Research Suggests That School May Not Benefit High-Ability Students’ Reading Achievement

Posted on August 27, 2015December 31, 2020 by

Does school matter? Most anyone’s response would be, unequivocally, yes.

And yet startling results from a recent research study^[1] suggest that, depending on the ability of the student, the answer may not be quite so clear-cut.

Summer Slide — According to a study co-authored by Professor Betsy McCoach and alum Karen Rambo-Hernandez ’11 Ph.D., high-achieving students’ achievement in reading may not benefit from time spent in school. (Stock photo)

Researchers Betsy McCoach, professor in the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut, and Neag School alum Karen Rambo-Hernandez ’11 Ph.D., now assistant professor at West Virginia University, set out to examine the extent to which school impacts students’ levels of reading achievement over time.

With access to national data for a population of more than 170,000 students from 2,000 schools, McCoach and Rambo-Hernandez compared students whose reading test scores at the start of third grade ranked in the top 2 percent – a group designated as “initially high-achieving students” – with those students whose reading test scores at the start of third grade were among the average.

Using test-score data that followed these two groups over three-and-a-half years – from the start of third grade to the start of sixth grade – the researchers were able to track the progress of each group over time in the subject of reading. These data sets allowed them not only to see how kids grew in reading during each subsequent school year, but also how their level of reading achievement was affected over each summer. That way, they could understand the impact, if any, of “summer slide” – the widely accepted notion that many schoolchildren tend to regress in some subject areas over the summer break.

“If [the high achievers] had not been in school, they would have achieved the same rate of growth in reading.”

—Karen Rambo-Hernandez ’11 Ph.D.,
Neag School alum and co-author of study

“Knowing how students grow over the summer allows researchers to understand more directly how time in school is changing the academic growth trajectories of students,” Rambo-Hernandez and McCoach state in the study, published in The Journal of Educational Research.

With this information, Rambo-Hernandez says, “We could compare what was happening during summer with what was happening during the school year, and look at those growth rates.”

12 Months of Summer Vacation > School?
Given that the initially high-achieving students were starting out ahead of the average-achieving students when it came to reading ability, the expectation was that they were likely to demonstrate comparatively slower growth in reading during the school year than the average achievers, who would presumably have more room for improvement. The researchers also hypothesized that high-achieving students would demonstrate greater growth in reading over each summer as compared with their average-achieving peers, who had started off at lower achievement levels in the subject.

Summer Slide Graph — Time spent in school may in fact have virtually no impact on the reading achievement of high-achieving students, according to research from Professor Betsy McCoach and Neag School alum Karen Rambo-Hernandez ’11 Ph.D. (The Journal of Educational Research, Volume 108, Issue 2, 2015)

According to the results, the average-achieving students’ reading growth did experience a boost during the school year and then stagnation over each summer break. School, as may be expected, seemed to enhance the reading achievement of the average students over time.

High-achieving students, meanwhile, though they continued to outperform average students, did in fact grow more slowly in reading than their average-achieving peers during the school year – as the researchers had anticipated. However, the high-achievers went on to maintain that same slow rate of progress in reading over the course of each summer, too.

In other words, “if [the high achievers] had not been in school, they would have achieved the same rate of growth in reading,” Rambo-Hernandez says – the implication being, as the study states, that “12 months of summer vacation would be as effective as attending school for these students, at least in terms of reading achievement.”

So while the above-average students did not experience so-called “summer slide,” they appeared to “grow at the same rate whether they were in school or not,” McCoach says.

Partnering With Teachers
If, as the findings suggest, attending school for most of the year has virtually no impact on reading achievement for high-achieving students, what can parents be expected to do?

“To me, the takeaway is you have to advocate for your kids, and you have to really know what is going on in the classroom,” McCoach says. “You have to try to ensure that they are getting appropriate instruction.”

She acknowledges that this may not always be easy, but recommends that parents approach this as a partnership with the teacher. “Every kid has a right to learn something new in school every day. I think when you frame it that way, maybe teachers and school administrators will listen,” she says. “It’s not about: ‘Look at how great my kid is; you need to do more.’ It’s about: ‘My child already knows what you’re about to teach. What can we do about that?’”

The issue, however, extends even beyond ensuring greater achievement in reading, according to Rambo-Hernandez, who previously served as a schoolteacher for 10 years. “We are doing a disservice if we put these students in classrooms and we are OK with not challenging them,” she says. “When they run into difficulties, I want them to know how to overcome them. If they’re not running into those difficulties, they’re not developing that skill set of grit, resilience, and persistence in difficulty. We need to make sure that they are getting an education that encourages them to tackle difficult problems.”

Going forward, McCoach says the study’s findings raise additional questions that could warrant further investigation.

“The big question that isn’t answered by this study is: Why? Why is it that these [high-achieving students] are growing at the same rate in the school year and in the summer?” she says. “The next step would be trying to find out: What is happening in schools, and what is happening during the summer? Are some schools better at serving high-ability students? And what are they doing? That, I think, would be really helpful.”

The full research study is accessible online here.

[1] Rambo-Hernandez, K. E., & McCoach, D. B. (2015). High-Achieving and Average Students’ Reading Growth: Contrasting School and Summer Trajectories. The Journal of Educational Research, 108:2, 112-129.

Neag Professor Receives IES Grant to Develop Literacy Program for Students with Disabilities

Posted on August 18, 2015December 1, 2021 by Shawn Kornegay

Devin Kearns, Neag School assistant professor, has received an $650,000 grant from the Institute of Education Services (IES) to develop a middle school co-teaching program that improves collaboration between content-area and special education teachers.

Neag School of Education faculty member Devin Kearns has received an $650,000 grant from the Institute of Education Services (IES), as part of a larger $1.6 million grant with other colleagues, to develop a middle school co-teaching program to encourage collaboration between content-area and special education teachers and to improve the reading skills and content-area knowledge of students with learning disabilities.

“This project is exciting because co-teaching is very popular, but there are few programs designed specifically to help educators improve the effectiveness of co-teaching,” says Kearns, an assistant professor of special education. “Many districts are implementing co-teaching models, but very few districts have provided their teachers with sufficient professional development and ongoing support to make sure co-teaching works well.”

Current research indicates that many co-teachers feel confused about their roles and responsibilities, and so do not provide the level of reading support that students with disabilities need. At the same time, the level of literacy necessary for postsecondary education and employment has increased dramatically over the past 20 years.

“For their long-term success, students with disabilities need reading support in every class. But they just aren’t getting it,” says Kearns. “This research project is focused on middle-schoolers to help them prepare for high school reading demands. High school teachers often assume students are ready to read their textbooks, but they aren’t. Even students with typical achievement struggle with textbook reading.”

The three-year project, funded by the IES – the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education – will take place in middle schools located in Griswold, Conn., and Worcester, Mass. Kearns and Vanderbilt University assistant professor Christopher J. Lemons are co-principal investigators with the University of Maryland, College Park assistant professor Jade Wexler. Wexler is the lead investigator.

“If co-teachers learn a way to improve reading and content-area skills that will fit into their busy days, student with disabilities – and their peers – will leave middle schools with the reading skills they’ll need to succeed in high school and beyond.”

—Assistant Professor Devin Kearns

The researchers will work with 22 co-teaching pairs – one special education teacher and one content-area teacher – and 264 of their eighth-grade students. The main product of the project will be a fully developed program to help middle school co-teachers provide better content-area reading support for students with, and at risk for, disabilities.

The researchers are trying to create a program focused on developing teacher skills and that will result in student achievement. “There aren’t a lot of data showing the relationship between teacher professional development and student achievement,” Kearns says. “One important goal is that this system of helping teachers develop their skills will result in real outcomes for students.”

Part of the researchers’ focus is to create a program that school districts and teachers can implement without investing a lot of time and money. “We going to try and minimize the amount of support that’s required for teachers to do this well,” Kearns says. “One tricky thing about new programs is that schools get lots of support at the beginning from the developer. And then that goes away, and the program falls apart. We’re designing this so that doesn’t happen.

“Jade, Chris, and I were all teachers, and we understand what schools are like. We want our program to be manageable. We want teachers to be able to learn what to do and start doing it quickly and easily.” Kearns adds. “We know it won’t work if it takes too much time or is too complicated.”

In the end, he says, “If co-teachers learn a way to improve reading and content-area skills that will fit into their busy days, student with disabilities – and their peers – will leave middle schools with the reading skills they’ll need to succeed in high school and beyond. We’re excited to get started.”

The project begins this fall.

2014 IES Research Grant Updates
Last year, IES awarded three of its 48 research grants to faculty in the Neag School. Now embarking on a second year of funding, each research team offers Spotlight an update on the current status of their respective projects:

NEEDs2 – Behavioral Screening Practices in Schools
Having recently completed its first funding year, the National Exploration of Emotional/Behavioral Detection in School Screening (NEEDs2) is a project – led by principal investigator Sandra Chafouleas, associate dean for research in the Neag School – that aims to understand whether and how schools are screening students for support they may need socially, emotionally, and behaviorally, as well as what factors may influence the use of such screeenings.

Ultimately, this work is intended to assist school personnel, policymakers, parents, and community stakeholders in making decisions about the delivery of social, emotional, and behavioral services in schools.

Following an in-depth analysis over the past year of Department of Education documents related to this topic, Chafouleas and fellow researchers will spend the coming year closely examining the resulting data to uncover any trends that may emerge in how social, emotional, and behavioral services are delivered in schools nationwide.

Future work will involve surveying school administrators, teachers, parents, and others across the nation regarding their current practices in assessing students’ social, emotional, and behavioral well-being – as well as their perceptions of these practices.

For more information about this project, visit needs2.education.uconn.edu.

Project WELLS
Project WELLs is designed to investigate writing instruction and outcomes for 4th-grade Latino students, including those currently classified as English language learners (ELLs), those formerly classified as ELLs, and those never classified as ELLs. Elizabeth Howard, associate professor of bilingual education in the Neag School, is co-principal investigator. Year 1 activities focused on the development of measures, including a writing instruction quality observation protocol (WIQ-OP), two measures of writing quality, a parent questionnaire, and a teacher survey. Activities in the project’s second year will focus on data collection in approximately 25 classrooms in a single school district.

Project IVC
The goal of Project IVC (Integrating Vocabulary and Comprehension Intervention) is to develop and evaluate a technology-enhanced intervention to support the reading comprehension success of 3rd grade students at risk for reading difficulties and disabilities. Neag researchers are developing an individualized computer-based platform for teach students critical vocabulary that will allow them to engage with and comprehend complex texts and to meet rigorous national reading standards.

New Faculty Members Join the Neag School

Posted on August 18, 2015December 7, 2021 by Shawn Kornegay

The Neag School of Education welcomes four new tenure-track faculty experts this fall as well a visiting assistant professor:

Michele Back

Dr. Michele Back is an assistant professor of world languages in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Neag School of Education. Prior to joining the Neag School, Back was an assistant professor in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages at George Mason University. She also taught at the University of California, Riverside.

Back graduated summa cum laude with a BA in Spanish and a minor in Latin American studies from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She earned a MA in Hispanic languages and literatures from the University of California, Berkeley, followed by a Ph.D. in second language acquisition and a minor in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Her research interests include additional language acquisition and socialization; transnational and multilingual identity; study abroad; peer tutoring; and naturalistic contexts for language learning in Spanish, Portuguese, and Quechua varieties. Back has numerous published articles in various journals, and her first book, Transcultural Performance: Negotiating Globalized Indigenous Identities (Palgrave Macmillan) was released in May 2015.

Aarti P. Bellara

Aarti Bellara — Dr. Aarti P. Bellara is an assistant professor in the measurement, evaluation, and assessment (MEA) program in the Department of Educational Psychology at the Neag School of Education. She joined the Neag School in the fall of 2015.

Dr. Aarti P. Bellara is an assistant professor in the measurement, evaluation, and assessment (MEA) program in the Department of Educational Psychology at the Neag School of Education. Most recently, Bellara was a researcher and evaluator working with the David C. Anchin Center and the Department of Measurement and Evaluation at the University of South Florida (USF). She has evaluated several state and federal grants and recently conducted two federal grant evaluations at USF.

She received her BA in political science and communication sciences from the University of Connecticut, her MA in teaching and curriculum from Sacred Heart University, and her Ph.D. in educational measurement and research from USF.

She worked for four years in the Fairfield (Conn.) Public Schools as a classroom teacher, teaching both second and fourth grades. Bellara was a member of the school system’s professional development committee and worked with the administration on attaining various speakers and educational developers for the school. She has also written a number of grants, which aimed to enhance learning by using inquiry-based teaching in science and social studies.

Bellara is a member of Kappa Delta Phi International Honor Society, the American Evaluation Association, the Florida Educational Research Association, the American Educational Research Association, and the National Council on Measurement in Education. She has presented at several national conferences, including the American Evaluation Association, and the American Educational Research Association, as well as several regional conferences. Her research interests focus on educational evaluation and measurement; data analysis and leadership; and equity studies with regards to teacher retention and attrition.

Cara Bernard

Dr. Cara Bernard is a visiting assistant professor of music education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Neag School. She received her doctorate in music education this past May from Teachers College, Columbia University, where she was a University Distinguished Fellowship recipient. She also has two master’s degrees in music education from Westminster Choir College of Rider University and Teachers College. She earned her bachelor’s degree in music education at New York University.

Bernard began her teaching career in New York City public schools, teaching high school music in Queens. She also was a contributor to the Blueprint for Teaching and Learning in the Arts document for the New York City Department of Education, and served as a curriculum writer for the Arts Achieve grant for the Office of Arts and Special Projects.

A native of Bridgeport, Conn., Bernard, a choral clinician, has given workshops and guest-conducted throughout the Northeast. She has prepared and conducted her choruses for performance in Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street YMCA, and New York City Hall. She also has worked with the Young People’s Chorus of New York City to bring choral experiences to 700 children throughout the city.

Her research interests include music teacher education and evaluation; urban (music) education; community and identify; multiculturalism; choral music education; and critical pedagogy. She has published on these topics and presented her research at national and international conferences, including the College Music Society and the University of Toronto Social Justice Conference.

Glenn Tatsuya Mitoma

Dr. Glenn Tatsuya Mitoma is an assistant professor in social studies education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the Neag School. He also holds a joint appointment at UConn as an assistant professor at the Human Rights Institute and is the director of the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center.

Mitoma attended the University of California Santa Cruz, earning a bachelor’s degree in photography. After several years working in the creative field in Seattle, Mitoma returned to California and earned both a MA and Ph.D. in cultural studies at Claremont Graduate University, focusing on the cultural and historical origins of the contemporary international human rights system.

In 2008, Mitoma came to UConn as the first postdoctoral fellow in the Foundations of Humanitarianism Program. In 2010, he was appointed assistant professor-in-residence at the Human Rights Institute and helped to design and implement the undergraduate Human Rights Major, one of only a handful of such programs in the country. In 2013, he was appointed director of the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center, where he has led the development of initiatives in K-12 human rights education and in business and human rights.

In addition to publishing articles in Human Rights Quarterly; Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly; and History, he recently co-edited a special issue of the Journal of Human Rights on humanitarianism and responsibility. His first book, Human Rights and the Negotiation of American Power (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2013), examines the link between the coincident mid-20th century ascendancies of the U.S. as the pre-eminent global power, and human rights as the most compelling global ethic. His current research projects include a biography of the Lebanese philosopher and diplomat Charles H. Malik, a history of Article 26 (the right to education) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and an analysis of the U.S. cultural impact of the rise of human rights discourse in 1940s. Mitoma is also the book review editor of the Journal of Human Rights.

Blanca Rincón

Blanca Rincon — Dr. Blanca Rincón joins the Neag School this fall in the Department of Educational Leadership as an assistant professor in the HESA program. (Stefanie Dion Jones/Neag School Photo)

Dr. Blanca Rincón is an assistant professor in the higher education and student affairs program of the Department of Educational Leadership at the Neag School of Education.

Rincón is a California native and a graduate of the University of California Irvine, where she received a BA in sociology with a double minor in Chicano/Latino studies and education. She went on to earn her Ed.M., along with her Ph.D., in education policy studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was also the 2014-2015 predoctoral fellow with El Instituto and the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut.

Rincón’s research agenda is concerned with equity issues in higher education, with a specific focus on factors that impact retention for racial and ethnic minority students in STEM. Rincón’s most recent publications include “Low-income Students in Engineering: Considering Financial Aid and Differential Tuition” in the Journal of Student Financial Aid and “STEM Intervention Programs: Funding Practices and Challenges” in the Studies in Higher Education. She was also recently selected for the prestigious emerging scholars program through the American Educational Research Association (AERA)—Division J.

Alum and First-time Author Explores Why Smart Kids Cheat

Posted on August 18, 2015August 22, 2019 by Shawn Kornegay

Cheating Book Neag alumna Kate Maupin ’08 MA recently won the 2015 International Book Award (IBA) for her first book, Cheating, Dishonesty & Manipulation: Why Bright Kids Do It (Great Potential Press, 2014). Beating out 1,200 entries from around the world, she captured the top prize in the education/academic category, revealing how “more than 80 percent of bright students self-reported that they had not only cheated in an academic setting, but also had never been caught.” According to Maupin’s research, boredom, lack of challenge, perfectionism, and fear of failure are four of the reasons people cheat or lie.

Maupin graduated from the Neag School of Education with a MA in educational psychology, focusing on the education of the gifted and talented. She is currently the challenge and enrichment teacher at Hebron (Conn.) Public Schools, where she coordinates services for the bright and gifted/talented population. Spotlight recently had the opportunity to connect with Maupin about her book:

Alum and First-time Kate Maupin, poses with her book while visiting the Gentry Building. Photo: Shawn Kornegay, UConn.

Q: How did the idea for the book come about?

A: I work with gifted children, and have for the past 12 years. During that time, I started to see patterns developing in regards to academic dishonesty. So many bright students found little loopholes to avoid activities, or even ways to make boring work more interesting through challenging cheats. What’s more, they were self-reporting this behavior rather than being caught. When I was a child, I did the same thing, even though I kept it secret because I thought I was the only one, and my behavior embarrassed me. Seeing identical actions in the students I worked with and consulted for made me realize that there was something about the gifted experience that might have some connections to cheating, dishonesty, and manipulation. When I went looking for answers through research (UConn-trained all the way!), I came up dry. So I decided to find the answers myself and write a book about my experiences.

Q: Why is the book important to the readers?

A: The book is important because anywhere from 80 percent to 90 percent of gifted and other high-ability children cheat. What’s more, they’re rarely caught. These behaviors serve as coping mechanisms for their desire to fit in, to quell their boredom, to assuage perfectionist tendencies, or even to find friendship. Cheating behaviors aren’t simply “grown out of.” Students need positive support to address the underlying causes of their behaviors. This book not only alerts readers what to look for, but also addresses the issues at their roots.

“The book is important because anywhere from 80 percent to 90 percent of gifted and other high-ability children cheat.”

—Kate Maupin ’08 MA, author of
Cheating, Dishonesty, & Manipulation:Why Bright Kids Do It

Q: Who are you hoping to reach with your book?

A: Parents and teachers of bright students. Anyone who works closely with bright students, or who has a child who has engaged in some sort of negative behavior that seems shocking based on their ability level.

Q: In writing this book, did you discover anything new?

A: The thing that stuck out to me most was the sheer lack of research into cheating or dishonesty as it applies to bright individuals – which is a shame, because if you look at high-profile “con artists” or scams, they’re often perpetrated by brilliant individuals or corporations. We as a society focus on the unfairness of cheating – which inherently makes us look at those students who are cheating to make up for a deficit. People don’t know how to begin looking at gifted cheating because it adds a big, puzzling question mark: Why would people who have no deficit to make up for cheat? What does that do to the fairness element? The book explores this. The other findings that I found absolutely fascinating were from the work of Dan Ariely, and his look at the link between high creativity and the likelihood someone has to not only cheat or lie – but to do this well.

Q: Do you have future plans for other books?

A: I definitely do. I alternate what I write every other summer when I’m on break from school – fiction one summer, then nonfiction. The nonfiction book was in a better place to publish first, so I sent that one out last year. This year, I’m back to working on a fiction book. It’s a young adult novel and doesn’t have anything to do with cheating. Most days I don’t know whether I’m a teacher masquerading as a novelist, or the other way around!

Neag School Alumni: Join Us Oct. 9-11 for Huskies Forever Weekend!

Posted on August 6, 2015December 31, 2020 by

Huskies Forever Weekend 2015 We invite you and your family members to take part in Huskies Forever Weekend, a three-day event at the Storrs campus filled with activities open to all UConn alumni.

This three-day event will feature everything from a 5K race to museum-led art tours to a wine and beer tasting. In addition, the Neag School will be sponsoring the following activities on Saturday, Oct. 10. Registration is now closed.

Contemporary Conversations

Open to all. Register for one, two, or all three sessions!

First Session: Mental Well-Being
Saturday, October 10 | 11 a.m. – 12 p.m. | Gentry 144
Are We Ready, Willing, and Able to Implement Behavioral Vaccines?: A Conversation on Challenges and Opportunities Across Settings in Promoting Mental Well-Being
Presented by the Neag School of Education in collaboration with UConn Student Affairs; the Collaboratory on School of Child Health (CSCH); and the Center for Health, Intervention, and Prevention (CHIP).

Neag School of Education Lunch
Saturday, October 10 | 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. | Gentry 142
Alumni, students, faculty and friends who participate in the Contemporary Conversations Sessions are invited to join the Neag School of Education for a boxed lunch. $8 per person.

HESA Alumni Lunch
Saturday, October 10 | 12 p.m. – 1 p.m. | Gentry 142
Higher Education and Student Affairs alumni, students, faculty and friends are invited to join the Neag School of Education for a boxed lunch. $8 per person.

Second Session: Diversity
Saturday, October 10 | 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. | Gentry 144
Constructive Discomfort: A Conversation on Learning through Difference
Presented by the Neag School of Education, UConn Student Affairs, and the UConn Cultural Centers.

Third Session: Creativity & Innovation
Saturday, October 10 | 3 p.m. – 4 p.m. | Gentry 144
Creativity and Innovation for All: A Conversation on Infusing Creativity into Everyday Life
Presented by the Neag School of Education and UConn Student Affairs.

HESA Alumni Dinner
Saturday, October 10
6 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Alumni Center Great Hall
Reconnect with fellow HESA grads and meet current HESA students over dinner at the Alumni Center. $30 per person. For more information, please call Stacey Murdock at 860.486.2265.

For the full Huskies Forever Weekend schedule, as well as further details on these and other activities, please visit huskiesforever.uconn.edu.

Registration is now closed.

René Roselle Named to National Commission on Clinical Practice in Teacher Preparation

Posted on June 25, 2015December 31, 2020 by

The University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education is pleased to announce that René Roselle has been named to the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE)’s new Clinical Practice Commission (CPC). René Roselle joins the group of higher education and K-12 leaders from across the country, which will examine the state of clinical practice (commonly known as “field experience”) in teacher preparation. The CPC is charged with identifying a set of criteria that define clinical practice, lifting up exemplary models in the field and ultimately publishing a set of recommendations for teacher preparation programs nationwide.

“The Neag School of Education here at the University of Connecticut has a longstanding commitment to preparing top-notch, dedicated teachers who go on to provide our nation’s schoolchildren with every opportunity to thrive,” says Richard Schwab, dean of the Neag School. “Effective clinical practice is the heart and soul of successful teacher preparation programs, and we are proud that Professor Roselle is a national leader contributing to establishing a common understanding of best practices for schools and colleges of education to follow going forward.”

The CPC, which includes representation from professional associations, institutions of higher education and K-12 school districts, will work over the next six months to develop a common understanding of effective approaches to field experiences. The group will develop a white paper, to be circulated broadly this fall for input from the field, and will also recommend ways to address common roadblocks to building successful district-university partnerships, such as transportation, funding and scheduling concerns.

“In 2010, the NCATE Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships found that clinical preparation was a key lever to high quality teacher preparation,” says Rodrick Lucero, AACTE’s Vice President for Member Engagement and Support, who chairs the CPC. “Although we know how essential classroom experiences are to a candidate’s preparation, we also see a broad spectrum of practices being labelled ‘clinical.’ It is high time to create a shared and actionable definition of what high-quality clinical practice looks like to be able to continually improve individual programs and the field as a whole.”

The clinical component of the Neag School of Education’s Integrated Bachelors/Master’s (IB/M) teacher preparation program prepares teacher candidates using a school/university partnership model. Each teacher candidate is provided with a variety of clinical experiences in diverse settings, in which he or she works closely with exemplary teachers in professional development schools. The Neag School of Education has collaborated with many of its partnership schools for more than 20 years, affording relationships that promote simultaneous renewal in both the school and university setting. Multiple opportunities for supervised practice, and an intensive master’s-level internship focusing on teacher leadership, are unique hallmarks of the IB/M program.

Current members of the CPC include educators involved in AACTE, the Association of Teacher Educators, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, the National Association of Professional Development Schools, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the National Network for Educational Renewal, and K-12 schools:

Rodrick Lucero, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (Chair)

Michael Alfano, Central Connecticut State University
Nancy Dana, University of Florida
Derek Decker, Poudre School District (Colo.)
Christine DeGregory, George Mason University
Danielle Dennis, University of South Florida
Elaine Holmes, Poudre School District (Colo.)
Marcy Keifer Kennedy, Ohio University
Amanda Lester, State University of New York
Audra Parker, George Mason University
Jennifer Robinson, Montclair State University
René Roselle, University of Connecticut
Jennifer Roth, Poudre School District (Colo.)
Lisa Stooksberry, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
Cindy Stunkard, Kutztown University
Diane Yendol-Hoppey, University of South Florida
Kristien Zenkov, George Mason University
Omar Davis and Tim Finklea, AACTE support staff

For more information, visit www.aacte.org.

Former UConn President Harry Hartley Leads New Scholarship Initiative With $250,000 Gift

Posted on June 8, 2015July 31, 2019 by

Former UConn President and School of Education Dean Harry Hartley at his home in Palm Beach, Fla., on April 8, 2015. This year, the Neag School announces that Hartley and his wife, Dianne, have made a planned gift in support of undergraduate and graduate students in the Neag School of Education in the amount of $250,000, as part of the University’s Scholarship Initiative. (Stefanie Dion Jones/Neag School)

You may no longer find him cruising the Storrs campus in his Corvette or taking a jog in a UConn track suit with his former running partner, Jim Calhoun. But after having dedicated 31 years to UConn as an administrator, professor, dean, and University president, Harry Hartley remains a Husky through and through.

At his home in Palm Beach, Fla., Hartley, now 77, has lined the walls of his foyer and office – all the way up to the ceiling – with UConn memorabilia, from the large framed photograph of him beaming as he greets President Bill Clinton during the 1995 dedication of the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center to the snapshot of him at Horsebarn Hill, standing proudly alongside UC Harry H, the Morgan horse named years ago in his honor. Many mornings, Hartley still opts to suit up in his UConn track gear.

The last dean to be hired by former UConn President Homer Babbidge, Hartley first arrived on the Storrs campus in 1972. He recalls the afternoon he first met Babbidge, who turned up late for their interview, hair windblown, explaining that he had been delayed by the campus’ annual turtle race, in which his turtle – named, ironically, Search Committee – had failed to leave the starting line.

“I thought, ‘I’m really out of New York now,’” laughs Hartley, who had been living in the decidedly more fast-paced Manhattan, serving as an associate dean at New York University. Although he had no Connecticut roots, the Storrs campus reminded him of his days as Penn State, where he had earned his doctorate. “I felt at home,” he says – an impression strong enough to keep him at UConn for more than three decades.

Harry and Dianne Hartley — Former UConn President Harry Hartley and his wife Dianne on vacation in Greece. The couple has made a planned gift to the University’s new scholarship fundraising initiative. (Photo courtesy of Harry Hartley)

‘The Value of Education’

When the UConn Foundation announced its $150 million student-support fundraising initiative this past year, Hartley’s longstanding sense of devotion to the University prompted him to lead the charge. Through a planned bequest, Hartley has designated a gift of $250,000 in support of undergraduate and graduate scholarship specifically for students in UConn’s Neag School of Education. The gift will be made in his name and in that of his wife, Dianne.

“My parents were both teachers, so I’ve always seen the value of education,” Hartley says. “And if we can turn out better teachers, better administrators, counselors, et cetera, I think it’s a net benefit to the state of Connecticut and to the country.”

The scholarship initiative – which seeks to keep a UConn education affordable and, through merit and need scholarships, attract more high-achieving students – also resonated with Hartley on another level.

Raised in a steel community outside Pittsburgh, Hartley had been aware even from a young age of how financial constraints could limit one’s career options.

“You either worked in a steel mill all your life or, if you were an athlete, you’d get a scholarship that would put you into a college. But not every student has the athletic ability to earn a scholarship,” he says. “So I saw a great need for financial assistance way back then for students who couldn’t afford to go to college.”

With his $250,000 scholarship gift on behalf of the Neag School, Hartley is now looking forward to supporting students who need financial assistance at UConn. Plans are in the works for a special celebratory campus visit from Hartley and his wife this summer.

“We’re investing in people, and I think it has a great return,” he says.

Former UConn President and School of Education Dean Harry Hartley at his home in Palm Beach, Fla., on April 8, 2015. This year, the Neag School announces that Hartley and his wife, Dianne, have made a planned gift in support of undergraduate and graduate students in the Neag School of Education in the amount of $250,000, as part of the University's Scholarship Initiative. — Former UConn President and School of Education Dean Harry Hartley at his home in Palm Beach, Fla., on April 8, 2015. This year, the Neag School announces that Hartley and his wife, Dianne, have made a planned gift in support of undergraduate and graduate students in the Neag School of Education in the amount of $250,000, as part of the University’s Scholarship Initiative. (Stefanie Dion Jones/Neag School)

Making the Pitch

Money makes a big difference, Hartley likes to say – and he should know this better than most. In addition to having served as dean of UConn’s School of Education, as vice president for finance and administration under three different UConn presidents, and for many years as a professor of educational leadership – including up until his retirement in 2003 – Hartley has gone down in University history as the UConn president who successfully fought for the 1995 passage of UConn 2000, the 10-year, $1 billion program to rebuild and renew the University’s infrastructure across each of its campuses.

“There were times when I was apprehensive that the request was too much, when Connecticut had no tradition of supporting its state university,” Hartley says.

Adding to the challenge of passing such a groundbreaking bill was the fact that Storrs had the least amount of political representation of any UConn campus. “Even though it’s the main campus, we only had one or two legislators,” he says. “So, politically, you had to make sure you had something in the plan for every campus.”

Former UConn President and Neag School dean Harry Hartley gives remarks at a reception honoring him at the Alumni House in Storrs on July 21, 2015. Hartley’s friends and colleagues gathered to honor Hartley’s scholarship gift to the Neag School. (Stefanie Dion Jones/Neag School)

Hartley and his team campaigned heavily across Connecticut, meeting with legislators and alumni, explaining the benefits of the billion-dollar program to campuses statewide. In his arguments before the legislature, Hartley says it was important to show that Connecticut was, at the time, losing its best and brightest students. “They weren’t coming to UConn – and where they were going to school was where they’d end up living,” he says. “So I had to make the pitch that if Connecticut was going to be great, we had to keep them here.”

As luck would have it, the UConn women’s basketball team won its first national championship that spring. Hartley recalls introducing legislators in Hartford to the two basketball teams’ captains – Rebecca Lobo and Kevin Ollie. “They both spoke from the heart about how UConn badly needed new facilities [in order to recruit the best student-athletes],” Hartley says. “That played a key role in starting to switch the political support.”

Promises Kept

President Harry Hartley, wearing a UConn sweatshirt, at a brunch in October 1990. (University of Connecticut Photograph Collection, Archives & Special Collections, UConn Libraries)

Years later, the level of transformation the University has undergone since the passage of UConn 2000 is no surprise to the president emeritus.

“I’m looking back at all the promises I made to the legislature when we were fighting for UConn 2000: that we’d raise the SAT scores if they funded us, that the quality of applicants would be much greater, that the financial contributions to the University would be greater, that our partnerships with state industries and companies would be great, that it would lift the general quality of life in the state – if only they could see it as an investment and not an expense,” he says.

“I take pride in what we achieved,” he adds. “I had a wonderful team. Looking back, I would’ve tried to assemble the same kind of team.” He pauses, smiling. “I can’t think of anything major that I would’ve done differently – maybe worn a tuxedo around campus instead of a warm-up suit.”

To learn more about how you can help in supporting scholarships for students at the Neag School of Education or to make a planned bequest, please reach out to Heather McDonald at hmcdonald@foundation.uconn.edu or 860.486.4530.

Accolades: Read About the News and Accomplishments from our Students, Alumni and Faculty/Staff

Posted on June 4, 2015April 1, 2025 by Shawn Kornegay

Below are news and notes from our alumni, faculty, staff, and students. We are proud of all the amazing accomplishments by our Neag family. 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.

Students

Tyler Axon, a sport management student, received a UConn IDEA Grant for his project “Modern Advanced Statistics and their Effect on the Business of Sports.” Axon will analyze the recent trend of using advanced analytics in the scouting and signing of players and assess how they impact various sports. The IDEA Grant award recipients represent a variety of disciplines, from music education to civil engineering, environmental science to molecular and cell biology, and campus affiliations, including one recipient from the Stamford campus.

Harold Bentley, an incoming sport management master’s student, received an NCAA ethnic minority/women’s enhancement scholarship from the NCAA. He will be recognized in Indianapolis in June at the Career in Sports Forum.

Amy Christensen and her fifth-grade class at John A. Langford Elementary School in East Hartford, Conn., participated in Southwest Airlines’ Adopt-A-Pilot program. The students learned about geography, math, and the science of flight by tracking a pilot on their trips and conducting experiments in the classroom.

Emily Cole, an English education major, received a UConn IDEA Grant for her project “These Violent Delights: An Exploration of Love in Mixed Media.” She will create a mixed-media print book that juxtaposes her original poetry and photography, and uses a storyline, visual components, and a second-person narrative.

Andrew Didden won the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies award for outstanding preservice social studies teacher. This award is given to only one person in the state per year.

Marisa DelCampo, an educational psychology graduate student, was chosen as “Intern of the Year” by the Connecticut Association of School Psychologists.

Alumni

Karen Berasi ’04 6th Year, assistant school superintendent of special services from Ridgefield Public Schools, has been named the new school superintendent for the Suffield Public Schools in upstate Suffield, Conn. She starts her new role in July.

Alicia (Qerim) Bowman ’01, ’02 MA, ’08 6th Year, principal at West Woods Upper Elementary School in Farmington, Conn., is the 2015 Connecticut Association of Schools (CAS) and National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP) National Distinguished Principal of the Year. Bowman joined the Farmington Public Schools as a sixth-grade teacher and team leader. She went on to become a math resources teacher and literacy specialist. Bowman began her administrative career as the assistant principal of West Woods Upper Elementary School in 2008 and in 2010 was selected to be the principal at the same school.

Dyllis (Schlosser) Braithwaite ’51 recently published Oh! I Love What You’re Wearing, Volumes I and II, featuring photographs of dozens of outfits she designed and constructed. She resides in Barrington, Ill.

Abigail Flesch Connors ’83 MA has published Shake, Rattle, and Roll: Rhythm Instruments and More for Active Learning (Gryphon House, 2015). The book includes a collection of more than 100 play-based, active musical activities that encourage singing, moving, listening, and playing instruments. An early childhood music teacher and author of 101 Rhythm Instrument Activities for Young Children (Gryphon House, 2004), Connors has been teaching for more than 20 years. She has presented workshops for the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the New Jersey Association for Music Education, the Coalition of Infant/Toddler Educators, and many other groups.

Amy Bovin Dauphinais ’09, ’13 MM, the current band director at Bristol Eastern High School in Bristol, Conn., was chosen as one of only two conductors in the world to be a part of the annual “Cortona Sessions for New Music” in Italy this summer. It was an international competition, and out of the hundreds who applied, she was chosen for the fellowship. She was also accepted as a participant in the 2015 International Conducting Workshop and Festival in Bulgaria, beind held later this summer.

Paula A. Ballantyne DeSilva ’80 Ph.D. was recognized by the Malta House of Care Foundation as a recipient of its annual Wonder Women Awards. She is being honored for her passionate advocacy for individuals with disabilities and her mentoring and leadership skills in numerous nonprofits. Her work has included coordinating relief efforts for Sri Lanka after the 2004 tsunami and creating a 501(c)(3) to provide ongoing support to schools for the deaf and blind in rural Sri Lankan villages.

Marcus Easley ’08 (ED) received the Buffalo Bills Ed Bock Courage Award in January. The award is presented to the Buffalo Bills player who exemplifies a commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage. The recipient symbolizes professionalism, great strength, and dedication and serves as a community role model for others.

Shane Fogarty ’06 (CLAS), ’12 MA joins Fordham University as assistant coach – running backs for the school’s football program. Fogarty, who served as offensive coordinator at Colby College this past fall, returns for his second stint at Fordham as an assistant with the football program. Fogarty was a graduate assistant for the Huskies in 2010 and 2011, coaching the defensive backs and linebackers for the 2010 BIG EAST championship team, which appeared in the 2011 Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and the 2011 squad. Fogarty also was a member of the Husky football program from 2002-05, earning a letter in his senior season. While at UConn, he earned the Joseph M. Giannelli Unsung Hero Award as well as the Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletes Award for Academic Excellence in the football program.

Stephanie Glavin ’06 (ED) became one of the youngest market managers ever for Bank of America in Palm Beach County, Fla. She works with local leadership teams and community organizations to put into practice the bank’s charitable giving strategy, sponsorships, and volunteerism. Before joining Bank of America last year, Glavin was executive director for the Muscular Dystrophy Association in Boynton Beach.

Madelaine Lawrence ’83 Ph.D. has published a book titled The Death View Revolution: A Guide to Transpersonal Experiences Surrounding Death (White Crow Books, 2014). Lawrence is a researcher, author, educator, professional life coach, as well as a certified hypnotist and instructor of hypnosis. She has taught research to graduate and undergraduate students for more than 20 years and has been a director of education and research for a large urban hospital in Connecticut.

Justis Lopez ’14 (ED), ’15 MA received the Alma Exley Scholarship Award in Hartford, Conn., in May. The program annually awards one scholarship to a student of color in a teacher-preparation program in Connecticut. The Neag School has numerous former Alma Exley Scholars.

Carley Mooney ’15 (ED) received the Steven Smith Scholarship at the Neag School’s Honors Day in April as well as the Women’s Center Outstanding Undergraduate Award for the Neag School. Mooney served as the 2015 Neag School of Education Undergraduate Student Commencement Speaker. She will be a student in the adult learning master’s program in the fall of 2015.

Timothy Van Tasel ’07 6th Year was selected superintendent for Hebron (Conn.) Public Schools. He has 16 years of experience as an educator and presently serves as assistant superintendent of curriculum, instruction, and human resources for the East Hampton Public Schools.

In Memoriam

David G. Allbee ’69
Linda K. Bennett ’70
Yolanda S. Burr ’86
Dominique J. Castagna ’50
Rebecca E. Flowers ’96
John P. Garelli ’74
Robert H. Hart ’40
Evelyn M. Hawley ’42
Marie A. Herbst ’88
Lillian C. Lenentine ’73
Thomas J. Lyons ’54
Thomas G. Nevers ’50
Arlene D. Ryan ’90
Patrick L. Sinatro Jr. ’51
John A. Sullivan ’66
Wanda L. Taintor ’07
Charles E. Triano Sr. ’63
Cynthia C. Tribelhorn ’52
Linda Weintraub ’65
Lawrence F. Woodward Jr. ’70

Faculty/Staff

AERA – Presentations from the 2015 Annual Meeting in Chicago.

EDCI – Hosted the first inaugural STEM Conference on May 12, featuring keynote speaker Bill Penuel, professor of educational psychology and learning services at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The one-day conference brought together approximately 50 UConn faculty members and representatives of the Connecticut education community to discuss emerging issues in STEM education and opportunities for collaborations in developing research-practice partnerships.

EDLR – Members of the UCAPP PLUS and LEAD CT/UCAPP Residency cohorts presented on change projects facilitated during their internships. The New Haven Public Schools submitted a letter of commitment to launch a PLUS cohort in July 2016. Admission offers were made to candidates for the traditional (34) and PLUS (14) cohorts.

Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) – The admissions process is complete for students entering Fall 2015. From a pool of 325 applicants, HESA has selected 20 outstanding students, all of whom have full assistantships in the Division of Student Affairs or other administrative offices.

Scott Brown co-authored “Developing Scientific Writing Skills Through Interdisciplinary, Technology-based Simulations: GlobalEd2” in The Curriculum Journal, 2015 edition.

Laura Burton co-presented research findings of “Women in Athletic Leadership: Adding Value” to the executive board of the National Association of Collegiate Women Athletic Administrators In April. She also gave the closing keynote address in May at the 2015 Women’s Advancement Conference, sponsored by the UConn Women’s Center.

Todd Campbell co-authored “Engaging Students in Modeling as an Epistemic Practice of Science: An Introduction to the Special Issue of the Journal of Science Education and Technology” in the April issue of Journal of Science Education and Technology.

Milagros Castillo-Montoya was given honorary mention at UConn’s Puerto Rican and Latin American Cultural Center’s (PRLACC) Annual Recognition Banquet in May during its faculty/staff awards ceremony for her service to Latin@s at UConn, and in particular for her initiative as founder of the Latina Scholars Alliance (LSA), an organization designed to provide an encouraging environment to learn, develop, and thrive as Latinas in the academy.

Casey Cobb, Morgaen Donaldson, Rachael Gabriel, Richard Gonzales, Kimberly LeChasseur, and Sarah Woulfin received the AERA Division L Outstanding Policy Report Award for their report on Connecticut’s implementation of a pilot educator evaluation initiative at the annual conference of AERA.

Joseph Cooper co-presented “An anti-deficit perspective on Black female scholar athletes’ achievement experiences at a Division I predominantly White institution” at the College Sport Research Institute in Columbia, S.C. in April. He was also a co-presenter on “MEAC/SWAC Bowl game? First-and-ten, moving the chains! Changing domains in highly bureaucratic environments: De-escalation of commitment and the road to secession” at the College Sport Research Institute.

Danielle DeRosa participated as a panelist on the first Cape Town Sport and Peace Conference in Boston, held on the occasion of the Cape Town, South African Marathon and World Peace Day. The 1^st Boston Roundtable for Sport and Peace is dedicated to promoting awareness and visibility of sport as a means of building peace within communities, and for youth specifically.

Morgaen Donaldson, Jennie Weiner, and Sarah Woulfin have been asked to serve as evaluators for an i3 grant in preparation by the Hartford Public Schools.

Morgaen Donaldson received the award at AERA for Best Technical Report for the study she led (and several UCAPP faculty assisted to produce) on the pilot implementation of SEED, the educator evaluation and development instrument used in Connecticut.

Shaun Dougherty co-authored “Middle school math acceleration and equitable access to 8th grade algebra: Evidence from the Wake County Public School System” for in 2015 issue of Education Evaluation and Policy Analysis. He also published “Bridging the discontinuity in adolescent literacy? Mixed evidence from a middle grades intervention” in Education Finance and Policy.

Jen Freeman and Brandi Simonsen represented CBER (and the National PBIS Center) at U.S. Senator Chris Murphy’s policy briefing on restraint and seclusion at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford in May. They were asked to present on PBIS as a positive and proactive approach that prevents and reduces behavioral incidents in schools. (PBIS was also named as a framework for organizing evidence-based practices in a U.S. Department of Education Restraint and Seclusion: Resource Document.)

Richard Gonzales accepted an offer to be an affiliate faculty member of UConn’s El Instituto: Institute of Latina/o, Carribbean, and Latin American Studies.

James Kaufman wrote a musical, Discovering Magenta, which will be playing off-Broadway in early September. The music is by Michael Bitterman; Kaufman wrote the book and lyrics. It’s part of the Thespis Festival in New York City, N.Y.

Several research proposals were funded at a level of approximately $300,000, and include faculty from the Neag School of Education, UConn’s Department of Psychology, the Haskins Lab, and UConn’s Schools of Medicine and Pharmacy. Devin Kearns, Michael Coyne, and Jay Rueckl were awarded a grant to develop two theoretically different reading interventions for elementary-age children with developmental dyslexia (DD). They will test the efficacy of these interventions in improving the reading achievement of children with DD, and then examine the neurobiological factors and mechanisms that relate to treatment response and resistance. This project will further enhance UConn’s reputation for conducting applied neuropsychological research to solve important educational problems.

Kimberly Lechasseur and Morgaen Donaldson co-authored, with two other colleagues, “Situating teacher inquiry: A micropolitical perspective” in March issue of School Effectiveness and School Improvement.

This summer, Don Leu is conducting the annual doctoral seminar in language development, text comprehension, and literacy at the National Graduate School in Educational Science (NATED) in the University of Oslo, Norway. He is also working with the eSeek Project Research Group in Finland, a research project funded by the Academy of Science in Finland that has translated the Online Research and Comprehension Assessments, developed at the Neag School, for use in Finland. Finally, he is working with the TIMS/PIRLS group as a member of their Reading Advisory Group to develop international assessments of online research and comprehension for 10-year-olds.

Jonathan Plucker co-authored “Modeling Influences on Divergent Thinking and Artistic Creativity” in the March issue of Thinking Skills and Creativity.

Chris Rhoads was named an EAQ Outstanding Reviewer for 2014-15.

John Settlage co-authored “Explorations of the structure-agency dialectic as a tool for framing equity in science education” in the April issue of Journal of Research in Science Education. He also co-authored “School leader enactments of the structure/agency dialectic via buffering” in the April issue of Journal of Research in Science Teaching.

Suzanne Wilson has been appointed one of six co-editors of the newly integrated American Educational Research Journal (AERJ). This is a three-year term. She also presented on “Math Education Reform: Finding Common Ground at Math Education” at the National Math Festival.

Sarah Woulfin received a Dean’s Research Incentive Award (DRIA) from the Neag School to study coaching in the context of Hartford Public Schools. She will use micropolitical theory to analyze how principals and coaches construct the role of the coach. Shaun Dougherty also received a DRIA, along with the Educator Quality group.

UConn’s Administrator Preparation Program Cohorts Present Change Projects

Posted on May 27, 2015February 17, 2023 by

Student shares final UCAPP presentation with group — A LEAD CT/UCAPP Residency student, Jennifer Frese-Miller, shares final her project presentation with the group. (Photo credit: Brianna Ricciardone)

Educational leaders are responsible for promoting change, and UConn’s Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP) students are no exception.

Richard Gonzales, assistant professor-in-residence and director of Educational Leadership Preparation Programs in the Neag School, welcomed guests, including current and future UCAPP students, faculty from the Department of Educational Leadership, and others, to the event. Diane Ullman, UCAPP program advisor, also spoke, touching on the potential power of UCAPP leaders to influence change across Connecticut and the preparation they undergo to lead urban schools. Bob Villanova, director of LEAD CT, discussed change leadership and the ways in which school leaders can foster conditions so that teachers can do the “magic” of high-quality instruction for all students.

The PLUS and Residency students divided into three presentation groups, facilitated by Mike Buckley, associate executive director of the Connecticut Association of Schools; Jen Michno, assistant clinical professor; and Sarah Woulfin, assistant professor. Students presented on the change they had initiated, how they served as the leader for that change, what they learned about leadership, and how they will employ those lessons as school leaders.

UCAPP Student Presentation — A UCAPP PLUS student, Adam Taha, shares his final project presentation with the group. (Photo credit: Brianna Ricciardone)

Understanding the PLUS and Residency Models
UCAPP PLUS students follow a two-year, urban school leadership model in partnership with Hartford Public Schools (HPS). The goal of this initiative is to feed the HPS leadership pipeline, improving teacher leadership in the short term and raising the caliber of principalship candidates in the long term.

The majority of the members of the first UCAPP PLUS cohort moved into campus- or district-level teacher leadership roles during the two years of the program. These individuals primarily serve as program specialists or intervention specialists who support schools in assisting struggling students. Those who remained at their schools assumed leadership responsibility for special projects, above and beyond their teaching assignments.

The LEAD CT/UCAPP Residency, meanwhile, is a one-year, turnaround school leadership model formed in partnership with LEAD CT, a reform initiative of the Connecticut State Department of Education’s Office of Talent Management. The goal of the Residency is to prepare principalship candidates to lead the schools most in need of immediate improvement, particularly in Connecticut Alliance districts.

Residents of this program are based in districts across the state, including Meriden, New Haven, Hartford, and Vernon. They served during their year in the program as school-level administrators, primarily as assistant principals. In addition to generally supporting the work of the schools, they assumed responsibility for projects in the areas of instructional leadership, organizational leadership, and talent management.

“Well-prepared and fully committed school principals are in demand,” says Villanova, LEAD CT director. “Across the country, school districts are recognizing the need to develop strong internal and external leadership pipelines in order to both prepare and attract strong principals.”

Change Projects
Given UCAPP’s emphasis on data-based decision making in program and/or school improvement, students engaging in these change projects were to identify a data-based need or an opportunity for improvement for which they would attempt to collaboratively lead change. Students’ projects were diverse – from writing a handbook for a secondary school and promoting a positive behavior system to creating a culture of professional learning.

Each student discussed the importance of using multiple forms of data to guide decision making and emphasized the interrelated dimensions of leadership: climate, culture, equity, instruction, and management practices.

While the projects varied in topic and scale, they all ultimately aimed to support of the work of the instructional core – teaching, learning, and curriculum.

“Students from both cohorts seemed to identify issues of inequity where the school was systemically not working well, or adequately, for a particular child or group of students,” says Gonzales.

Students also responded to questions and comments from the audience, which offered them not only the opportunity to practice their formal presentation skills and capacity to speak to a broad constituency, but also to learn from other aspiring principals’ change projects. As part of the program, future UCAPP students will conduct similar Change Project presentations as their culminating activity.

“We are incredibly proud of the graduates of these two inaugural cohorts, who aimed to positively impact the student achievement gap through leadership,” says Gonzales, citing the more than 60 cohorts who have completed the traditional UCAPP program over the past 25 years.

“UCAPP has operated to prepare capable and highly qualified leaders for Connecticut schools,” he says. “We believe [these cohorts] will live up to the high standard of being a UCAPP leader.”

The two inaugural cohorts graduated during UConn’s Graduate Commencement Ceremony on May 9, 2015.

Neag School and CLAS Collaborate to Improve Students’ Math, Social Studies Skills Through Intercultural Competence

Posted on May 27, 2015February 17, 2023 by

As part of the Math ICC project, Durham University Professor Emeritus Michael Byram visits UConn to discuss criticality of foreign language education at Gentry building on February 4, 2015. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay) — As part of the Math ICC project, Durham University Professor Emeritus Michael Byram visits UConn in February 2015 to discuss criticality of foreign language education. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay)

The name of the project is complex, but its purpose is straightforward: to develop students’ critical thinking skills, as well as improve their ability to communicate complex thoughts, see a scenario from multiple perspectives, and better relate to people from different cultures.

The process of creating systematic and multifaceted learning units that will teach math, world language, and social studies students these skills has also been complex. But the result of “Prototype of P-20 and Interdisciplinary Collaboration and P-20 Articulation” — funded jointly by UConn’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS) and the Neag School of Education — will be not just more informed and inquisitive learners, but also more informed and skilled teachers.

More simply called Math Intercultural Competence, or Math ICC, by those involved, this “Prototype of P-20” project also integrates key Common Core requirements in math, as well as standard requirements of world languages and social studies that middle school students must master. The innovative learning units developed by the interdisciplinary Math ICC team will officially be introduced to sixth-graders at West Woods Upper Elementary School in Farmington, Conn., during the coming academic year.

Connecting the Classroom and the Real World
The units challenge students to find solutions to real-life problems affecting various parts of the world today, such as dwindling water supply. In another unit, students must help countries create a response plan for an earthquake, tsunami, or other natural disaster.

The lessons, like the project itself, follow the theoretical framework for intercultural competence developed by British educator Michael Byram, professor emeritus at the University of Durham and one of the leaders in the field. Byram spent an intensive week in February 2015 in Connecticut collaborating with all involved and continues to work closely on unit refinement and research components of the project.

“Learning math isn’t just about learning new formulas, and learning a language isn’t just about learning new words. There’s a context and culture involved in both fields that need to be understood, too,” says project co-principal investigator and UConn CLAS faculty member Manuela Wagner, an associate professor of foreign language education. “Language learners need to learn how to use the language in a socially and culturally appropriate way. Also, many of the critical thinking skills students use to solve math problems can be applied to learning a new language, and vice versa. The learning units we created show students how problem-solving strategies and intercultural competence they learn in one subject can be applied to different disciplines and to real-life situations.”

CLAS associate professor of mathematics and project co-principal investigator Fabiana Cardetti gives welcome remarks during event for Michael Byram. (Photo caption: Shawn Kornegay) — CLAS associate professor of mathematics and project co-principal investigator Fabiana Cardetti gives welcome remarks during Math ICC event for Michael Byram. (Photo caption: Shawn Kornegay)

Fellow CLAS associate professor of mathematics and project co-principal investigator Fabiana Cardetti adds: “There are many connections between different subjects, as well as connections between classroom learning and the outside world. But up until now, there’s been too-little emphasis on those overlaps. Common Core also now requires that students be able to critically consider, and then effectively communicate, their reasoning in math. So that idea of forcing students to consider ‘How did I arrive at this solution?’ is a big part of this project, as well as to show them the importance of opening their minds to different perspectives and possibilities. There are often multiple ways to get to a solution, and students need to be able to see that, as well as to be able to critique why some solutions are more effective than others.”

Understanding different cultures and developing a sense of cultural competence is essential, Wagner and Cardetti say, to living in today’s global society.

Many Layers of Collaboration
West Woods School teachers and administrators have been key contributors, as have partnering faculty and graduate students from UConn’s Neag School. Marijke Kehrhahn, associate professor of adult learning and former director of the Teachers for a New Era at UConn, and Donalyn Maneggia, Teachers for a New Era program assistant, have been “invaluable” players, says Wagner, who also served as the UConn Teachers for a New Era assistant director.

“We couldn’t have done any of this work without them,” Wagner says, or without the Neag School having been selected in 2003 to join the prestigious Carnegie Corporation Teachers for a New Era network. Awarded to just 11 colleges in the United States, the Teachers for a New Era designation recognizes institutions whose teacher education programs provide exemplary sites to design and implement initiatives to improve student outcomes through evidence-based practices and faculty collaboration. Math ICC is one of its outgrowths.

Others from the Neag School involved in Math ICC include Melissa Scarbrough, a preservice teacher enrolled in Neag’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s (IB/M) Teacher Education Program, and curriculum and instruction doctoral student Maddeline Williams.

“The work we’ve done to create practical learning units that bring together teachers from different disciplines, and investigate the connections between math, world language, and social studies, is challenging,” the Neag School’s Kehrhahn says. “It involves not just determining what basic skills must be taught in each of these curriculums, but how they can be applied to a framework of intercultural competence and best be put into practice.”

Teacher education and ongoing professional development are additional elements of the project. Another focus has been determining how teachers can implement these and similar types of learning units without having to take on additional work.

“Teachers work so hard already, and in most school systems, resources are limited. So as we created these units, we made sure we also created an implementation plan that would support teachers reaching their goals,” Cardetti agreed.

Two new graduate-level classes were also developed around understanding intercultural competence and applying it to the classroom.

“Ideally, these classes will make intercultural competence part of teacher education, further ingraining ways to incorporate social justice, equity, and global understanding into classroom lessons,” Cardetti says. “One of the next steps in this project is to create materials that all schools and school districts can use to implement similar models. Our goal is to make these lessons available and adaptable to all teachers and students.”