October 13, 2009
jgronneberg@cast.org
40 Harvard Mills Square, Suite 3
Wakefield, MA 01880
Tel: 781-245-2212 ext. 275
Resources, Expertise to Support Growing UDL Field in Improving Education for All
Wakefield, Mass., October 13, 2009-- CAST today announced the launch of the National Center on Universal Design for Learning to provide educators and stakeholders with resources, expertise, and analysis of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and its implementation in schools nationwide. UDL is a research-based set of principles for designing and developing curriculum and instructional practices that meets the educational needs of all learners. Based on research on the diverse ways people learn, UDL offers practical steps for giving everyone the chance to succeed.
The National UDL Center’s charge is to advance the effective implementation of UDL in schools nationwide through information dissemination, sharing of best practices, developing communities of practice, convening key stakeholder organizations in education policy and advocacy, and sharing research that validates UDL approaches.
As a first step, the National UDL Center is offering a resource-rich website (www.udlcenter.org) to support stakeholders representing education policy, research, instructional practice, civil rights advocacy, and parent concerns.
The website features an expanded version of the UDL Guidelines which represent a decade of research and development first supported by the U.S. Department of Education. The UDL Guidelines help curriculum developers (including teachers, publishers, and others) design flexible curricula that reduce barriers to learning. They also help educators evaluate both new and existing curriculum—including instructional goals, materials, methods and assessments. This expanded version includes nearly 900 research references as well as practical examples, multimedia supports, all in a visually appealing format.
The National Center on UDL was developed and launched with support from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation in response to the recommendation of participants in the first National UDL Summit in Washington, DC. At the Summit, held in November 2007, stakeholders from education policy, practice, research, and industry identified needs and next steps for the UDL field. An Advisory Council of leading experts will help guide the development of the Center’s resources and activities in coming years. The inaugural Council will be announced shortly.
“The National Center will support the rapidly growing field of UDL and serve as a central resource for everyone who wants to understand and apply UDL’s inclusive educational principles,” says CAST Co-Founder and Center director David Rose. “We salute the Tremaine Foundation for investing in this effort to improve education for all.”
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About CAST
Founded in 1984 as the Center for Applied Special Technology, CAST has earned international recognition for its development of innovative learning resources and for articulating the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), a framework for creating inclusive educational environments. Learn more at www.cast.org.
