Daniel Jhin Yoo

Different Paths Up the Same Mountain Daniel Jhin Yoo

The new state and Common Core standards were intended to prepare ALL students to be college and career ready. The continuing transition from a segregated delivery model to an integrated one (inclusion of more and more students with special needs and English Language Learners in general education classrooms) has increased the diversity of students that is present in general education classrooms. Furthermore, brain science continues to demonstrate that even amongst groups of students that may be described as "typical", there is in fact great variability in how their brains process information. Diversity and variability is the norm-not the exception-in the US K-12 classroom. Without an instructional approach that is universally designed to address the diversity of learners present in classrooms, schools run the risk of having significant populations of students who do not reach their full potential. Universal Design for Learning is a framework that offers a research-based approach to closing the achievement gap by allowing educators to design accessible and engaging instruction for a diverse classroom of learners. At Goalbook, we've developed a 5-Step Instructional Design Process to unify standards-based instruction and Universal Design for Learning so that ALL educators can ensure that ALL students will be college and career ready.