Co-Principal Investigators
Bridget Dalton, Ed.D, CAST
Lucille Zeph, University of Maine
Funder
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education (Grant Number: H324D020059)
Timeframe
2003-2006
Project Description
CAST, in partnership with the University of Maine’s Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies, conducted a three year classroom-based study, Literacy By Design (LBD), to examine the effectiveness of a technology-based approach to literacy instruction that applies Universal Design for Learning principles and research-based reading instruction to young students with significant cognitive disabilities (SCD). Traditionally, literacy instruction for these students has focused on drill and practice instruction of sight words and other basic functional literacy skills with little attention given to developing comprehension skills.
The Literacy By Design (LBD) project focused on improving reading for meaning for K-2 students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities and was built upon CAST’s prior research and prototype development supported by the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation. The goal of LBD was to understand how the literacy intervention, developed according to the principles of UDL, and embedded with learning scaffolds and supports, could improve reading comprehension for students with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities.
The findings were promising, showing that LBD, when implemented with strong fidelity, can have a substantial impact on students’ literacy development and their teachers’ instructional effectiveness. The results add to a growing body of research demonstrating the value of comprehensive literacy programs for children with significant cognitive disabilities that address all aspects of literacy—phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension. The results also reinforce the importance of holding high expectations for these students and provide additional evidence that a Universal Design for Learning instructional framework can contribute to positive student learning, while simultaneously supporting teachers in differentiating instruction and effectively applying a comprehensive model of literacy.
