ABSTRACT
In this chapter, we present an overview of our work developing universal literacy environments (ULEs). Reflecting universal design for learning principles (Rose & Meyer, 2002), a ULE is a digital reading environment that provides the learner with a variety of embedded features that are designed to support individual learning needs while being sensitive to the interactive nature of the reading process. Focused on comprehension building, ULEs allow print-challenged students to access the same texts as their typically achieving peers through text read-aloud software. Students who struggle with making meaning are supported in an apprentice model of reading strategy instruction in which scaffolds decrease as students’ understanding and self-regulation improve. It is our belief that we learn the most from engaging students in the margins of the achievement distribution, and we therefore have pursued projects that target struggling readers, including students who are learning English as a second language, students who are deaf and hard of hearing, and children with significant cognitive disabilities.
