The College of Saint Rose
432 Western Avenue
Albany New York 12203
1-800-637-8556
 

Community Outreach

The primary role of the School of Education is to prepare future and practicing educators and clinicians to provide expertise, service and leadership in K-12 schools, community agencies, and in certain settings in higher education. Initial thoughts about that preparation often focus on a common perception of teaching and learning as something that occurs in the classroom only. A more inclusive perspective on the role of The School of Education, however, reveals both broad and deep engagement in service to the educational and professional community.

In keeping with the mission of The College of Saint Rose to inspire its students to become active members of their communities, the School of Education reaches out to its professional community and their clients. In so doing, the faculty model community engagement for their students, coach them in community participation, and demonstrate the value of community partnerships as a way of enhancing one’s professional skills. In fact, outreach becomes a primary factor in the preparation of future educators; it provides the venue for the linkage of theory and practice so crucial to effective learning and continuous improvement of practice.

The partnerships between various components of the School of Education and segments of the community are diverse and dynamic. In some situations, they may involve just a faculty member or student or two, and in others, the outreach is a pervasive piece of the instructional program. Some outreach activities continue on for years, while others are short-term responses to a need or opportunity. What is significant about the partnerships is that they simultaneously provide developmental opportunity for faculty and students from Saint Rose and service to members of our geographic and professional communities.

Faculty and students are active in several outreach programs at this time.
Examples follow:

• A faculty and student partnership with Albany High School assists teachers working with special needs students to adapt curriculum and instruction to ensure that the students meet state standards.
  
  
• Several faculty and students work with Sponsor-a-Scholar at its Albany site. This program supports promising secondary school students who would be the first in their families to attend college. Saint Rose staff provide both academic and personal support to approximately 40 students.
  
  
• The Winkler Speech-Language-Hearing Center and Preschool Program provide on campus clinical as well as outreach services to persons in need of speech, language, and hearing services. Students gain clinical experience through the programs, and more than 250 members of the community were provided with evaluation services, clinical treatment and educational support in the last academic year.
  
  
• Approximately 60 students under the direction of a faculty member tutor elementary children at Giffen and Philip Schuyler elementary schools in Albany in the development of literacy skills. The College supports the Saint Rose students under the Work-Study Program.
  
  
• This year, 21 graduate students in special education are working full time as interns in the Albany, Troy, and North Colonie school districts. The interns provide instructional services in special education and inclusion classrooms and are supported under contracts between the school districts and the School of Education.
  
  
• As a part of the graduate programs in counseling, school psychology, and educational administration, students must carry out 600- hour internships in a setting that is appropriate to the certification they seek and the career path they intend to follow. School districts and community agencies benefit significantly from the work of these interns—generally between 25 and 30 per semester—while the students learn and practice their professional craft.
  
  
• Each semester approximately 150 elementary students come to the Saint Rose campus each Saturday morning for an enrichment program. Students in the elementary education program whose classes are scheduled on Saturday work with the children to gain instructional experience and simultaneously provide the children with learning opportunities.
  
  
• The students in the special education/elementary education program complete their instructional methods courses by spending every Tuesday and Thursday for a full semester in a classroom working with the teacher and students. This term two faculty members are guiding this experience in three schools in the Albany district.
  
  
• Under the auspices of a gift from an anonymous donor, a faculty member and graduate student coordinate eight to ten students from the School of Education to provide tutorial services to 4th and 5th grade students in four Catholic schools in Rensselaer County. Their work supports the development of greater competence in English language arts.
  
  
• The School of Education is developing a partnership with the Capital Region Teacher Center through which it will offer professional development and credit-bearing courses for practicing teachers who seek renewal and refinement of skills and knowledge.
  
  
• The campus members of the National Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association select a service project each year and carry out a relevant service activity as an organization. Last year, for example, they sponsored a “walkathon” to raise money for the National Parkinson’s Disease Association.
  
  
• Two faculty are providing an extended workshop for all administrators in the Troy school district to support their efforts to provide a new higher level of instructional leadership to the teachers in their schools.
  
  
• Students in Kappa Delta Pi, an honor society for education majors, collect books for local elementary schools and serve as tutors in a number of after-school programs.
  
  
• One of the most widely known outreach efforts of the faculty and students in communication disorders is the Fluency Council. Founded more than 25 years ago, it has continuously provided services to children and adults of all ages who stutter. The annual Fluency Weekend Workshop draws more than 75 people to participate in therapy and celebrate their growing capacity to express themselves orally with fluency.
  
  
• Several faculty, with the support of externally funded grants, have provided workshops to update the technology skills of teachers, administrators, student teachers, and student teacher supervisors in recent months. Participants in some of the workshops also receive software to support their teaching. Segments of a week-long workshop serving 44 administrators were rebroadcast on NYS Public Television.
  
  
• The Saint Rose chapter of the Student Council for Exceptional Children has mentored residents at St. Anne’s School, provided school supplies to the R. & E. May School, and served as pen pals to students at Van Rensselaer Elementary School.
  
  
• The faculty in communication disorders each year presents a Supervisors’ Workshop for the purpose of providing professional development to members of their profession.
  
  
• Faculty also reach out to their own colleagues on a local, state, and national basis, sharing their research and professional reflections in a wide variety of venues. In the 2000-01 academic year, faculty in the School of Education reported more than 75 presentations at professional conferences and professional development occasions, 15 publications of articles in professional journals, and work in progress on three books .