Page 230 - Resources and Support for the Online Educator

Part 2: UDL and You

who excel in the current system might object. Even the administration,
fearful of pushback from staff, parents, students, or their own superiors,
might be hesitant to tackle big issues. In addition, the requirements of
the system—standards, curriculum coverage, grades, report cards, college
requirements, grants, funding, and so on—make it difficult to veer very
far off the current course.

Assumptions and beliefs, beyond being deeply ingrained, are also complex
and interconnected. Sometimes they are simply the result of TTWWADI:
That’s the way we’ve always done it. For instance, years ago at an educa-
tional technology conference, Kendra heard the story of a small school
with two entrances, only one of which was ever used. One teacher began
to question why and eventually discovered that, many years before, the
school started using the one set of doors while the second set was being
repaired. The repairs took from the end of one school year, over summer
break, and into the next year, so using the single set of doors became the
norm over time. It was just the way things were done, and no one had
previously stopped to consider why.

Now, you may say, doors are one thing, but ideas, such as assessment and
tests, are another. We don’t rely on one type of assessment because of
TTWWADI—do we?

Testing 1, 2, 3

Let’s put tests to the TTWWADI test by considering the assumptions and
beliefs surrounding current testing practices. Rather than standardized
tests, which we currently have little authority to reduce or change, think
about teacher-designed tests and quizzes. Administered at the end of the
week or a unit of study, these tests are generally paper-and-pencil tasks
created to evaluate students’ content and procedural knowledge. They
include all the math, spelling, history, science, and reading tests that
require a student to read the instructions and then write their answers
or circle the correct response. The design and delivery of these types of
tests are based on the assumptions and beliefs associated with four areas:
ability, motivation, learning, and assessment. The following outlines the
underlying assumptions and beliefs often associated with tests:

34 Dive into UDL

Dive into UDL: Immersive Practices to Develop Expert Learners 230