Creating a Positive Climate for Change

By David Luhman & Denise Jaffe, Special Education School Improvement Specialists

June 2017

The business of a school day can be overwhelming when paired with the pressures of accountability. As teachers and instructional leaders, we often get so caught up focusing on CCLS, pacing calendars, curriculum modules, and state exams that we lose sight of the fact that we need to work o...

Taking Care of Business: Students are Large and in Charge

By Kit Casey, Transition Specialist

May 2017

School-based enterprises are popping up throughout the lower Hudson Valley. The enterprises are actually student-driven businesses that provide young people with hands-on work experiences exposing them to a wide range of employment skills. Although school-based enterprises have been arou...

Social-Emotional Screening: Effectively Targeting Student Support

By Dale Langley, Behavior Specialist and John McCabe, Special Education School Improvement Specialist

April 2017

"Why aren’t schools putting more of a priority on social-emotional learning (SEL)?” We frequently ask ourselves this question during our behavior planning meetings because we hear educators in our region express a deep-seated belief that what and how kids learn socially and behaviorall...

When the Stakes are High: The Impact of Stereotype Threat and What We Can Do About It

By Nicole Scariano, Special Education School Improvement Specialist

March 2017

Throughout the school year students form social identities about who they are and what they bring to the world. These identities are shaped in many different ways - from race and gender to religious affiliation, favorite band or team - and with each of these identities come a set of expect...