Parents (Neag School’s James Kaufman is quoted about creating creative kids)
Want a Job? It’s Still About Education
Biden’s Briefing (Neag School prof. Shaun Dougherty’s article on career and technical education was read by Joe Biden)
Educators Must Teach Civility, Inclusiveness
The Register-Guard (Neag School’s George Sugai co-wrote article on importance of teaching civility, inclusiveness in the classroom)
Clark County Magnet Schools’ Popularity Leaves Many in the Lurch
Las Vegas Review Journal (Neag School’s Casey Cobb is quoted about magnet schools)
Neag School of Education Accolades – July-August 2017
Congratulations to our Neag School alumni, faculty, staff, and students on their continued accomplishments inside and outside the classroom. If you have an accolade to share, we want to hear from you! Please send any news items and story ideas to neag-communications@uconn.edu.
In addition to the Dean’s Office accolades, explore this edition’s list of achievements for the following: the Department of Curriculum and Instruction; the Department of Educational Leadership; the Department of Educational Psychology; Faculty/Staff; Alumni; Students, as well as In Memoriam.
Dean’s Office
Dean Gladis Kersaint gave a convocation speech for teachers, principals, and school board members of Windham Public Schools in August.
UConn hosted a Science Salon in June titled “Rigid Standards, Forward Thinkers: Business Best Practices Igniting Classroom Creativity” in Stamford, Conn. Moderated by Neag School Professor Ronald Beghetto, the panel included Lucy Gilson, professor of management at UConn’s School of Business; Justin Carbonella ’07 (BUS), vice president, Kantar Millward Brown; Matthew Worwood, associate director of the digital media and design department at UConn; and Neag School alum Bridget Heston Carnemolla ’13 Ed.D. ’14 ELP, superintendent of Watertown Public Schools.
Department of Curriculum and Instruction (EDCI) and Teacher Education
Stemming from the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center’s human rights education initiative and led by Glenn Mitoma, a new partnership was established between the Neag School of Education, the Upstander Project, and the Mashantucket Pequot Museum. The partnership, called the Upstander Academy, came together last year as a way to practice outreach and human rights education with the community. The Academy, which was held in July, featured topics such as the Rwandan genocide and the experiences of the indigenous peoples; speakers from the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe and Rwanda; and various workshops centered on creating ways to talk about genocide and reconciliation in the classroom. Read more about the partnership.
Joseph Cooper and Glenn Mitoma organized a candlelight vigil in response to the racism and violence in Charlottesville, Va. The vigil was held on the steps of the UConn Student Union in August. In addition, Neag School graduate student Josué Lopez spoke at the event.
Department of Educational Leadership (EDLR)
The Neag School Department of Educational Leadership’s partnership with Queen Rania Teacher Academy (QRTA) has finished its second year of the three-year partnership.
The Executive Leadership Program (ELP) hosted an early-career superintendent panel titled “Entry and Transition into the Position of Superintendent” in July in Farmington, Conn. ELP recently accepted 20 aspiring superintendents into its 2017-18 cohort. The event included the new ELP cohort members completing their first class and the 25 members of the “graduating” ELP.
The Connecticut State Department of Education convened a group in June to discuss early outcomes of the Wallace Foundation University Principal Preparation Initiative (UPPI) grant, which was announced in Fall 2016. It was the first time principal preparation programs in Connecticut came together in the spirit of continuous improvement collaboration. Deans and directors of Connecticut schools of education and principal preparation program faculty members were in attendance.
Department of Educational Psychology (EPSY)
The UConn Collaboratory on School and Child Health (CSCH) awarded two individuals, Amy Mobley and Marlene Schwartz, $10,000 grants as part of its 2017 seed grant competition. These grants provide funds to investigators to support projects that align with CSCH’s vision to promote an integrated approach to health and learning. Mobley is an assistant professor in nutritional sciences at UConn; Schwartz is director of the UConn Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity and a professor of human development and family studies.
The Neag School’s special education program has been awarded a $1.3 million leadership grant from the U.S. Dept. of Education that will fully support five Ph.D. students in the areas of literacy, positive behavioral supports, and transition. Michael Coyne, Allison Lombardi, and Brandi Simonsen are co-principal investigators. Read more.
Melissa Bray, Sandra Chafouleas, Thomas Kehle, and Lisa Sanetti have been listed among the top 20 most productive intervention researchers in school psychology, according to a newly published study in Psychology in the Schools identifying authors and training programs that have made the most frequent contributions to intervention research in six school psychology journals between 2005 and 2014. In addition, the Neag School’s school psychology program is ranked the second-most productive based on number of total publications from 2005 to 2014.
Faculty/Staff
Ronald Beghetto gave a TedxUConn presentation at the Storrs campus in June on how teachers and schools can view uncertainty as an opportunity to promote creativity and innovation through education. He also has been named faculty director of UConn’s Innovation House beginning this fall.
Cara Bernard was recognized by the Council for Research in Music Education with an Outstanding Dissertation Award.
Melissa Bray is president-elect of American Psychological Association Division of School Psychology (Division 16). Her term is for three years, one as president-elect, one as president, and one as past president, and will begin in January 2018.
Scott Brown and Neag School alumna Kimberly Lawless ’94 MA, ’96 Ph.D. co-wrote Promoting Students’ Science Literacy Skills Through a Simulation of International Negotiations: The GlobalEd 2 Program for the August issue of Computers in Human Behavior. They also recently received a $1.2 million IES grant in support of a project titled “Refinement of GlobalEd2 and Testing New Intervention Impact.” Read more about the grant.
Laura Burton co-authored a new book titled Women in Sport Leadership (Routledge, 2017).
Rebecca Campbell issued a report based on a yearlong school ethnography study she conducted on two elementary schools in a rural county of Florida. Campbell found that one school did a better job with language accommodation and helping students perform academically than the other. Recommendations are offered that the district can use to improve learning outcomes. She discussed her research on the Anthro Alert Radio Show in July.
Michael Coyne, Betsy McCoach, along with other colleagues, co-wrote “Promoting Word Consciousness to Close the Vocabulary Gap in Young Word Learners” for the August issue of The Elementary School Journal.
Shaun M. Dougherty has been awarded $3.1 million IES grant as a co-principal investigator on a project titled “Assessing the Implementation, Impact, and Variation of CTE Innovation: NYC as a Lab for Rigorous CTE Research.” Read more about the grant.
Shaun M. Dougherty and Jennie Weiner co-published “The Rhode to Turnaround: The Impact of Waivers to No Child Left Behind on School Performance” for the August issue of Educational Policy.
Hannah Dostal has been awarded $3.3 million IES grant as a co-principal investigator on a project titled “An Efficacy Study of Strategic and Interactive Writing Instruction (SIWI): Teacher Development and Student Outcomes.” Read more about the grant.
Hannah Dostal and Rachael Gabriel, along with another colleague, co-wrote “Supporting the Literacy Development of Students Who Are Deaf/Hard of Hearing in Inclusive Classrooms” for the July issue of The Reading Teacher.
Erica Fernández co-published “Organizational Politics of Parental Engagement: The Intersections of School Reform, Anti-Immigration Policies, and Latinx Parent Organizing” in the July issue of Educational Policy.
Rachael Gabriel is co-editor of Discursive Perspectives on Education Policy and Implementation (Palgrave Macmillan, 2017), which includes peer-reviewed chapters by each of the co-editors as well as one chapter co-authored by Gabriel and Sarah Woulfin. In July, Gabriel also presented at the International Literacy Association’s 2017 Conference in Orlando.
Robin Grenier was featured this summer in a Human Resource Development Review blog, where she discussed her 2005 article “Autoethnography as a Legitimate Approach to HRD Research: A Methodologial Conversation at 30,000 Feet.”
James Kaufman is a member-at-large of the Society for Media Psychology and Technology. He is also president-elect of the American Creativity Association.
Donald Leu has been awarded a $600,000 IES grant for a project titled “Factors Affecting Comprehension by Teens During Online Reading in Science: The FACTORS Project.” He is principal investigator, and Christopher Rhoads and D. Betsy McCoach are co-principal investigators. Read more about the grant.
Allison Lombardi, Neag School doctoral student Laura Kern ’11 MA, along with other colleagues, published “Is College and Career Readiness Adequately Addressed in Annual and Postsecondary Goals?” for the June issue of Journal of Disability Policy Studies.
Allison Lombardi co-published with Neag School alumni Nicholas Gelbar ’06 (CLAS), ’07 MA, ’11 MA, ’12 6th Year, ’13 Ph.D. and Yan Wei ’11 MA, ’15 Ph.D., along with graduate student Jennifer Kowitt and other colleagues, “Leveraging Information Technology Literacy to Enhance College and Career Readiness for Secondary Students With Disabilities” in the Journal of Vocational Rehabilitation. She also co-presented in July on inclusive higher education at the Porto International Conference on Research in Education, held in Portugal.
Joseph Madaus, Allison Lombardi, Neag School alumnus Nicholas Gelbar ’06 (CLAS), ’07 MA, ’11 MA, ’12 6th Year, ’13 Ph.D., former Neag School faculty member Michael Fagella-Luby, along with another colleague, co-wrote “PASSing College: A Taxonomy for Students With Disabilities in Postsecondary Education” for the June issue of Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability.
D. Betsy McCoach and Scott Brown are members of an interdisciplinary UConn-based team recently awarded a $3 million grant through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship program to prepare the next generation of Ph.D. students. Read more about the grant.
Bianca Montrosse-Moorehead has been elected board member-at-large for the American Evaluation Association (AEA). In this role, she will help to lead AEA and represent its more than 7,000 members. She also joined the editorial board of New Directions for Evaluation (NDE) for a three-year term. In this role, she will review manuscripts submitted to NDE, help generate topics for special issues, and provide period insights and advice to the editors on future directions for NDE.
Lisa Sanetti was named a fellow for the American Psychological Association, Division 16 (school psychology).
Del Siegle has been awarded a $2 million IES grant that will fund the continuation of research work by the National Center for Research on Gifted Education. In addition to Siegle, other key Neag School faculty researchers involved in the Center’s work include D. Betsy McCoach, E. Jean Gubbins, and Christopher Rhoads. Read more about the grant.
Sarah Woulfin co-published “Coaching for Coherence: How Instructional Coaches Lead Change in the Evaluation Era” for the August issue of Educational Researcher. She also published “Coach Professional Development in the Urban Emergent Context” in the June issues of Urban Education.
Sarah Woulfin and Jennie Weiner co-published “Triggering Change: An Investigation of the Logics of Turnaround Leadership” in the June issues of Education and Urban Society.
Mike Young and Neag School alumnus Stephen Slota ’07 (CLAS), ’08 MA, ’14 Ph.D co-edited a book titled Exploding the Castle: Rethinking How Video Games & Game Mechanics Can Shape the Future of Education (Information Age, 2017).
Students
The current first- and second-year cohorts of the higher education and student affairs (HESA) program gathered for a daylong orientation in the Gentry Building in August.
The sport management program hosted an orientation for its graduate students in the Gentry Building in August.
Students from the Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates (TCPCG) participated in a summer STEM Academy at Norwich Free Academy (NFA in July. The one-week program, a partnership between NFA and the Neag School, challenged students to solve complex problems using science, technology, engineering, and mathematics skills. Todd Campbell served as the faculty instructor.
Robert Cotto Jr., a doctoral student, concludes his two years of service as one of four elected Hartford, Conn., school board members. During that time, he worked with parents, educators, and community members to improve public education and Hartford’s schools. For his efforts, he was recognized in June by the Center for Latino Progress (CPRF) with the Center Latino Champion Award.
Neag School students Kelsey Iwanicki ’17 (ED), ’18 MA and Emily Baseler ’17 (ED), ’18 MA recently served as judges for a spelling bee as part of their Costa Rica study abroad program in August.
Alumni
Alumni and friends from the sport management program gathered for networking events over the summer in New York City and in Hartford, Conn.
Dan Agins ’11 MA, who teaches social studies at Pawcatuck (Conn.) Middle School, was recognized as Stonington’s Teacher of the Year.
Emily Armstrong ’16 (ED), ’17 MA, a former UConn women’s soccer goalkeeper, will continue her professional career overseas in Norway. The Collegeville, Penn., native signed with the Medkila IL club in the Toppserien, the top tier of Norwegian women’s soccer.
William Conroy ’06 (ED), ’07 MA, was a finalist for Connecticut’s Teacher of the Year for 2017. Conroy has been teaching in Harford for 10 years. Currently, he is the English learner coach at McDonough Middle School in Hartford, Conn.
Chris Dailey ’99 MA, a past Neag School of Education Outstanding Alumna award recipient and assistant coach for UConn women’s basketball for the past 32 years, was recognized by the Connecticut Sun with the Margo Dydek Award as its 2017 Woman of Inspiration.
Jennifer Delaney ’06 (CLAS), ’13 MA was hired as the assistant principal for Schaghticoke Middle School in New Milford, Conn. Delaney previously worked as an instructional coach at Danbury High School with a focus on literacy and support for English language learners. Prior to that, she spent seven years as an eighth-grade reading and language arts teacher in Waterbury.
Daniel Dias ’09 6th Year was named principal of John Wallace Middle School in Newington, Conn.
Amber Dickey ’17 MA was recently awarded one of 10 national honoraria to attend the Center for Open Educational Resources and Language Learning’s summer conference on heritage language learning at the University of Texas, Austin.
Donna Dynes ’82 (ED) was appointed director of information services for Polk County Schools, in Polk County, Fla. She was previously the assistant principal of curriculum at Auburndale High and has worked with the district since 1997.
David Erwin ’75 (ED), the school superintendent for Berlin (Conn.) Public Schools, retired after eight years in that role, closing a 42-year education career. Erwin, a Waterbury native, began his education career in his hometown as a teacher, became assistant superintendent in the Clinton school district in 1991, and was promoted to that district’s superintendent post in 1995. He then became Canton school superintendent in 1998, Montville superintendent in 1999, Avon superintendent in 2009, and Berlin’s superintendent in 2010.
Lindsay Fallon ’09 MA, ’11 6th Year, ’13 Ph.D., an assistant professor of counseling and school psychology at UMass Boston, has been awarded an IES early career development and mentoring grant. Read more about the grant.
Kathleen Freimuth ’17 6th Year was hired as the assistant principal at Chatfield-LoPresti School in Seymour, Conn. Freimuth spent the last 10 years as an elementary teacher at Braeburn School in West Hartford, where she taught first, third and fifth grades. She served in various leadership roles there, including as coach of the school’s Positive Behavior Team and was one of 12 staff members district-wide to serve in a Leadership Academy.
Scott Hurwitz ’93 (CLAS), ’08 6th Year was named principal at Brien McMahon High School by Norwalk (Conn.) Public Schools. Hurwitz has extensive experience at the school, where he has worked for more than 20 years. He taught English at the school for 12 years, in addition to teaching journalism and overseeing graduation preparation. Hurwitz has also functioned as a Connecticut Academic Performance Test coordinator, site council member, class advisor, and freshman baseball coach. Hurwitz worked his way up from a teacher to housemaster, a position he held for the past nine years.
Yvette Jacaruso ’77 MA, ’83 6th Year was this year’s recipient of the United Community and Family Services Palmer Davies Leadership Award. Jacaruso is a member of the Norwich (Conn.) Board of Education and Italian Women’s Social Club of Norwich, as well as the Women’s City Club of Norwich, State Central Committee for the 19th Senatorial District, Democratic Town Committee, Education Mass Committee, and the Board of Trustees of the Otis Library, serving as liaison between the Board of Education and Otis Library and as chairman of the Evaluation Committee of the Otis Library.
Danielle Knobloch, ’11 (CLAS), ’11 (ED), ’12 MA, an English teacher at Bulkeley Teacher Preparation and Humanities School, was nominated for Hartford’s Teacher of the Year for 2017.
Gary Lotreck ’86 (CLAS), ’90 MA, ’83 6th Year was a semifinalist for Hartford the 2017 CT Teachers of the Year. He has taught in the Hartford school system for 28 years, including at Hartford Public High School and Pathways to Technology, where he started a community service club. In recent years he served as a teacher-in-residence for English language arts and writing.
Sabin Loveland ’99 (CLAS), ’00 MA, ’12 6th Year, principal at Global Experience Magnet School in Bloomfield, Conn., for the past six years, has accepted the principal’s position at Wamogo Regional High School in Litchfield County. Loveland has 17 years experience in education.
Jack Nguyen ’15 MA, was named director of Asian Pacific Islander American Affairs by University of Florida’s department of multicultural and diversity affairs. Nguyen previously served at The Ohio State University as an intercultural specialist in the Student Life Multicultural Center.
Laura J. Yarish Poidomani ’98 (ED), ’99 MA won the Presidential Environmental Education Award, which she received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington, D.C. in August. A teacher with 18 years of experience, she currently teaches sixth-grade at Saxe Middle School in New Canaan, Conn.
Kristin O’Reilly ’08 6th Year has been appointed special education department chairperson for Darien (Conn.) High School. Most recently, she was a special education teacher at Staples High School in Westport. As part of her educational leadership graduate experience, she served her internship at Darien High School.
Shamim S. Patwa ’97 MA,’00 6th Year, ’03 Ph.D was selected as director of special education and student support services for Mansfield (Conn.) Public Schools. Most recently, she was the Goodwin Elementary School psychologist and is an adjunct faculty member for the Neag School. This past spring, she was a recipient of the Neag School’s Outstanding School Educator Award.
William (Billy) Johnson ’99 (CLAS), ’00 MA has been appointed assistant superintendent for operations and strategic for Windham Public Schools in Windham, Conn. He was previously the director of instruction for New Haven Public Schools.
Gwendolyn Jones ’77 MA has been appointed assistant professor of Bridgewater College’s teacher education program in Bridgewater, Va.
Alexandra Mililli ’08 (ED), ’09 MA was recognized in June with a “40 Under Forty” award by Fairfield County in Fairfield, Conn. She is a financial advisor for UBS.
Kevin M. Reich ’08 6th Year, retired assistant superintendent of East Hampton (Conn.) Public Schools, was selected as the 2017-18 Middlesex United Way campaign chairperson.
Timothy P. Shriver, ’97 Ph.D., chairman of the Special Olympics, gave the 2017 commencement address for Saint Peter’s University in May in Jersey City, N.J.
Corey J. Thomas ’15 (CLAS), ’17 MA has been appointed director of Wakeman town Farm in Westport, Conn. Previously he was the education director at Massaro Community Farm in Woodbridge.
Christopher Walsh ’11 6th Year has been appointed math and science academic chair at Pomperaug High School in Southbury, Conn. Walsh most recently served as science department chairperson at Ridgefield (Conn.) High School, a position he has held for the past five years while concurrently serving as an earth science and biology teacher. Prior to working at the high school level, he was a middle school science teacher in the Ridgefield public school system for 10 years.
Robert J. Wargo Jr. ’02 (CLAS), ’03 MA has been sworn in as a firefighter for Westport, Conn. He will begin working at the Westport Fire Department in December after going through the academy this fall. He previously worked as the director of volunteer services at Sterling House Community Center, located in Stratford.
Carter Welch ’99 (ED), ’11 Ed.D. has been appointed principal of Totoket Valley Elementary School (TVES) in Northford, Conn. Welch joins TVES after completing his third year as principal of Jerome Harrison Elementary School (JHS). Prior to heading up JHS, Welch was assistant principal for North Branford High School and served the district in several program and department leadership roles. He was named UConn Neag School of Education’s 2017 Outstanding School Administrator this past spring.
In Memoriam
Thomas A. Aquila ’60
William E. Asal ’88
Vincent A. Baiocchetti ’64
Nathan Beardsley ’51
Martha M. Bruce ’61
Mitchell D. Chester ’82
Guy A. Ciccone ’80
Nellie V. Crowston ’91
Robert E. Dunn ’51 ’55
Mary M. Farnan ’63
John H. Fidler, Jr. ’80
Anastacia R. Forsley ’56
Santo F. Fragilio ’55
Roy C. Grabowski ’73
Diane E. Guthart ’66
Charles M. Haney ’64
Mary B. Kalinoski ’57
Derek R. Little ’69
John H. McAdams ’51
Nancy E. McNeil ’68
Elaine D. Neiswanger ’73
Laurel A. Nyerick ’52
Martin E. O’Mealey ’67
David H. Parker ’73
Paul J. Plumer ’74
Patricia Ryan ’87
Nina M. Savitch ’63
Francis P. Shea ’60
Robert E. Sloat ’75
Francis M. Stoughton ’64
Henry T. Taylor ’73
Sally Platt Wallace ’54
Bruce H. Wood ’64
Want a Job? It’s Still About Education.
The Conversation (Neag School’s Shaun Dougherty wrote this article about the importance of specialized training)
Want a Job? It’s Still About Education
Editor’s Note: Shaun M. Dougherty, assistant professor of education and public policy, pens this piece originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
During the 20th century, there was nothing that could help you achieve labor market success more than a good education. Even today, education is one of the strongest predictors of whether someone is employed and how much he or she is paid.
Yet, the rules have changed. A high school diploma in 1950 (and maybe into the 1980s) could get you a solid, middle-class job. But a diploma today is a minimum requirement to get nearly any job – and, for most, it’s not enough to get you into the middle class.
As a scholar of education policy, and of career and technical education in particular, I have seen incredible changes in technology and the workforce. And, while degree requirements have changed, education continues to be the cornerstone of job preparation and success.
A changing workforce
So what’s changed? The shift in the economic value of education has largely been driven by increased demands for technical knowledge and skill. These demands come from the evolution of technologies and trends in the offshoring of routine, middle-skill jobs. In short, the middle-class jobs that remain simply require more expertise, which usually comes from more education.
Technical education in high school is one area where job placement may be more of a bright spot. Research shows that the work-based learning and technical skills acquired in such programs lead to better employment outcomes and that the odds of being employed right out of high school are also higher.
The result has been a growing gulf between high- and low-wage earners. Indeed, the gap between those with only a high school diploma or GED and those with more education is at an all-time high. And there’s no reason to expect this trend to reverse itself.
What’s more, there’s been considerable debate about the existence of a skill gap in the workforce: a suggestion that young people today simply don’t have the skills demanded by employers. Indeed, there are high levels of underemployment among younger workers in the U.S., which could suggest that employers are dissatisfied with what young applicants have to offer.
Where once employers might have offered on-the-job training, this appears to be in decline. It may be that the skill set required now is more technical and more appropriately handled by formal education programs, or it may be the demand for profit margins have diminished employer appetite for funding such programs. Whatever the cause, young applicants are expected to have certain skills already acquired before they will be hired.
What does a normal high school degree get you?
Most young people entering the workforce bring with them the skills they acquired in school. What they can expect to achieve depends a great deal on their highest level of education, and the skills that employers expect come with it.
Earning a high school diploma is more or less required in the current job market, but the average wages of those with a high school degree or less are dropping, and the number of attainable jobs for those with a high school diploma or less has been in long-term decline.
While it may be easier to get a job with only a high school education in some states than in others, this is no longer the norm in most places.
What does technical education get you?
Technical education in high school is one area where job placement may be more of a bright spot. Research shows that the work-based learning and technical skills acquired in such programs lead to better employment outcomes and that the odds of being employed right out of high school are also higher.
There’s even some evidence that participation in career and technical education programs in high school can ease the transition to college, especially two-year colleges.
Though initial employment outcomes may be better for those with technical education in high school, there’s concern among some that over the long term these students may not be better off than their nontechnical peers. Specifically, though studies have been limited in scope, researchers have found that the lack of a college degree and the reliance on specific skills (that may go out of date) could reduce lifetime earnings.
What does a college degree get you?
Job placement, employment and pay remain highest for those with a bachelor’s degree or higher, with larger and growing returns to master’s degrees. Yet, despite the good track record, more recent evidence suggests that wage benefits for college degrees are smaller than in the past.
These lessening benefits of a college degree – along with rising levels of student loan debt – have encouraged a push for more career-aligned college education that prepares graduates for well-paying and available jobs.
Where we go from here
The labor movement of the late 19th through mid-20th centuries brought sharp increases in unionization in a nation whose economy was largely driven by manufacturing and production. As the 20th century waned, the high-tech, information-driven economy required skills beyond what was typically acquired in high school.
Educational models have been changing to meet these demands.
High schools have added technical education programs that mirror growing demand for health care, IT and advanced manufacturing, while community colleges have modified and grown their programming to offer certificates and associates degrees that better align with the changing demands for labor and technical skill.
The challenge in the decades ahead will continue to be how best to help young people acquire the skills necessary to earn a living wage – both initially and across their lifetimes. I believe this will require educational programs that respond to the changing economic landscape, as well as innovative worker retraining programs for those displaced by technological advances and the continued loss of jobs overseas.
What will not change is the central role of education in helping Americans succeed.
Shaun M. Dougherty, assistant professor of education and public policy, University of Connecticut
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Candlelight Vigil For Memory and Justice Held Wednesday Night
The Daily Campus (Two faculty members from the Neag School, Glenn Mitoma and Joseph Cooper, helped organize the event)
Special Education Program Receives $1.3M Leadership Grant
The U.S. Department of Education has awarded $1.3 million in funding through its Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to the Neag School’s special education program for a project that will fully fund five doctoral students in the areas of literacy, positive behavioral supports, and transition, with four-year competitive fellowships for each student.
The project, titled Project NeXus II, seeks to “serve as a means of connection between the most promising future scholars and the field of special education,” says Michael Coyne, a co-principal investigator, along with Allison Lombardi and Brandi Simonsen.
As the nation faces an ongoing shortage of doctoral-level special education graduates, the research team intends to help address this critical shortage. The purpose of Project NeXus II, Coyne says, is “to prepare at least five doctoral-level personnel who have the conceptual, research, and practical competence to formulate and answer essential educational questions, and lead others in the generation and examination of new questions.” It is a continuation of Project NeXus, which similarly funded doctoral students in special education who have since gone on to leadership and faculty positions in the field, according to Coyne.
“Given the Neag School’s pre-eminence in educational training and research, I’m sure the Ph.D. candidates funded through this program will ‘pay it forward’ in their work with special education students and educators.”
— Radenka Maric, vice president for research, UConn
Funding will be provided for five doctoral students over the next five years, with applications being accepted as early as Dec. 1. The Project NeXus II training plan will be organized into three components, including coursework, applied experiences, and leadership competencies.
“This is a great recognition of the outstanding work of our special education faculty working together to prepare the next generation of professionals,” says Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor Scott Brown, head of the Neag School’s Department of Educational Psychology.
“Continuing the wonderful work done through Project NeXus, the current program will prepare educational leaders to better support the growth and development of students,” adds Radenka Maric, UConn’s vice president for research. “Given the Neag School’s pre-eminence in educational training and research, I’m sure the Ph.D. candidates funded through this program will ‘pay it forward’ in their work with special education students and educators.”
Access the project abstract for more information. To learn more, contact Michael Coyne at mike.coyne@uconn.edu.
Professors McCoach, Brown on Team Awarded $3M NSF Grant
Editor’s Note: Christine Buckley contributed to this story.
Two Neag School researchers are members of an interdisciplinary UConn-based team recently awarded a $3 million grant through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Traineeship program to prepare the next generation of Ph.D. students.
D. Betsy McCoach, professor of measurement, evaluation, and assessment in the Neag School, is a co-principal investigator, and Scott W. Brown, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of educational psychology and head of the Neag School’s Department of Educational Psychology, serves as a senior scientist on the team, whose funding went into effect Aug. 1.
The five-year grant, titled “Science of Learning, From Neurobiology to Real-World Application: A Problem-Based Approach,” is one of 17 grants totaling $51 million awarded nationwide in the NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) program, across all fields supported by the NSF. The NRT program aims to develop transformative models for graduate education in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields that, according to the NSF, center on training graduate students “to address complex problems at the intersection of different scientific disciplines and provide them with the skill set to tackle these problems during their training and on entering the workforce.” [1]
In addition to McCoach and Brown, the team includes faculty from UConn Health, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the School of Fine Arts with expertise in such academic disciplines as genomics, psychology, linguistics, digital media, and communications sciences.
“This project provides a great opportunity for students and faculty in the Neag School of Education to collaborate with colleagues from across the University on basic and applied research related to the science of learning.”
— Professor D. Betsy McCoach
Science of Learning and Art of Communication
Following on the success of the 2012 Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship grant in the science of language at UConn, the project will train 50 students, including 25 Ph.D. fellows, with an estimated two to four doctoral students of each incoming cohort joining the Neag School’s educational psychology Ph.D. program.
The researchers have dubbed the program “Science of Learning and Art of Communication,” or SLAC. Drawing on subfields of cognitive science and neuroscience ranging from genetics to behavioral neuroscience, linguistics, education, psychology, and speech-language-hearing sciences, graduate students and their mentors will work toward developing new, team-based, interdisciplinary approaches to learning. Teams will work at scales ranging from genes and cells to neural networks, behavior, and practical learning settings like classrooms.
“Perhaps more than anything else, how and what we learn shapes who we are,” state the researchers in the project abstract. “This project has the dual aims of achieving a deeper scientific understanding of learning, and communicating a deeper understanding of the science of learning to scientists and the public. Over several decades, diverse fields including genetics, neuroscience, linguistics, education, and psychology have generated a wealth of knowledge about myriad aspects of how humans learn, but a grand challenge remains: to integrate that knowledge into a unified understanding of learning based on these diverse fields, and on scales ranging from the gene to the neuron, brain, and human behavior.”
The program will be accompanied by training in effective communication for audiences ranging from specialist peers to the general public, says James Magnuson, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences professor of psychological sciences and principal investigator for the project.
“From their first day in the program, students will face the challenge of how to clearly and effectively share ideas without assuming prior knowledge or relying on technical jargon,” Magnuson says. “This skill not only enables excellence in research, but empowers trainees to become ambassadors for their work to society as a whole.”
Students will take part in an intensive one-year graduate seminar on the science of learning and the challenge of communicating their research to audiences ranging from specialist peers to schoolchildren, drawing on techniques from the performing arts and new approaches using digital media. In a hands-on practicum, they will develop skills crucial to academic and nonacademic careers that are often absent in graduate education, Magnuson says, including project design and management, budgeting and resource allocation, and external communications.
Problem-Based Learning and Evaluation
In his role as a senior scientist on the team, Brown will be responsible for shaping and providing training to the faculty who are involved regarding what problem-based learning (PBL) is.
“To solve real problems, you need to work with different people with different perspectives, different skill sets, and a willingness to learn,” Brown says. “When you look at something interdisciplinary, like health care, it’s dynamic. It changes; it’s not static. That is one of the things we are going to be emphasizing for our new doctoral students who will go on to be the next generation of science leaders: Things can be dynamic. There can be social, political, and financial pressures that change how the problem is viewed.”
Social perspectives can also come into play, says Brown; for instance, educational psychologists may look at the world differently than an expert in genomics or linguistics would.
“A big mistake people make with problem-based learning is that they think you take a problem, throw some people at it, and they learn. They might learn, but it might not have anything to do with what the goals or objectives are for the training they are going through,” he says. “My job is to help keep people inbounds on problem-based learning.”
McCoach, a co-PI, will be working with students to enhance their data science and data stewardship skills as well as with research teams to provide methodological support. In addition, she will be conducting evaluations throughout the project — for instance, measuring the project’s outcomes and its impact on the students and faculty, including tracking the professional and career trajectories of students who complete the program.
“SLAC provides a great opportunity for students and faculty in the Neag School of Education to collaborate with colleagues from across the University on basic and applied research related to the science of learning,” McCoach says. “I am looking forward to working with colleagues from psychology, linguistics, neurobiology [and other areas] to tackle common problems of interest from a really interdisciplinary perspective.”
Faculty-student research interest groups will serve as brainstorming launchpads for new scientific challenges and research proposals.
The program will also promote diversity in academic and industry careers that require advanced training by prioritizing recruitment and retention.
The project team comprises:
- James Magnuson, professor of psychological sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (principal investigator)
- William Snyder, professor of linguistics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (co-principal investigator)
- Betsy McCoach,professor of educational psychology, Neag School of Education (co-principal investigator)
- Stormy Chamberlain, assistant professor of genetics and genome sciences, UConn Health (co-principal investigator)
- Timothy Miller, visiting assistant professor, School of Fine Arts (co-principal investigator)
- Scott W. Brown, Distinguished Professor of educational psychology, Neag School of Education
- Marie Coppola, associate professor of psychological sciences and linguistics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Inge-Marie Eigsti, associate professor of psychological sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Holly Fitch, professor of psychological sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
- Emily Myers, associate professor of speech, language & hearing science and psychological sciences, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
All team members are also associated with the Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences.
Learn more on the NSF website.
[1] https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=242612&org=NSF&from=news
