“To boost student achievement and teacher morale, research shows you need highly educated and experienced school principals and district leaders,” says Richard Schwab, dean emeritus of the Neag School and professor in educational leadership. “Thriving businesses invest heavily in leadership development. They commit to training employees who show leadership potential. As in business, effective leaders in education require the right skills and proper support.”
UConn 360’s Julie Bartucca talks with Professor Sandra Chafouleas about ways parents can support their kids during the uncertainty and stress of pandemic-era schooling.
In a newly published research study, Neag School Associate Professor Jennie Weiner and colleagues at several other universities examined the extent to which principals had created the sorts of conditions in their schools that support continued learning and teaching during the pandemic. Specifically, the researchers sought to understand how, and whether, principals were fostering something called “psychological safety” in their schools.
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.
“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.”
Gladis Kersaint has been named UConn Vice Provost for Strategic Initiatives; her appointment begins March 1. Read the Provost’s announcement.
If our nation’s cities and towns are going to be asked to do more and more, the pandemic partnerships and the progress we have made offer promise for a brighter future for our communities.
