http://www.cast.org/pd/consortium/index.html
Issue Number 28: October 2009
Greetings To All,
Please take a few minutes to check out CAST’s new educator resources that are freely available on our Web site and opportunities to become involved in CAST’s work. We value your opinion, so please do take a few minutes to send us some feedback.
Enjoy,
Grace Meo
With generous support from the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations, CAST today published two free online modules that introduce the theory, principles, and application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to teachers and teacher candidates. The modules, each four to six hours in length, can be used in graduate and undergraduate education courses, professional development, consulting activities, and as a resource for educators across the country.
CAST and Boston College to Prepare Leaders in Universal Design for Learning
CAST is collaborating with Boston College’s Lynch School of Education on the launch of a postdoctoral fellowship program to prepare leaders for the field of universal design for learning (UDL). The program is funded through 2013 by the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
"We are delighted to receive this highly competitive grant award," says principal investigator Richard Jackson, Ed.D., Associate Professor of Special Education at Boston College and a Senior Research Scientist at CAST. "UDL Fellows will gain the leadership skills and competencies they need to address the pressing policy and systems issues related to growing the field of UDL."
UDL Fellows will be in residence at CAST for one year and will collaborate with research scientists, policy experts, and teacher education professionals from CAST and Boston College on UDL-based projects in two of the following four leadership areas:
- Teacher Preparation and Professional Development
- Policy Development at National, State, and Local Levels
- Curriculum and Instructional Practices
- Formative and Summative Assessment Systems
UDL Fellows will be paid $60,000 per year. They will also receive tuition credits at Boston College and have access to the college’s resources and facilities. For further information, send inquiries to udlfellows@cast.org.
CAST Launches National Center on Universal Design for Learning website (http://www.udlcenter.org)
CAST is establishing the National Center on Universal Design for Learning (NCUDL) to provide leadership to the growing field of UDL and to build the capacity of organizations to implement UDL through information dissemination, communities of practice, and technical assistance.
The Center has a virtual presence through a website that is a "go-to" resource on UDL providing information resources for teachers, UDL advocates, researchers, and parents. Initial core content has been posted, including the redesigned UDL Guidelines with supporting research references. In addition to the research references, you will find teacher-friendly resources and examples that illustrate the UDL Guideline checkpoints (http://www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/udlguidelines/examples).
The NEW CAST UDL Book Builder is up and ready for you to use. The new UDL Book Builder, a free online tool for creating, sharing, publishing, and reading supported digital books responds to the dramatic growth in usage by expanding its functionality and capacity to serve learners of all ages with different interests and needs. Educators, parents, and students now have greater power and flexibility in authoring, scaffolding, sharing, and finding books.
Thank you for your interest in CAST and our work. It is our intention to send this newsletter to individuals who have requested to receive it. If you believe you are receiving this in error or wish to no longer receive it, you can unsubscribe by sending a message to natconsortium@cast.org with a subject of "unsubscribe consortium".
Please feel free to forward this email to colleagues who may be interested in this content.
Grace J. Meo
Director, Professional Development and Outreach Services
gmeo@cast.org
http://www.cast.org
