UDL Now! A Teacher's Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning

by Katie Novak

In this revised and expanded edition of UDL Now! Katie Novak provides practical insights and savvy strategies for helping all learners meet high standards using the principles of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). UDL is a framework for inclusive education that aims to lower barriers to learning and optimize each individual's opportunity to learn. Novak shows how to use the UDL Guidelines to plan lessons, choose materials, assess learning, and improve instructional practice. Novak discusses key concepts such as scaffolding, vocabulary-building, and using student feedback to inform instruction. She also provides tips on recruiting students as partners in the teaching process, engaging their interest in how they learn. UDL Now! is a fun and effective Monday-morning playbook for great teaching.

Genres: Education, Nonfiction, Teaching, Professional Development, Textbooks

178 pages, Paperback

First published April 5, 2013

About the author

Katie Novak, Ed.D., is an internationally renowned education consultant, author, graduate instructor at the University of Pennsylvania, and a former Assistant Superintendent of Schools in Massachusetts. With 20 years of experience in teaching and administration, an earned doctorate in curriculum and teaching, and ten published books, Katie designs and presents workshops both nationally and internationally focusing on the implementation of inclusive practices, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), multi-tiered systems of support, and universally designed leadership. Novak’s work has impacted educators worldwide as her contributions and collaborations have built upon the foundation for an educational framework that is critical for student success.

Dr. Novak is the author of the best-selling books, UDL Now! A Teacher’s Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning in Today’s Classrooms, Innovate Inside the Box, with George Couros, Equity by Design, with Mirko Chardin, and UDL and Blended Learning with Catlin Tucker.

Reviews

[Erica Sage · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not every book is for every reader because we have varying preferences about content and style. But this review is not about interest in content or writing style preferences. This 2-star review is based on my 25 years in the ELA classroom and my desire to be ever-growing in my profession. I'm highly interested in engaging students and designing lessons that motivate students and provide rigor. When I read a book about education, I'm looking for practical ideas and solutions, what can be applied in the classroom. Unfortunately, I didn't learn anything new, and I will not be able to impact student growth after reading this book.

I read this book aloud to my husband (special ed and math teacher of 13 years), and he too was underwhelmed and frustrated with the lack of both clarity and practical guidance. He gives it one star. I give it two because I believe in the philosophies and give it the benefit of the doubt that a teacher out there might find it more useful.

Perhaps my main issue with this book is the word "Design" in the title; it is misleading. This book has lovely philosophies that most teachers espouse. It is lacking practical means of *designing*. As a veteran teacher, I can read this book and say, yep, yep, yep, I believe in these things, and I see how in my own classroom I do measurable practice that aligns with those beliefs. Reading this book made me feel validated, but I couldn't design something new and say, look at my UDL-inspired lesson! And, if I were a brand new teacher reading this book, I'd say, BUT WHAT DO I *DO*??? This book does not show teachers how to DESIGN. It preaches "choice and voice" (Yes, those things are essential, but not new ideas.) with no new ideas for structure. If you use the word *design*, I expect something novel in the *structure* of curriculum development, just as I would expect novel structure in website design, landscape design, fashion design, interior design, etc..

In addition, it lacks practice/methods. In fact, 75% of the way through the book, when you feel like you've been waiting forever to see UDL in action, the author writes, "...one of the most common questions I hear is, 'But what does this choice look like in [fill in the grade/content area]?' and I struggle with the answer to the question. ...educators have to approach their own design work..." (Novak 138). Wait, what??? Wellllll..... she says, because if she just models a HS math lesson, it won't be relevant to the MS math teachers. If she shows a PE lesson, it won't be relevant to the ELA teachers. Or maybe some teachers don't have the same tools, so her modeling would be moot to them. She argues, teachers just need to discuss the basic philosophy and come up with ideas on their own and apply them as they are most relevant to them. Well, yes, EVENTUALLY! But, you wrote a book about designing curriculum and assessment on certain principles. Probably, if you want teachers to buy in, you are obligated -- as a teacher and an author -- to provide ample examples of it across content and grade levels. (Remember your repeated mention of providing exemplars to students? Yes, do that in your book.)

Now, don't get me wrong, occasionally throughout the book, we see an idea described in practice. It's usually explained in a sentence. But, if you are fully designing a lesson or unit, you need pages, not a sentence, to demonstrate the development according to the principles. (APPLYING. DESIGN. These words are in the title.)

The main practice hit over and over is a Choice Board. In fact, it's so focused on Choice Boards, my husband and I decided a more apt title would be, Applying Choice Boards for Demonstrating Knowledge. And, I do like using Choice Boards in my classrooms, but that's just one piece of a year-long class. UDL is more than that... isn't it?

Well, kind of... because the other thing that struck both me and my husband: the book repeated concepts from basic teaching 101 classes (e.g., anticipation guides, formative assessments, graphic organizers) and wrapped them up in a UDL package as if they were new concepts, and to quote my husband, "selling it to school districts as if it's something innovative". Better than purchasing this UDL program, a speaker, the books, a district should pay expert teachers in their buildings to do an occasional PD review of basic lesson design. It would be less expensive, more concise, and foundationally sound.

Unfortunately, this book misses the mark. It needs to be better organized (state the principles clearly and immediately) and better developed (lots of examples, including lessons and full units). Philosophy without practice has no place in a classroom. The philosophies in this book are great; the practice is contrived and underdeveloped.

[Alina Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a primer. Every educator (not just in schools) should read this book and let it challenge them to try something new.

[Tanya Hunt · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick and easy read with lots of great strategies. Highly recommend for any teacher looking to further their understanding of UDL and for those interested in implementing the UDL framework in their classroom.

[Emily Rodgers · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a new teacher with ADHD, I loved this book! It gives reasoning for why UDL is important, how it be benefits both teachers and students, and ways you can try it in your classroom! Quick read and very helpful.

[Martha Reynolds · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really fast read! I read it in an afternoon. Clear. Meaningful. Practical

[Alondra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not read the first or second editions, so I cannot speak to specific changes or improvements that were made. This is an okay take on UDL, and has some strong examples on how UDL and differentiation work when giving and receiving feedback, and approaching standards and standards based assessment. An area of growth--more examples! Maybe case studies, or more detailed examples and break down each area. That being said, it's a solid, brief, read.

[Miki Hodge · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title is not accurate. The author's attempts at humor did not work for me. There are a few useable ideas.

[Stan Skrabut · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for ideas on how to implement Universal Design for Learning (UDL), then UDL Now!: A Teacher's Guide to Applying Universal Design for Learning in Today's Classrooms is definitely a book that you should read. Katie Novak has packed this book full of practical ideas. Dr. Novak is a leader in the UDL world and brings forth a wealth of knowledge and experience from the P-12 world. While it is primarily geared for P-12 teachers, I believe it is as useful for higher education instructors. Read more

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read. I enjoyed reading the charts. Some good stuff on prompts for student reflection, examples of choices for student agency, a cool writing prompt for “Why are you amazing”, good lists for negative and positive teamwork behaviors, and good ideas for minimizing classroom discussion barriers.

I liked the author’s personal stories like her pizza crust analogy. More personal stories would have helped made it even more interesting since there’s a lot of theory.

All in all it’s a good intro. I will have to look up the website for additional ideas because none of the choice board ideas she offers work for my grade 1 students who can’t write poems or raps yet but I appreciate the theory of creating choices and that’s what I got from this book.

[Heather Josephine Pue]

This book is wonderfully practical and provides lists of assignments teachers could easily assign tomorrow. It outlines the principles of UDL nicely and provides a great introduction, as well as discussion questions for groups working to transition to UDL. My only critique would be that it's very American and spends a lot of time on things like "standards" and standardized testing, which are not relevant to my teaching context (it also assumes a lot of knowledge about US pop culture, such as reality TV shows, which I don't have).

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review of the 3rd edition.

Fast easy read with lots of ideas that I'm looking forward to incorporating into my teaching, chapter 7 was especially useful to me with its ideas for inclusive engaging classroom discussions and feedback/assessment.

Some of the cultural references were really weird though, given the focus on culturally inclusive teaching (the Biggest Loser? Teamwork recommendations that don't acknowledge cultural differences in communication expectations?)

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like the UDL framework, but I’m also invested in some more traditional methods like teaching kids how to be better writers. UDL does show you how to break down content standards in order to provide lessons that are more accessible for students, however, like former governor of MA said in a recent newscast, “MCAS IS NOT GOING ANYWHERE,” so we NEED to prepare kids to be able to access those standardized tests too.

[Maureen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Informative and Helpful!

Very insightful on UDL and how to implement the framework in the classroom. I appreciate that the author provides specific strategies throughout the book. I do wish there were more examples and sample lessons. I also have some thoughts on the standardized assessment section and I wonder if this will be updated in the next version to more accurately reflect the phasing out of some standardized tests like the SAT.

[Larry Jarocki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wanted to like this one more than I did. It does a good job of giving a quick gloss of UDL practices, but it's really just a cheer-leading session for the idea, with little practical advice for implementing it. It was required reading for a course that I've been asked to teach, but I wonder if students would really get much out of it. It does lead me to want to dig deeper, but as a resource itself, it seems lacking.

[Tesha Fritz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book gives teachers a clear view of UDL and tons of practical examples. I love how the evidence is intertwined with research to give you motivation and logic in one strong dose to get you moving foward! If you are a UDL junkie, or just UDL curious this is the book for you.

[Jennifer Margeson · Rating 4 out of 5]

very helpful textbook as a pre-service teacher - I am very intrigued and would hope to incorporate all the UDL principles in my lessons. A bonus - my Technology in Education professor, who recently was nominated for an award at Winthrop, wrote part of the text!

[Rachel Iufer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m an experienced educator, so maybe I shouldn’t have expected more than this book offered. The only new thing I learned was not to offer more than 6 choices. I was disappointed with the total lack of examples of implementation, and the lack of scientific research to back up claims.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are several examples in this book, making it easier to take right from the page into planning. The text keeps things relatively short and simple, and quickly gets to the point. Great for readers who have some background in UDL already and are looking for practical ideas for implementation.

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, but found I utilize many of the ideas and have many of the mindsets. I learned some new things that I am excited to share, but this book is very beginner udl.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the classroom examples. Some of the ideas seem far fetched based on reasonable resources. Overall, the book had solid information and was easy to understand.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of common sense, good teaching strategies. If you are using best practices in your classroom , you are probably already using many of these techniques.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

UDL is fantastic for education and this is a great intro guide.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was good as a PD book. I like the ideas and the author does a good job addressing some road blocks to implementation while also giving tidbits to work around them.

[Dale Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

UDL in the Cloud by the same author was a more interesting read. Mostly because I’m not a teacher I guess.

[Jodi Lepla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is incredibly helpful and inspiring. All of our learners will benefit and be successful in classrooms with UDL.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book with lots of explanations about how to make UDL a part of a teacher's classroom!

[Synthia Cuello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very informative, provided practical ideas on how to easily integrate UDL guidelines into your lessons.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

In the real world you don’t always get choices, yet giving kids choices about what want to do is what the book preaches. This is why our classrooms are falling apart.

[Kayla Brianne]

Way to many similes

[Sarah Klyve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great breakdown on UDL and I appreciated the connections between engagement and UDL with CAST and the Opportunity Myth research by TNTP!