College and Career Readiness Summer Institute
Registration for the August 1, 2023, Institute is now available! Learn more at: https://www.southernct.edu/ctl/events
Under the CTL, the College and Career Readiness Summer Institute works to close achievement gaps by instilling students with a growth mindset and the skills to succeed.
In the summer of 2021, Olcay Yavuz, associate professor of educational leadership and policy studies, and Kelvin Rutledge, associate vice president for institutional inclusive strategies and change management, collaborated with Connecticut high school counselors and Connecticut school leaders to conduct the first College and Career Readiness Summer Institute.
For more information, contact:
Dr. Olcay Yavuz
Associate Professor/ Internship Coordinator
SCSU, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
Email: yavuzo1@southernct.edu
Administrator–School Counselor Collaboration: The Key to Comprehensive School Counseling Programs
SOLD OUT - REGISTRATION CLOSED
Thursday, 3 August 2023
10:00am – 3:00pm
Ballroom, Adanti Student Center, Southern Connecticut State University
Guided by the essential question: How can we make our school counseling program genuinely comprehensive?, the aim of this event is to afford school-based teams of administrators (principals/assistant principals) and school counselors a much-needed opportunity – in the presence of/with support from knowledgeable peers – to:
- Unpack and become (re-)acquainted with the Connecticut Comprehensive School Counseling Framework
- Assess their school’s implementation of – or preparedness to implement – the CCSCF
- Design/refine their schools’ plans to implement the CCSCF
What is a "team?":
A “team” consists of at least one School Counselor and one School Leader, and we welcome larger teams. Register here by clicking the online form or pointing your camera at the QR code. Only one registration must be completed per team, with that registration providing all the contact information for individual team members.
Thank you to our sponsors and partners for their support, and for providing lunch for the event:
Connecticut ASCD
Connecticut School Counselor Association Connecticut
State Department of Education
SCSU Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Studies
SCSU Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning
For details and agenda: View Flyer
International Youth Leadership Academy
Designed as a social justice project in education, the Southern Connecticut State University International Youth Leadership Academy (IYLA) was developed to support immigrant, refugee, and international student success, including academic, social-emotional, college, and career readiness needs.
Since 2020, the IYLA has provided international students and their families with support, resources, strategies, knowledge, skills, a network, and a safe nurturing environment where all students with international background can succeed.
For more information, contact:
Dr. Olcay Yavuz
Founding Director of The International Youth Leadership Academy
SCSU, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies
Email: yavuzo1@southernct.edu
Phone: (203) 392-5442
Interdisciplinary Collaboration Institute
African American/Black & Puerto Rican/Latino Course of Study
Offered by the SCSU Center of Excellence for Teaching and Learning, this institute is facilitated by faculty in the College of Education and the College of Arts and Sciences.
The institute will bring together teachers from multiple schools and/or disciplines in a way that facilitates standards-based and collaborative lesson development as they implement the African American/Black/Puerto Rican/Latino Course of Study.
The program will provide students with greater opportunities to understand the scope of African American, Black, Puerto Rican, and Latino contributions to United States history, society, economy, and culture, so that teachers can better support each other and their students, while demonstrating cross-curricular connections and developing innovative instructional approaches along with additional opportunities for differentiated assessment.
For more information, contact:
Regine Randall
Associate Professor
Curriculum and Learning
randallr1@southernct.edu
Social Engagement Program for Autistic Youth
Social Engagement Program for Autistic Youth between Berlin Public Schools, Meriden Public Schools, Meriden YMCA, and Southern Connecticut State University
Offered as a pilot program, this project was a multi-agency effort involving the collaboration of two public school districts: Berlin Public Schools and Meriden Public Schools, two Centers of Excellence at Southern Connecticut State University: the Center of Excellence for Teaching and Learning (CECTL) and the Center of Excellence on Autism Spectrum Disorders (CEASD), and the Meriden YMCA.
To create the first cohort, a group of middle- and high-school-aged students with autism spectrum disorder were identified by the districts and invited to participate in this 8-session program, which met at the Meriden YMCA twice weekly for four weeks. Concurrently, a parent/caregiver parallel support program was offered while the youth were engaged in a variety of social and recreational activities.
Prior to the initiation of the youth program, a two-part training was delivered to YMCA staff, designed to increase the knowledge and skill of YMCA employees in employing successful strategies to benefit individuals with autism.
This training was designed specifically for this purpose and delivered by staff from the SCSU Centers of Excellence (CECTL & CEASD). Materials and tools were distributed to trainees for use within their programming.
Overall, data suggest that this experience had a positive impact on the student participants’ desire to engage in similar programming in the future, parents’/caregivers’ confidence in the ability of YMCA staff to support their children in similar programming, and the ability of the YMCA staff to effectively engage and support youth with ASD.
For more information about autism-related programs and resources, visit the Center of Excellence for Autism Spectrum Disorders: https://www.southernct.edu/asd-center
Contact:
Kari Sassu
Director of the Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Sassuk1@southernct.edu
Routine Traffic Stop Practice for Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder
For everyone, a traffic stop can create some anxiety. For an individual with autism, it may have an even greater impact. This program is designed to alleviate some of the stress associated with a traffic stop by providing an opportunity for drivers and officers to interact in a safe, predictable manner.
Police officers perform practice routine traffic stops with drivers with autism. These traffic stops will allow participants to engage with an officer and experience a routine traffic stop in a controlled setting. It is expected that this experience will familiarize participants with the typical steps of a traffic stop and prepare them for the experience elsewhere. Participants will learn how to effectively utilize the Blue Envelope when stopped by a police officer.
Blue Envelopes will be available for drivers should they choose to use them. The Blue Envelope is a Connecticut DMV resource that provides a blue-colored envelope with written instructions to assist a motorist with autism spectrum disorder navigate a traffic stop. The envelope also alerts police officers that the individual has autism so that enhanced communication can be reached between the two. You can read more at the DMV Website here.
For more information, visit the Center of Excellence for Autism Spectrum Disorders
Or Contact:
Kari Sassu
Director of the Center of Excellence in Teaching and Learning
Sassuk1@southernct.edu