Education Faculty Present at Conferences

Dr. Whitney Rapp was the keynote speaker at the “Accessibility: Designing Access for All Learners” Conference held at Buffalo State University this spring. Her presentation was entitled Universal Design for Learning: Applications for Higher Education.

At the American Council on Rural Special Education Conference, held in Alexandria, Virginia, three faculty members from the School of Education presented sessions:

• Fiscally Sustainable Postsecondary Education Programs for Students with Intellectual Disabilities: Using All Resources Available—Dr. Kristen Love and Dr. Whitney Rapp
• Expanding Family-Centered Teaching Practices: What We Know, What We’ve Learned, and Where We’re Headed—Dr. Susan Schultz
• Publishing in and Reviewing for Rural Special Education Quarterly—Dr. Susan Schultz

In March, Dean Mike Wischnowski participated in a Diversity Roundtable Discussion in honor of Celebrating Public Schools Week at East Rochester High School. Student volunteers had been working on facilitating difficult conversations around race and equity, and co-facilitated these discussions with eighth graders in the middle school, who were joined by their teachers and community members.  The eighth-graders broke into smaller groups and rotated through two classrooms so different groups could interact with each other. Principal Casey Van Harssel, a current doctoral candidate in the Executive Leadership program and Superintendent Dr. Mark Linton, an Ed.D. alumnus, organized the event.

Drs. Whitney Rapp, Katrina Arndt, and Susie Hildenbrand also published their new textbook, Picture Inclusion! Snapshots of Successful Diverse Classrooms, through Brookes Publishing. 

The guidebook that offers the fundamentals of inclusion, proven practices for teaching everyone, and dozens of student profiles and sample lesson plans. A theory-to-practice guide helps educators teach every learner in a diverse inclusive classroom. The reader-friendly book includes an introduction to the why and how of inclusion in Grades K–5, including the theoretical foundations of inclusive education and general guidelines on key concepts: universal design for learning, response to intervention, alternate assessment, and more. It also explores the three model classrooms—Grades 1, 3, and 5—for an in-depth look at how to support students with a wide range of learning needs.

For each model classroom, the book includes snapshots of 20 diverse students and their teacher. Each snapshot introduces you to a student, clarifies their support needs and goals, and shares a sample support schedule and concrete strategies for helping the student reach their goals.

In the photo: Dr. Whitney Rapp, Dr. Susan Schultz, Dean Mike Wischnowski