CAST to Pilot a Virtual Professional Learning Model for Remote Schools in New Hampshire

Photo of an educator recording themselves with a video camera

Date:
Thursday, July 16, 2020

Jane's Trust has awarded CAST a one-year, $125,000 grant to develop a virtual professional learning model for teachers in New Hampshire’s North Country.

The project will help up to 21 teachers in three remote schools build skills and knowledge in using the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework, a set of principles for creating inclusive, meaningful learning opportunities that address learner variability.

The Virtual UDL Video Club is an innovative form of professional learning that supports teachers in working collaboratively with their peers to improve their instructional practice. By jointly reviewing video footage from their classrooms, teachers can collaborate in authentic classroom observation that supports cycles of continuous improvement.

Using UDL as a guide, teachers will be coached in identifying barriers to learning and in designing opportunities that engage all learners, including traditionally marginalized learners who are chronically underserved.

“We expect this project to provide a robust model for online professional development in UDL practices—one that will be of enormous value to our larger work in New Hampshire and across the country,” says CAST CEO Linda Gerstle. “We are grateful to Jane’s Trust for this opportunity.”

CAST works with more than 500 teachers and 70 schools who participate in the New Hampshire UDL Innovation Network, a multiyear project sponsored by the NH Department of Education.