This fall, the Neag School welcomes its incoming hires, congratulates existing faculty members on new appointments, and celebrates the first full academic year with its dean, Jason G. Irizarry, and his newly appointed leadership team.

Devin Kearns, a reading disability researcher who’s been working with the education department on the new universal screening program, said the assessments can take as little as one minute to conduct to identify which skills young readers need extra support with.

The University of Connecticut has named Morgaen L. Donaldson, a renowned scholar of educational leadership and policy, as the next Philip E. Austin Endowed Chair. The Austin Chair was endowed by a group of alumni and supporters to recognize President Emeritus Austin’s many contributions to the University, leading UConn’s transformation into its present status as a top public university in the nation.

Even before COVID-19, as many as 1 in 6 young children had a diagnosed mental, behavioral or developmental disorder. New findings suggest a doubling of rates of disorders such as anxiety and depression among children and adolescents during the pandemic. One reason is that children’s well-being is tightly connected to family and community conditions such as stress and financial worries.

In her work in schools in Central Florida, Dr. Rebecca Campbell-Montalvo, postdoctoral research associate in the University of Connecticut Neag School of Education, found that parents can be hesitant to disclose the languages their children speak for a variety of reasons. She explains that by “making a welcoming school climate and atmosphere and culture that people can perceive,” parents will be encouraged to report home languages. Creating a welcoming atmosphere could involve displaying signs, sending families information in multiple languages, and providing translators at school events.

“Even before COVID-19, as many as 1 in 6 young children had a diagnosed mental, behavioral or developmental disorder. New findings suggest a doubling of rates of disorders such as anxiety and depression among children and adolescents during the pandemic. One reason is that children’s well-being is tightly connected to family and community conditions such as stress and financial worries,” co-writes Sandra Chafouleas, a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor in the Neag School of Education.

Special education teachers are at heightened risk for stress and burnout, which negatively impacts their effectiveness and well-being. With a new five-year, $4 million grant from the Institute of Educational Sciences, Penn State and Georgia State University (GSU) researchers are teaming up with school districts in Georgia to develop and test an adaptation of the Cultivating Awareness and Resilience in Education (CARE) professional development program to support special education teachers. Tamika La Salle, associate professor of school psychology at the University of Connecticut, will advise the team on culturally responsive education practices.

This summer, the Center for Education Policy Analysis, Research, and Evaluation (CEPARE) at UConn’s Neag School of Education convened more than 50 principals, assistant principals, educators, and school district leaders from across the state of Connecticut to coach them on fostering social, emotional, and behavioral well-being and safe school environments.

Imagine a group of students not quite out of high school dedicating a considerable chunk of summer break to such activities as interpreting data, carrying out diagnostic coding, and reviewing academic literature — and loving every minute of it.

Thanks to the Young Scholars Senior Summit (YSSS), a three-week program hosted by UConn since 2018 and funded by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, this was the reality for select rising seniors from across the country this past July.

“There is no one who is more important and sustained than Senator Christopher J. Dodd,” said Glenn Mitoma, the director of Dodd Human Rights Impact. Mitoma added he had the honor of working with Dodd “over the past 8 years as we crafted these new programs, as we envisioned the kind of impact that we wanted to have, and as we worked to develop the resources in order to support these initiatives.”