Many teachers I talk to are amazed to find that every single student on our campus: the cutest little honor students, the snottiest 8th graders, struggling readres and Special Education student alike, all are provided with the same access to scheduling, curricuclum and my care and attention. This inclusive approach, frankly, is not negotiable. 

Here are some opening thoughts I had while researching this topic. Universal Design seems so obvious, yet every time I present this information in a professional setting, someone agrees with me that full inclusion for every student is still a work in progress. 

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Library Media Programs for Deaf Students is an action research paper I presented in 2007 that looks at how school libraries can be made accessible to a range of learners; this study focused primarily on deaf students and struggling readers. Contains a thorough Literature Review that focuses on specific learning needs of deaf students, and evaluates the use of Universal Design in my own library program. 

In Universal Design for School Libraries, I identified nine elements of Universal Design that were in practice in my library. Combining teacher observations, patron interviews, and personal experience, I provide specific elements any Librarian can incorporate to improve access at her school.

I believe this idea becomes even more essential when discussing school factors that affect student success. When considering the fact that a free and appropriate education is a basic right in our society, and the reality that college is no longer optional in becoming economically successful, creating a system that everyone can access seems essential. This idea encompasses many school factors that are directly tied to student success: curriculum, instruction, the use of school space and resources, as well as classroom environment.

“Universal Design for Instruction” (an excellent article I read on the subject: cited at the end of post) provides two important points of reference as teachers and librarians approach the task of defining curriculum and planning instruction that meets the needs of our students. The authors first demonstrate a new reality of education: populations of non-traditional learners, specifically students with disabilities and students considered at risk, are becoming standard participants in the education system. The statistics given focus on trends that stared in the 1990s, and that have been continuing ever since.

Since a range of different learners is increasingly accessing education, the way educators approach planning and instruction needs to adjust accordingly. This absolutely continues to apply in the K-12 setting; while Scott, McGuire and Shaw give us K-12 teachers credit for accommodating students much better than in college, my experience indicates that most of these efforts still fall into area of small-scale, personal accommodations, not fundamental shifts in thinking. A few Special Ed kids are given cursory accommodations, while large numbers of students still fail to find success. They point out that this method of “multiple separate solutions” is not effective when considering the wide range of learners that are looking for an education.

As stated by the authors, the goal of their research was to evaluate the application of Universal Design to a college instructional setting. Again, the results can be effectively generalized to the K-12 setting. The authors began their task by using the seven principals of Universal Design developed by The Center For Universal Design in 1997. The process focused largely on an extensive review of the literature, they then utilized interviews with colleagues and their own personal experience to refine these general principals for use in an educational setting. They were able to define nine principals for Universal Design specifically aimed at education, and tested these principals in context through a case study.

The case study tracked a college level Biology professor as she re-designed her curriculum to fit Universal Design principles. The comparisons were focused on how she planned instruction at the beginning of her career, 7 years prior, and how through her interactions with a wide variety of students and faculty began to see a need for Universal Design. Her current instruction was evaluated using the nine principles as a rubric; aligning elements of her class with these principles indicated she had achieved a high level of Universal Design without compromising her academic standards.

At our school, we have over 100 identified Special Education students, representing a varied range of learning issues and needs. Most of our students are still working to become proficient readers; over half of our students scored Basic or below as assessed on the 2006-07 STAR test. Despite at least three years of focused reform across the content areas, our students do worse and worse each year. Obviously, our curriculum and instruction is not meeting the needs of our student population.

Since the Library collaborates in all content areas, as serves every single student at this school, the Library can be used as a starting point for changing the approach for the entire campus. A universally designed Library program seems an obvious asset when approaching planning for such a diverse crowd. A Library employing these principles would also demonstrate the effectiveness of such a method for the learners at our school.

Article Cited

Scott, Sally S., McGuire, Joan M., Shaw, Stan F. (2003) “Universal Design for Instruction. Remedial & Special Education, vol. 24, issue 6.