Overview
Jose Blackorby has been a leader in special education policy, innovation, and research for over 20 years. He has led national studies; experimental evaluations; and design and leadership efforts in literacy, mathematics, STEM, and assessment. His work has been impactful for evaluating IDEA and setting national policy related to special education. Blackorby is a national leader in the field of Universal Design for Learning (UDL), in which he has led technical assistance and technology innovation projects.
Over the past 10 years, Blackorby has led design and research efforts aimed at innovative applications of UDL in the fields of literacy (CISL, SNUDLE), STEM (Corgi), computer science and the arts (FRACTAL), data science (Data Adventures), assessment (I-SMART), artificial intelligence, online learning, and educational technologies. These projects used innovative design thinking methods, addressed a wide range of learner variability and accessibility, and documented student outcomes in learning and engagement.
Blackorby teaches the Universal Design for Learning course (T560) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education; the course is recognized as a leading example of UDL pedagogy and implementation. The innovative course design includes interactive activities (e.g., escape rooms, debates, simulations, dialogue with experts, games) and culminating projects related to designing accessible museums, increasing mobile literacy in India, improving meeting culture, and increasing democratic engagement. These efforts push the frontiers of how UDL can be used to embrace a range of human diversity and to solve all kinds of problems.
Education
- PhD in special education and multicultural education, University of Washington
- MA and Teaching Credential, University of Washington
- BA in fine arts, Colgate University
Select Publications
Blackorby, J., Park, S., & Smith, Z. (2023, March). Saving the world from standardized education: An escape room [Conference session]. UDL IRN Conference, Orlando, FL, United States.
Marino, M. T., Vasquez, E., Dieker, L., Basham, J., & Blackorby, J. (2023). The future of artificial intelligence in special education technology. Journal of Special Education Technology, 38(3), 404–416. https://doi.org/10.1177/01626434231165977
Blackorby, J., Basham, J., & Hall, T. (2021, July). UDL solutions for the Covid-19 pandemic and beyond [Conference session]. The OSEP Project Directors Meeting (virtual).
Blackorby, J., Basham, J., Gravel, J., & Woycik, C. (2021, March). CORGI – teaching higher order thinking skills [Conference session]. The Annual Council of Exceptional Children (virtual).
Basham, J., Blackorby, J., & Marino, M. (2020). Opportunity in crisis: The role of Universal Design for Learning in educational redesign. Learning Disabilities: A Contemporary Journal, 18(1), 71–91.
Blackorby, J., Knokey, A. M., & Basham, J. (2019, October). Escape room: UDL style [Conference session]. Santa Clara County Inclusion Collaborative Statewide Conference, San Jose, CA, United States.
Blackorby, J., Knokey, A. M., & Basham, J. (2019, October). Innovations in UDL: CORGI and CISL [Conference session]. Santa Clara County Inclusion Collaborative Statewide Conference, San Jose, CA, United States.
Blackorby, J., & Dolan, B. (2019, June). Universal Design for Learning in postsecondary education: The next generation [Paper presentation]. National Conference on Student Assessment, San Diego, CA, United States.
Blackorby, J., & Goldowsky, B. (2019, January). Making OERs sizzle [Paper presentation]. The CEC Conference, Indianapolis, IN, United States.
Schiller, E., Blackorby, J., Bakia, M., Friedman K., & Gardner, S. (2018). Emerging digital technologies in STEM learning: A research agenda for improving success of students with learning disabilities or with autism spectrum disorder. SRI International.
Blackorby, J., & Hartmann, E. (2018, August). UDL in postsecondary settings: The example of T-560-Universal Design for Learning—Meeting the challenge of individual differences [Paper presentation]. The Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Blackorby, J. (2018, July). UDL Credentialing and Certification Initiative (CCI): Micro credentials in UDL [Conference session]. OSEP’s 2018 Project Director’s Meeting, Washington, DC, United States.
Blackorby, J., Dieker, L., Izzo, M., Edyburn, D., & Erikson, K. (2018, July). To infinity and beyond: The future of educational and assistive technology [Conference session]. OSEP’s 2018 Project Director’s Meeting, Washington, DC, United States.
Blackorby, J., Schiller, E., Wei, X., & Bulgren, J. (2018, March). CORGI – teaching higher order thinking skills [Paper presentation]. The Annual Society for Research in Education and Evaluation Conference, Washington, DC, United States.
Blackorby, J. (2017, November). Ignite talk: Learner variability [Conference session]. Digital Promise/EdSurge Fusion Conference, San Francisco, CA, United States.
Blackorby, J. (2017, October). Future of Universal Design for Learning [Conference session]. Santa Clara County Inclusion Collaborative Statewide Conference, San Jose, CA, United States.
Blackorby, J., Schiller, E., Spriggs, C., & Bulgren, J. (2017, July). CORGI – teaching higher order thinking skills [Paper presentation]. The Annual KU-CRL Conference, Lawrence, KS, United States.
Blackorby, J. (2016, December). Accessibility in modern assessment systems [Paper presentation]. The White House Assessment Convening, Washington, DC, United States.
Blackorby, J. (2016, January). STEM and persons with disabilities: What do we know and what do we need to know? [Paper presentation]. The Annual Meeting of the American Education Research Association Special Conference, Santa Barbara, CA, United States.
Jenkins, J. R., Schiller, E., Blackorby, J., Thayer, S. K., & Tilly, W. D. (2013). Responsiveness to intervention in reading: Architecture and practices. Learning Disability Quarterly, 36(1), 36–46. https://www.doi.org/10.1177/0731948712464963
Blackorby, J., Lenz, K., & Wei, X. (2012, April). Evaluation of the effects of the Intel Reader on improving the reading performance of adolescents with learning disabilities [Paper presentation]. The Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Blackorby, J. (2011, April). Growth in reading achievement in a national sample of students with disabilities ages 7 to 17 [Paper presentation]. The Council for Exceptional Children’s Annual Conference, National Harbor, MD, United States.
Honors, Awards, and Affiliations
Planning Committee, Unconference on Special Education, Washington, DC May 2020
NSF DRK-12 Conference Planning Committee, Washington, DC, 2020
COVID Distance Learning Response, National Education Technology Plan, Office of Educational Technology, Washington, DC, 2020
Technical Work Group Member, National Education Technology Plan, Office of Educational Technology, Washington, DC, 2020
Conference Co-Chair, Institute for Education Sciences, Washington, DC: 2018
Conference Planning Committee, Office of Special Education Programs, Washington, DC, 2018
Member, Educator Advisory Panel, Understood.Org, New York, NY, 2018–2022
Panel review member, Office of Special Education Programs, Institute for Education Sciences, National Science Foundation
SRI Mimi Award
KU Excellence in Research Award
