School Counselors Engaging All Students: Universal Design for Learning in Classroom Lesson Planning

Abstract

School counselors need to be intentional about implementing a comprehensive school counseling program, which will often include planning and teaching classroom lessons on topics connected to academic skills, career planning, and social/emotional learning. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a scientifically valid framework for providing access to curriculum for all students; it may facilitate school counselors’ use of evidence-based instruction to reduce barriers to learning for students with diverse learning needs. This article introduces school counselors to the UDL principles and demonstrates UDL-aligned instructional strategies in two school counselor-created classroom lessons: one elementary and one secondary. Practicing school counselors can use this information to examine lessons for potential barriers in order to better craft instruction. Counselor educators can use this information to guide school counseling students to write universally designed lessons to meet the challenge of creating a comprehensive school counseling program.