Neag School students completing the UConn Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP) this spring recently presented their capstone projects – the program’s signature final assignment in which students identify a need or opportunity for school improvement and work toward positive change. The UCAPP program went through a redesign in 2020 as part of a nationwide effort known as the University Principal Preparation Initiative (UPPI), funded by the Wallace Foundation. As a result of the redesign, the concept of family and parent engagement became a priority for the first organizational leadership course in UCAPP’s program of study.

Throughout the academic year, the Neag School is proud to share the latest achievements of its faculty, staff, students, and alumni. Explore their most recent promotions, awards, retirements, publications, and more.

As the world of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) becomes increasingly computational, promoting students’ computational thinking is essential to prepare them for future STEM careers. Neag School of Education assistant professor of learning sciences, Ido Davidesco, has received a $1.4 million grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a month-long computational thinking unit in high school biology classes.

Isabella “Bella” Gradante ’20 (ED), ’21 MA says she always knew she would pursue a career in education, having been raised by a family of educators and around schools her whole life. It wasn’t until she entered her master’s year in the Neag School’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s (IB/M) program that she found what truly called her to the field: the practice of culturally relevant and sustaining teaching.

.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona praised new University of Connecticut graduates for their work in helping to respond to the coronavirus pandemic and urged them to use their uniqueness as their “superpower” to accomplish their career and life goals, in a recorded speech played Saturday at a virtual 2021 commencement. Cardona, Connecticut’s former education commissioner who earned graduate degrees at UConn, taped the speech Friday at UConn’s football stadium in East Hartford, the site of Saturday’s ceremony. The school awarded nearly 8,200 degrees.

A group of UConn researchers have received a $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a network to address knowledge gaps on the topic of emotional wellbeing, an emerging public health concern. This project is one of six, totaling more than $3.13 million in year one funding from the NIH.

“From preschool aged children up to Individuals who are students in graduate or professional schools, if each and every day we could spend time—20 minutes, 30 minutes, or even longer—with the goal of playing of being active, of interacting, the benefits to our physical, our emotional, our spiritual health would be life-changing.”

KeyBank, the Official Retail Bank of UConn Men’s Basketball, today partnered with Husky Ticket Project to present “UConn Day” to the students of E.B Kennelly School in Hartford. KeyBank provided pizzas and ice cream to more than 400 students and 120 staff members, including 20 University of Connecticut Neag School of Education students completing their year-long teaching internships at Kennelly School. Conceived in 2018 to thank Kennelly School for the student teaching internships, UConn Day also drives awareness and excitement in Kennelly students for attending college someday.

As spring arrives, it feels like the storm might be starting to ease up. We should expect, however, that conditions around us will continue to change for some time. It is important that we monitor the weather of our family well-being, now so more than ever. We need to be able to adjust what we do to make sure each family member – young and old alike – has the right gear to support their well-being.

The pandemic has presented a variety of different challenges, many of which are exhausting to cope with. The University of Connecticut’s Alumni Relations hosted a panel titled “Not Burnout, Betrayal: The Pandemic’s Impact on Working Mothers.” Panelists, along with an array of other women, discussed various struggles that mothers are facing today.