The effectiveness of universal design for learning: A systematic review of the literature and meta-analysis

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework supports students’ diversity principles in inclusive education settings. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the effectiveness of UDL principles in educational settings. The inclusion criteria of the systematic search include empirical peer-reviewed research (pre-and post-design) published between 2015 to 2021 in English and Arabic (N = 13). Findings of the systematic review revealed that the identified studies were conducted in six countries, either specific or generic domain-related; targeting K-12 or higher education levels, generally implemented all UDL principles, directed to teachers or students using professional development programmes or school interventions, and mainly used one group quantitative research design. The meta-analysis findings showed that the total effect sizes for the identified studies were 3.56; however, considerable heterogeneity was evident. The meta-analysis results specifically showed statistically significant effect sizes for one group studies, student participants, specific domain, and quantitative research design. Discussion and future directions are presented.