Helping faculty develop strategies for increasing access and inclusion in higher education classrooms.

Sara Schley: Who Am I? 

I am a tenured Full Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Director of the Research Center for Teaching and Learning at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and an award-winning post-secondary teacher.

Training and Experience

  • Harvard-trained in education, human      development, and bilingual and bimodal (ASL,  written English) language use across formal and  informal contexts

  • Ed.D. received in 1994. Title: Language Proficiency and Bilingual Education of Deaf Children

  • Full Professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, Master of Science in Secondary Education department

  • Director of Research Center for Teaching and Learning, at National Technical Institute for the Deaf

Multidisciplinary teaching experience, including:

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  • Teacher training

  • Deaf education

  • Special education

  • Research methods

  • Data analysis

  • Introductory psychology

  • Human development

  • Discourse analysis

  • Language acquisition and reading

Instructional, research, and director positions at:

 

  • Rochester Institute of Technology

  • Harvard's Graduate School of Education

  • Wellesley College

  • Framingham State

  • Teachers College/Columbia University

  • Hunter College/City University of New York

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Extensive collaboration with faculty across disciplines, fields, colleges, and universities:

  • Experience with and across public, private, career-focussed, liberal arts, and large and small post-secondary institutions, including Hunter College, Teachers College/Columbia University, Wellesley College, Bryn Mawr, and Smith College

  • Experience with organizations and agencies, such as CAST.org, Western PA School for the Deaf, US Department of State, and the Social Security Administration.

 

Why do I do this?

In addition to decades of professional and academic experience, I am the parent of a young adult with cerebral palsy who uses a walker and a wheelchair for mobility. While she is about as unathletically-minded as you can imagine, look what happened when I brought her to the rink and convinced rink personnel that this was a good idea!

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This is what it's all about: Inclusion in classrooms for students who have to work a little harder.

 
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How do you say "Schley" anyway?

It rhymes with "sly" and "shy," neither of which are terribly self-descriptive.

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I am a sucker for pets...I'm a cat person who likes dogs.

I'm also a competitive (albeit older) figure skater.