Stephani Jones, the head of the science department at Norwich Free Academy, recently oversaw the school’s second annual summer program for aspiring science teachers working to get their teaching certification and also gain valuable first-time experience teaching children in the classroom. The UConn-NFA STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program took place July 10-13 at NFA’s Broadway campus.

Joshua M. Hyman, an assistant professor of public policy at the University of Connecticut, studied the effects of this initiative while he was my student at the University of Michigan. Professor Hyman analyzed the test scores and college attendance of all public high school students in Michigan, before and after the ACT requirement.

Tracey Lamothe of Madison and Dr. Christine Peck of Oxford are among the first five PBIS trainers in the 10 Northeast states to receive the endorsement following a multi-year period of collaboration and training with a research group coordinated by the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education.

Seven faculty members across the Neag School of Education have recently been awarded funding — totaling more than $10 million — by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) for a range of education research projects. In addition, two Neag School alumni are part of grant projects newly funded by IES.

New research by Neag School of Education’s Joshua Hyman finds a simple strategy can modestly boost the share of poor students who go on to college: requiring, and paying for, all students to take the ACT or SAT.

Morgaen Donaldson, director of the Center for Education Policy Analysis at the University of Connecticut, said the state’s many districts have a lot to do with the low percentage of teachers. “We have quite a lot of districts, especially for our size. These districts have to provide all the services for the students.”

Attendees for the 40th annual Confratute conference were welcomed by Joe Renzulli and Sally Reis. Welcome remarks also featured Education Commissioner Dianna Wentzell and Dean Gladis Kersaint of the Neag School of Education.

“Trinity Lutheran opens the door because it states simply that if a religious entity is otherwise qualified to take part in a public benefit program, then it cannot be prohibited solely on the basis of its religious affiliation,” said University of Connecticut professor Preston Green.

The lack of basic safeguards has opened up the charter school sector to “educational entrepreneurs,” says Preston C. Green, professor of Educational Leadership at the University of Connecticut. “These actors may also run businesses whose interests conflict with the charter schools that they are operating.”

Through the state, a survey developed in partnership with UConn’s National Center for Research on Gifted Education has been sent to all district superintendents seeking information on what is being done for gifted and talented students.