This book will be of unique value to university and college administrators, and to special education researchers, practitioners, and activists.

Authors Patti Kelly Ralabate and Elizabeth Berquist draw on years of working with schools, districts, universities, and states to put the inclusive principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into practice. They offer a guide for adopting UDL as the conceptual framework for an entire system, not just individual classrooms. The authors clarify the difference between mere change and true transformation in a system, offering a welcome solution to the common "flavor-of-the-month" dilemma that school leaders at all levels so often face. Your UDL Journey addresses challenges in learning design, instructional planning, professional development, resource allocation, and reflection. Written in a warm, collegial style, this book is filled with helpful signposts along the road to transformation.

Professional learning initiatives in schools come and go, and the constant cycling through programs can resemble fad diets--hype and hope followed by crash and burnout. In this timely book, professional learning providers Kasia M. Derbiszewska and T. Nicole Tucker-Smith share concrete strategies that will help you design professional development sessions that are compelling, convincing, and sustainable using the framework of Universal Design for Learning. Learn to recognize and reduce common barriers to effective PD. In each chapter, the authors clearly address the Purpose, Preparation, Implementation, and Benefits to Learning for each aspect of professional learning, as well as UDL Tidbits that help ensure the health and longevity of the initiative. If you are ready to take the leap toward creating healthy and sustainable professional learning, jump into the chapter that is most relevant to your needs. Get ready to consider the whole adult learner and apply practical strategies for cultivating and maintaining healthy, vibrant professional development that has a track record of success.

"Clearly written and well organized, this book shows how to apply the principles of universal design for learning (UDL) across all subject areas and grade levels. The editors and contributors describe practical ways to develop classroom goals, assessments, materials, and methods that use UDL to meet the needs of all learners. Specific teaching ideas are presented for reading, writing, science, mathematics, history, and the arts, including detailed examples and troubleshooting tips. Particular attention is given to how UDL can inform effective, innovative uses of technology in the inclusive classroom. Subject Areas/Keywords: assessments, classrooms, content areas, curriculum design, digital media, educational technology, elementary, inclusion, instruction, learning disabilities, literacy, schools, secondary, special education, supports, teaching methods, UDL, universal design Audience: General and special educators in grades K-8, literacy specialists, school psychologists, administrators, teacher educators, and graduate students"--

The new Every Student Succeeds Act governing K-12 education in the United States defines and endorses Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a framework to help achieve greater opportunity and academic achievement for all learners, including those with disabilities, English learners, and "gifted and talented" students. In this book, Novak and Rodriguez, veteran school administrators, provide school leaders and educators with a guidebook for putting the UDL framework into practice. They show how to guide district and school staff in discussions around student data and use the UDL guidelines to shape curriculum decisions. This is a must-read for any education leader who wants to create more equitable, inclusive, and effective learning environments.

The acclaimed author of Labyrinth of Ice charts the legendary sixteenth-century adventurer’s death-defying navigation of the Amazon River. In 1541, Spanish conquistador Gonzalo Pizarro and his lieutenant Francisco Orellana searched for La Canela, South America’s rumored Land of Cinnamon, and the fabled El Dorado, “the golden man.” Quickly, the enormous expedition of mercenaries, enslaved natives, horses, and hunting dogs were decimated through disease, starvation, and attacks in the jungle. Hopelessly lost in the swampy labyrinth, Pizarro and Orellana made the fateful decision to separate. While Pizarro eventually returned home in rags, Orellana and fifty-seven men continued into the unknown reaches of the mighty Amazon jungle and river. Theirs would be the greater glory. Interweaving historical accounts with newly uncovered details, Levy reconstructs Orellana’s journey as the first European to navigate the world’s largest river. Every twist and turn of the powerful Amazon holds new wonders and the risk of death. Levy gives a long-overdue account of the Amazon’s people—some offering sustenance and guidance, others hostile, subjecting the invaders to gauntlets of unremitting attacks and signs of terrifying rituals. Violent and beautiful, noble and tragic, River of Darkness is riveting history and breathtaking adventure that will sweep readers on a voyage unlike any other. Praise for Buddy Levy and River of Darkness “In River of Darkness, Buddy Levy recounts Orellana’s headlong dash down the Amazon. Like Mr. Levy’s last book, Conquistador, about the conquest of Mexico, River of Darkness presents a fast-moving tale of triumph over seemingly insurmountable odds. . . . Though impromptu, the expedition was one of the most amazing adventures of all time.” —Wall Street Journal “An exciting, well-plotted excursion down the Amazon River with the early Spanish conquistador. . . . [A] richly textured account of the rogue, rebel and visionary whose discovery still resonates today.” —Kirkus Reviews “A rollicking adventure . . . Levy successfully conveys the Amazon’s power and majesty, while shedding light on the futility of humanity’s attempt to tame it.” —The A.V. Club

This important resource introduces a framework for 21st Century learning that maps out the skills needed to survive and thrive in a complex and connected world. 21st Century content includes the basic core subjects of reading, writing, and arithmetic-but also emphasizes global awareness, financial/economic literacy, and health issues. The skills fall into three categories: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills. This book is filled with vignettes, international examples, and classroom samples that help illustrate the framework and provide an exciting view of twenty-first century teaching and learning. Explores the three main categories of 21st Century Skills: learning and innovations skills; digital literacy skills; and life and career skills Addresses timely issues such as the rapid advance of technology and increased economic competition Based on a framework developed by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) The book contains a video with clips of classroom teaching. For more information on the book visit www.21stcenturyskillsbook.com.