Spend any amount of time around kids and it quickly becomes evident that they need to move. Running, jumping, and dancing are not just outlets for the limitless childhood energy we wish we could bottle up and use as adults — they are another form of literacy.

“The last thing I’d want to hear my pilot saying is something like, ‘It’s a routine flight, there’s this body of water here, I thought I could try this creative water landing I’ve been thinking about.’”

We talked with the Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Educational Psychology in the Neag School of Education this spring. Sandra Chafouleas was seeking summer reads that would “stretch her in new ways” but also relate to the field of study she’s so passionate about.

There is a wide divide between political debates about the teaching of reading and the actual instruction students receive in classrooms. The sloppy, mudslinging nature of these debates has led to confusion, distrust and a tribe-like affiliation with single approaches among practitioners, researchers and policymakers.

“One major issue is the fact that many of the students are Spanish-dominant or Spanish monolingual, which means that they are likely classified as English learners and therefore require specialized instruction from certified teachers, along with ongoing monitoring,” Liz Howard said.

Students from the UConn ScHOLA2RS House Learning Community visited Washington, D.C. last week to attend events surrounding the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference. While there, they met with UConn alumni and Connecticut legislators at a special networking reception honoring the students and their supporters.

Two research projects co-led by professors in the Neag School of Education have recently been awarded a total of more than $2.5 million in federal funding, made available through the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Professor James Kaufman, the author/editor of more than 35 books, is interviewed in this piece focused on books and reading, which originally appeared on The Readings Lists blog. 

“I am a Professor of Educational Psychology at the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. My background is more in cognitive psychology (how people think). I study creativity – what it is, how to measure it, the positive outcomes, and how to nurture it. It sounds silly to both creative types and scientific types (the former thinks it’s pointless and the latter think it’s impossible), but my goal is to help creative people,” says James Kaufman.

“It’s not until they actually get out into the field, and see that they may be working in a place with English language learners, where they may think, ‘Oh, this might be an option for me to be a bilingual teacher or a TESOL teacher’,” Elizabeth Howard said. “And if they don’t land in a place, in a district, where there’s a high incidence of English learners, then it would not occur to them at all necessarily, they wouldn’t see the need for it.”