“Being randomly assigned a black teacher if you are a black student leads to a significant impact,” Hyman said during an interview about his research published last month in the peer-reviewed journal the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Seventy years ago this week, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris. “All anniversaries provide a moment to reflect and take stock,” says Glenn Mitoma, an assistant professor of curriculum and instruction in the Neag School. “The UDHR was written in the aftermath of World War II, a catastrophic moment in history that has important lessons for us today. We can use this anniversary as an opportunity to reflect on and rededicate ourselves to the goal of a more just, equitable, and inclusive world.”

“To support students’ creativity, educators must question assumptions and instill a sense of possibility,” says Ronald Beghetto, a professor of educational psychology at the Neag School.

A number of frustrated Hartford parents want to know why their children can’t attend one of the many high-performing magnet schools the state has opened in the region.

“It’s really striking. I mean the fact that these are little kids, in first, second grade, and having these black teachers at that age, the fact that it lasts so long, it’s really quite amazing I think,” said UConn professor Joshua Hyman, who co-authored the study.

The influence of having a black teacher can make a monumental difference in a black student’s life, and the effect begins early in an education.

The influence of having a black teacher can make a monumental difference in a black student’s life, and the effect begins early in an education.

Having just one black teacher in elementary school not only makes children more like to graduate high school – it also makes them significantly more likely to enroll in college.

“All it takes is one black teacher to influence a student,” says Joshua Hyman.

The two researchers will be studying the experience of African-American male students in the context of three different types of institutions: Prairie View A&M University, a historically Black university; University of Connecticut, which is a primarily White institution and UH, which is a Hispanic-serving institution.

The University of Connecticut is serving as one of the lead institutions on a $32.6 million U.S. Department of Education grant supporting schools and districts throughout the nation to implement empirically based practices to increase student success.