(upbeat music)
-: Welcome to the Accessible Learning Experience
where we help you turn learning barriers
into learning opportunities.
This is a really special episode for us.
We're joined by CAST CEO Lindsay Jones,
and our entire technical assistance team at CAST,
consisting of Cynthia Curry, Christine Fox,
Maggie Pickett, Michelle Soriano, and me, Luis Perez.
We begin this episode by defining what we mean
by technical assistance at CAST
and what makes our approach unique.
We then share some of our favorite CAST
technical assistance resources
based on the different roles and tasks
such as creation or acquisition
that are involved in creating more accessible
and barrier-free learning environments for all students,
including those who have disabilities.
Here's Lindsay with the CAST technical assistance team.
-: Hi, TA team.
I'm so thrilled to be here with you and serve as a host
on the Accessible Learning Experience podcast.
What a great opportunity to share with our audience
your terrific work,
this terrific work our CAST TA team does every day
on behalf of learners with disabilities and their families.
In my experience, the term technical assistance
is often misunderstood.
I've had people say to me, it's a bit legal.
They don't exactly know what it means.
It conjures an image of kind of a one time service,
an email, a phone call.
I think it's so much more than that.
I've learned so much already being here with you
and watching your incredible work.
I want, I know we're gonna get into a whole bunch of things
about technical assistance,
but before we do that, I thought it would be fun
to ask you all what word or phrase comes to mind
when you think of CAST TA?
-: I'm happy to start us off.
The word that comes to mind is intentional.
-: And for me that word the comes to mind is innovative.
-: For me, it's timely.
-: And for me it's ongoing support.
-: And for me it's caring and relationships.
-: Well, those are amazing answers,
and I love how all of them are the furthest thing
from sort of legalistic, bureaucratic,
technical, distant support.
I love that answer, caring.
All of them are great.
So, Cynthia, you lead our technical assistance work
here at CAST.
Can you give us an overview,
what's the goal and who are the beneficiaries of our work?
-: Thanks for this question, Lindsay.
'Cause the goal of our technical assistance
is to support educators,
and this is to improve access to both assistive technology
and general education materials and technologies
for students with disabilities.
And I use the term educator to represent any individual
or group that really advances teaching and learning.
And of course our stakeholders include
parents and caregivers.
We provide TA through lots of varied activities,
but the heart of our work is establishing relationships
with education agencies
like state departments of education, school districts,
early childhood programs, and post-secondary institutions.
And we help them build their capacity
to improve outcomes for students who commonly experience
barriers to the materials and technologies
that are used in learning environments every day.
So technical assistance is delivered
in lots of different ways,
through training, coaching, and advising.
We do a lot of convening of stakeholders,
focus groups, working groups,
and our team really prides ourselves
on our listening and observing skills.
We love to learn from the field,
and we use that to innovate our products and services.
-: I love it.
It sounds like total co-design process
really built on collaboration and support across the field,
which I've definitely seen,
and it seems like the best way to increase adoption
of these really important practices.
So I know that we operate two
national technical assistance centers here,
the National Center on Accessible
Educational Materials for Learning,
also known as the AEM Center.
And we operate the Center on Inclusive Technology
and Education Systems, or something we call CITES.
So I wanna ask each of our amazing CASTies here,
what is your favorite aspect
of working with each of these centers?
And Christine, let's start with you.
-: The opportunity to engage with leaders
across the country is empowering,
especially when district leaders
and educators are excited about the support we provide.
I also appreciate the opportunity to fill gaps
they might have with CITES resources
and to take their feedback and create new resources
that can support the field.
-: Oh, I love that about empowering educators.
It sounds a lot like what Cynthia was saying
in terms of increasing collaboration,
making all parts of the system work better together.
Let's go to Maggie.
Maggie, what about you?
What's your favorite thing?
-: Yeah, I love this question
because for me it's the same thing
as when I was in the classroom, right?
It's those light bulb moments.
It's those moments where in the classroom it was learners,
but now it's a district administrator,
it might be an educator, it might be a state coordinator.
And there are those moments where
the learning experiences we've provided,
whether it's coaching support
or some sort of professional learning,
there are light bulb moments.
Those are truly life giving,
and we get to see them across various different perspectives
all the time.
But those are the moments that I live for, for sure.
-: Oh yeah, that's so exciting.
I definitely feel like everybody gets into education, right,
to help and to have those moments 'cause they want,
we are lifelong learners.
And so I can definitely see where
that experience would be so fulfilling.
Alright, Luis, what about you?
What's your favorite?
-: My favorite thing is definitely knowing
how far reaching our impact is as a national center,
or as national centers,
that not only provide high quality content
through our websites, our publications,
and our other technical assistance offerings,
but also as has been mentioned already,
our focus on relationship building
that improves the timely provision
of accessible educational materials
for all students who need them.
And as a person with a disability myself,
I know how life changing it can be
when you have the information, when and how you need it,
so that you can be successful
no matter what your goal in life is.
So I can definitely see our impact
not only on a global level, but on a personal level.
-: Oh, absolutely, it is.
It's so exciting to know,
and I think empowering that we can change
the design of the world.
The design is what is keeping us back, not the individuals.
And so that's great.
That's really exciting.
Michelle, what about you?
What's your favorite?
-: There are so many aspects of providing
technical assistance to these two centers
that make my heart burst with joy.
But specifically, I love how even the smallest of support,
sharing of tools, conversations, and brainstorming sessions
can magnify the impact for educators and learners.
There's an old proverb that says,
"Little by little, a little becomes a lot."
And being able to support this concept
is something that I look forward to
each and every day in this role.
-: Oh, I love that proverb.
I love it.
It makes me think of,
I always think of "Good begets good," right?
And how when we push things forward,
more things will come and more growth will be seen.
And so it's exciting.
Well, one thing I've been really impressed with,
as I've learned more about
the technical assistance center's work here,
AEM and CITES, is the breadth of audience.
Cynthia, you kinda went into this a little bit,
but it's really, it's everybody,
and that it takes a village to make all of this work,
and it really is a calling for these centers
to have to work with so many.
So we know that audience of this podcast also
is made up of a lot of people with different roles
and responsibilities all across the education system
from early learning through post-secondary.
So let's help them get started
with CAST's incredible resources.
To do that, I'm just gonna ask each of you
to highlight your recommendations
for what different audiences could really use
and take advantage of from CAST on our site
and from all the incredible work you're doing
that's out there.
So, all right, Maggie, let's start with you.
What would you recommend
for helping districts engage with families?
-: Yeah, so we have.
across both technical assistance centers,
but really a big primary focus at CITES recently
has been this family engagement perspective.
When we dug into the research
and started looking at family engagement
across the CITES framework,
we recognized that there wasn't a lot of research.
And after COVID, there was this huge need to really
inform the field about how to truly engage parents
in learning, especially learning,
remote learning, virtual learning
but just digital learning for students with disabilities.
And so we've been working really hard in the background,
building our knowledge, doing some research
with our research partner, Angel Morgan.
We've got a lot of really great things kind of coming out.
There's nothing on the website yet,
but soon we hope that the CITES framework
will truly be a representation
of how districts can engage families
across each area of the framework.
But if you're a family member right now,
and you're like, hey, I need some help.
I just found out my student has dyslexia, for example.
What can I do to help him or her access
their learning materials?
The AEM Center has a really great personalized
the reading experience on their website.
It's a webpage,
and it's just a plethora of tools that the team.
And I can just see Luis live in the page.
But it's just a plethora of tools, and resources,
and supports that that learners can use
to engage with their materials.
And so just take a dive into that page
and kinda get to know what are some of these features,
what are some of these tools.
And then the second thing I would say if you're,
again, kind of new in this realm of supporting your child,
whether you are a grandparent, or a parent,
or you're a caregiver, go check out
the Center for Parent Information and Resources, CPIR.
They're a partner of our centers.
They have, they support a national network
of parent centers across the country.
So each state has a network space,
and folks can kind of are there to help
and support you as a parent.
So those are two things that I'd kind of say right now,
but be checking out the CITES website
as we continue on this journey to develop the framework.
-: Great.
I can say thank you for those resources,
as a parent of a kid with a 504 and who has ADHD.
COVID-19, Zoom and online learning were a real
interesting experience in our house,
and we observed education.
Even as someone who's worked in this arena
and for a long time,
these resources and the clarity that they're presented with
are so important because those situations are really,
they can feel very overwhelming.
So I think it's, I just applaud the work you're doing.
It's really amazing
and definitely would encourage any parents to reach out
and check those resources out.
Okay, Christine, what would you recommend
for helping districts improve
their technology infrastructure?
-: As with most things in education, planning is key.
The core of CITES is bringing together
AT, assistive technology,
IT, infrastructure technology leaders,
and also education technology leaders.
And we launched the infrastructure practices
on the CITES website right at the beginning
of the school year this year.
And specifically on that page there is a section,
dedicated to personalized learning devices.
And planning with the leadership
in a district and a school is so critical.
And then being able to have devices
that support all students,
and then the tools and resources within those devices
that different students can leverage as needed.
And that is really critical.
Instead of trying to retrofit
what is purchased by a district,
we're providing those devices in advance
so that they're available in real time
for students as they need them.
Coupled with that,
and you did mention learning from home,
CITES also published a set of resources
and did research on virtual learning environments,
a variety of programs.
And as part of that we have a resource on,
specifically on AT and accessible education materials
and how those are so critical, as we all know,
but how to tap into the needs of students
if they are working remotely,
whether during the school day or after school and at home.
-: Well, those sound terrific.
Again, so useful.
And I think even though,
in many ways COVID 19 has ended, can we even say that?
But it is something we're seeing.
I know in my own son's school district,
snow days are gonna be asynchronous.
There'll be lots of online learning going forward,
which can be really good
as long as we have resources like this to help us
navigate through many of those complexities.
Okay, let's move to, what are some of the areas on the site
where you direct teachers, areas that help teachers
and higher ed instructors improve the accessibility
of the materials they are creating?
Luis, what would you recommend?
-: I would definitely recommend checking out
the Create section of our website,
which we'll of course share in the show notes
to this podcast.
We have resources for creating accessible versions
of educational materials in a variety of formats.
And a great place to start is the accessible documents page
because we know that that's something that
faculty, instructors, teachers often have to do
is create an accessible document.
And that page focuses on just five best practices,
which are captured in an easy to remember mnemonic SLIDE
that can help anyone who's new to accessibility
get started with some low lifts and some easy wins.
In addition to the content,
which is available in both text and video format,
we provide an opportunity for teachers
to practice their new skills with a try it yourself section
that includes practice files
so that you can start building your confidence
as an accessibility ally who creates
and shares accessible content with students, with families,
and with with other educators.
-: I love that phrase.
I haven't heard it.
"An accessibility ally."
What a great phrase that is.
I definitely wanna, I'm gonna steal that
and start using that, or just promote it, Luis.
Oh my gosh.
Well, so Cynthia, I really wanna ask you,
we've talked around this a little bit,
but how, what on the AEM or CITES,
what in those materials can help states, and districts,
and post-secondary institutions,
help them acquire accessible materials and technologies?
-: Yeah, so I will pick up on Luis's accessibility ally
and think about advocating and leading the acquisition
of accessible educational materials
and accessible technology as our accessibility heroes,
so really implementing some of these practices.
And the way that I would recommend
using the AEM Center's resources
is on our website there is an Acquire tab
on the main navigation.
So Luis was referring to the Create tab.
Under the Acquire tab is,
so we try to do this sort of psychologically and logically.
If you're looking to acquire accessible materials
and technologies, follow the Acquire tab on our website,
and on the first page you will see a title called
Pathways to Acquisition.
So this really clearly lays out that there are two pathways
to providing accessible materials
and technologies for students,
and that is either purchasing them from the beginning.
So in the negotiation with vendors in the contract process,
really opened communication with the providers,
with the vendors, with the publishers,
and being clear about the accessibility expectations
that you have and the requirements.
We have sample language around procurement
of accessible materials and technologies.
We have guidance for understanding what's known as the VPAT,
or the Voluntary Product Accessibility Template,
which is also an Accessibility Conformance Report.
So we have lots of guidance there to support any team,
whether it's a state team, a district team, in higher ed.
Regardless, really the process is the same,
and it's about engaging those vendors in conversations
about we want accessible materials and technologies
for all of our students,
including students with disabilities.
The other pathway is what happens if you don't purchase
or procure accessible from the beginning?
And that would be to retrofit
and to provide what are known as
accessible formats for students.
So not everything can be retrofitted,
but there are some materials that can be
provided to students in braille, large print,
digital text, audio, tactile graphics.
So in those cases there are procedures.
They can be complicated.
And so we try to provide really clear
supportive resources to help teams,
help guide teams through the process of both
making the determination for students
who need accessible formats,
the sources for how to acquire those
and then how to use them for teaching and learning.
So the Acquire tab of the AEM Center website.
-: It just sounds so important
because it's not only resources that help districts plan
for this in the future,
but also can help you right today.
Immediately, how can I make these things accessible?
So it's really comprehensive help in both cases.
So that's great.
So let's see, let's turn to Michelle.
Michelle, I wanna ask you a big one here kind of.
What would you recommend for helping states
and districts if they wanna improve their coordination
around providing accessible educational materials
and accessible technologies for all learners?
Kind of summing up, we've talked a lot about collaboration
and coordination.
How would you, what do you think?
Where would you direct someone to start?
-: Great question.
Well, the first thing I would do is we would celebrate.
We are gonna celebrate their decision to
want to move forward and improve that.
But beyond that, I would first guide them
through the Coordinate tab on the AEM Center's website
where they will find numerous resources
to support their coordination around providing AEM
and accessible technologies for learners.
However, there are three supporting resources
found within that Coordinate tab
that I would specifically like to point out.
The first resource being the AEM quality indicators.
This resource provides information on seven indicators
that make up, that help make up the coordinated system.
There are quality indicators that are created
specific for early childhood, K through 12, higher ed,
and workforce development.
So really across the lifespan.
The next corresponding resource is one of my favorite
and most used resources, which is the critical components
of the AEM quality indicators.
Now this resource supports teams with understanding the how
of creating or expanding their coordinated systems.
So if you aren't sure what components need to be considered,
where to even start, or how to move forward,
the AEM quality indicator critical components resource
really does help with the planning, implementing,
and evaluating systems for providing accessible materials
and technologies for students who need them.
And then we have the AEM Pilot.
Y'all, this is a free online tool that allows state
and district teams to set goals and track their progress
towards creating more inclusive learning environments.
And so this tool really does support
that implementation piece of those quality indicators
and the critical components for K through 12.
Definitely, definitely check that out.
-: That's good.
That is great.
So that is where accessibility brings the fun, right?
Right all at the end,
there's so many good ways to work together,
and so many free, incredibly free resources.
I mean, that is something I really am so happy
you just pointed out.
So incredible.
So last, we've mentioned a lot of website resources,
but very important.
How can people stay in touch with the AEM and CITES Centers?
How can they join the work, follow the work here at CAST?
What would you recommend, Luis?
-: Well definitely visit our website.
For the AEM center is AEM.CAST.org.
And for CITES it's CITES.CAST.org.
That's C-I-T-E-S.CAST.org.
We encourage you to subscribe
to our newsletter for all of CAST.
You'll find that on any of our websites.
There'll be a link in the footer
that allows you to subscribe to the newsletter
so that way you can stay up-to-date on what we're doing
and the continuing development of our work.
We're very inviting when it comes to
technical assistance requests,
so we encourage you to also email us.
The email addresses are AEM@CAST.org and CITES@CAST.org.
That's C-I-T-E-S again.
And of course we're very active on social media.
We encourage you to follow the CAST account.
On Twitter is @CAST_UDL.
And if you're sharing about accessible educational materials
we encourage you to use the hashtag AEM, the number four,
and all, A-L-L.
-: Well, what an amazing discussion, you guys.
Thank you so much for inviting me in today
to share this with you.
I'm so proud of the work that AEM does, that CITES does,
that all of the TA work that CAST provides in this area.
Everything you're doing to create
more accessible experiences
for all learners is so important,
and I really feel like you've featured so many great
and easy start where you are resources here today.
It's so easy to just start
and be the accessible ally that you wanna be,
and then the hero that you know you wanna be, right?
I also just wanna thank everyone listening,
working hard every day to make our classrooms
places where all learners can thrive.
It's a big job,
and I know I speak for our whole CAST team when I say
we're proud to work alongside all of you
as we create a better educational environment
each and every day.
Thank you so much for joining us.
(upbeat music)
-: Thanks for tuning in to this episode
of the Accessible Learning Experience
brought to you by the National Center
on Accessible Educational Materials at CAST.
You can find us on the web AEM.CAST.org.
There you'll find show notes with
links to all of the resources mentioned on each episode.
Thanks again for listening,
and remember, accessibility is everyone's responsibility.
(upbeat music)
The contents of this podcast were developed
under a cooperative agreement
with the U.S. Department of Education.
However, those contents do not necessarily
represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education,
and you should not assume endorsement
by the federal government.