Eureka Math² Earns CAST Universal Design for Learning Product Certification

Veteran Writer Explains Why This Is a Big Win for Students and Teachers 

The Great Minds Eureka Math^2® program has been awarded the CAST Universal Design (UDL) for Learning Product Certification. CAST’s UDL framework provides guidelines for inclusive instruction. The certification confirms that Eureka Math² aligns with those guidelines and uses evidence-based practices to support all learners. To earn this prestigious award, curriculum developers must demonstrate how an instructional resource provides multiple ways for students to engage with the learning experience, access the learning materials, and demonstrate what they know and can do.  

To learn more about this certification, Santina Vieira and Nancy Zuckerbrod with the Great Minds® marketing and communications team spoke with Stefanie Hassan, a veteran curriculum writer for Great Minds and a former middle school math teacher. 

Thanks for helping us understand how this certification came about and why it was important for Great Minds to pursue. What does this recognition mean to our math team and the schools and systems that have adopted the curriculum? 

It can be a challenge for people to see accessibility features and understand the baked-in way in which we aligned the curriculum with the Universal Design for Learning guidelines unless you are looking for them. We pursued this certification so that folks would know that Eureka Math² authors and all employees of Great Minds take our mission seriously—making the world a more knowledge-rich place because of our belief that every child is capable of greatness.

Perhaps the greatest impact of getting this certification is the awareness it’s brought to the team. For example, we learned how to make images accessible by including alternate text and using the recommended color contrast ratio; some learned how to make PDF content accessible so that a screen reader could pick it up. Increased awareness of accessibility and UDL guidelines extended beyond the math team into other teams and departments. Now we can apply our knowledge to products currently in development and those planned for the future. 

What key components of Eureka Math² helped the team earn this distinction?

It’s really the instructional design. We include evidence-based practices in the curriculum that are good for all and necessary for some. These components are like the automatic doors that open and close for us as we walk into some stores. It's a nice feature for someone like me, but it may be an essential feature for someone with a physical disability because those automatic doors help them gain access to the store.  

When I was teaching, I had many multilingual learners. How Eureka Math² handles discourse in the curriculum would have been a real boon to them. I’d partner them in strategic ways, at times in alignment with their home language, but I didn’t have formal training on how to support multilingual learners. The way language routines in Eureka Math² are woven into the curriculum just feels like a natural way to teach, and it would have better supported my students and made them even stronger in the way they engage with the math and with the whole class. Eureka Math² has several instructional language routines that encourage student-to-student discourse. The nice thing about these language routines is that they allow different students to shine at different times based on which routine is being used.  

The range of supports in the curriculum also make us unique. We’ve embedded supports in the lesson body for teachers—telling them what to look for and listen to. We have margin notes in the Teacher Edition that support teachers with language and differentiation skills. Those supports are specific and linked to the activity on the page. If a student needs support for a certain problem, that support is there. If they need to be challenged, that support is also there. It’s provided when the teachers need it. The curriculum also supports teachers in meeting the needs of students at various levels and provides multiple entry points for students. That approach aligns with the Universal Design for Learning.  

What are a few aspects of the Eureka Math² program that epitomize the spirit of the UDL certification?  

The curriculum’s activities allow for multiple entry points so that all learners can access the mathematics. Students can engage with problems in a variety of ways; what’s important is making sure all students are engaged in the work. When they’re engaged and interested in the problem or the discussion, they’re more motivated to learn and continue even when challenged. 

We also have open-middle and open-ended lessons. Open-middle lessons in K–5 present students with a problem and gives them the chance to choose a strategy to solve it. They’re not told “You have to do it this way or that way.” Freedom of choice is an important accessibility feature. If a student wants to draw a diagram, they can do that. If they prefer to write and solve an equation, then they can do that. With open-ended lessons in middle and high school, students are presented with an interesting context they can notice and wonder about. Then they can help decide what they want to investigate and are released to do the work.  For example, they might look at a jar full of jelly beans, wonder how many jelly beans are in the jar, and then do some math to make a prediction before counting them. 

Can you pinpoint how the accessibility features of the curriculum improve teaching and learning? 

It’s about finding the appropriate entry point for students. The intentional scaffolding of simple to complex problems really helps students with that. Not all students will get to the complex problems in a problem set, and that’s okay. Some might need to begin with the simpler problems, and that’s okay too. The structure allows a teacher to differentiate instruction right on the spot. That improves learning outcomes for students, as does our work to engage students in math discourse. When kids are talking about math, they’re learning math.  

Can you give us some examples of learner needs that were considered when creating the curriculum and designing it in an accessible way? 

We didn’t really focus on a specific learner’s need; we focused on effective practices to improve learning for all students. We did include additional support options in point-of-use margin notes for teachers in the Teacher Edition and identified specific cases for support, including language needs. We also highlighted additional UDL strategies in margin notes and provided examples to help teachers support students. But it goes back to the important idea of what is good for all and necessary for some. That’s baked into our instructional design. 

Additional Resources:  

• Universal Design for Learning and Supports for Multilingual Learners webinar.
• Great Minds blog on UDL.   
• UDL in the Math classroom blog.