We all want to know if our work is making a difference. It’s a fair question, and a deeply human one. As educators, we pour our hearts into designing flexible, inclusive learning experiences. So it’s natural to look for proof that it’s working.
But too often, we equate “proof” with standardized test scores, and they don’t tell the whole picture.
I recently read a systematic review that noted that across inclusive settings, UDL is associated with higher student engagement, stronger ownership and self-regulation, and improved achievement, especially when educators receive ongoing professional learning and implement the framework with fidelity. But there’s a catch. When diving more deeply into the cited studies, it’s clear that academic outcomes don’t begin to take hold until months of ongoing implementation.
Don’t get me wrong - academic data matters. We want ALL students to grow in measurable ways as they work toward or beyond mastery of grade-level standards. But if we only track what’s easy to quantify, we miss the deeper story of learning: the spark of engagement, the boost in confidence, the quiet persistence of a student who keeps trying when things get tough.
Growth Is a Marathon
When we look only at standardized scores, we create an incomplete picture of school success. Academic gains take time and often lag behind the meaningful shifts that happen first: engagement, curiosity, connection, and reflection. As a long-distance runner, I think about this a lot. I can log miles for months without seeing my pace change very much. If I only tracked speed, I would miss the early wins that predict future gains and a much healthier me. What changes, and what really matters, is so much more than how fast I can run a marathon. Because I run consistently, I have a lower resting heart rate, a higher VO2 max, quicker recovery, and the motivation to lace up again tomorrow. Those are leading indicators. They tell me the work is taking root and over time, my running gets more efficient, and alas, I get faster!
Classrooms work the same way. When we design for voice, choice, and flexibility, the first signals are not necessarily jumps in standardized measures. They are students staying with a task longer, asking better questions, explaining their strategy to a peer, or choosing a tool that helps them focus. You see more eye contact in discussions. You hear “I tried a different approach” in reflections. You notice fewer avoidance behaviors and quicker bounce-backs after mistakes. These are the engagement, confidence, and metacognitive habits that make achievement possible.
So we have to measure those signals when we’re implementing UDL. In the first few weeks, check in on motivation, persistence, and collaboration. Save short student reflections that capture how they learned, not just what they learned. Over time, those small data points compound, just like consistent training. Those are the first miles of real progress.
What We Should Be Measuring
If we want to know whether our systems and instruction are working, we have to collect data that reflects the whole learner, examines the instructional experience, and start with a clear baseline. Before we can celebrate growth, we have to know where we began.
That means paying attention to indicators that show change sooner than test scores ever will:
- Engagement: Are students leaning into learning more often? Are they persisting longer before giving up?
- Confidence: Are they trying new strategies, taking risks, or helping peers?
- Reflection: Can they name what works for them and why?
- Relationships: Do they trust their teachers and one another enough to collaborate, share feedback, and recover from mistakes?
Establishing a simple baseline for each of these areas, whether through quick surveys, short reflections, or observation notes, helps us see early shifts. When engagement, confidence, and self-reflection start trending upward, that’s evidence of growth, even if test scores haven’t yet caught up.
These indicators show that students are developing agency, motivation, and a sense of belonging, which, when paired with access to universally designed, grade-level rigor and deeper learning, are the conditions that make academic success possible. All this is to say that academic growth and system growth take time. But when we document where we start and track steady improvement over weeks and months, we can see the story of progress unfold.
So celebrate those early signals. They mean your work is taking root. Because when we focus on the whole learner and the instructional experience, along with academic outcome data, the numbers eventually follow.
