In Service of Equity? Exploring Universal Design for Learning's Transformative Potential

Author Bio

Beth Fornauf is a research scientist at CAST. Her research explores how educators, including teacher candidates, can draw on disability studies/DisCrit and universal design for learning (UDL) as complementary frameworks for inclusive, equity-oriented pedagogy.

Jenna W. Gravel is a senior research scientist at CAST. Her research focuses on collaborating with educators to apply universal design for learning (UDL) to design inclusive, equitable learning environments in which learners are valued, supported, and challenged. Jenna co-chairs UDL Rising to Equity, a community-driven process to reimagine the UDL Guidelines through an equity lens.

Bryan Mascio is an adjunct lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a guest faculty for Power of Place Learning Community. With a background as a K-12 teacher and as a teacher educator, he works with teachers and schools who wish to use UDL in conjunction with other equity-oriented frameworks to best support students and families that have been disserved by traditional schooling.

T. Nicole Tucker-Smith is the founder and CEO of Lessoncast, an organization focused on putting equity-oriented professional learning into effective practice.