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

Jason Courtmanche ’91 (CLAS), Ph.D. ’06 has been serving in a variety of capacities at the University of Connecticut for 23 years. A lecturer in the University’s English department, an assistant coordinator of the Early College Experience English program, and affiliate faculty in the Neag School’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction, he primarily serves as director of the Connecticut Writing Project (CWP), which immerses Connecticut teachers in an intensive writing program where they grow as writers, learn about teaching writing, and have the opportunity to become published in one of CWP’s literary magazines.

In this episode of the of TeacherCast Podcast, we welcome ASCD Author Dr. Ronald Beghetto on the program to discuss his new book What If? Building Students’ Problem-Solving Skills Through Complex Challenges.

This fall, the Neag School of Education invites submissions for several award and/or funding opportunities, including the 2019 Neag School Alumni Awards, the Rogers Educational Innovation Fund, and the Zirkel Distinguished Teaching Award.

Listen in to Neag School Associate Dean Del Siegle, director of the National Center for Research on Gifted Children, discuss the identification of gifted students among English Language Learners.

A lack of diversity among classroom teachers in elementary and secondary schools has long been a national issue. In the state of Connecticut alone, less than 8 percent of teachers are of color, while students of color represent 40 percent of the population.

Neag School Jeffrey Villar ’96 MA, ’99 Ph.D. introduced the featured speaker at the convocation, George Sugai, who Villar referred to as “the guru of climate and culture” in educational settings.

“Student of color benefit from having teachers of color,” says Dean Gladis Kersaint. “They respond when they are supported by teachers of a like race. It’s not just students of color, though. Research supports that all students, no matter what race, benefit from having teachers of color.”

If you go strictly by the official account, heatstroke was the cause of death for University of Maryland football player Jordan McNair. McNair died earlier this year following a grueling practice in which training staff failed to properly diagnose and treat his condition.

But there’s another culprit – or at least a contributing factor – that should not be overlooked.

As I argue in my forthcoming book – “From Exploitation Back to Empowerment: Black Male Holistic (Under) Development Through Sport and (Mis) Education” – what threatens black college athletes such as McNair is not just the brutal treatment to which they are subjected on the field.

The Neag School of Education welcomes four new faculty members — two in the Department of Educational Leadershipand two in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction — effective Aug. 23. In addition, René Roselle, associate clinical professor in the Neag School, has been named interim director of teacher education, for a two-year term. Roselle has served as associate director of teacher education for the past five years.