Marnie Lynch & Amy Robinson presented at the UDL Symposium this year on “Uplifting voices in Court and Community Schools.” They are both in Solano County, a county in California with six school districts, eight independent charter schools, and about 63,000 students! They have over 7,000 learners with reported disabilities. Robinson asked the audience to think about the term “Juvenile Court and Community Schools.” I thought that the way Robinson asked us to consider this term was really powerful: how do you think the students in this situation feel about themselves? The Solano County Juvenile Court and Community School (JCCS) alternative education program focuses on supporting students to continue their education and increase their self-esteem. Students are referred to by their local schools. The system graduates “a significant amount of students with a high school diploma.” They have numerous wellness centers across the county too. The presenters described how they worked with teachers to implement effective strategies. Robinson asked everyone to take a moment to review the Guidelines and Principles and consider how UDL might support educators in making the vision a reality. They took UDL training and created modules with outlines they followed. Participants reviewed student quotes in breakout rooms and noticed that there were multiple examples of representation within one quote. Others noticed a sense of agency: students love choice and variation in how content is delivered. Some quotes compared UDL-rich instruction with previous educational contexts. Students seemed to have gained a sense of hope.
