Guiding Principles: UDL, MTSS, and Sharing Responsibility
Fundamental to efforts to effectively educate all students from the start are implementation of
Universal Design for Learning in the classroom, establishment of a Multi-Tiered System of Supports at
the school and district levels, and institution of a culture of shared responsibility for students’ progress.
Universal Design for Learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) (CAST 2013) is a framework for planning instruction that
acknowledges the range of learners. Teachers use what they know about their students to design
lessons and learning experiences that, from the outset, are appropriate for all students in the setting.
In other words, from the point of first instruction, general education teachers consider equity and
access. Curriculum and instruction are designed in such a way that no student is frustrated because
the learning experience is inaccessible or because it is not sufficiently challenging. Teachers provide
students with multiple means of acquiring skills and knowledge, multiple means of expressing their
understandings, and multiple means of engaging with the content. See chapter 9 of this ELA/ELD
Framework for more information about UDL.
Multi-Tiered System of Supports
Schools and districts should have a system of supports in place for ensuring the success of all
students. Similar, but more encompassing than California’s Response to Intervention and Instruction
(RtI^2 ), is a framework known as a Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS). This framework provides
a systemic structure by which data are analyzed and used
to make decisions about curriculum, instruction, and student
services. At the school level, data are examined to identify
school and grade level trends, evaluate the effectiveness of the
curricula, inform goal setting, and identify students in need of
additional assessment or instruction. At the district level, data
on student learning are used to guide curriculum improvement,
recommend innovations and sustain practices, target services
and supports across schools, and guide the allocation of
resources for professional learning. Under MTSS, all students
are provided high quality first instruction that employs UDL.
Those for whom instruction is inaccessible or ineffective are
provided supplemental instruction. Students who experience
considerable difficulty are provided more intensive intervention.
See chapter 9 for more information about MTSS.
Sharing Responsibility
The integrated and interdisciplinary nature of the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy and the CA ELD
Standards requires new conceptions of planning, curriculum, instruction, and assessment to implement
the standards as envisioned by this framework. Sharing responsibility means that teachers, specialists,
and administrators collaborate to ensure that all students are provided curricula and instruction that
effectively integrates literacy within each content area. Additionally, it means that responsibility for
English language development is also shared among educators, and ELD instruction is merged with
English language arts and every subject area. All educators play a role in ensuring that students gain
the literacy skills necessary for successful interactions with content.
Practically speaking, teachers, specialists (reading, language development, special education, and
library), support staff, and administrators consider the implications of this curricular integration when
designing daily and weekly schedules, short- and long-term interdisciplinary projects, instructional
materials, and periodic assessments. At the elementary level, teachers meet within and across grade
levels to determine how ELA and ELD will be provided; they also determine how ELA, ELD, and
Teachers use what they
know about their students to
design lessons and learning
experiences that, from the
outset, are appropriate for
all students in the setting. In
other words, from the point
of first instruction, general
education teachers consider
equity and access.Essential Considerations Chapter 2 | 95