SOE Hosts Superintendents Breakfast to Discuss How to Confront Changing Public Perception of Education

Albany, NY (October 22, 2019) – More than a dozen superintendents from BOCES and school districts across the region gathered on UAlbany’s uptown campus, along with UAlbany’s President Havidán Rodríguez and Provost Carol Kim, to discuss how to build stronger partnerships between the University and the P-12 sector.
 
Jason E. Lane, Interim Dean of the School of Education, convened the breakfast. “As the region’s leading public research university, we feel a deep obligation to ensure that we have a strong relationship with our local schools,” commented Lane, setting the stage for the discussion. “As public perceptions of education wane, it is imperative for us to work across sectors to change the narrative and encourage more young people to pursue careers in education.”

The breakfast was part of the 5th annual SOE Day, which focused on challenging the changing public perceptions of education.  Gary Langer, an internationally recognized public opinion researcher and the lead scholar for the annual PDK Poll of public attitudes toward public schools, joined the group to share key findings of the poll.

A key aspect of the conversation focused on how to recruit and retain a more diverse population of teachers to better reflect the changing diversity in the state.  The group discussed several opportunities around working with districts to “grow their own” candidates, including the new Academy for the Advancement of Teaching Assistants, launched by UAlbany and Capital Region BOCES, as well as QUESTAR III BOCES new Academy for Educational Careers, which uses UAlbany courses to prepare high school seniors to pursue educational careers.  Several districts will also participate in a Career Institute Day next spring, where high school students will have the opportunity to visit the UAlbany campus and learn about careers in education and mental health.

Other topics of discussion ranged from developing collaborative efforts to improve professional development for schools to better preparing teacher candidates for dealing with the mental health issues and trauma now present in many classrooms. The School of Education’s newly formed Academy for the Advancement for Teachers, Leaders, and Schools (AATLaS) was identified as a conduit through which this work could be conducted.