Universal Design for Learning Project-Learning Assessment System
Executive Summary -Final Report
October 1, 2005 – June 30, 2009
Since 2002, Renton Technical College has been developing and piloting an innovative new
system for helping students with learning disabilities called the Learning Assessment System
(LAS). The main platforms of the LAS are Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and LD
Assessment. The LAS model consists of three tiers of services: Tier1: UDL classroom
assessment and strategies provided to the entire class, and individually to those who need more
intensive help by the instructor, Tier 2: more intensive assessment and strategies given by
Student Services counselors and Tier 3: assessment and/or accommodation by the Disabled
Student Support counselor.
Tier 1- Learning assessment and UDL strategies provided to
the entire class, and individually to those who need more help
How student
resources are
distributed
Tier 2-More intensive assessment and strategies
given by Student Services counselors.
Tier 3- Assessment and/or accommodation by the
Disabled Student Support counselor
This model, along with a web-based tracking and communication tool, creates an environment
where most learning barriers are resolved quickly and effectively in the classroom, or through
facilitated referrals to Student Services and electronic sharing of information between instructor,
student and counselor. The LAS has evolved over the past three years through the funding of the
2002 Demonstration Projects to Ensure Students with Disabilities Receive a Quality Higher
Education Program, Title III, and a statewide project called the Learning Disabilities Quality
Initiative (LDQI). Staff from a variety of departments, including the Student Services and faculty
from 10 professional/technical programs worked together to develop the tools and service
delivery components. In 2005, a second grant allowed this model to expand to eight other
institutions across the state of Washington.
Project Objectives: The project has been extremely successful in its goal of increasing
completion rates for students with disabilities in classrooms participating in using UDL at RTC,
Bates Technical College and the Institute of Extended Learning (IEL) in Spokane, the three
core partner schools. Independent evaluator, Dr. Elizabeth Moore of Applied Inference,
described the results in her Final Report Summary (May 2009):
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Overall, review of available data indicates that class completions at participating colleges
increased over the course of the project, and that the increases were greatest for students with
disabilities, both learning disabilities and other types of disabilities. The number of participating
instructors increased steadily over the course of the grant, as did the number of participating
institutions. Student report concurs with program staff observation that nearly all of the pilot
instructors incorporated elements of the training into their classroom teaching.
Figure 1 shows the
results of the
institutional data
from RTC, as well as
the rate of
completion for
students with
disabilities in the
pilot classes at all
three participating colleges. Note the 38% increase in completion rate among students with disabilities in
the RTC Pilot courses between 01-02 and 07-08, compared with the 13% increase among students
without disabilities. This supports the notion that UDL benefits all students, especially those most at risk.
A second goal was set to increase completion rates for students with learning disabilities who
had been singled out for extra assistance from the Student Success Team. These students were
identified by the Learning Disabilities or Disabled Student Services counselors, instructors, or
through self referral. The Learning Assessment webtool was also an avenue for information and
referral. They received intensive services such as the use of AT in their classrooms,
individualized training for their instructors, additional counseling support and/or Peer Tutors.
These students may also go through the LD diagnosis process.
A total of 111 students in a variety of programs were tracked. Prior to the grant, students with
disabilities had a 65% completion rate. By the 2007/08 school year, students tracked had an
85.4% completion rate. During the final year, we tracked an additional 42 students but we will
not have the outcomes by the time of this report. However, of those 42, 13 were provided with
free Learning Disability testing.
Unanticipated outcome: Students with disabilities increased at RTC by over five times the
original amount, from 46 disclosing in 01/02 to 252 in 2007/08.
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The project set a goal that by the final year, 75% of the faculty participating in the pilot would
change their teaching formats. A total of 59 instructors participated in this pilot at all
schools and of these, 55 or 93% changed their teaching as indicated by student survey results,
far exceeding the goal. Following are some of the most common instructional/curriculum
changes:
 Use of multi-modal teaching
 Providing learning styles assessments to inform students and teachers
 UDL Toolkits-low tech learning tools such as magnifiers and colored markers available
to students to use in lab or classroom settings
 Graphic organizers
 Shared note taking systems
 Reading comprehension strategies
The project also intended to train 75% of all full time faculty at the RTC and Bates and all
ABE/GED faculty at the IEL by the final year of the project. In actuality, 84 percent or 269 or
320 instructors were given a minimum of 3 hours of training on UDL, brain based teaching,
LD, multi-modal learning or other similar topics, far exceeding the goal.
A further goal was that students would find that participating in the UDL classrooms would find
the learning environment more helpful. This was substantiated by surveys of 378 students. 97
percent reported that the changes in their classroom positively impacted their abilities to
learn.
In order to promote the project, a goal was set to create training materials to increase the uptake
of UDL at other institutions of higher learning. The two main platforms for accessing training
materials created or compiled through the project is through the UDL Online course and the
UDL Project Website.
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Online Course: With assistance from grant staff, two instructors from Medical
Administrative Programs developed an on-line course in UDL as one of the main features
of the training materials. This course was created based in part on information from the
summer 2006 institute offered by some of the trainers from CAST. The course was set to
beta test in January 4, 2007 but the beta test was cut short when the instructor became
very ill. However, the class succeeded in being instituted as a public course in April
2007. The class is six weeks long and designed in UDL fashion to be interactive, and
include all learning styles. Instructors come away with a “hands on” experience of
having developed and shared a UDL lesson plan. The class has received many good
reviews from instructors all over the state of Washington. During this report period, 15
students were trained. During the project, a total of 78 faculty and staff from colleges
across Washington State have taken the UDL on line course.
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Our project website http://webs.rtc.edu/ii/dsdp.html continues to be a major repository
for information, resources and training for instructors, including the popular “UDL
Cookbook”- a compilation of UDL strategy “recipes”. On this website, we feature
information on teaching technologies, assistive technologies, UDL, disability information
and strategies. During this project period, a new feature was created called Professional
Development the UDL Way. Created by UDL Project faculty and staff, this is a
selection of trainings for instructors using a UDL format. Each topic includes audio,
visual and activity based learning. .
In addition, RTC, Bates and the IEL have conducted numerous trainings for other colleges and
has provided on going mentoring to the project partnership, including hosting two training events
for faculty and staff across Washington State: a UDL Conference in November 2008 and a
training by BrainRules author Dr. John Medina on how the brain works and how to use brain
research in education in March 2009.
Six other colleges across the state of Washington, from very different parts of the state, some
urban, some rural were chosen to participate in the project. Following is a description of the
outcomes by the end of the 2007/08 school year:
1. Airway Heights Correctional Facility-2007-2008:
 trained 30 faculty and staff
 developed a pilot with 8 instructors, impacting 60 students;
2. Peninsula College-2007-2008
 trained 28 faculty and staff
 created 2 UDL Toolkits
 provided learning styles assessments to 53 students
3. Whatcom Community College-2007-2008:
 trained 93 faculty and staff
 created Toolkits and increased assistive technologies
4. Colville Center-2007-2008:
 trained 15 faculty and staff
 developed a Lending Bank of books on LD, UDL, assistive and educational
technologies
5. Tacoma Community College-2007-2008:
 trained 79 faculty and staff
 developed a pilot of 8 faculty
6. Highline Community College-2007-2008:
 Trained 102 faculty and staff
 Wrote UDL concepts into another grant, resulting in training at community
colleges in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Iowa
 Developed a pilot of 15 team members
 Created 30 Toolkits
Other benefits:
 Learning Assessment for Students (LAS)- this online assessment and communication
application was created by the project in 2003 and has become a standard part of many
classroom orientations, becoming fully automated in 2005 and available to core schools
in 2008. The LAS helps students identify their learning strengths and barriers and gives a
report with strategies to help and resources available on campus for their individual
concerns. Instructors and counselors working with the student can see these
recommendations online and add further information on the reports. In 2008, the
application was modified to include on-going progress reports to the student as a part of
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another college initiative. 1650 students from RTC have taken the assessment since Fall
of 2005.
Learning Disabilities testing- LD testing for students in vocational programs came online
in 2003 as part of the first grant and has grown substantially over the past several years.
Instructors refer students for testing with increasing frequency. 49 students have been
tested for LD and been given assistance during the project at no cost to the student.
Lending Bank- In 2005, the project helped establish a technology lending bank at RTC
which included assistive and educational technologies such as Wynn Reader, Mimio and
a tablet PC. Instructors can borrow these technologies to be used in their classrooms for
a limited period of time. This gives the instructor the ability to use the right technology
to enhance a particular lesson plan and give them more flexibility and variety in using
technology. The library also lends assistive technologies directly to the student, giving
the student the same opportunity to try out various tools before spending their own
money or the college’s money. The High Tech Lending Bank has become a standard part
of the campus operations. The tools in the Instructor Lending Bank have been borrowed
over 50 times since 2005. Other colleges have replicated this practice.
Lessons learned/best practices:
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Peer to peer mentoring is extremely effective. Instructors learn best from other
instructors; the same is true of counselors working with at risk students.
Lending Banks of technology help increase opportunities to explore without risk and save
money.
The Learning Assessment for Students created opportunities for students to be more
comfortable disclosing learning problems and helped increase the numbers of students
referred for assistance.
A cross departmental collaboration is can be very effective in addressing student learning
problems.
Sometimes the best technologies are the simple to use, free ones!
The most powerful change element was teaching instructors how the brain works and
what learning disabilities are.
There are many ways to increase multi modal learning. Low tech methods can be just as
powerful as high tech methods.
Universal Design for Learning gives instructors the tools to help many students without
the need for additional referrals. When additional assistance from the DSS office is
needed, UDL helps the instructor understand and be receptive to accommodations.
For more information, contact Cathy Jenner at (425) 235-2352 x5639 or cjenner@rtc.edu
http://www.rtc.edu/AboutUs/DSDPGrant or visit the project website at
http://webs.rtc.edu/ii/dsdp.html
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