New York State’s Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) goes into effect in July, 2012. This  QuERI workshop will inform teachers, administrators, student support professionals and parents about the standards for DASA compliance. It will also provide recommendations for effectively implementing policies, procedures and instructional practices aimed at disrupting bias and creating school cultures that value difference and diversity.  The QuERI DASA training will focus specifically on creating safe and equitable environments for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) students and the children of LGBT parents.  This special session will also include a presentation on support parents can give to their LGBT child who is experiencing harassment.
 
 
May 24, 2012
6:00-9:00 pm
BOCES Rodax 8 – 6075 East Molloy Road, Syracuse
 
Continuing Education Credits available
REGISTRATION INFORMATION COMING SOON
 
 
PRESENTER BIOS
Elizabethe C. Payne, PhD, is a professor in The Cultural Foundations of Education Department at Syracuse University. She is also Director of QuERI – The Queering Education Research Institute©.  In 2006, Payne began the Reduction of Stigma in Schools© (RSIS) professional development program to educate area school administrators and faculty on the relationship between social stigma and academic outcomes for LGBTQ students in schools and provide tools for creating more supportive environments for LGBTQ youth. As a sociologist of education, she specializes in qualitative research, critical theory, youth culture, and LGBTQ issues in education.  Her current research explores educator experiences working with transgender elementary school students and the effectiveness of LGBTQ professional development for educators. Dr. Payne serves on the New York Dignity for All Students Act State-wide Task Force, and the Dignity for All Students Act State Policy Group.
 
Linda Stone Fish, M.S.W., Ph.D. is a professor in the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at Syracuse University. She also has a private practice in which she specializes in couple and family therapy with adolescents. Dr. Stone Fish has published over 25 research and theoretical articles focusing on family therapy with special populations. She recently co-authored the book, Nurturing Queer Youth: Family Therapy Transformed.
 
Melissa J. Smith, MA, is a PhD candidate in the Cultural Foundations of Education department at Syracuse University.  She has been a fellow with The Queering Education Research Institute since 2008 and is currently the Professional Development Coordinator.  She has served as co-researcher with Dr. Payne on several qualitative studies, including an evaluation study of RSIS. Prior to her doctoral work, Smith was a high school English teacher in Omaha, Nebraska, Public Schools. She holds a M.A. in English from the University of Nebraska. Her dissertation work addresses the experiences of teacher allies.

The QuERI Gallery to Go exhibits will be displayed in Central New York schools during the month of April. The QuERI team has developed a curriculum guide to connect the exhibits to academic curriculum and facilitate discussion in classrooms. To access the curriculum guide, click the link below.

QuERI Curriculum Guide 2012

Dr. Payne, Director of the Queering Education Research Institute (QuERI) and Matthew Faiella, attorney with the United States Office of Civil Rights, New York Division, will be speaking at Cornell University Law School on Tuesday, November 8th. They will be addressing LGBTQ in-school harassment and the on-going legal and policy initiatives in New York State.

Queering Education Research Institute Final Report

In the Spring Semester of 2011, QuERI designed and implemented a wide variety of in-schools programming & research initiatives including:

• Visited schools 87 times.
• Implemented programming in 17 schools in 11 districts.
• Worked with 205 students
• Conducted 20 professional development sessions and trained 630 educators.
• Participated in 67 Gay-Straight Alliance or Acceptance Coalition meetings
• Began 2 new Gay Straight Alliances in SCSD, and 1 in a suburban school.
• Facilitated 36 in-school arts workshops and held 25 theatre sessions at SU.
• Organized regional Day of Silence activities, including 3 flash mobs in Syracuse area high schools
• Facilitated two Radical and Responsible Masculinity workshops at Syracuse University.
• Held a book drive to bring LGBTQ age appropriate books into SCSD middle schools.
• Hosted a day-long event for students and educators throughout Central New York—Queer Students CNY: A Day of Art, Education and Action, April 1 at XL Gallery.
• Delivered new Gender workshops to area Gay Straight Alliances
• Hosted an evening of arts expression, “Silent Voices,” at Syracuse Stage for LGBTQ students.
• Served as policy consultants for a school harassment lawsuit in New York State- a test case using Title IX involving the United States Department of Justice.
• Currently serve as the only education researchers/LGBTQ and schools “experts” on the New York State Dignity for All Students Act policy committees.
• Published research about Reduction of Stigma in Schools in Journal of LGBT Youth.
• Presented new research on teacher experiences with transgender students at the Gender and Education Conference, and the Transgender Health Conference
• Presented research at the Pace University “When Words Become Weapons” conference
• Began a case study in rural Vermont on transgender elementary school children
• Currently consulting and providing qualitative research support on a statewide analysis of the heteronormativity of sex education curricula in New York State.

Dr. Payne will be presenting at the Pace University Summer Institute, When Words Become Weapons: Educational Perspectives and Legal Parameters.

For more information or to register for the institute, please click on the link below:

Pace Summer Institute Registration

In preparation for New York State’s implementation of the Dignity for All Students Act, The Queering Education Research Institute (QuERI) in the Syracuse University School of Education invites all K-12 Educators to participate in

Queer Students CNY: A Day of Art, Education, and Action

12:30-6:30

Friday, April 1, 2011

Register today!