Seen, Heard, and Valued: Universal Design for Learning and Beyond

Every classroom is filled with amazing young people who vary wildly and wonderfully in who they are as people. Based on her best-selling Corwin book, Lee Ann Jung challenges the idea that a category of students who have learning differences even exists.

We will answer the questions: Do we push in support, or pull out for support? And how do we deliver intervention without disrupting participation in core instruction, even in our specials or electives? How can a limited number of learning support teachers possibly provide intervention to all of the students who need it?

The value of inclusion is irrefutable, but the devil is in the details. In this session, we get to the brass tacks of delivering intervention in inclusive ways within the time, space, and staffing parameters that are a reality.

You'll explore a method of coordinated, small-group learning, first implemented at International School of Kuala Lumpur, that maximizes efficiency of faculty and staff, allows for adequate amounts of intervention, and meets all students’ needs without having to pull anyone from anything.

Together, we'll envision classrooms that are flexible and agile, where every child is welcomed, supported, challenged, and confident they can shine.

Assessment in the Inclusive Classroom: Reopening Doors with Universal Design

We all feel the moral imperative of designing inclusive classrooms, and we’re on our way! But lagging behind are assessment practices that close the doors for students who need the most support.

You’re invited to journey with us into a space of critical reflection, where we explore the inequities and biases inherent in classroom assessment. It is the dissonance between our aspirations for inclusion and the realities of conventional assessments that we find a catalyst for change.

We’ll discover answers to these questions: What are confounding variables, and how do they marginalize some of our students? Why are options for student expression necessary to realize our vision of inclusion? How can we provide students with options to show their learning in a way that elevates, rather than limits, our expectations for student success?

Together, we'll reimagine assessment as a tool for inclusivity, empowerment, and reopened doors.