With all students in this Grade 7 class experiencing significant improvement in mathematical proficiency, a strong case is made for designing learning so that all students have access to the general curriculum. This study demonstrates that in a short period of time, even in a classroom with a relatively large number of students with identified learning difficulties, both the ceiling and the floor of mathematical knowledge can be raised simultaneously.
Learning Mathematics in an Accessible Classroom revealed the following findings:
- All students showed significant improvement in achievement.
- All students made gains in the five strands of mathematical proficiency.
- All students can engage with difficult mathematical ideas when they are provided with dynamic assessment.
- The principles of UDL permit teachers to break the stranglehold of the procedural script for teaching mathematics.
- Access to technology is a critical factor in an accessible mathematics classroom.
- Introducing UDL into the mathematics classroom is a disruptive innovation. That is, the pervasiveness of traditional teaching scripts is interrupted by a new way of teaching and learning. It’s easy to describe such changes, but implementing them will be a challenge.
- Creating accessible mathematics classrooms, consistent with UDL principles, requires increased teacher knowledge and support for on-going professional development.
The following recommendations were made:
- Create a curriculum for mathematics that draws upon the principles of UDL.
- Establish a network of teachers who are wiling to form a community of practice. The development of such a curriculum will require design research in which teachers are involved from the outset in multiple ways. The support and active involvement such as the teacher in the Grade 7 classroom – and her willingness to try unfamiliar approaches over a period of time – will be key to the innovation’s success.
