From Reactive to Proactive: Practical Strategies for Implementing CCCCO UDL Recommendations and Fostering Inclusive Pedagogy

I'm happy to share our slides from the 2024 Online Teaching Conference Session, From Reactive to Proactive: Practical Strategies for Implementing CCCCO UDL Recommendations and Fostering Inclusive Pedagogy, where we chatted about the differences between accessibility and UDL, how UDL helps all students, and ways to integrate it into instruction.

1. From Reactive
to Proactive
Practical Strategies for Implementing
CCCCO UDL Recommendations
& Fostering Inclusive Pedagogy
CCC TechConnect Online Teaching Conference 2024

2. Presenters
Janet Williams
Professor
North Orange County Community College District
DECO Representative, CCCCO UDL Task Force
Alex Marositz
Section Program Manager
CCC TechConnect Accessibility Center

3. What concepts do you generally associate with
UDL?
ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.

4. associate with UDL poll results

5. Outcomes
•Differentiate between reactive and
proactive approaches to UDL and
inclusivity
•Design curricula and content that
incorporate UDL and Inclusive Pedagogy
•Develop continuous improvement
mechanisms to support students and
faculty

6. UDL Task Force Purpose
The Chancellor’s Office convened a
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Task Force to collaborate on an
implementation approach that is
suitable for California Community
Colleges across the state in 2024-2025.
The UDL (Universal Design for
Learning) Task Force is intended to
make curriculum and learning in the
classroom and in service delivery more
accessible to community college
students and to ensure that all
students experience community
college as a place where they belong.

7. Vision 2030
A Roadmap for California’s
Community Colleges
Goals for Our Students &
Future Leaders
Strategic Directions
Equity in Access
Equitable Baccalaureate Attainment
•Transfer and CCC Baccalaureate
High School Students, Adult
Learners
Equity in Support
Equitable Workforce & Economic
Development
•High Road Training Partnerships in
Healthcare, Climate, STEM,
Education
Equity in Success
Implications for the Future of Learning
•Innovation & Sustainability
Advanced Analytics, and Generative
AI

8. UDL Task Force Constituency
Groups
•CCCCO Educational Services
•Chief Student Services Officer Association (Co-chair)
•Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (Co-chair)
•Chief Information Systems Officer Association
•Student Senate for California Community Colleges
•California Association for Postsecondary Education and Disability
•Distance Education Coordinators Organization
•CCC Accessibility Center
•Student Wellness and Mental Health
•California Community College Administrators for Occupational Education

9. UDL Task Force Goals (1 of 2)
•Ensure differentiated supportsare accessible to increase the
effectiveness ofaccommodations and serve all students
•Facilitate the alignment of the work of this task force with CC system
accessibility policies and structures
•Align with CCCs efforts to centerequity inpolicies and structural
redesign of assessment systems and approaches
•Lower the psychological burdens of accessing services, supports and
engaging in learning on campus

10. UDL Task Force Goals
•Establish faculty and staff expectations and PD priorities around
procurement, provision, and creation of accessible materials,
assessments, and technologies.
•Prioritize student engagement in standards for implementing UDL
principles and in faculty PD priorities
•Incentivize local adoption to reduce barriers to access through the
timely provision of accessible materials and technologies
•Incentivize local adoption to reduce barriers to access through the
timely provision of accessible materials and technologies

11. Where are we now?
Planning Phase
•Final meeting of the Planning Phase was on
March 1, 2024
•Solicited feedback from constituency groups
•Meeting in July to finalize recommendations
Implementation Phase
•Task Force will continue its work in
the Implementation Phase in the
2024-2025 academic year

12. Student-Centered Learning
Shifting the Paradigm
Prevailing Approach
Waiting for students
to apply for services
Strategic Approach
Maximizing student
resources and
support.
Remove student
burdens.
Enable greater
institutional flexibility.
Proactive Approach
Bring tailored
support to those
in need.

13. Traditional (Prevailing) Approach
(Field, 2023, p. 19)
The Americans with Disabilities Act and Section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 require
higher education institutions to provide
reasonable accommodations to ensure that
students with disabilities receive equal access to
instruction.

14. Reasonable Accommodations
•A reasonable accommodation is a modification or adjustment to a course, program,
service, job, activity, or facility that enables a student with a disability to have an
equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits, opportunities, and privileges that are
available to all students (with or without disabilities) while simultaneously not
reducing or eliminating curriculum standards.
•Reasonable accommodations do not fundamentally alter or eliminate essential
course requirements, and any accommodation that would do so is considered
unreasonable and would not be recommended or approved.
(Gould & Harris, 2019)

15. Common Accommodations
Field (2023) shared data from the most recent federal study,
conducted in 2011, showing that the most common
accommodations offered by colleges were
•Extra exam time
•Classroom note-takers
•Faculty-provided course notes
•Help with learning strategies or study skills
•Adaptive equipment and technology. (Gould & Harris, 2019)

16. Presentation Accommodations
Presentation accommodations change the
presentation of instruction or assessment to
an alternate format
•ASL, captioning, assistive technology
devices, braille, large print, a reader
(UCLA, n.d.)

17. Timing/Scheduling Accommodations
Timing or scheduling accommodations
increase the allowable length of time to
complete a test or assignment and may also
change the way the time is organized
•Extended time, frequent breaks
(UCLA, n.d.)

18. Settings Accommodations
Setting accommodations changes the location in which a
test or assignment is given or the conditions of the
assessment setting
•Private exam room, distraction-reduced setting
(UCLA, n.d.)

19. Fundamental
Alterations
A fundamental alteration is a change so significant that it
alters the essential nature of the approved course outline of
record and the objectives of an individual course or course of
study
•Academic adjustment does not mean fundamental
alteration.

20. Limitations of Prevailing Approach
Barriers
•Institutional (not enforcing inclusive policies and practices or reinforcing non-
inclusive ones)
•Finite resources
•Stereotyping, stigmatizing, or discriminatory attitudes and behaviors from
faculty and peers
The majority of students with disabilities choose not to disclose their disability
•Among students who responded that they did have a disability while attending
college, about one-third of students (37 percent) informed their college
(Ajjawi et al., 2022; Cawthorne, 2024; Field, 2023; Institute of Educational Science, 2022; Lowenthal et al., 2020; Smith et al., 2021)

21. Faculty Attitudes
Gould and Harris (2019) report that most faculty indicated a positive toward
Universal Design. However,
•42% reported that they don’t fully understand Universal Design
•16% report that they don’t consider it in their lessons
Conversely, Zhou (2023) indicates that negative faculty attitudes significantly
impact student success or lack of it. (Examples based on student perception)
•Receiving unfair advantage or being overly sensitive
•Willing to make basic changes to instruction, but subsequent classroom
interactions were chilly or disengaged
•Questioned academic integrity
•Disbelief or misunderstanding about the student’s needs

22. The Student Experience
“Understanding is not something you can demand of someone with a piece
of paper or even an explanation. The school may mandate to allow the
students to be in their class and cater to their needs, but it is up to the
individual teacher how it is interpreted. You can’t force someone to be
okay with giving accommodations. They’ll still give them, but they may be
snippy about it, look down on the student. This is the last thing I want. I’d
rather deal with the repercussions of being a ‘lazy’ pupil than if the other
option is being resentfully given help.”
(Zhou, 2023)

23. Universal Design
for Learning

24. Anne Meyer on UDL
“the most common approach to curriculum design is to address the needs of the so-
called “average student.” Of course, this average student is a myth, a statistical artifact
not corresponding to any actual individual. But because so much of the curriculum and
teaching methods employed in most schools are based on the needs of this mythical
average student, they are also laden with inadvertent and unnecessary barriers to
learning.”
“Essentially, the goal of education has shifted from knowledge
acquisition to learner expertise.
…becoming an expert learner is a process, not a fixed goal.”
― Anne Meyer, Universal Design for Learning: Theory and Practice

25. Why UDL?
•Legally or institutionally mandated accommodations
aren’t enough to ensure student success.
•Accommodations create access after the fact by
retrofitting instruction
•Adding a text-reader function or closed captioning a
video is not a significant way to address disability and
diversity
•An ASL/English interpreter translating classroom talk
creates a lag in the student receiving information. This
is not an acceptable way for the student to actively
participate in classroom discussions where talk
happens quickly with frequent and speedy changes.
•Increased diversity among our students
(Rogers-Shaw et al., 2018; Smith et al., 2021)

26. Inclusive Learning Environments
Creating an inclusive environment
requires a proactive, collaborative
approach to shift how higher
education understands learning to
create, maintain, and continuously
improve a student-centered
approach.
(Fovet, 2021; Gould & Harris, 2019; Rogers-Shaw et al., 2018)

27. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is
•a set of principles for curriculum development that give all individuals equal
opportunities to learn
•by providing a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials,
andassessmentsthat work for everyone
•not a single, one-size-fits-all solution
•flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs.
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is an approach to improve and optimize
teaching and learning for all by setting clear, rigorous goals, anticipating
barriers and proactively designing to minimize those barriers.
(CAST, 2023)

28. Barriers are in the environment,
Not Learners.

29. Variability is the rule.
Every learner has a
“jagged” learning profile.

30. Inclusive by Design,
RATHER THAN AS RETROFIT.
You can’t add the blueberries at the
end and call it a blueberry muffin.
-Cordelia McGee-Tubb

31. UDL 3.0 Guidelines

32. Barriers to Implementing UDL & Inclusive
Pedagogy
The Student as the Problem
•Higher education frequently presumes that low achievement stems from the
student’s deficits rather than the instruction or assessment so accommodations
and support will fix the problem.
Unfortunately, the process of getting accommodations puts additional burdens
on the student, i.e., disclosing personal information, submitting paperwork, and
demonstrating need. (Addy et al., 2021; Ajjawi et al., 2022)

33. What are some barriers to implementing or scaling
UDL at your institution?
ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.

34. institution? Poll results

35. Concerns About Cheating & Fairness
Detecting and deterring cheating can create an
adversarial, punitive culture.
The perception that in-class or proctored exams are more
secure can prevent an organization from being more
inclusive.
(Ajjawi et al., 2022)

36. The Impact on Students
“students must endure the racist, ableist technology peddled
by companies like Proctorio, ProctorU, and ExamSoft, which
frames students’ bodies as abnormal. Have dark skin? The
racist technology cannot see you. Wear glasses? The ablest
technology sees you, but it doesn’t believe you are you
because it can’t detect your eyes” (Logan, 2020).
Moro (2020) refers to “any pedagogical technique or
technology that presumes an adversarial relationship
between students and teachers as “cop shit.”

37. UDL:
What You Can
Do Now

38. Accessibility Capability Maturity Model
The Accessibility Capability Maturity Model (ACMM)
takes the broad concept of accessibility and breaks it
down into achievable goals and milestones so colleges
and districts can drive accessibility forward. The
ACMM mitigates risk through iterative improvement
and proactively addresses Office of Civil Rights (OCR)
settlement requirements in a manageable timeline
based on campus resources. The ACMM also aligns
with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility
efforts outlined in the CCC Vision 2030.

39. ACMM Timeline &
Participation
If your college is interested in participating
in the ACMM, we are scheduling into Fall
2024, dependent on grant funding.
Interested colleges/districts will need
executive support for consideration. Please
contact [email protected] for more
information.

40. CCC Accessibility Center
Services
•Training for a variety of CCC stakeholders
–Self-paced
–Live
•Guidance, resources, and support
•Workshops and office hours
•Testing CCCTC applications before deployment
•Accessibility tools
•Accessibility Capability Maturity Model

41. Self-Paced Training for Faculty
•WebAIM Accessible Documents Training
•Video Captioning
•Accessibility Basics
•Pope Tech Instructor Accessibility Guide
•STEM Accessibility in Canvas
•Shire Basics
•Shire Advanced

42. Additional Self-Paced Training
•Introduction to Alternate Media
•Introduction to Braille
•Introduction to Kurzweil 3000
•Alternate Media Production Manual
•Workflows for PDF Remediation: Understanding the
Barriers

43. Creating an Inclusive Classroom:
Basic Concepts to Keep in Mind
•Inclusive teaching is a mindset. Who’s being left out as a result of this
approach?
•The more structure, the better, all students: most undergraduate
students need it, but there’s no harm to students who don’t.
•Too little structure leaves too many students behind. Lectures and cold-
calling aren’t inclusive.
(Sathy & Hogan, 2023)

44. Examine Your Classroom Policies
Do you have to
•ban laptops?
•prohibit eating in class?
•lock the door to discourage late arrivals?
•penalize late work?
(Field, 2023; Fovet, 2021)

45. Review Course Outcomes
(Field, 2023; Fovet, 2021)
Provide flexibility where possible to:
•allow students to demonstrate competency with alternate outputs
•Presentations as an alternative to papers are a common go-to
•However, this may create barriers and stress for students with
disability, ESOL, or shy students
•Consider a pre-recorded video or a recorded podcast

46. Reimagine Your Syllabus
(Rogers-Shaw et al., 2018)Be detailed but brief
Use visual elements, such as book cover images,
to engage students
An interactive course calendar, text, and content
links, and navigation arrows can make it easier to
find necessary information.
A color-coded pie chart can highlight the grade
percentages for assessments, making their worth
instantly visible.

47. UDL:
Looking Forward

48. UDL &
Equity
Paperback ISBN 978-1-930583-45-0
Ebook ISBN 978-1-930583-46-7

49. Backward Design
(Black & Moore, 2019)

50. Course-Level Considerations:
Learning Goals
Separate the means from the end
What must students do to achieve this goal?
What is the process for this learning outcome?
How would you assess mastery for that goal?
Consider all three learning networks
Are there learning goals that include learning expertise?
What goals are included for self-assessment and reflection?
Applying knowledge to new situations?
Self-regulation and strategy development? (Black & Moore, 2019)

51. Course-Level Considerations: Outcomes
Challenge all learners
How will these goals challenge (not threaten) your learners?
What steps might be needed to ensure challenge is
maintained?
Actively involve learners
How can students be a part of creating goals or mini-goals?
(Black & Moore, 2019)

52. Course-Level Considerations:
Assessments (1 of 2)
•Are ongoing and focused on learner progress
⚬How are the assessments structured?
⚬Are there summative and formative assessments?
•Measure both product and process.
⚬Are there assessments providing mastery-oriented feedback?
⚬Are there grades awarded?
•Are flexible, not fixed
⚬Are there choices when possible?
⚬What can flexibility look like in this assessment?
(Black & Moore, 2019)

53. Course-Level Considerations:
Assessments (2 of 2)
•Are construct relevant
⚬Are the assessments measuring what they’re intending to
measure?
⚬Do they align with the learning goals?
•Actively inform and involve learners
⚬How will learners know about the criteria for success in the
assessment?
⚬How can the learners be involved in the assessing process (i.e.,
establishing goals or criteria or providing feedback)?
(Black & Moore, 2019)

54. Course-Level Considerations:
Instructional Methods
•Can be continually adjusted to meet learner standards
•How do you go beyond your comfort zone when teaching?
•How do you or could you match methods with goals?
•Include all students within a collaborative environment
•How do you build classroom community and collaboration?
•How do you define collaboration?
•How do your students define collaboration?
(Black & Moore, 2019)

55. Course-Level Considerations:
Instructional Materials
How can materials help students to measure
their progress and collaborate over time?
(Black & Moore, 2019)

56. What is the general level of acceptance of student-centered
service delivery and course development, design, delivery,
instruction, and assessment using UDL principles at your
campus?
ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.

57. Program Considerations
•What is the change cycle for curriculum at my school?
•Who or what drives change (e.g., a regular review cycle
or an indicator like poor enrollment)?
•How are students involved in curriculum review and
development?
Change &
Development
•How does the curriculum proactively plan for student
learning?
•What outdated ideas about learning are used?
•Watch out for “learning styles” and other unproven
clichés about how people learn.
•How can you help the developers understand and
integrate updated ideas about learning?
Curriculum &
Context
•How can I support curriculum teams to make
improvements without throwing out everything?
•How can I reduce the threat that UDL means that
everything needs to be changed at once?
Curricular
Legacy
(Black & Moore, 2019)

58. Program-Level Considerations:
Stakeholders, Community, & Decision Making (1 of 2)
Curriculum & Stakeholders
•How can I help the development team learn about learning validity and UDL?
•What are they already doing that aligns with a UDL approach?
•What are they doing that’s a near miss (i.e., “learning styles”), which is well-intentioned but needs to be updated with
current information)?
Curriculum & Community
•Who else can be involved in curriculum conversations?
•How can student services teams like accessibility services or international student services be involved?
•This may be particularly helpful at the learner analysis stage.
•How can student stakeholders or alumni be involved in curriculum development?
•(Black & Moore, 2019)

59. Program-Level Considerations: Stakeholders,
Community, & Decision Making (2 of 2)
(Black & Moore, 2019)
Curriculum & Decision Making
•Who is making decisions about what and how to teach?
•What external regulations influence those decisions?
•What is within the control of the curriculum development
team?
•What is outside of its control?

60. Program Considerations:
Continuous Improvement (1 of 2)
Perpetual Process
•How can I emphasize the iterative improvements and small changes for UDL?
•How is curriculum quality evaluated?
•How can UDL indicators be layered into that evaluation?
Data & Information for Curriculum Change
•How can curriculum teams access demographic data or information about student
learners?
•What data or information exists that helps demonstrate a need for UDL?
•How will you measure curriculum improvements?
(Black & Moore, 2019)

61. Program Considerations:
Continuous Improvement (2 of 2)
(Black & Moore, 2019)
Systemic Change
•What program-level processes already exist for new program development and
program review?
•How can I help systemize a UDL approach for curriculum teams through resources,
processes, and so on?
•How can I provide multiple entry points and starting points for UDL integration?
•One size will not fit all.
•How can I ensure that my approach to working with instructors and curriculum
models UDL with our highly variable instructor learners?

62. What's your MVP (Most Valuable
Point) from today's presentation?
ⓘ Start presenting to display the poll results on this slide.

63. Point) from today’s presentation?

64. Questions?

65. Thank you
Janet Williams
[email protected]
Alex Marositz
[email protected]

66. References (1 of 3 )
Addy, T. M., Reeves, D. D., & Mitchell, K. A. (2021). What really matters for instructors implementing equitable
and inclusive teaching approaches. To Improve the Academy, 40(1), 1–48.
Ajjawi, R., Tai, J., Boud, D., & Jorre de St Jorre, T. (2022). Assessment for inclusion in higher education:
Promoting equity and social justice in assessment. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003293101
CAE. (n.d.). CAE Accommodations. Center for Accessible Education. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from
https://cae.ucla.edu/accommodations
CAST. (2023). Universal Design for Learning in Higher Education. UDL On Campus.
http://udloncampus.cast.org/home
Cawthorne, S. W. (2024). Transforming higher education from the inside out: The collaborative for access and
equity (pilot) impact report. Collaborative for Access and Equity.
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5e99259764389621ca4f4189/t/6324783464065e24c66dfb3f/1663334
460559/Collaborative+Pilot+Impact+Report.pdf
Field, K. (2023). The accessible campus (No. 48). The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Fovet, F. (2021). Handbook of research on applying universal design for learning across disciplines: Concepts,
case studies, and practical implementation. IGI Global.

67. References (2 of 3 )
Gould, R., & Harris, S. P. (2019). Higher education and the ADA. ADA National Network.
Hanesworth, P., Bracken, S., & Elkington, S. (2019). A typology for a social justice approach to assessment: learning from universal design and culturally
sustaining pedagogy. Teaching in Higher Education, 24(1), 98–114. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2018.1465405
Institute of Educational Science. (2022). A Majority of College Students with Disabilities Do Not Inform School, New NCES Data Show. National Center for
Education Statistics. https://nces.ed.gov/whatsnew/press_releases/4_26_2022.asp
Leake, D. W., & Stodden, R. A. (2014). Higher education and disability: Past and future of underrepresented populations. Journal of Postsecondary Education
and Disability, 27(4), 399–408.
Logan, C. (2020, October 21). Refusal, Partnership, and Countering Educational Technology’s Harms. Hybrid Pedagogy. https://hybridpedagogy.org/refusal-
partnership-countering-harms/
Lowenthal, P., Greear, K., Humphrey, M., Lowenthal, A., Conley, Q., Giacumo, L., & Dunlap, J. (2020). Creating accessible and inclusive online learning: Moving
beyond compliance and broadening the discussion. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 21, 1–21.
Rogers-Shaw, C., Carr-Chellman, D. J., & Choi, J. (2018). Universal design for learning: Guidelines for accessible online instruction. Adult Learning, 29(1), 20–31.
https://doi.org/10.1177/1045159517735530

68. References (3 of 3 )
Sathy, V., & Hogan, K. A. (2023, November 30). How to Make Your Teaching More Inclusive. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-to-make-your-teaching-more-inclusive/
Schley, S., Cawthon, S. W., Marchetti, C. E., & Atkins, S. W. (2024). From access to inclusion: A faculty learning community curriculum. The Journal of
Faculty Development, 358(33), 45–50. https://doi.org/10.1080/135406002100000512
Smith, S. A., Woodhead, E., & Chin-Newman, C. (2021). Disclosing accommodation needs: exploring experiences of higher education students with
disabilities. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 25(12), 1358–1374. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2019.1610087
Timuș, N., Bartlett, M. E., Bartlett, J. E., Ehrlich, S., & Babutsidze, Z. (2023). Fostering inclusive higher education through universal design for learning
and inclusive pedagogy – EU and US faculty perceptions. Higher Education Research & Development, 1–15.
https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2023.2234314
UCLA. (n.d.). Accommodations 101. Center for Accessible Education. Retrieved June 18, 2024, from https://cae.ucla.edu/faculty-
handbook/accommodation-101
Zhou, Z. (2023). Disabilities in higher education: Beyond ‘accommodation.’ Journal of Disability Studies in Education, 3(2), 191–216.
https://doi.org/10.1163/25888803-bja10021