Director, Professional Development & Outreach Services
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Biography – Education – Current Projects - Selected Publications
Biography
As Director of Professional Development & Outreach Services, Grace Meo manages CAST's programs for preK-20 teachers and administrators. Ms. Meo also oversees a national consortium of schools that collaborate with CAST on researching, designing, modeling, and disseminating universally-designed materials and practices that address the needs of all learners.
Ms. Meo oversees CAST’s professional development initiatives and has expertise in providing professional development to educators in preK–12 and postsecondary settings. As the Director of Professional Development, Ms. Meo leads CAST’s state level professional development in Massachusetts, New Jersey, Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota. In addition, she leads the onsite institutes at CAST.
As one of CAST's founding members, Ms. Meo has helped shape the organization's mission, structure, and goals; and was instrumental in early fundraising efforts. She has served as Instructional Technology Specialist for the Massachusetts Department of Education and as Technology Coordinator for the Hamilton-Wenham Regional School District in Massachusetts.
Education
M. Ed, Early Childhood Education, Boston College Graduate School of Education, Chestnut Hill, MA
Candidate for Master of Arts in Developmental Psychology, Teacher's College, Columbia University, New York, NY
B.A., Psychology, Regis College, Weston, MA
Massachusetts State-wide UDL Initiatives – “Universally-Designed Technology for Literacy" project is a four year professional development project designed to build district capacity for supporting all learners, especially those with cognitive disability in emergent literacy. This project targets teams of general education and special education teachers, parents, and other related school specialists. As a result of this work, teams have created digital books with embedded supports to improve reading comprehension. Also part of the initiative is Project Focus Academy which promotes high school teachers’ understanding and application of UDL to high school practice through online course work.
Michigan State-wide UDL Initiatives – a project in collaboration with state level stakeholders, higher education faculty, service providers, and teams of teachers to integrate UDL principles into educator practice.
New Jersey State-wide UDL and Math Initiatives – a project in collaboration with teacher trainer teams from across the state to promote the application of UDL within middle school math instruction
Minnesota State-wide UDL Initiatives – a project in collaboration with teacher training teams from across the state to promote understanding of UDL and integrate UDL in classroom practice. Focus of this work is at the lesson development level.a
Iowa State-wide UDL Initiatives – a project in collaboration with teams of educators and state level stakeholders to support understanding and application of UDL to practice to improve outcomes for all learners.
UDL Institutes – held several times a year, the institutes offer educators information, awareness, and strategies for applying Universal Design for Learning to educational practice. The focus of the institutes is on the latest thinking in UDL educator practice, presented by experts in the field.
Meo, G. (2008). Curriculum planning for all learners: applying universal design for learning (UDL) to a high school reading comprehension program. Preventing School Failure , 52 (2)/ Winter 2008, 21 – 30.
Coyne, P., Ganley, P., Hall, T., Meo, G., Murray, E., & Gordon, D. (2006). Applying universal design for learning in the classroom. In D.H. Rose, & A. Meyer (Eds.), A practical reader in Universal Design for Learning. (pp. 1-13). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
Meo, G., Coyne, P., Sandmel, K., & Hart, K. (2006). Improving early literacy for children with cognitive disabilities: A research to practice professional development initiative. Counterpoint , Summer 2006.
Meo, G. (2005). Curriculum access for all: A conversation with Grace Meo. Harvard Education Letter , 21(6), 4-6.
