UDL Rising to Equity Stakeholder Council

The UDL Rising to Equity Stakeholder Council supports and informs the process of reenvisioning CAST’s UDL Guidelines to specifically address systemic barriers to equitable learning opportunities and outcomes. The Stakeholder Council brings together CAST staff representing different branches of the organization as well as representatives within the larger UDL community. 

The goals of the Stakeholder Council include: 

• Sharing expertise and perspectives across CAST and the UDL community.
• Responding to and providing feedback on suggested edits/changes from the UDL Rising to Equity Advisory Board and feedback from the broader field.
• Assisting in identifying barriers within CAST and the UDL community in terms of applying UDL as a lever to ensure equity. 
• Informing how UDL Rising to Equity is related to existing and future work within CAST and the UDL community.

• Shihua Brazill

  

  Dr. Shihua Brazill is the UDL specialist and instructional designer for the Center for Faculty Excellence at Montana State University where she also teaches Multicultural Education. Her multicultural experiences have shaped her scholarship to build a more just society through improved educational success for diverse students and helping dominant groups practice multicultural inclusion. Dr. Brazill has published articles and book chapters on social justice, multicultural education, diversity and identity, curriculum design, SoTL, online teaching pedagogy, and translation studies. She provides support and mentoring to faculty through workshops and programs on UDL, accessibility, course redesign, inclusive teaching, and trauma informed pedagogy.

• Bryan Dean

  

  Bryan Dean is an Instructional Designer and co-owner of DTour Professional Learning. Bryan has been working with hard-to-reach students with emotional impairments, conduct disorder, behavioral difficulties, and low interest for more than 16 years. Bryan has experience designing professional learning around learner experience design, specially-designed instruction, Universal Design for Learning, new teacher induction, Design Thinking, deep learning, and strategies for students in emotional dysregulation. He has designed virtual learning environments, worked on longitudinal system implementation and design, designed organizational culture and climate change models, and developed a unique UDL coaching system based on appreciative and ontological coaching matrices.

• Margaret Flood

  

  Margaret Flood is an Assistant Professor in Inclusive Education at Maynooth University, Ireland. Her experience in inclusive and special education includes teaching, teacher professional learning design and delivery, policy development and curriculum design. Margaret’s research interests include contextual dimensions and the role of teachers in inclusive policy and practice enactment, teacher engagement with professional learning for inclusion, student voice, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL). As a Fulbright Scholar, Margaret worked with Lynch School of Education and Humanities at Boston College and CAST to explore equity, diversity, inclusion, and social justice through the lens of Universal Design for Learning. Margaret is the founder and host of #UDLchatIE, the first dedicated Iris space for talking about UDSL and all things inclusion.

• Christine Fox

  

  Christine Fox is the Project Director for the Center on Inclusive Technology & Education Systems (CITES) at CAST. Christine supports the evaluation and reporting, budgeting, and leveraging of internal and external partnerships related to this project. Prior to joining CAST, she was the Senior Director of External Relations for the CoSN where she was responsible for corporate partnerships, professional advancement programs, and supported advocacy efforts. Previously, she served as the Deputy Executive Director, for SETDA where she charted the strategic direction of the organization and led the members’ professional learning opportunities, research and product development. Christine has worked as an educational consultant, ESOL Coordinator, and elementary school teacher.

• Andratesha Fritzgerald

  

  Andratesha Fritzgerald has worked in education for nearly 20 years. As a teacher, curriculum specialist, and district level administrator she has embraced the hard work and heart work of leading and learning. She is an international keynote speaker, author and inclusive practices implementation consultant. Her life’s work is to awaken, celebrate and activate brilliance by breaking barriers and stereotypes of teachers, leaders and students to actualize achievement wherever it seems impossible. A self proclaimed book nerd, Jeopardy enthusiast and imagination expert, she loves writing and dreaming out loud with her husband, two children and committed educators who believe in academic success for all. Her new book, Antiracism and Universal Design for Learning: Building Expressways to Success (CAST, 2020), equips teachers and leaders with the tools they need to make learning personal and possible for every child. Connect with her on buildingblocksofbrilliance.com or on Twitter @FritzTesha.

• Richard Jackson

  

  Richard Jackson is a senior research scientist at CAST (1999) and an associate professor of special education at Boston College (1979). He is co-founder of INCLUDE (International Collaboratory for Leadership in Universally Designed Education, 2019), principal investigator of the CAST/Boston College project to prepare UDL leaders at the postdoctoral level (2009-2015) and director of the teaching practices partnership for the National Center on Accessing the General Curriculum (2000-2005). He is currently working at the AEM Center and teaching courses in inclusive instructional design at Boston College.

• Susan Hardin

  

  Susan Hardin is a UDL implementation facilitator coordinating the UDL School Implementation Certification for CAST and the UDL Implementation and Research Network (UDL-IRN). She facilitates a district-wide UDL implementation effort at Fraser Public Schools in Michigan, supporting administration, coaches, and classroom practitioners. Sue is also on the Certification and Credentialing team at CAST, developing UDL credentials for educators. She is recently retired from Macomb Intermediate School District in Michigan, where she served as the Assistive Technology Consultant and UDL Coordinator for 20 years.

• Eric Moore

  

  Eric Moore is the Director of Learning Technology at Johns Hopkins University affiliate, the Kennedy Krieger Institute. He is a career-long educator with a background in middle and high school literature and philosophy, mostly in international schools of Indonesia and Korea. Eric first came to UDL as a framework to inform his teaching and then continued to pursue UDL in scholarship and practice through his PhD. Eric had the joy of being the first ever intern to the UDL-IRN, and has since co-founded and co-chaired the UDLHE Network, chaired the first and second UDLHE Digicon, co-authored a book, UDL Navigators in Higher Education: A Field Guide, and had many opportunities to get involved with facilitating culture change in higher education locally and in partnerships with other institutions.

• Patrice Morrison

  

  As the Operations Associate for Professional Learning at CAST, Patrice Morrison manages contracts, events, and projects while providing operational support to the Professional Learning and Workforce teams. Patrice has a diverse background in education, psychology, and business administration. Prior to joining CAST, Patrice worked in the early education field as a teacher and assistant director; providing support to young children, educators, and their families. Patrice also worked in the insurance industry for several years providing customer service and operational support to underwriting, business partners, and policyholders.

• Sung Park

  

  Sung Park is a Coordinator in the Inclusion Collaborative at the Santa Clara County (CA) Office of Education, providing professional development, coaching, and technical assistance for inclusive best practices. He is the Lead Coach and Coordinator of the California Equity Performance Improvement Program to promote equity for disadvantaged student populations. Previously he worked as a special education teacher for students with moderate to severe disabilities, in a variety of different settings, and was instrumental in developing successful inclusive programs at both high school and community college sites.

• Allison Posey

  

  Allison Posey is an international leader for professional learning and implementation of Universal Design for Learning. She works at CAST, where she collaborates with researchers and educators to apply current understandings from brain research to instructional practices so all students can access, integrate, and become expert learners. Prior to CAST, Allison was a life science teacher. She received a degree in Mind, Brain, and Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education and is the author of Engage the Brain: How to Design for Learning that Taps into the Power of Emotions (ASCD, 2018) and the coauthor of Unlearning: Change your Beliefs and Practice with UDL (CAST Publishing, 2020).

• Jennifer Pusateri

  

  Jennifer Pusateri is the Universal Design Consultant for the University of Kentucky's Center for the Enhancement of Learning and Teaching. Jennifer is a co-chair for the international UDLHE (UDL in Higher Ed.) Network and is a member of the CAST National Faculty. Before arriving at the University of Kentucky, Jennifer worked for the Kentucky Department of Education where she served as an education consultant specializing in UDL. In her early career, Pusateri taught at a nationally recognized school for students (K-8) with specific learning disabilities (SLD) in Louisville, Kentucky.  Jennifer working toward her Ph.D. in Curriculum & Instruction.

• Sylvia Rodriguez Douglass

  

  Sylvia Rodriguez Douglass is an implementation specialist at CAST. Her background is in special education and prior to joining CAST in January 2022, she was the UDL instructional coach at San Francisco Day School. She recently completed her EdD in Educational Leadership at San Francisco State University. Her research focused on special education disproportionality and the discourse educators use when referring a student to special education services. She is thrilled to be joining the Stakeholder Council for year two of this timely and necessary process!

• Melissa Sanjeh

  

  Melissa Sanjeh brings her experience as a teacher, licensed social worker, school leader, and school designer to the work of equity. Prior to working at CAST, she spent 17 years in Boston’s Alternative School Network where she helped to refine instruction, systems, and structures to serve the needs of students who had been pushed out of their traditional schools. She implemented changes such as a competency based model, a trauma sensitive school environment, and restorative practices as an alternative to discipline. She believes strongly in access and equity and has a passion for working with students who have traditionally been marginalized.

• Susan Shapiro

  

  Susan Shapiro works on CAST’s Professional Learning team. Prior to CAST, she taught courses about learning design and coordinated a graduate teacher education program at Plymouth State University.  Susan worked as a research associate at the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability and as an educational consultant at the University of Vermont’s Center for Disability and Community Inclusion. Susan taught in the Special Education Department at the University of New Hampshire’s Graduate School for nearly a decade and more recently at Lasell University. She began her career as an inclusion facilitator and a classroom teacher in public elementary schools.

• Shauntā Singer

  

  Shauntā Singer, Ph.D., is the Content Specialist for Learning Designed at CAST, where she curates and maintains resources that support the understanding and implementation of UDL. She is also involved with various projects at CAST. Alongside this work, Shauntā teaches classes related to multiculturalism, special education, and culturally sustaining pedagogies. She has a passion for helping preservice and in-service teachers with honoring learners. Her formal and experiential education serves as a solid foundation for supporting educators in ensuring access and opportunity, while considering equity and diversity in reverencing the unique backgrounds, experiences, and identities of students.

• Sherri Wilcauskas

  

  Sherri Wilcauskas has been an education professional for nearly 20 years, working at a variety of settings including universities, museums, and K-12 professional development organizations. Sherri serves as CAST’s Director of Federal Relations and the Project Director of the Center on Inclusive Software for Learning, and uses both these roles to advocate for and contribute to the design of equitable and inclusive learning experiences across the many educational sectors she cares about. Sherri is also a doctoral student in education at Northeastern University.

• Katie Wyatt

  

  Katie Wyatt is a Coordinator of Inclusive Literacy at the Santa Clara County Office of Education CA) in the Inclusion Collaborative and a UDL Implementation Specialist for CAST helping to design resources and facilitate professional learning for the California Coalition on Inclusive Literacy.  Prior to these roles, she worked as a district-wide Coach for 19 sites guiding implementation of Project Based Learning, all things Language Arts, helping to run the new teacher Induction Program and serving on the Equity and Diversity Board Committee. Her first 11 years were served in a classroom helping to design a health and fitness-based academy at an underserved Title I school.