Goal-based planning is essential to the UDL approach.  Open-ended goals work better in a diverse classroom because they provide more entry points to students working at different levels.  Goals framed as essential understandings or big ideas open the door for the personalization of learning, choice and inclusion.  Understanding by Design (UbD) is one approach to goal-based planning that is compatible with UDL.<br><br>
Goals form the basis for instruction and assessments.  Adopting a UDL mindset may require you to reconsider your overall assessment philosophy.  Does everything a student completes need to be assessed?  Do you allow students to retest?  Do your methods of assessment encourage risk-taking?  If students are demonstrating their learning in a variety of ways, how is it possible to evaluate fairly?  Goal-based planning in combination with rubrics, especially rubrics created with the help of students, is one strategy used in UDL classrooms.