This session includes multiple presentations. Timestamps are indicated in parentheses so you can forward to the presentation you want to view.
An Enduring District-University Partnership: Supporting Science Instruction (00:00)
Presented by Loyola University Chicago
Our session will tell the story of a long-lived district-university partnership, and how it has evolved to meet the needs of all partners. In the face of frequent leadership and policy changes in the district, the partnership has kept the needs of science teachers in the foreground. We will describe strategies used to cope with these changes, and how these operate in their current collaborative project; a district-wide curriculum-implementation and professional learning project at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) in collaboration with Loyola University Chicago. All partner projects focus on diverse schools where 90% or more students receive free or reduced-price lunch. The deep collaboration between CPS and Loyola is an important component of our anchor mission.
Rachel Shefner is Assistant Provost for Accreditation and Assessment at Loyola and the Principal Investigator of many publicly and privately funded grant projects supporting CPS science teachers since 2003. Chandra James is an instructional coach at Loyola and has held many positions at CPS including the Director of the Office of Math and Science, Network 3 Chief, assistant principal, and many years as a science teacher. Their breadth and depth of experience and differing perspectives will shed light on critical components of a long-lived partnership. They will reflect on how these components enable the partnership to continue while forging a new project under the very unique circumstances currently facing us.
Buffalo State CAC’s Buffalo Beginnings Educational Program: A Hyper-local Remote Learning Experiment (22:41)
Presented by SUNY Buffalo State College
The SUNY Buffalo State Community Academic Center (CAC) provides reciprocal, high-quality learning opportunities for Buffalo State faculty, students, staff, and community members of all ages. The CAC’s Buffalo Beginnings program began in 2012 as a bridge/orientation program for newcomer refugee youth and their parents. In 2020, the CAC was awarded a grant from the Cullen Foundation to expand the program to increase the number of students served and add a middle school Buffalo Beginnings STEM program for multilingual youth. A central component of the program expansion was the development of family engagement events and activities. Buffalo Beginnings started in July of 2020 during COVID-19 restrictions. Hear how a team of 30 Buffalo State, faculty, staff, and community partners collaborated to reenvision and deliver a remote summer version of Buffalo Beginnings that served 24 students and families. Central to the success of the summer 2020 remote Buffalo Beginnings program were building up from a foundation of trust between students and community partners, developing a hyper-local project-based curriculum, and drawing from a range of expertise in the community and campus. Participants will takeaway strategies for student engagement and participation, sustaining interest in remote learning, promoting reflection for college and middle school students, and techniques for organizing with different campus and community partners.