Two Neag School faculty members in the Department of Educational Leadership have recently received funding — totaling more than $2 million — from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES), as part of the latest round of grants issued by the National Center for Education Research (NCER)’s Education Research Grants Program.

What if we, as instructional leaders, supported creativity in teaching and learning? I mean really supported it. In short, we would see ourselves taking beautiful risks. Creativity expert and professor Ron Beghetto pens this blog post.

With 80 students currently majoring in the University’s human rights undergraduate program and another 40 to 50 enrolled as human rights minors, UConn stands out as one of just a handful of universities in the nation offering a degree program in the field of human rights.

But educating students in human rights issues need not be exclusive to college campuses, as Glenn Mitoma, assistant professor of human rights and curriculum and instruction, can attest.

As you watch this year’s summer Olympics, pay attention to the athletes from smaller countries. There’s a good reason why some countries manage to produce elite athletes consistently, even though they’re drawing from populations much smaller than those of China, Brazil, or the U.S. They cultivate them differently.

“We have spent billions, passing endless pieces of reform legislation at the state and national level — yet still we have not succeeded in supporting and enhancing the teaching profession to the degree we must if we are to achieve the lofty goals all of us have for our nation’s schools,” says Richard L. Schwab, former dean of the Neag School and a longtime commissioner for The National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NCTAF).

While the number of global learning opportunities for current Neag School students continues to expand, the School will now be offering yet another type of internationally based program — one designed to serve practicing school principals based in the Middle Eastern country of Jordan.

Congratulations to our Neag School alumni, faculty, staff, and students on their latest accomplishments inside and outside the classroom.

Assistant professor Milagros Castillo-Montoya will serve as interim director of the Neag School’s Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) program for one year, the Department of Educational Leadership announced earlier this month.

Connecticut is facing a steady decline in its school-age population, with the decline largest among high school students. The shrinking pool of high school students is expected to affect Connecticut school districts in many ways, from planning for school buildings, to class size, and even decisions about where students will attend school. Shaun Dougherty, assistant professor of education policy and leadership at the Neag School of Education, and an affiliated faculty member in UConn’s Department of Public Policy, recently discussed the potential impact. This story — written by David Bauman — originally appeared on UConn Today, the University of Connecticut’s news website.

Our alumni, faculty, and students reflect on their experience in the Neag School in this special video segment. Video produced by Charter & Oak Media Collective.