Universal Design for Learning (UDL): A teacher’s guide

You plan a lesson. Then you add in a layer for students who need more support. Then maybe another for students who are ready for more challenge. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. And there’s a way to make planning work better for you and your students.

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) helps you plan one lesson that works for a wide range of learners from the start. Instead of making changes after the fact, you build flexibility into your goals, materials, and teaching methods. You also give students more than one way to show what they know. That flexibility helps every student.

At its heart, UDL shifts how you think about barriers to learning. When a student is struggling, UDL asks you to look at how the lesson or classroom is designed, not at the student. 

Shaquala Holmes, MEd, a regional literacy specialist with the Alabama Reading Initiative, describes UDL as a mindset rather than a set of steps. She says, “It is the way you think about the way you want to engage learners before you even put pen to paper for planning.” 

This guide walks you through using UDL in your teaching. You’ll learn how to use the three UDL principles, what UDL looks like at different grade levels, and small ways to start using it right away. New to UDL? Start with this UDL primer first. 

UDL can sound like a lot of theory. In practice, it comes down to three questions you’re probably already asking: Why would my students care about this? How will they take it in? And how will they show their understanding?

UDL was developed by CAST,opens in a new tab a nonprofit education research organization and an Understood founding partner. UDL is based on decades of neuroscience research on how people learn. That research shows three broad networks in the brain at work when we learn. Each one connects to a principle of UDL:opens in a new tab

• Engagement: the “why” of learning (the affective network)

• Representation: the “what” of learning (the recognition network)

• Action and expression: the “how” of learning (the strategic network) 

The latest version of CAST’s UDL Guidelinesopens in a new tab also adds a “who” of learning across all three principles. That’s because who students are, including their identities, cultures, and experiences, shapes how they learn. 

Below, you’ll find each principle, adapted from CAST, along with questions to ask yourself and ideas to try. You don’t need to use them all at once. Start with one or two that fit your students and your lesson.

Engagement is about motivation. It’s what gets students interested in learning and keeps them going.

Questions to ask yourself

• Who are my learners, and how can I engage all of them?

• How do I design the lesson so students have choice and a sense of control over their learning?

• How do I design learning that feels relevant to students’ lives and interests?

• How does my classroom help every student feel accepted and supported?

Try this

• Survey students about their interests, strengths, and needs. Use what you learn when you plan lessons.

• Use choice menus so students can pick how they work toward a goal.

• State learning goals clearly, in a way that feels relevant to students. Or have students design their own goals. 

Representation is about how you present information so every student can take it in and make sense of it.

Questions to ask yourself

• How can I present information in ways that reach all learners?

• What options can I offer students who need support with reading, writing, or listening?

• What experiences do my students bring, and how can I connect new learning to what they already know?

Try this

• Let students use tech tools to change font size and background color.

• Offer different ways to access text, like text-to-speech, audiobooks, partner reading, vlogs, or podcasts.

• Use graphic organizers, like concept maps, to show how ideas connect.

Action and expression is about how students plan their work, track their progress, and show what they know.

Questions to ask yourself

• How can I help students keep track of their progress?

• How can I help students assess their strengths and challenges? 

• How can I offer meaningful choices for showing what they know?

• Do my students have access to assistive technology (AT)?

Try this

• Give students calendars and checklists to track the steps toward a learning goal.

• Let students show what they know in different formats, like a poster presentation or a graphic organizer.

• Give students access to common forms of AT, like speech-to-text and text-to-speech.

These principles aren’t a checklist. Holmes says the best way to figure out what a lesson needs is to pay attention to what your students are showing you.

In the next section, you’ll see how all three principles can come together in one lesson.

Every class has a range. Some students already know a lot about a topic. Some are starting from zero. And a few groan the second they hear the word “essay.” UDL helps you plan for that range up front, instead of working around it later.

UDL looks different in every classroom. But UDL classrooms usually have a few things in common: 

• Every student knows the goal. 

• Flexible options are built in from the start.

• Supports are open to everyone.

Over time, students learn to choose what works for them. 

Here’s how that might look in one lesson. Say your students are learning about the stages of butterfly metamorphosis. Some students visited a science museum last summer and can’t wait to share. Others have never studied butterflies. With UDL, you plan for all of them:

• Engagement: Make the goal explicit up front. Tell students that the goal is to explain the four stages of metamorphosis, not to write five paragraphs. When students know what they’re aiming for, they can reach it in more than one way.

• Representation: Let students choose how to learn the content: a short video, a labeled diagram, a hands-on model, or a text passage with audio support.

• Action and expression: Let students choose how to show what they know: an essay, a labeled diagram with captions, a slideshow, or an oral recording.

UDL also looks different depending on your students’ ages. A kindergarten choice board looks very different from a high school lab report menu. But the core idea stays the same: clear goals plus flexible options.

Younger students benefit from concrete, visual, and hands-on options. Keep choices simple and structured so they don’t feel overwhelming. 

• Choice boards for practicing a skill, like a tic-tac-toe board of ways to practice sight words. Students might write them, build them with letter tiles, or say them into a recording app.

• Manipulatives for math concepts, like counters, base 10 blocks, or number lines. Make them available to every student, not just those who ask.

• Movement breaks built into transitions, like a stretch or a “turn and talk,” so students don’t need to sit still to stay engaged.

Middle-schoolers want more independence. As their workloads grow, they also need support with organization and planning.

• Choice menus for a project, where students pick a format (podcast, poster, slideshow, written report) that still meets the same learning goal.

• Flexible grouping based on interest, reading level, or working style.

• Checklists and calendars for multi-step projects, so students can track their own progress toward a deadline.

High-schoolers need practice directing their own learning. They’ll use those skills after graduation.

• Notes or slides in advance, so students can preview vocabulary and concepts before a lecture or discussion. 

• Structured independent work time with built-in check-ins, rather than one long unsupported block.

• Real-world assignments, like analyzing a current event for a persuasive essay instead of a generic prompt.

In every grade, offer assistive technology like text-to-speech and speech-to-text as a standard option for any student. Want more help planning? Check out this lesson planning guide. 

UDL is designed for every learner. But it can be especially valuable for students with ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and other forms of neurodivergence. That’s because UDL focuses on removing the barriers to learningopens in a new tab, not on changing the student. 

In a UDL classroom, many of the supports these students need are already there for everyone. So students don’t have to ask for them or feel singled out using them. Here’s how UDL can help with some common types of neurodivergence.

ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder) affects focus and impulse control. It also affects executive function, the skills used to plan, organize, and manage time. Students with ADHD may lose focus during long lessons. Or they may have trouble starting and finishing multi-step tasks.

UDL can help with options like:

• Shorter chunks of instruction with built-in movement breaks to help with focusopens in a new tab

• Visual timers, checklists, and calendars that make steps and deadlines concrete

• A clear learning goal kept separate from the method, so students can reach it in a way that works for them

Dyscalculia causes trouble with math. Students may have a hard time with number sense, mental math, telling time, or organizing multi-step problems on a page.

UDL can help with options like:

• Manipulatives, number lines, and visual modelsopens in a new tab available to the whole class

• Graph paper or digital tools to help align numbers and steps

• Multiple ways to show math thinking, like talking through a solution aloud or drawing a model

Dyslexia causes trouble with reading and spelling. Decoding words and reading fluently can take a lot of extra effort.

UDL can help with options like:

• Text-to-speech and audiobooks as a standard choice, not a special request

• Options to change the font, spacing, and background color of text

• Alternatives to reading aloud on the spot, like previewing a passage or reading with a partner

Language disorders affect how students understand language (receptive language), express their thoughts (expressive language), or both. Students may have trouble following multi-step directions, finding the right words, or understanding figurative language.

UDL can help with options like:

• Directions given in more than one format at the same time: spoken, written, and visual

• Word banks and sentence starters available to every student

• Ways to show understanding through pictures, demonstrations, or recordings

Written expression disorder causes trouble putting thoughts into writing. A student might understand a topic deeply but write much less than they know. They may also struggle with grammar, punctuation, or organizing ideas on the page.

UDL can help with options like:

• Speech-to-text and word prediction tools available to any student who wants them

• Graphic organizers and outlines for planning before writing

• Other ways to show what they know, like an oral report or a labeled diagram

UDL doesn’t replace an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or a 504 plan. You’ll still need to provide all of the specific accommodations or services in a student’s plan. But when you use UDL, many flexible options are already in placeopens in a new tab. That can make it easier to give students the support they need.