Consistent with its overall mission, the CDI supports a variety of academic collaborations and initiatives supporting inclusive education and policy change for students with disabilities and those of other marginalized groups.

Baldanza Fellows Program for Diverse Teachers

The Baldanza Fellows Program is dedicated to recruiting, developing, and retaining diverse and underrepresented applicants to become exceptional and motivated teachers in Syracuse area K-12 schools. The fellowship provides scholarships, stipends, and an employment pipeline to students in the Syracuse University School of Education’s teaching master’s degrees.

Collaboration For Effective Educator Development, Accountability, And Reform (CEEDAR)

CEEDAR assists states to reform teacher/leader preparation programs to align licensure standards with reform and refine personnel evaluation, realign policy structures and learning systems statewide.

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Excelsior is a peer-reviewed, fully open-access journal provided by the New York Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

Equity Audits to Identify Opportunity Gaps

The CDI develops and participates in research on curricular and co-curricular opportunity gaps and impact on underserved populations within the Syracuse City School District. This includes an audit of students, enriched/advanced courses, grades, attendance, and discipline; descriptive statistics and correlational analyses; and planning for education reforms.

Academic Collaborations:

Neurodiversity Community

A pilot project supporting degree-seeking students with autism at Syracuse University, supported by Karen Seybold.

Intelligence ++

Inclusive design course and competition with support from the Zaccai Foundation for Augmented Intelligence