The Herb Innovation Center

What We Do

The Herb Innovation Center serves the faculty and students of the Judith Herb College of Education in ways that will grow and strengthen the work of the college in collaboration with our partners in PK-12 education and our community and agency colleagues. Guided by our core principles, the center engages in the following activities.

Providing Support for Inquiry Focused on:

• Urban Education: Projects focused on urban education will investigate approaches to support learners and educators in urban and other high-needs settings. These projects will seek to impact education for all learners in these settings. Culturally responsive approaches are of particular interest.
  
  
• Special Education: Projects focused on special education will investigate approaches to support the success of learners with diverse abilities in school and vocational programs. Approaches that support all learners to achieve academic success are of particular interest.
  
  
• Learners’ Social and Emotional Needs: Projects focused on social and emotional needs will investigate approaches to addressing the all the needs of learners and educators for social, behavioral, and emotional health. This includes projects focused on the social and emotional health of learners and educators in the Judith Herb College of Education.
  
  
• Technology in Education: Projects focused on technology in education will investigate the tools and approaches to support the work of learning and educating. Computational reasoning and approaches that enhance subject-matter learning for diverse populations are of particular interest.
  
  
• Ambitious Teacher Education: Projects focused on ambitious teacher education will investigate designs to prepare prospective, new, and continuing teachers to deliberately support students of all backgrounds in deeply understanding important subject matter ideas in ways they can use to solve authentic problems. This includes designs for educators to grow as instructional leaders at all stages of their career and with multiple entry points into education.

Cultivating and Sustaining Partnerships With:

• Faculty and students of the Judith Herb College of Education
• Local PK-12 Schools
• Community and governmental non-profit agencies

Developing Resources to Encourage People and Ideas Such As:

• Customized outreach to faculty, students, and our partners
• Professional development for faculty, students, and our partners
• Program and project development resources

• Provide support for inquiry focused on urban education, special education, learners’ social and emotional needs, technology education, ambitious teacher education
• Cultivate and sustain partnerships
• Develop resources to encourage ideas

 Who We Serve

• Faculty and students in the Judith Herb College of Education
• UToledo campus partners
• PK-12 schools and community partners

 Our Core Principles

• We value diversity and pursue efforts to improve education for all learners and educators including those who have the most to gain from innovation and research efforts.
• We recognize the contribution a network of school- and community-based partners can make to addressing significant issues in education. Therefore we aim to develop and strengthen these partnerships. 
• We seek to nurture and support promising ideas and approaches to improving education for all. Specifically, the Center aims to encourage innovation within the Judith Herb College of Education and launch projects that will grow beyond the support of the Center.

For an update on how the Center is achieving short- and long-term goals, see the 2021-2022 Herb Innovation Center Progress Review below.

Herb Innovation Center Goals

FY 2021 Herb Innovation Center Report

 

Agenda and Minutes for Advisory Board meeting (05-05-2022)

Agenda and Minutes for Advisory Board meeting (09-24-2021)

Agenda and Minutes for Advisory Board meeting (11-17-2021)