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.

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.

“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. 

The University of Connecticut will begin a teaching certification program in Mandarin Chinese next year, in response to a need for Mandarin elementary and high school teachers both at the state and national level.

Professor Catherine Little writes this original piece for the National Association of Gifted Children, about rethinking the practice of using gifted learners as peer tutors in the classroom.

In affiliation with the Neag School’s Center for Education Policy Analysis (CEPA), a group of doctoral students in the Learning, Leadership, and Education Policy program have recently released three issue briefs, each of which offers a closer look at specific topics of discussion in the realm of education, as well as recommendations for the future.

They are among 59 students that took part in the Jack Kent Cooke’s Young Scholars program July 7-27, a national scholarship initiative for students in 8th through 12th grade who demonstrate exceptional academic abilities, unique talents, and persistence.