Month: January 2020



Sandra Chafouleas

Exploring School-Age Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Health

January 31, 2020

Because prevention and early intervention are key, schools are increasingly turned to as the primary identifiers of social, emotional, and behavioral needs, and though numerous screening tools exist, gaps remain between school-based screening initiatives and receipt of services. Through a four-year federally funded project, UConn researchers looked at school districts across the country to better understand how screening tools are being employed, and what factors influence their use.


Exploring School-Age Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Health

January 31, 2020

How you interact, how you feel, and how you act: The three basic tenants of social, emotional, and behavioral health are simple concepts, yet they can be some of the strongest predictors of well-being as children grow into adulthood. While a large number of children and adolescents meet the diagnostic criteria for mental health disorders, only a fraction actually receive needed services – and it often takes a crisis situation to initiate access to that help.

Sandra Chafouleas, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in the Department of Educational Psychology at UConn’s Neag School of Education is the co-director of the UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH) and served as the project director and co-principal investigator of the National Exploration of Emotional/Behavioral Detection in School Screening, or NEEDS², project.




Engineering a New Learning Environment for Neurodiversity

January 24, 2020

When it comes to educating the most diverse student pool possible, University of Connecticut Civil and Environmental Engineering Department Head Maria Chrysochoou thinks the system might be broken.

Not broken in a sense that engineering students are going into the workforce unprepared, but broken in a way that doesn’t allow for a myriad of learning styles—especially ones aimed at a neurodiverse population.


Tackling Underrepresentation in Gifted Education

January 24, 2020

How can today’s K-12 school districts ensure greater representation of low-income and minority students in gifted education programs? It’s important for educators to use and recognize the difference between two types of assessments to seek out students who can benefit from extended opportunities, resources and encouragement.


Op-Ed: Baseball’s Existential Crisis

January 22, 2020

We all search for relevance.

To a baseball player, it often begins in a dream. My dream was brought to life in any game against my big brother in Wiffle ball. The bases were always loaded, there were always two outs and the big game was forever on the line. It was about more than just being the hero. It was about reaching the pinnacle of the sport.