Implementing a UDL Framework: A Study of Current Personnel Preparation Practices.

Abstract

Young adults with intellectual disability (ID) continue to experience the least successful postschool outcomes among transition-aged youth ( Sanford et al., 2011 ). Experts disagree on the most effective approach to improve outcomes such as employment, postsecondary education, and community living. In 2015, the National Goals Conference brought together educational researchers to set an agenda to guide the field in terms of research, practice, and policy ( Thoma, Cain, & Walther-Thomas, 2015 ). One of their recommendations, based on promising research and practices, urged the field to identify effective personnel preparation and professional development practices that ensure general and special educators can implement a UDL framework ( Thoma, Cain, et al., 2015 ). This study surveyed program coordinators at accredited universities to determine what is currently being done to prepare educators to implement a Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, the extent to which a UDL framework is being incorporated into preservice courses in higher education, and how a UDL framework is being used to improve postschool outcomes for youth with ID.