Hartford Courant (Neag School graduate student and former German Olympian, Cecile Pieper, is featured about her playing for UConn’s field hockey team)
UConn Co-Directs National Education Center on PBIS
UConn Today ($32.6M federal grant funds National Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Inventions and Supports for next five years)
Coach’s Firing Won’t Solve College Football’s Deepest Problems
The Conversation (Neag School’s Joseph Cooper pens commentary about the recent coaching controversy at the University of Maryland)
Op-ed: Coach’s Firing Won’t Solve College Football’s Deepest Problems
Editor’s Note: Joseph Cooper, Neag School assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, writes this piece originally published for The Conversation. Read the original article.
Maryland college football coach DJ Durkin was ultimately fired after the death of a player during practice – and findings that his players were bullied and abused by coaches and staff over the course his three-year tenure. However, his 11th hour ouster on Oct. 31 is evidence of how much the culture of college football still needs to change.
This culture encourages players to ignore signs of physical or mental exhaustion and is present across the college football landscape, not just at Maryland.
Durkin may be gone, but only because the public – including current players, students and alumni at the University of Maryland – wanted him gone. It wasn’t because the people in charge of Maryland’s university system suddenly realized how wrong it was for Durkin to run a program in which complaining of pain was seen as unmanly.
The board of regents at the University System of Maryland actually wanted to keep Durkin. The board even reportedly pressured University of Maryland President Wallace Loh to keep Durkin or risk losing his own job.
Loh initially responded by announcing his own resignation. But after hearing the public outcry after the board moved to reinstate Durkin – Loh fired Durkin instead.
In a statement, Loh noted how “the overwhelming majority of stakeholders expressed serious concerns about Coach DJ Durkin returning to the campus.”
“This is a difficult decision, but it is the right one for our entire University,” Loh stated. He also vowed to devote the remaining months of his presidency to “advancing the needed reforms in our Athletic Department that prioritize the safety and well-being of our student-athletes.”
A student-led protest was reportedly being planned before the firing took place.
In our view as researchers who focus on the intersection of race and college sports, none of these events will rid big-time college sports of its deepest problems. Those problems include the placing of winning games and generating revenue ahead of the best interests of the student-athletes.
In recent years, legal activists like former athletes Ed O’Bannon, Cain Colter and Martin Jenkins have sought to change this state of affairs.
Trends underscore how black males are primarily valued at these institutions as athletic gladiators, but not as students deserving of quality educational opportunities and support for their overall well-being.
Risking their lives
It would be naive not to view big-time college sports through the lens of race. A recent report that shows black males make up only 2.4 percent of the general student body at Power 5 Bowl Championship Series schools, but 55 percent and 56 percent, respectively, of football and men’s basketball teams.
Further, black male college athletes graduate at the lowest rates among all college athletes and in the NCAA and Division I Power 5 member institutions, which generate billions of dollars primarily off the broadcasting and sponsorship rights for football and men’s basketball.
These trends underscore how black males are primarily valued at these institutions as athletic gladiators, but not as students deserving of quality educational opportunities and support for their overall well-being.
Failed to render medical aid
Had Durkin been allowed to continue to coach despite the toxic culture uncovered at Maryland following the May 2018 death of 19-year-old offensive lineman Jordan McNair, many would have considered it a gross miscarriage of justice.
McNair died of heatstroke during practice earlier this year. A cold-water immersion would have likely saved his life but team staff and coaches failed to promptly seek medical assistance.
While player deaths during practice may be rare, indifference toward black athletes, especially their physical and mental health, is widespread in college sports.
The prevalence of college athletes’ unmet mental and physical health needs is well-documented. The NCAA’s Sport Science Institute, through its own research, has acknowledged that college athletes’ health issues remain a major problem.
Disparities in discipline?
Yet, as the story of Durkin demonstrates, both the NCAA – and the University of Maryland as one of its member institutions – have failed to create and enforce policies that hold coaches responsible for creating conditions that are injurious to college athletes’ overall well-being.
The system seems more bent on policing and punishing black student-athletes than it does on holding accountable those who are responsible for their care.
For instance, several players on the University of North Carolina football team were suspended for four games for selling their team-issued shoes in violation of NCAA rules. Another black player, a University of Central Florida kicker, was ruled ineligible after receiving money through a YouTube channel he created.
These student-athletes who engaged in victimless acts and tried to make a few dollars in a system that makes billions of dollars from their labor are made to sit out games or get kicked off the team entirely. Yet, as demonstrated by the initial decision to keep Durkin, neglecting the health needs of a player in medical distress is excusable.
Balancing academics and sports
Being a college athlete is inherently tough work. One of us is conducting research into black Division I football and men’s basketball players. Thus far, the research shows 64 percent of respondents find it difficult or very difficult to balance their student and athlete identities while they’re in season, compared to only 34 percent when out of season.
These numbers illustrate the imbalance in what college athletes are expected to do versus how much time they have for school. If it’s already difficult for players to manage the demands of college and the obligations to their team, how much more difficult was it for Maryland football players, who faced a football culture that normalized physical and mental abuse under Durkin. It was noted in a report that before McNair passed away, one of the staff called him a vulgar name for a female private part.
College football players are not allowed to form a union. In our view, this curtails their ability to seek recourse if their rights are being violated.
Before Durkin was fired, blame initially fell on strength and conditioning coach Rick Court, who resigned after McNair’s death. Court was, in some ways, cast as a bad apple and the tragedy allowed to be seen as an isolated case of inattentiveness to one player’s medical needs by a few replaceable athletic staff.
The wrong kind of firing
It’s important to note that in being “fired,” Durkin is still reportedly being bought out for the remainder of his five-year contract, valued at more than $5 million.
If the University of Maryland had taken the more difficult route of firing Durkin for just cause and taking away his payout, that would have sent a powerful message that players’ lives matter.
This piece originally published for The Conversation. Read the original article.
AUDIO: Secrets of the Homecoming Goat (LIVE)
UConn 360 (Alum Jim Penders featured on UConn’s latest podcast episode)
Neag School Hosts 4th Annual Educational Leadership Forum in Hartford
Alumni, students, faculty, and administrators from the Neag School of Education joined education professionals from across Connecticut last week for an evening of networking, followed by a panel discussion, at Hartford’s Spotlight Theatre.
The fourth annual Educational Leadership Forum, created by Richard Gonzales, the director of the Neag School’s educational leadership preparation programs, and Robert Villanova, program director for its Executive Leadership Program (ELP), highlighted the theme of leadership for equity.
“No topic is more timely or relevant to school leadership and leadership preparation today,” said Gonzales, who established the event to commend the work of graduates from the Neag School superintendent/district leader and principal preparation programs.
ELP is Connecticut’s first program designed specifically to prepare future superintendents to face the challenges and ever-increasing demands necessary to lead rural, suburban, and urban school districts. The UConn Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP) has also helped shape education in Connecticut by ensuring aspiring principals are ready to handle student and school needs from the start of the academic year.
“Equity is not about the same treatment for all students. Equity is a process that ensures every student [is] guaranteed the same result and the same outcomes.”
— Patricia Garcia,
Superintendent, Windham Public Schools
Defining Equity
Sarah Barzee, an ELP alumna and chief talent officer at the Connecticut State Department of Education, moderated the panel discussion featuring Patricia Garcia, the superintendent of Windham (Conn.) Public Schools; UCAPP student and Connecticut State Department of Education Turnaround Bureau Chief Lisa Lamenzo; literacy specialist at Clinton Public (Conn.) Schools and UCAPP student Jim Messina; UCAPP alumna and clinical instructor at the Neag School Jennifer Michno; and superintendent of East Hartford (Conn.) Public Schools and IB/M alumnus Nathan D. Quesnel ’01 (ED), ’02 MA.
“We have increasingly realized that the value proposition in education is people … namely, our educators,” said Barzee during her opening remarks. Barzee spoke about working to erase barriers in education by addressing four facets of school readiness — talent management; instructional leadership; culture and climate; and organizational effectiveness.
“I was awakened to the inequities that exist in educational systems … Once awakened, I could not un-see the issues and challenges facing many of our students,” she said. “If we all work together, our individual efforts will expand exponentially, resulting in deep and meaningful change in our schools.”
She led the panelists through a range of questions touching on topics such as how equity manifests in education, what tangible goals would allow programs to provide equitable outcomes for students, and what challenges exist that disrupt student learning. To start, Barzee asked panelists to define equity, focusing on how teacher and principal inexperience, low retention rates, and even ZIP codes can oftentimes be barriers for students, particularly minority students and English-language learners.
“Equity is not about the same treatment for all students. Equity is a process that ensures every student [is] guaranteed the same result and the same outcomes,” said Windham Superintendent Garcia. In her school district, Garcia added, where 75 percent of students are Latinx and 30 percent are second-language learners, equity means eliminating inequitable processes and policies in order to ensure similar outcomes among all graduates.
Lamenzo, turnaround bureau chief in Clinton, pointed out that educators must recognize when certain processes and policies are no longer effective and when to initiate change. Because equity intersects with other aspects of education, she said, it must serve as the foundation for change.
Another facet of an equitable education, said Superintendent Quesnel, is ensuring educators have high expectations not only for students, but also for themselves, in order to push students to use higher-order thinking skills and give them the tools they need to successfully complete rigorous coursework.
“We need to talk about what we expect from ourselves as the deliverers, as the providers, as the coaches, as the leaders in our (education) systems, and what we expect to give,” he said. “We are all so aware how ZIP codes, neighborhoods, and cultural barriers define outcomes for kids, and how unequivocally wrong that is and how painful that is to look at.”
Messina and Michno described equity of education as a matter of social justice; not providing students with appropriate work for their grade level, they said, is a disservice that widens achievement gaps, and the space between students’ realities and their dreams.
“We need to talk about what we expect from ourselves as the deliverers, as the providers, as the coaches, as the leaders in our (education) systems — and what we expect to give.”
— Nathan D. Quesnel ’01 (ED), ’02 MA,
Superintendent, East Hartford Public Schools
The Opportunity Myth
Barzee went on to discuss the Opportunity Myth, a report recently released by The New Teacher Project, which surveyed 4,000 students across five school districts to analyze how the education system is failing students, particularly students of color, students from low-income families, those with mild or moderate disabilities, and English language learners.
Researchers identified four pertinent areas of student success — grade-appropriate assignments, strong instruction, deep engagement, and teachers with high expectations — and found students spent 500 hours per academic year (the equivalent of six months of wasted class time in each core subject) on assignments that were below grade level.
“It found that students have big, clear goals and plans,” Barzee said. “The researchers found, however, in classroom after classroom filled with ‘A’ and ‘B’ students … [the] big goals for their lives were slipping further and further away each day, unbeknownst to them and their families, not because they couldn’t learn what they needed to reach them, but because they were rarely given the chance to do so.” She challenged the panelists to identify one tangible action to address equity and issues outlined by the Opportunity Myth.
The panel of educators discussed the impact of low expectations at low-resource schools, and how achievement gaps widen due to a lack of understanding of what students’ needs are.
“In the report, it says that students with access to these four resources close gaps. That gap … starts early, and it widens over time, so being proactive is important. A big part of this work is understanding and truly knowing, and not assuming (what students need),” said Lamenzo.
Knowing these needs starts with knowing the students themselves and what they hope to get out of their education, added Messina, who has focused on improving instruction and resources for English-language learners.
Michno, who has worked with the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to conduct research related to family, school, and community partnerships as well as a multi-million Wallace Foundation initiative to improve principal preparation programs, highlighted the importance of “understanding the power of family-school community engagement and partnership” and said that thriving school districts have typically made connections with families and other community stakeholders.
Barzee’s final question for the panel requested them to analyze the processes and policies promoting inequities in their own districts and schools, and asked them to identify one challenge or barrier they could disrupt and attempt to reverse to provide an equitable education for students.
“The recruitment and retention of teachers that believe in every student, that are committed to every student, and demonstrate that commitment to students, is one of the things I would disrupt,” said Garcia.
“What matters is where our kids are coming from, and how we can lift our kids up,” said Quesnel. “What we can do today and tomorrow is work to close that gap that exists by getting us, as adults, to look inside and try to understand and deal with our own biases, as uncomfortable as it may be.”
View photos from the event. Learn more about UCAPP at ucapp.education.uconn.edu and about ELP at executive.education.uconn.edu.
Fresh Talk: An ‘A’ Student Gives Teachers 8 Pieces Of Advice
Hartford Courant (IB/M Student Taylor Hudak writes op-ed)
The Lasting Legacy of Vivienne Dean Litt at the Neag School and Beyond
Scholarships undoubtedly remain an essential source of support for individual students, but in fact they can also set into motion a wealth of other positive outcomes beyond funding an individual’s educational journey. One such student scholarship is the Vivienne Dean Litt Memorial Award — established in memory of the late Vivienne Dean Litt, former assistant director of the University Program for Students with Learning Disabilities (UPLD) at UConn.
Much like Litt herself, who inspired countless students during her tenure at UConn, the Litt scholarship has had a multidimensional impact over the years on the UConn community, as well as the community at large — from shaping future career paths to sparking research efforts that will ultimately strive to help students with learning disabilities and their families — all while paving the way for others to pay it forward.
Advancing Research on Gifted Children With Disabilities
Ashley Carpenter, a veteran schoolteacher and now doctoral candidate in the Neag School of Education’s educational psychology program, is the Litt Scholarship’s most recent recipient. Putting the funding toward finishing her Ph.D., she has a research focus on twice-exceptional children, or “2e” children — those who are gifted and also have one or more special needs or disabilities.
“This scholarship … takes the pressure off a little bit,” says Carpenter. “As a graduate student, my husband and I live off my graduate assistantship and his salary. We have a child, so any bit of money will help our financial situation. It greatly alleviates stress.”
“She touched the lives of so many people in the Neag School – faculty, staff, students. We wanted her to be able to continue to touch those lives.”
— Martin Litt, son of the late Vivienne Dean Litt
The scholarship itself, established to “promote and encourage the success of a student whose interests and character continue Vivienne’s spirit and professional work with children and/or adults with special needs,” is near and dear to Carpenter. Her son is twice-exceptional.
“We knew he was highly intelligent. Before he was 2 years old, he was talking like a 4-year old,” she says. “Something would come out of his mouth, and adults would look at him, and say, ‘Did he just say that?’ He has ADHD and is about to be diagnosed with being on the spectrum.”
Carpenter says she has found it challenging, as her son is capable of learning at such a high level, while his disability hinders his attention. He also has sensory issues. Luckily, through her doctoral program the Neag School, she works and conducts research with experts in this realm. In addition, she and her family live local to UConn, in Mansfield, Conn., where they have found knowledgeable, helpful educators.
Carpenter’s decision to focus her doctoral research on 2e children was based on two things. Her son was one of them. She also has had many students during her 14-year teaching career — she estimates around 25 percent — who were in a gifted program, but considered underachievers.
Despite being identified by the state as having above-average ability, some of these students were still failing class. During her doctoral studies, Carpenter says, she has found very limited research on the topic. Ultimately, she hopes she can move the research forward in part to help parents like herself, who may feel isolated.
‘If It Wasn’t For Her, I Would Have Quit’
Sean Madden ’88 (CLAS) first met Litt at UPLD (now the Center for Students with Disabilities) when he arrived in Storrs. Having begun his academic career at the Avery Point campus, Madden found the Storrs campus large and had difficulty focusing due to his learning difficulties. Once he connected with Litt, he says, “She made the campus small.”
“She was very good with organizing my time,” says Madden. “She helped me pull out what I knew and transfer it on paper. She helped me with the writing. She taught me how to organize myself for school. She would sit you down and counsel you through what you had to do, and then give a lot of tips on how to do things differently. … If it wasn’t for her, I would have quit. She kept encouraging me.”
Madden graduated and started teaching history, but his experience with Litt and others drew him to get certified in special education. “I got hooked on teaching special education students,” he says. “I liked the relationship with the kids. In special education, we had small groups. I got to teach more subjects to a smaller group of students, versus just history.”
Due to Madden’s affiliation with the Avery Point campus, he has usually given financially to the campus, along with Avery Point baseball, until he recently received a phone call from a UConn student requesting his support through the UConn Foundation.
That phone call spurred a memory of Vivienne Litt. Deciding to see how he could give back in her honor, Madden came to discover the Vivienne Dean Litt Memorial Award.
“I definitely wanted to give to her scholarship in recognition of how much she helped me in college,” he says. “Now that my kids are older, I wanted to give back. They are also interested in being teachers.”
“Vivienne’s joie de vivre and ability to see humor even in seemingly thorny events colored her approach to life and her work. [She] believed passionately that college students with disabilities had the ability to succeed and become independent.”
— Joan McGuire, Former UPLD Director
Litt’s Far-Reaching Ripple Effect
Joseph Madaus, Neag School associate dean for academic affairs and director of the Postsecondary Disability Training Institute (PTI), now in its 30th year, also found vital support in Litt back when he was pursuing his doctorate at the Neag School.
“She was my first supervisor when I had a graduate assistantship at [UPLD],” says Madaus. “She was this wonderful personality … friendly and vivacious, a smart, brilliant woman. She was also very kind. She had this sparkle in her eyes when she would interact with people [and] this ability to support the students wherever they were in a given point in the semester, within a week or a day.”
Litt built a lasting legacy, according to Madaus. “She believed in this whole group of students with learning disabilities who, at the time, were not widely accepted or supported in postsecondary education.”
Hundreds of these students supported by Litt who have since gone on to become teachers and influence others — Madden among them — are “having a ripple effect,” Madaus says. “They are spread out around the country from higher education positions to different school district positions and, in terms of policy positions, they are carrying on [the work].”
Joan McGuire, former UPLD director, remembers how Litt’s “unwavering belief in human potential undergirded her approach to working with students.”
“Vivienne’s joie de vivre and ability to see humor even in seemingly thorny events colored her approach to life and her work,” McGuire says. “[She] believed passionately that college students with disabilities had the ability to succeed and become independent. She was uniquely talented as a learning specialist who could observe students in the learning process and accurately pinpoint skills that would play to their strengths and tap in to their perhaps yet unrealized creativity.”
Meanwhile, UConn Emeritus Professor Stan Shaw, who created PTI and UPLD, draws parallels between Litt with Neag School alum Chris Dailey, Hall of Fame associate head coach of UConn women’s basketball.
“The head coach or program director gets all the headlines, while Vivienne and Chris are in the trenches every day solving problems, supporting staff, and dealing with myriad details,” Shaw says. “They are the ‘mom’ in the room making sure everyone is doing their job and, sometimes, correcting anyone who fell short of their optimum performance.”
When Litt passed away in 1997, it was McGuire, as well as Litt’s two sons, Martin and Matthew Litt, and fellow colleagues and friends, who founded the Litt Memorial Award in her honor.
“Watching how others reacted to her was so gratifying. People just lit up when they were around her and felt truly heard and valued,” says Martin Litt. “She touched the lives of so many people in the Neag School – faculty, staff, students. We wanted her to be able to continue to touch those lives, and we wanted to support the opportunities that the Neag School provides.”
Interested in supporting a Neag School student scholarship? Learn more here.
Study Finds High Levels of Creativity, Originality in Adults With ADHD
The Michigan Daily (Professor James Kaufman quoted)
Neag School Faculty, Staff Mentor Emerging Leader in Sport
Each year, the U.S. Department of State, the Center for Sport, Peace & Society at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, and espnW co-sponsor the Global Sports Mentoring Program’s (GSMP) Empower Women Through Sports Initiative. This is an international leadership development initiative that recognizes female achievement in sport and aims to empower women to be ambassadors of change for female athletes around the world. The initiative is based on evidence that women and girls who are exposed to sport increase their chances of success both on the field and in other areas of their lives.
This year, GSMP is partnering 15 emerging female leaders from 14 countries with leading executives and experts in the U.S. sports industry. The Neag School Department of Educational Leadership’s Laura Burton, Danielle DeRosa, and Jennifer McGarry were selected to serve as mentors to an emerging leader from Vietnam, Tra Giang “Jane” Nguyen. This is DeRosa’s second year as a program mentor, while both Burton and McGarry will be serving as mentors for the third year in a row. The Department welcomed Nguyen on Oct. 5 and will host her until Oct. 24.
“I want to change the mindset in Vietnam so that women can participate in sports. And I want to show people it isn’t only physical education; sport can make the lives of all people better.”
— Jane Nguyen, 2018 Global Sports Mentoring Program Emerging Leader
Nguyen’s passion for sport began at a young age as she excelled as a top youth table tennis player. However, her achievements in sport would grow beyond her success as an athlete. After earning a bachelor’s degree in physical education, she moved to Thailand to pursue her MS and Ph.D. in exercise and sport management from Burapha University. During her studies she was exposed to sport management and psychology for the first time, which prompted her to create the first nonphysical sport curriculum when she returned to Vietnam – including courses in sport management, marketing, economics, and tourism.
In her current role as a professor with the Institute of Sport Science and Technology at the University of Sport Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Nguyen bridges the theories she teaches in the classroom with real-world experience – often inviting her students to assist her in coordinating major sport conferences and other events throughout the year. In 2017, she organized the International Conference on Sport Management, the first university sport conference ever held in Vietnam, with more than 200 professors representing 28 countries.
In addition to her university work, Nguyen served as general manager for Thailand’s men’s and women’s national ice hockey teams at the 2017 Asian Games in Japan, where the men won the gold medal. She also managed the team during the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia, where the men medaled in silver. She currently works within the association to secure funding to run ice hockey camps for girls and women.
Nguyen is also currently working on a major project inspired by her time with Sport for Tomorrow, an initiative led by the Japanese government. Her project, titled “Walk and Run for Tomorrow,” will consist of a marathon and other racing events for students with and without disabilities in Ho Chi Minh City.
“In Southeast Asian countries, we are very patriarchal,” says Nguyen in her featured GSMP emerging leader profile. “Women never have time to exercise or think about sports. That is why I work with students. I want to change the mindset in Vietnam so that women can participate in sports. And I want to show people it isn’t only physical education; sport can make the lives of all people better.” Although there are barriers for women to participate in sport, Nguyen says she sees her role as an advocate in this regard.
“We are so pleased to continue our involvement in this exciting and meaningful program,” says Burton. “GSMP has had such a positive impact on the lives of girls and women around the world, and we lucky to play a role in support of the program. Dr. Nguyen is a natural fit with us here at UConn, as she teaches and supports students in sport management at her university, while also seeking to positively impact the lives of girls and women through sport and physical activity.”
“GSMP has had such a positive impact on the lives of girls and women around the world, and we lucky to play a role in support of the program.”
— Laura Burton, Professor and GSMP Mentor
Throughout the month of October, Nguyen will be spending time with sport management faculty at UConn to learn more about the context of sport in the U.S., nonprofit development and social entrepreneurship, and gender and leadership development in sport. To share the GSMP mission more broadly with the UConn community, the sport management program also hosted Sarah Hillyer, director of the Center for Sport, Peace & Society at the University of Tennessee Knoxville, earlier this month to talk about empowerment through sport.
To date, GSMP has graduated 99 delegates who have gone on to impact 225,000 lives in more than 55 countries.
Learn more through this featured GSMP video or visit the U.S. Department of State’s GSMP website. Or, check out GSMP on Facebook.
Related Stories:
- Neag School Hosts Global Sports Mentoring Program Emerging Leader
- McGarry, Burton Team Up With espnW, U.S. Department of State on Women in Sports Initiative
