High-leverage & Evidence-based Practices

An evidence-based practice is an instructional strategy or procedure (or set of procedures) for which researchers have provided findings that shows the practice produces positive outcomes for students. Evidence-based practices take the guesswork out of teaching by providing specific approaches that are known to have meaningful impacts on learning.

The UDL Research and Resources tab goes deep into the research behind this framework and each checkpoint (or instructional practice) that guides this way of designing instruction. 

What about Assistive Technology and Augmentative Alternative Communication? 

Under UDL checkpoint 4.2 (optimize access to tools and assistive technologies), CAST provides some insight on the research behind these strategies and tools as well as some good general scholarly reviews. We know AT and AAC are necessary, and we know we are required to provide them as part of the development of an IEP for every student with a disability (what CAST refers to as the “face validity”). But when it comes to evaluating specific practices, strategies or tools, the evidence is a little more challenging to find. A good place to search is the Education Resources Information Center [eric.ed.gov] and the search engine provided by this extensive clearinghouse. 

On this page, you can search through a collection of the research that Open Access has found most useful in developing the training resources for these projects and curating the resources of the AT and AAC Resource FlipKits. This is a starting point, and the Open Access team will be adding to these as time goes on.

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