Center for Innovation in Education at Buffalo State Holds Inaugural Event
Buffalo State was named the Center for Innovation in Education for the Western New York region by the State University of New York. On May 20 and 21, Buffalo State will hold a symposium at the Ramada Hotel and Conference Center in Getzville, NY, to kick off activities for P-12 educators, students enrolled in teacher-preparation programs, and faculty members at colleges and universities. SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher will kick off the symposium with a video message. Western New York SUNY partners Fredonia and Geneseo are collaborators in the effort.
Because each Center for Innovation was expected to build on existing strengths, Buffalo State identified five of its educational components to serve as the framework of the new center. Those five components are:
- Buffalo State Professional Development School Consortium
- TeachLivE, avatar-based classroom simulation (pictured)
- Horace Mann Endowed Chair for Exceptional Education
- Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education
-
Community Academic Center
The symposium, Scaling Up toward Innovative Professional Learning Communities for Educators, will address three main topics:
- Developing professional learning communities
- Understanding and implementing co-teaching models
-
Maximizing the effectiveness of instructional rounds
On Wednesday, the featured presenters are Teresa Washut Heck and Nancy Bacharach, co-directors of the Academy for Co-Teaching and Collaboration at St. Cloud University. On Thursday, Jan Hoegh, associate vice president of Marzano Research, will present "Instructional Rounds and Forming PLC Teams."
“Since 1871, Buffalo State has been Western New York’s leader in preparing teachers,” said Wendy Paterson, dean of the School of Education at Buffalo State. “We are honored and excited to be sharing our expertise with teachers, pre-service teachers, and teacher educators. We look forward to learning from, and sharing with, our partners in this new phase of our mission.”