PaTTANpod

Agencies from across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania highlight supports and services available during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marilyn Zecher shared the value of multimodality teaching in mathematics to increase the impact of learning from basic math understandings to more complex topics.  Marilyn offers insight into how to use household items to help children while on extended school closures.

Dr. Stephanie Stollar discusses the impact extended school closures will have on student outcome data.

Guest Bio: Dr. Stephanie Stollar is an educational consultant who supports teachers to improve reading outcomes. Her work is focused on the use of direct assessments to build and evaluate multi-tiered systems of supports. Dr. Stollar has provided professional development for teachers for the past 25 years. She has conducted research in the areas of assessment, early intervention, and collaborative problem solving. She serves on the boards of the Innovations in Education Consortium and the Mount St. Joseph University Reading Science Program, where she is an adjunct professor.

One of the state leads for the PaTTAN Autism Initiative shares was resources the team has curated for educators, parents, caregivers, and students during this extended school closure.

Dr. Jane Thierfeld-Brown talks about the necessary skills for students on the autism spectrum to prepare for college and career.

Dr. Adam Saenz shares the stages of escalation and how to best respond at each stage.  The current situation brings light to all adults needing to know how to handle students/children when in emotional and behavioral crises.

Dr. Adam Sáenz earned his Ph.D. in School Psychology from Texas A&M University as a United States Department of Education doctoral fellow.  He completed his predoctoral clinical training under a fellowship appointment to Harvard Medical School, and he has a post-doctorate in clinical psychology from the Alpert Medical School of Brown University.  Dr. Sáenz also earned a Doctorate of Ministry in Pastoral Counseling from Graduate Theological Foundation with residency at Christ Church college of Oxford University. Dr. Sáenz is the author of the best selling book, The Power of a Teacher, and Relationships That Work, and his most recent release The EQ Intervention: Raising a Self-Aware Generation Through Social and Emotional Learning (Greentree Book Group) will be released in January 2020.   He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Oakwood Collaborative, the counseling and assessment clinic he founded in 2003, and he consults with school systems internationally in the areas of emotional intelligence, self-care, and the dynamics of relationship-based learning.   In addition to his clinical work, Dr. Saenz serves as a high school track and field, coach.  He is a member of the Association for Applied Sports Psychology,

Guest, Dr. Sandy Chafouleas, shared the Direct Behavior Rating (DBR) can be effective and efficient as a progress monitoring tool as well as a targeted screening tool.

Dr. Sandra M. Chafouleas is a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology within the Neag School of Education. She also serves as the founder and Co-Director of the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH). Dr. Chafouleas received her Ph.D. in psychology (school) from Syracuse University and has been a licensed psychologist in Connecticut since 2001. Dr. Chafouleas has demonstrated continued success with extramurally funded research since 2006, with work focused on supporting school system implementation of evidence-informed practices and expertise in areas of integrated health and learning (whole child), school mental health, and behavior assessment. She has authored over 150 publications, and regularly serves as a national presenter and invited speaker.  She is a fellow in both the American Psychological Association and Association for Psychological Science, and is and Invited Member and Past-President of the Society for the Study of School Psychology.  She received the 2018 Edward C. Marth Graduate Mentorship award from the University of Connecticut AAUP; the 2018 UConn Alumni Foundation award for Faculty Excellence in Research and Creativity Award in the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; the 2016 APA Division 16 Oakland Mid-Career Scholar Award; the 2009 UConn Alumni Association award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching; and previously served as associate dean for The Graduate School (2012-2014) and then the associate dean for research in the Neag School (2014-2016). Prior to becoming a university trainer, she worked as a school psychologist and school administrator in a variety of settings supporting the needs of children with behavior disorders.

A native of Perú, Dr. Walqui holds a Ph.D. in Education from Stanford University. For over fifty years she has worked on the development of deep disciplinary practices in second languages.  She has taught at all levels and at universities in Perú, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the US. Dr. Aída Walqui directs the Teacher Professional Development Program at WestEd and one of its signature initiatives, the Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL), focused on improving teacher and educational leadership ability to accelerate and deepen the linguistic and academic disciplinary achievement of English learners in American schools.  Dr. Walqui is the author of multiple articles and books, including Scaffolding the Academic Success of Adolescent English Learners. A pedagogy of promise; English Language Learners the New Standards: Developing language, content knowledge, and analytical practices in the classroom, published by Harvard Education Press; and her most recent, published in 2019 The Amplified Curriculum: Designing Quality Learning Opportunities for English Learners published by Teachers College Press.  Dr. Walqui is one of the founding partners of Stanford University’s Understanding Language Initiative. In 2016, on the 50th anniversary of the International TESOL Association, she was selected as one of the 50 most influential researchers in the last 50 years in the field of English Language teaching.

Guest, Ron Sims from the Capital Intermediate Unit, discusses the pathways through computer science and highlights the PAsmart grant program.