Paul Freeman ’09 Ed.D. is in his 10thyear as the superintendent of Guilford (Conn.) Public Schools and has almost 30 years of administrative and teaching experience in schools in Connecticut. Freeman earned an Ed.D. in 2009 from the Neag School of Education. In addition to having recently been named the state’s Superintendent of the Year by the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS), he had been recognized in 2014 by the Neag School as Outstanding Superintendent of the Year.
Connecticut education Commissioner Miguel Cardona will appear before the Senate’s education committee Wednesday for a hearing on his nomination to serve as the next U.S. education secretary under President Joe Biden.
UConn professor Casey Cobb, an education policy expert, said the hearing will provide an opportunity for Americans to learn more about Cardona’s priorities —especially since he only entered the public eye on a national scale in late December.
The University of Connecticut has been awarded a $179,000 grant from the US Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education for a new research project centered on reimagining dual-language education. The project’s purpose is to improve the ability of dual-language programs to promote the equitable bilingualism and biliteracy development of all students through a greater focus on sociocultural competence.
Another concern is that the popularity of these programs in white, affluent districts will lead to the schools being less focused on the needs of ELLs. The University of Connecticut, Cardona’s alma mater, has recently been awarded a $179,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education to address these concerns by promoting a greater focus on sociocultural competence.
“As a coordinator of this class, I felt completely invigorated to be a member of the University of Connecticut,” says Milagros Castillo-Montoya, a professor of higher education and student affairs at the Neag School. “I did not know how it was going to turn out. But, I am so excited that we have a University leadership right now that removed all barriers to make happen. I feel like I am at a university that is not just talking the talk, but really engaging in the hard work we need to do and investing the time, money, and resources of all sorts to make change happen.”
“As in STEM fields – STEM education continues to present as a strong job market,” says David Moss, an associate professor in the Neag School of Education. “In the STEM fields the market appears strong across the spectrum of education – that is, post-secondary technical trading, 4-year degree graduates, as well as those with advanced all, face way better than average job prospects.”
To Miguel Cardona, it’s not “oh pobrecitos” — “oh poor them” — said Richard Gonzales, an associate professor in residence at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education who has worked closely with Cardona on principal preparation initiatives. “No, no, no. We will serve them as well as possible, and we will ask them to do their part, and they will rise because they’re very capable.”
Connecting these school scenarios and Trump’s behaviors is not intended to contribute to the ever-mounting list of recommended consequences that could result from his fueling the insurrection that our nation has just experienced. It does bear noting, however, that if Trump were a Black teenager, he most certainly would have received exclusionary disciplinary action such as suspension and perhaps even expulsion from school.
Meriden is where Miguel Cardona — President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to become the next U.S. education secretary — grew up and spent 21 years of his 23-year career as an educator. And his experiences there — his battles and the district’s successes — will likely be front-of-mind as he coordinates policy for all the public schools in the country.
What Miguel Cardona, 45, lacks in years of leadership, Robert Villanova and others said he makes up for in his ability to work with teachers on often-contentious issues, from evaluation to lengthening the school day. During the vetting process for U.S. education secretary, Cardona “must have been able to tell a dozen stories about how he was able to connect conflicting points of view and come out with a better solution,” Villanova said.
