By: Melissa Emler, UDL Statewide Systems Coach

David Rose's keynote at the UDL Virtual Conference did not disappoint. Wisconsin is proud to have been his first audience for his most recent work and research.

We invited David to give us a glimpse at the much anticipated update to the UDL guidelines expected to be released in the next 12-18 months. CAST has brought together a diverse group of experts on equity and UDL to update the guidelines, and David's most recent research is a key factor in that work.

David shared his vulnerability regarding the time it took for CAST to make an explicit effort to bridge the racial equity lens and the UDL guidelines, "I'm embarrassed to say, we took a long time. We took too long to get it, but we're getting it now. And a lot of you are the people that are helping us, but I want to give a little positive spin here too, about what the UDL guidelines can offer to people who are concerned about the issues of implicit bias and the barriers that they bring up."

David took us on a journey to explore bias through the brain networks that guide all of the work in Universal Design for Learning. He shared the evidence base for making the claim that each of us having varying degrees of bias in each of the brain networks.

The slide captured on the right explains racial bias through the the brain networks. The neuroscience behind bias became more clear through the color coding those familiar with UDL know and understand.

He also makes the argument that the reason we are unsuccessful in changing our biases is that we only tend to one of the pieces which is usually raising consciousness. Becoming more aware of inequity is not enough to stop inequity. In order to make the changes necessary for our schools to be more equitable, we must also examine our emotions and how we treat people as a result of our implicit and explicit biases.

David's new research really brings to light the reciprocal nature of what is happening in each of the brain networks adding to his claim that we need to focus on all three kinds of bias in order to make changes we seek to make. What we see impacts how we feel which ultimately determines what we do. Those things do not stand alone. They are in constant reciprocity.

It may have taken awhile for CAST and UDL to explicitly engage in the equity work, but it is now obvious that UDL has arrived, and all kids will be better served because of it.

Stay tuned for more to come!

By: Mia Chmiel, CESA 9

Learning loss.

The phrase "learning loss" has been a popular topic in the media since the beginning of the pandemic. It is the notion that students are more than a year behind (what does that even mean?) due to the pandemic's disruption of "normal school".

But, if we look at the last 18 months through the lens of UDL our students, educators, school leaders, and caregivers have learned powerful lessons about what it means to be an expert learner.

• Educators worked tirelessly to identify the most important learning goals for units of study and lessons. Focusing on the tasks that closely aligned to the learning goal meant educators could provide options for students who were virtual, quarantined for long periods of time, face-to-face, lacked quality internet access...the list goes on! By clarifying the goal for learners, both students and educators were able to focus their attention on what was most important learn. This shift in thinking from getting assignments done to showing learning happened is monumental in moving towards becoming expert learners.

• Students and educators spent a lot of time identifying the barriers to learning and determining options that would still meet the learning goal. For example, students who needed class discussions to discuss a new topic logged into Google Meet, posted videos on Flipgrid or saved their questions for the day their cohort was face-to-face had the power to choose the option that worked best for them, options educators designed to remove learning barriers. Students identified what options worked and didn't work for them as learners. Some students flourished in virtual learning spaces while others came to realize face-to-face instruction met their needs. Over the last 18 months, educators spent countless hours reflecting on what options were working for students and designed the learning based on those reflections. Students were put in a position to choose what worked for them as a learner, another key shift to becoming expert learners!

• Engagement was the priority. The burden of isolation was very real. The focus on "minimizing threats and distractions" and "fostering a sense of community" resulted in Google Meets, Seesaw discussions, or face-to-face class time prioritized for students and educators to share what was happening in their real lives and to emotionally support their learning community. There is great potential to take what we learned and make the shift about engagement from "students paying attention in class" to "students feeling connected to the learning community."

The profound barriers faced over the last 18 months resulted in tremendously creative design in instruction, realizations about what learning truly means, and a shared experience as each of us work on being expert learners.

Was this a year of learning loss? Not if you are an expert learner!