American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance - AAHPERD

Issue: February 2008

Getting It Right from the Start: Employing the Universal Design for Learning Approach to Your Curriculum
Lauren J. Lieberman, Rebecca K. Lytle, & Jason A. Clarcq

Abstract:
Many future teachers have been taught to add modifications for students with disabilities after having developed their lesson plans, often as an afterthought. This approach does not lead to a truly inclusive class and sometimes may even lead to chaos and confusion, or to the students with disabilities feeling left out. The purpose of this article is to encourage the use of the universal design for learning (UDL) approach to ensure the successful inclusion of all students from the very beginning of the lesson, to the closure. UDL is a strategy for eliminating barriers to learning that students may encounter, and it includes universally designed instruction, curriculum, and assessment. This article discusses the major variables that should be considered before implementing UDL, how to use the FAMME model approach to create lesson modifications, and how to employ the principles of UDL when designing a lesson plan.

Article category: Inclusion