When Dan Crispino took the job overseeing the curriculum for elementary schools in Meriden, Connecticut, it was 2019 and he had a big problem to solve. The low-income district, where nearly 75% of kids receive free or reduced lunch, was struggling with math.

“When I would go into classrooms all over the district, I could see that kids didn’t seem as excited about math,” Crispino said. “And it didn’t surprise me that our results were depressed in math.”

Crispino said math classes were 60 minutes then. They are now 90 minutes, beginning with a 30-minute lesson followed by an hour-long block where every minute counts. The class is made up of tightly timed segments, where students and the teacher rotate through small groups.

The “Right to Read” bill that I sponsored went through a democratic process that began in the Joint Committee on Education in 2021. It was then the subject of a public hearing, during which members of the committee heard testimony from constituents across the state — who, by and large, were enthusiastically supportive. Among them were the dean of the UConn Neag School of Education, the president of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities, urban superintendents, district-level curriculum professionals, classroom teachers, parents, literacy experts and researchers.

In a recent article, Preston C. Green III of the University of Connecticut Neag School of Education, Bruce D. Baker of the Rutgers Graduate School of Education, and Joseph O. Oluwole of Montclair State University argue that school finance litigation incompletely remedies the harms imposed upon schools serving Black communities. Green, Baker, and Oluwole instead call for a reparations program for Black Americans that includes a school finance reform agenda. They argue that this agenda should be enacted through state-level legislation and subsequently supported and regulated by federal actors.

Haddam-Killingworth High School Principal Donna Hayward is noted locally for being “truly a courageous leader.” Now, she is known on a completely different level as the National Principal of the Year for 2023, so named by the National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Del Siegle, the committee’s chairman and the Lynn and Ray Neag Endowed Chair for Talent Development in the Neag School of Education, said the University Senate is excited to continue working with D’Alleva and Maric to advance the institution’s vision.

“Dr. Anne D’Alleva has been an outstanding interim provost and is an excellent permanent appointment for provost. She is a thoughtful leader with a strong commitment to student success and has a comprehensive knowledge of the UConn community,” Siegle said.

Finding Gifted Learners Through Language Barriers – Through Project EAGLE, UConn researchers are working to identify gifted math students among English Language learners.

Brennan credits the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy & Health, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Jeffrey Shoulson, and Sally Reis, special advisor to Interim Provost Anne D’Alleva, with taking a special interest in shepherding through the effort across the regional campuses.

Hoeft also created the “B.R.A.I.N. Camp” reading intervention program with Devin Kearns, a professor of educational psychology in the Neag School of Education; and the highly successful “Ask a Brain Scientist” online series of hands-on science classwork used by hundreds of children registered from around Connecticut and elsewhere in the U.S.

The Aditya Birla Education Academy (ABEA), one of India’s leading teacher training institutes under the aegis of the Aditya Birla Education Trust (ABET), and The Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development (University of Connecticut), one of the leading centers in the world in the area of gifted education and talent development, have announced a collaboration to offer the Schoolwide Enrichment Program to Indian educators.

The five-minute video Denoya’s students watch is part of a series produced through a new pilot program called Feel Your Best Self, or FYBS. Each video is built around a simple strategy to help kids recognize and manage their feelings – or to help friends who are struggling.

“It’s taking what we know works,” says Emily Iovino, a trained school psychologist who is part of the FYBS team.