The Assistive Technology Blog

The Teaching Every Student (TES) section of the CAST Web site supports educators in learning about and practicing Universal Design for Learning (UDL). The site includes Case Stories on:
- Reading Challenges in [Elementary] Social Studies
- Engaging High School Students in Writing
- Teaching Probability in Middle School

Here's the beginning of the case story related to reading in social studies:

Mrs. Jones, a fourth grade teacher, is concerned that her students' diverse reading abilities prevent them from understanding social studies material and achieving the standards set for fourth grade. She is frustrated that she only has 45 minutes per day for Social Studies instruction.

She has 29 students -- 14 girls and 15 boys. Her students represent a heterogeneous mix of backgrounds and abilities. She has six students who have identified disabilities and an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Of these six students, four have a specific learning disability, and two have speech and language disabilities. Four other students are English language learners. In addition, there is a great diversity of reading ability across the classroom population, particularly in the areas of decoding, comprehension, and language. Although Mrs. Jones can provide instruction for groups and individuals to accommodate individual needs during the 1 ½ hour language arts time, the 45-minute time allocation for social studies does not allow time to differentiate instruction.

Mrs. Jones' dilemma is how to help all students achieve the social studies lesson goals given the short time period and the widely diverse skills levels of students.