Well-Rounded Course Access Project

Building Accessibility and Inclusion from the Beginning

Our role in the broader Well-Rounded Course Access project is to build internal team and educator capacity to promote access and inclusion as outlined by Standard 5 of the IDOE Educator Standards for Blended and Online Teaching.

The WRCA project is a unique opportunity to provide high quality courses and learning experiences for students across the state in areas that they would typically not have the opportunity to engage in. With that in mind, it is essential to recognize the following:

• This is a statewide initiative so teachers will be teaching children from all contexts, backgrounds, individual needs, and communities, not just their own;
• Just as every student deserves access to a well-rounded array of courses, every student deserves well-rounded educators;
• As business and industry opportunities grow in the state, Indiana is increasingly becoming a destination for immigrants and refugees with a range of backgrounds;
• Providing high quality coursework is necessary to foster and sustain our democratic project, so courses need to reflect the realities of our democratic project.

The Approach

Areas of Focus

• Assets-Based Frames. An assets-based frame recognizes that each and every learner, family, and community brings value to the learning process. We help you build on what students bring to the course to facilitate a learning environment in which students achieve, succeed, and thrive.
• Inclusive Multiple Modes. The technology-rich learning environment of online courses provides a unique opportunity to provide inclusive multiple modes to promote the success of all learners. Using the UDL Guidelines as a starting point, materials and activities can be curated and designed that provide multiple modes of representation, expression, and engagement to support all learners.

Activities

• Thought Partnerships. We provide one-on-one meetings to discuss accessibility and inclusion in courses. Each of teacher is partnered with an Instructional Designers.
• Online Learning Experiences. We help build teacher capacity to approach the selection and design of materials and activities as more accessible and inclusive from the beginning by providing with resources, articles, and background information. We also support the ongoing professional development efforts by offering online learning activities.
• Plug-and-Play Models. We offer a library of model activities that are specifically designed to promote accessibility and inclusion that can be imported into courses and adapted for specific content areas, individual student needs, and pedagogical strengths. Each model includes an overview of the activity itself and information on how it supports and promotes accessibility and inclusion.