As teachers, whether we are addressing individual differences in our students' recognition, strategic, or affective networks, we can provide the best support by individualizing pathways to learning. Flexible methods and materials—the heart of the UDL framework and its implementation—make this feasible in the real world. While pursuing a common goal, each student in the classroom can follow his or her own path and obtain a level of performance that represents personal progress.
As long as learning goals are carefully specified, we can provide this flexibility while still preserving the points of resistance necessary to learning. The future promises more digital core curricular materials with a great variety of built-in support options. Demand for this versatility will increase the speed with which it becomes ubiquitous.
With clear goals and flexible, individual approaches for achieving those goals in hand, how can you apply UDL to get a fairer and more accurate picture of student progress? In the next chapter, we turn to issues of assessment.