Guidelines 3.0 & Literacy Development

How do Guidelines 3.0 Support Literacy Development?

CAST is thrilled to announce the release of Guidelines 3.0! The Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Guidelines were first developed in 2008 as a tool to  support practitioners in applying the UDL framework to design inclusive, accessible, and  challenging learning environments (Meyer, et al., 2014). Alongside growing momentum around  UDL, there has been an increasing call to more fully develop the Guidelines to address critical barriers rooted in bias and systems of oppression (Authors, 2023; Waitoller & King Thorius,  2016). In response, CAST launched a community-driven process to reenvision the Guidelines through an equity lens. 

We are now excited to use these guidelines (draft released for public feedback, February 2024), to start designing for inclusive literacy environments. Central to the conversation is how to support secondary students to engage with reading and writing by honoring their interests and identities, explicitly teaching linguistic patterns, and supporting learner's metacognition of strategies and progress.