Abkowitz, Pamina
ACADEMIC DEPARTMENT
Childhood Education
ACADEMIC SCHOOL
School of Education
TITLES/RESPONSIBILITIES
Assistant Professor, Childhood Education
CONTACT
Office phone: (716) 375-2374
Send an email
OFFICE
Plassmann Hall B38
COURSES TAUGHT
- CE-500. Research Methods in the Education Professions
- SPED-430. Assessment Children with Exceptionalities
- EDUC-401. Diagnostic Prescriptive Reading
- EDUC-425. Organizational Assessment Elem Classroom
- EDUC-430. Methods and Models of Teaching Elementary STEAM
ACADEMIC DEGREES
- Ed.D. Executive Leadership, St. John Fisher College, 2017
- M.S. Ed. Educational Administration, St. John Fisher College, 2003
- M.S. Elementary and Special Education, Nazareth College, 1995
- B.A. Individual and Family Studies, Kent State University, 1991
OTHER EDUCATION
- NYS Permanent Certification: Elementary Education (N-6)
- NYS Permanent Certification: Special Education (K-12)
- NYS Permanent Certification: School District Administrator
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
- Letchworth Central School District
- K,2,4,8,11,12 Special Education Teacher
- Churchville-Chili Senior High School
- 10th Grade Co-teaching English Special Education Teacher
- 10th-12th Grade Co-teaching Health Special Education Teacher
- 10th-12th Grade Resource Room Special Education Teacher
- Pittsford Central School District
- Pittsford Middle School
- Special Education Teacher- Special Class English/Reading, Special Class Social Studies, Resource Room, Pupil Services Team Chairperson
- Thornell Road Elementary School
- Special Education Teacher- Resource Room, Consultant Teacher (Push-in, Pull-out), Special Class Reading, Special Class Math
- Pittsford Sutherland High School
- Co-teaching Global Studies II, Resource Room
- Pittsford Mendon High School
- Special Education Teacher- Co-teacher in Algebra II/Trigonometry
- Co-teacher in Earth Science
- Grades 9-12 Resource Room
- Harrison Central School District
- Assistant Coordinator of Secondary Special Education
- Eastern Suffolk BOCES
- Assistant Administrative Coordinator for Transition Services with Regional Special Education Technical Assistance Support Center
- Sayville Central School District
- Assistant Coordinator of Special Education
- St. John Fisher College
- Adjunct Faculty (2004-2007 and 2013-2017)
- Graduate Assistant for the Ed.D. Program in Executive Leadership (2015-2017)
- Buena Vista University (2017-2020)
- Assistant Professor of Special Education
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Publications
- Abkowitz, P. A. & Schultz, S. M. Designing a support system for college students with ADD/ADHD/Executive Function Disorder. Proceedings of the American Council of Rural Special Education (ACRES), USA; April 2016.
- Abkowitz, P.A. We Are Family: Exploring Sense of Community of Students With and Without Hidden Disabilities. (2017). Educational Doctoral. Paper 309; August 2017.
Presentations
- Schultz, S. M. & Abkowitz, P. A. Poverty and children with special needs: Implications and strategies for the classroom. Presented at the 35th annual American Council of Rural Special Education (ACRES) Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada; March 2016.
- Schultz, S. M. & Abkowitz, P. A. Designing a support system for college students with ADD/ADHD/Executive Function Disorder. Presented at the 35th annual American Council of Rural Special Education (ACRES) Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada; March 2016.
- Collaborated on and presented training titled Transition in the IEP: Process to Practice; August 2012.
- Abkowitz, P.A. & Schultz, S.M. We Are Family: Exploring the Facilitation of Sense of Community and Persistence of Students With and Without Hidden Disabilities through the Use of a Freshman Seminar Program. (March 2017). Poster session presented at the 36th annual American Council of Rural Special Education (ACRES) Conference, Asheville, North Carolina; March 2017.
- Abkowitz, P.A., Ludy, R., & Strohmeyer, K.A. Best Practices for Fostering Retention of Junior/New Faculty at Rural Colleges. Presented at the 36th annual American Council of Rural Special Education (ACRES) Conference, Salt Lake City, Utah; March 2018.
- Abkowitz, P.A., Ludy, R. Fields of Opportunity: Innovative Programming for Developing Multicultural Communities at a Rural,Midwestern University. Presented at the 37th annual American Council of Rural Special Education (ACRES) Conference, Alexandria, Virginia; March 2019.
- Abkowitz, P.A. When All Means All: How To Differentiate Instruction In a Mixed Ability Classroom. Presented at Inclusion Conference, Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa; April 2019.
- Abkowitz, P.A. When All Means All: How To Differentiate Instruction In a Mixed Ability Classroom. Presented at Opening Faculty Workshops, Buena Vista University, Storm Lake, Iowa; August 2019.
Professional Memberships
- Kappa Delta Pi, 5/2016-present
- American Council on Rural Special Education, 1/2016-present
- Board member at large, 9/2017-present
- Membership chair, 8/2019-3/2020
- Apprentice historian/historian/past historian, 3/2020-present
- Council for Exceptional Children, 11/2016-present
- Iowa Association for the Education of Young Children, 11/2017-present:
- Workforce Advisory Committee
- National Association for the Education of Young Children, 10/2018-present
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
I am a firm believer that all students can learn. Some learn at different rates, depth of understanding and level of expertise. A teacher’s job is to foster growth for the entire classroom community. I have always had a focus in my classroom on developing skills regarding reading, writing, task completion and organization and I used the content I was teaching to foster growth in those skills to my students.
CURRENT RESEARCH INTERESTS/PROJECTS
- Issues in Rural Education
- Best Practices in Teaching
PERSONAL INTERESTS/COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
- I collect earrings
- Zumba, jazzercise, aerobics, urban hiking!
- My cat, Ziggy
- Travel
- Music
- Family and friends are very important to me!
LINKS