Today’s classrooms are built on a big promise: more students—including students with disabilities—will learn alongside their peers in general education settings. In practice, that promise creates a daily challenge for educators: how do you teach rigorous standards, meet accountability expectations, and still respond to wide variability in student needs?
One research-supported answer is to merge two powerful ideas:
Formative assessment (checking for understanding during learning, not just after it)
Universal Design for Learning (UDL), especially the principle of action and expression (giving students multiple ways to show what they know)
When schools combine formative assessment with UDL expression, assessment becomes less about “who can take a test well” and more about “who understands the concept—and what support or challenge comes next.” That’s a shift that matters for every student, and it’s especially important for students with learning disabilities or students who struggle with written output.
Why this matters now: inclusion and accountability are happening at the same time
More than half of students served under IDEA spend most of their day in general education classrooms. At the same time, states and districts continue to raise expectations through standards and assessments. Under ESSA, there is also increased emphasis on assessments that capture deeper understanding and higher-order thinking—sometimes through portfolios, projects, or performance tasks.
In other words, schools are being asked to do two things at once:
Reduce barriers so learners can access instruction and demonstrate knowledge
Increase the quality of evidence used to make instructional decisions
Formative assessment + UDL is a practical way to do both.
Formative assessment: the “in-the-moment” data teachers can actually use
Formative assessment is a planned, ongoing process teachers use during instruction to elicit evidence of learning, interpret it, and adjust teaching accordingly. It can be formal or informal, but it’s typically more “action-oriented” than a traditional test—think quick explanations, diagrams, demonstrations, or short responses.
Unlike a summative test at the end of a unit, formative assessment helps answer questions like:
What do students understand right now?
What misconceptions are showing up?
Who needs re-teaching, who needs practice, and who is ready for extension?
That last point is key. Formative assessment is not only about identifying gaps; it also helps teachers spot students who are ready for deeper challenge.
UDL in a nutshell: design for variability, not for an “average” student
Universal Design for Learning is a framework for reducing barriers and optimizing learning based on how people learn. It emphasizes flexible pathways in three areas:
Multiple means of engagement (the “why” of learning: interest, motivation, self-regulation)
Multiple means of representation (the “what” of learning: how information is presented and understood)
Multiple means of action and expression (the “how” of learning: how students respond and demonstrate knowledge)
For assessment, the action and expression principle is especially impactful because it encourages educators to remove unnecessary barriers in how students are expected to show learning.
UDL expression + formative assessment: a better way to “see” student thinking
When teachers build UDL expression into formative assessment, they intentionally offer options for student output. Instead of requiring every student to prove understanding in the same format (often writing), students can demonstrate knowledge through methods that better match their strengths—while still aligning to the same learning goal.
This approach is not about lowering expectations. It’s about ensuring the assessment measures the intended target (understanding of content) rather than unrelated skills (like handwriting speed, spelling, or stamina for long written responses).
In practice, UDL-aligned formative assessment often includes:
Choice in response mode: speaking, writing, drawing, building, presenting, mapping
Scaffolds for planning and executive function: checklists, templates, rubrics, step-by-step prompts
Peer and self-assessment to strengthen metacognition and clarify what “quality” looks like
A classroom-ready example: rating understanding with models (1–4 scale)
The article provides a clear example using a science standard focused on ecosystems and the movement of matter (e.g., carbon cycle concepts). After instruction, students create a model (such as a diagram) and explain it. Then they self-rate their understanding on a 1–4 scale, with peer confirmation and teacher review.
What makes this powerful is that the rating is tied to evidence:
4: student extends learning beyond class resources, adds elements, and explains clearly (oral and written)
3: student independently explains a detailed model using taught resources
2: student shows partial understanding and needs minimal prompting
1: student model is incomplete and requires significant prompting
Then the instructional next step becomes straightforward:
Students at 1–2: targeted re-teaching and guided practice
Students at 3: additional practice to strengthen independence and accuracy
Students at 4: enrichment, extension tasks, deeper application
This is formative assessment doing what it’s meant to do: driving instruction based on real evidence of understanding.
Technology is optional—but it expands access to expression
A major takeaway is that formative assessment with UDL expression can happen on a continuum:
No-tech: paper/pencil diagrams, exit tickets, journals, graphic organizers
Mid-tech: Word, PowerPoint, Google Slides, simple concept mapping tools
High-tech: multimedia creation tools that allow voice, video, and interactive presentation
Technology can reduce barriers for students who struggle with specific output demands. For example:
A student who struggles with drawing can use images and label them digitally.
A student who struggles with writing can record an oral explanation to demonstrate understanding.
A student who benefits from structure can use templates, graphic organizers, or slide frameworks.
Tools mentioned as examples include PowerPoint, Prezi, and VoiceThread for narrated explanations, along with concept mapping approaches like Thinking Maps (low-tech) and digital mapping tools (higher-tech). The point isn’t the tool—it’s the match between the learning objective and the expression option.
What school leaders can do: make formative assessment more consistent and more inclusive
For principals, special education leaders, and instructional coaches, the opportunity is to help teams move from “assessment as an event” to “assessment as a system.” A few high-impact moves include:
Start with the learning goal: “What do we want students to know, understand, and be able to do?”
Define proficiency with evidence: use simple rubrics or 1–4 scales tied to observable criteria.
Plan expression options in advance: don’t wait until a student struggles to offer an alternative.
Use peer and self-assessment intentionally: it builds student ownership and improves clarity.
Choose tech based on access and purpose: many classrooms already have tools that work without adding new platforms.
How TinyEYE fits into this conversation
For schools implementing inclusive practices, online therapy services can support the “action and expression” side of learning in very practical ways. Speech-language pathologists and occupational therapists often help students strengthen the underlying skills that affect classroom expression—like language organization, vocabulary, narrative structure, executive functioning supports, and fine-motor or sensory considerations that can make traditional output difficult.
When therapy goals align with classroom formative assessment routines (like explaining a model, presenting a concept map, or recording a verbal summary), students get more consistent practice demonstrating what they know—across settings, not just during isolated sessions.
Bottom line: better expression creates better evidence
Formative assessment is only as useful as the evidence it captures. When students have multiple, purposeful ways to express understanding, teachers get clearer insight into learning, students experience fewer barriers, and instruction becomes more responsive.
That’s the real promise of merging formative assessment with UDL expression: not more assessment, but better assessment—assessment that informs what to do next.
For more information, please follow this link.
