Neag School’s Rachel Hill ’17 (ED) is one of the premier soccer forwards in the country. The sport management student leads the UConn women’s soccer team in scoring and was on the U.S. U-20 National Team in 2014.
Watch this special video profile featuring Hill, produced by the multimedia team at UConn Today.
There’s no better satisfaction for Eliana Rojas than the moment a student suddenly understands something in the classroom. Over the coming school year, the Neag School associate professor-in-residence suspects that many more of those “got-it” moments will be happening in one local school.
Last month, Rojas presented 30 iPads and a charging cart to Windham Middle School in Windham, Conn., as part of Mathematics Literacy in English Across Disciplines (Math LEAD) – an initiative that seeks to improve math instruction for the school’s large population of English language learners (ELLs).
Nearly 80 percent of Windham’s population are non-native English speakers, a dynamic that poses a challenge for teachers trying to ensure that students understand not only English, but also the language of mathematics.
“The classroom environment [at Windham Middle School] is very diverse. They come from many different countries and communities and speak several different languages,” says Rojas, Math LEAD project director. In fact, she says, nearly 80 percent of Windham’s population are non-native English speakers, a dynamic that poses a challenge for teachers who are trying to ensure that students understand not only English, but also the language of mathematics.
For the middle schoolers, Rojas says, completing math lessons and playing math games on the iPads empowers them to learn.
“There is no challenge for the kids to use the technology,” she says. “The kids are miracles. They will try anything.”
Math LEAD is part of a five-year, $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The donated iPads, which will ultimately help to enhance the learning of more than 450 students, are just one of the program initiatives intended to prepare ELLs for college-level mathematics and STEM-related fields.
Since 2005, Rojas has helped secure roughly $6 million in grant funding that has supported professional enhancement and bilingual education on a number of fronts. For instance, Windham Middle School benefited from this funding last year, too, as 30 graphing calculators were purchased for the school. In addition, the LEAD program trains elementary, middle, and high school teachers in three major competency areas: cultural, social, and linguistic. It also trains teachers in culturally relevant pedagogy, including how to understand diverse social conditions and how to tailor lessons to students’ individual needs. The most qualified instructors are encouraged to complete a master’s degree or sixth-year diploma in bilingual/TESOL education through the Neag School of Education.
As much as Rojas hopes bilingual instructors master teaching mathematics to ELLs, the true measure of success, she says, is when students understand the material well enough to teach it to their peers.
“The best thing is when a student can teach [mathematics] to the other kids,” Rojas says. “That’s the reproduction of knowledge.”
Now in the midst of recruiting its second cohort, the Dean’s Doctoral Scholar Program at UConn’s Neag School of Education provides full tuition for four years plus a stipend to promising Ph.D. candidates. Dean’s Doctoral Scholars have the opportunity to conduct interdisciplinary research with leading experts in the field of education while earning a doctoral degree from UConn in curriculum and instruction, educational leadership, or educational psychology.
This fall, the Neag School is joined by the first group of Dean’s Doctoral Scholars selected from across the country – from Puerto Rico to New Orleans to New York – with such diverse interests as neuropsychology research and multicultural education.
Here, Spotlight offers a brief introduction to each member of the inaugural class:
For more information about the Dean’s Doctoral Scholars Program and the application process, visit s.uconn.edu/neagdds.
Name: Nneka Arinze
Hometown: Atlanta
Your Career Previous to Arriving at UConn: Youth worker
Your Ph.D. Area of Study: Educational Leadership – Sport Management
Proudest Career Moment: Hearing children echo to others what they’ve learned with me
Ultimate Career Goal: To directly or indirectly make a difference in someone’s life using sports
Name: Latanya Brandon
Hometown: Bridgeport, Conn.
Your Career Previous to Arriving at UConn: New York City public school teacher
Your Ph.D. Area of Study: Curriculum and Instruction in Science Education
Proudest Career Moment: Becoming a Dean’s Doctoral Scholar
Ultimate Career Goal: To investigate and report on research that directly impacts the science classroom
Favorite Dairy Bar Ice Cream Flavor: I haven’t tried it yet!
Name: Sian Charles-Harris
Hometown: San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago/Bronx, N.Y.
Your Career Previous to Arriving at UConn: High school English teacher in New York City
Your Ph.D. Area of Study: Curriculum and Instruction
Proudest Career Moment: I still have a special place in my heart for my very first class of sixth-graders as a first-year teacher. They are now juniors in college. I received a message recently from one student, Nathalie, who had the misfortune of struggling through the angst and awkwardness of her sixth-grade year in my first-year classroom. She declared in that message that my class was her absolute favorite class throughout middle and high school and she still remembers some of the great discussions we had based on our readings. I thought, “That’s great! (Because I had no idea what I was doing!)” It’s just good to know that the kids really are all right.
Ultimate Career Goal: To be recognized as having made a relevant and significant contribution to the field of multicultural education through scholarship and practice.
Favorite Dairy Bar Ice Cream Flavor: Coffee
Name: William Estepar-Garcia
Hometown: Guaynabo, Puerto Rico
Your Career Previous to Arriving at UConn: Measurement and research specialist at College Board, Puerto Rico and Latin America Office
Your Ph.D. Area of Study: Measurement, Evaluation and Assessment, Department of Educational Psychology
Proudest Career Moment: Being asked to present at a conference in Mexico about a joint research project regarding how to improve the retention of students in a top-tier university in Panamá.
Ultimate Career Goal: To work alongside great colleagues in an organization (nonprofit, academia) that strives to provide research based-information for the improvement of quality of education.
Favorite Dairy Bar Ice Cream Flavor: I haven’t tried them all (yet), but right now the coconut flavor is my favorite!
Name: Britney Jones
Hometown: Elmont, N.Y.
Your Career Previous to Arriving at UConn: Fourth-grade teacher, curriculum fellow (developer)
Your Ph.D. Area of Study: Learning, Leadership and Education Policy Program
Proudest Career Moment: Learning to work with, and differentiate for, students with a variety of needs. I celebrated when 100 percent of my students were proficient on the NYS fourth-grade science state test for the first time in my school’s history (2014). Many celebrations of success with individual students and families also come to mind when I think of proud moments.
Ultimate Career Goal: Holding a position in which I can continue to think critically about education and effect change in systems that affect all students, families, teachers, and administrators (particularly students of color).
Favorite Dairy Bar Ice Cream Flavor: I have not been yet! On my to-do list. Do they have cookies and cream?
Name: Taylor Koriakin
Hometown: Sparta, N.J.
Your Career Previous to Arriving at UConn: After graduating from UConn with a BA in psychology in 2011, I accepted a job at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore. There, I worked as a research assistant in the department of neuropsychology and coordinated several research studies related to autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and other developmental disabilities.
Your Ph.D. Area of Study: School Psychology
Proudest Career Moment: Getting my first manuscript published in a peer-reviewed journal and also being accepted into the Dean’s Doctoral Scholars Program.
Ultimate Career Goal: To become a licensed psychologist
Favorite Dairy Bar Ice Cream Flavor: Chocolate peanut butter
Name: Jeremy Landa
Hometown: Huntington Woods, Mich.
Your Career Previous to Arriving at UConn: High school social studies teacher at Cooperative Arts and Humanities High School in New Haven, Conn.
Your Ph.D. Area of Study: Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment, Department of Educational Psychology
Proudest Career Moment: Co-teaching a Facing History and Ourselves class with a theater teacher that had a class performance including plays, spoken word pieces, songs, dances, and visual art. All the art related to and was consistent with learning about sociology, psychology, and the history of civil rights in the United States. It was really hard, but satisfying to pull off with my colleague.
Ultimate Career Goal: Complete work somewhere that is applied within K-12 public schools to help make teachers’ lives easier to manage and improve their abilities on the job.
Favorite Dairy Bar Ice Cream Flavor: I am embarrassed to say I have not been there yet. Favorite flavor in general is chocolate-chocolate chip.
Name: Tiffany Polk
Hometown: New Orleans
Your Career Previous to Arriving at UConn: Test preparation and college readiness specialist
Your Ph.D. Area of Study: School Psychology
Proudest Career Moment: When I found out that the very first student I worked with on test prep and college applications was accepted into college.
Ultimate Career Goal: Not yet decided. I am passionate about research and systems-level change, but I also love working with students in schools. Thus, I am open to seeing where my passions take me!
Favorite Dairy Bar Ice Cream Flavor: Oreo
Take the first step toward becoming a Dean’s Doctoral Scholar: Apply by Dec, 1, 2015. For more information, visit s.uconn.edu/neagdds.
Last year, the Neag School of Education announced the launch of its prestigious Dean’s Doctoral Scholars program, designed to provide fully funded scholarships to outstanding doctoral students.
The Neag School is now actively seeking applications for its second cohort of Dean’s Doctoral Scholars. Individuals accepted into this exclusive program for the 2016-17 academic year will have the opportunity to:
In addition to full tuition remission, Dean’s Doctoral Scholars receive a generous stipend.
Applications are due by Dec. 1, 2015.
The first-ever cohort – comprising eight individuals selected from a pool of nearly 130 applicants from across the country – joined the Neag School this fall. Get to know each of our current Dean’s Doctoral Scholars in this issue’s Q&A.
For more information about the program, visit s.uconn.edu/neagdds. Or, share our video with an outstanding candidate.
Editor’s Note: Former Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis ’05 (ED), ’06 MA, founder of nonprofit Classes 4 Classes and survivor of the tragic 2012 shooting in Newtown, Conn., shares with Spotlight an excerpt of her new book, Choosing Hope: Moving Forward from Life’s Darkest Hours (G.P. Putnam’s Sons), releasing tomorrow, Oct. 6.
Join us on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. for a reading and book signing by Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis at the UConn Co-op in downtown Storrs Center.
I live every day wishing I could go back to December 13, back to who I was, who my kids were, back to our school with those who were taken on that day and the life I would have never in a million years have changed.
Sometimes I wonder how all of this happened. How, after finding myself in the midst of such abject darkness, in a place where breaking free seemed unlikely, if not impossible, I was finally able to get to the light. Did my strong faith play a role in my passage from that unimaginable tragedy? Yes, it did. Did the love of my family and friends and the support of a caring community bolster me as I attempted to put one foot in front of the other in the days and weeks afterward? Of course. But what saved me, when I dropped to my lowest point and wandered aimlessly between feelings of sadness and fear and maddening frustration over not being able to answer the “Why?” of what happened, was the moment I realized I had a choice. I could allow the actions of a monster to crush my spirit and, for the rest of my life, have that terrible day in Newtown define me. Or I could decide that, even in the wake of such unspeakable malice, I could live a purposeful life by choosing hope.
The Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre was the worst mass murder of school children in the United States since the Bath School bombing in 1927, and a mournful chapter in our country’s narrative. I’ll leave it to others to write the historical account of that day. I’ve agreed to tell my story, but on my terms. I will not be exploitative: anyone who is looking for that should reach for a different book. I will bear witness to the trauma my students and I suffered, and, even more significantly, the acts of heroism that day, and the generosity of others that poured into our broken community afterward. I write about my personal experience for the purpose of clarify and perspective. It is that which led me to the path I walk today.
Six of my colleagues and twenty first-graders – six- and seven-year-olds who were still learning to tell time, and count to 120, and spell 100 words – were murdered that morning. Teachers and administrators and support staff and children who acted with great courage in the face of death. By the grace of God, my students and I survived. When the shooting began and the killer stalked down the hallway toward our classroom, leaving a trail of devastation in his wake, I stuffed my frantic students into a first-grade bathroom that was too tiny for one adult and told them to stay perfectly quiet. I was certain we were going to die.
I won’t say the shooter’s name. I never have. The only names that need to be memorialized are the innocent children and educators whose lives he took. To this day, I believe the killer came into our classroom, which was the first one in the hallway, and, thinking it was empty, moved to the next classroom, and the next, shooting everyone he saw. I’ll never know for sure.
When you hear the whisper of death, life takes on a different meaning. Not a moment passes when I don’t recognize that it could have been us who didn’t make it out of the school that day. That all of my students and I did get out alive is, in my mind, nothing short of a miracle. I honor that miracle by not taking anything for granted. Not a beautiful sunset, or the gentle sensation of a loved one’s hand reaching for mine, or the sweet sound of a child’s voice, or a kind word from a stranger. Not for a second.
Because we survived, I must live up to my responsibility to those who were silenced by using my voice to share what I have learned from standing at the precipice of death and, in doing so, making sure that day is not forgotten. Had it been my kids and me who were taken, I would have wanted someone to use his or her voice for good and to carry on the legacy of love and benevolence that, before evil visited, was the story of Sandy Hook.
In the weeks after the shooting, I waded through my sorrow, wondering if I would ever feel joy again. I spent every day asking myself, Why our school? Why innocent children? When the answers wouldn’t come, I became increasingly frustrated and angry. Until, one day, I realized I would never answer those questions and I needed to concentrate on the ones I could answer, for the sake of both my students and me. Only then could we begin healing. Two questions guided me: How do I make sure that the deeds of a madman do not prevent us from moving forward to live good and meaningful lives? And how do we gain back the sense of control that he took from us? Those two questions led me in everything I did. Rather than consuming myself with the horror of what happened, I began focusing on the good that could be done, and how I might take part in our collective healing.
When I changed my thinking, opportunities began to present themselves. I founded a nonprofit called Classes 4 Classes, a concept to teach students everywhere the importance of kindness and caring for others. In my capacity as a survivor, I was asked to speak to a group of educators, which I reluctantly accepted. I started my presentation by sharing my story of hope and saw the impact it had on the audience. One speaking engagement led to dozens. Following every appearance, people came up to me to share their personal struggles – “I was just diagnosed with cancer”; “I lost my husband”; “My son is going through a difficult time” – and to thank me for inspiring them to focus on the possibilities rather than the negativity in their lives. They would often begin by saying things such as “I know this is nothing like what you’ve been through” or “My struggle can’t compare with yours,” and I would stop them each time and say, “Pain is pain and sadness is sadness and loss is loss and we are all connected in this.”
After a few of those encounters, I decided that if, by sharing my personal story, I could help even one person through his or her darkest hour, then that was what I needed to do. I quickly realized that helping them was healing me. Sharing my message of hope became my calling. So when I was approached about writing a book, something that had never crossed my mind, I decided to seize the opportunity to be able to reach even more people.
The Sandy Hook Elementary School I knew closed its doors for good after the shooting. Our beautiful school is dust now, razed to the soil because what it came to represent was too painful for a community to bear. And while teaching is at the core of who I am, my new classroom is wherever life takes me – to elementary schools, and teacher conferences, and college commencements, and anywhere else I am asked to speak.
In my travels and, now, with my book, my purpose is to convey the importance of gratitude and endurance and, most of all, the power of choice. Yes, especially that. I know now that how you deal with life’s challenges, even those that may seem unbearable or hopeless, is your choice to make. Bad things happen to all of us, things that test us and impact us and change us, but it is not those moments that define who we are. It is how we choose to react to them that does. You can give in and give up or you can decide to live your life with intent and love and compassion for others and for yourself. You can choose hope, even in the darkest hour, and in that choice you will find light. We have that power. I do. You do. Everyone does. That is what I believe.
From CHOOSING HOPE by Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis, to be published on October 6, 2015 by G.P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC. Copyright © 2015 by Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis.
For Connecticut educators aspiring to advance their careers and serve in roles as assistant principals, principals, or district-level administrators, the Neag School of Education is offering more preparation options than ever before.
First launched by the Neag School nearly three decades ago, the University of Connecticut Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP) – which received national recognition as an exemplary program as far back as 2007 – has expanded substantially over the course of the past two years in response to an ongoing demand across the state for competent school leaders.
ATTEND A UCAPP INFO SESSION
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“Our mission is simple: We exist to prepare highly qualified, capable principals and school leaders for every school community in the state of Connecticut,” says Richard Gonzales, director of Educational Leadership Preparation Programs and professor-in-residence at the Neag School.
As a former schoolteacher, elementary school principal, and district-level administrator, Gonzales is deeply familiar not only with the skills, hands-on experience, and knowledge one needs in order to succeed in a school leadership position, but also the sorts of fundamental values that can help shape a successful academic program for those pursuing a career move into this area.
What Makes UCAPP Strong
Gonzales emphasizes a number of key strengths that have come to distinguish the UCAPP program as a whole: from its degree of selectivity and its rigorous curriculum and robust internship component to the quality of its instructors and the one-on-one support offered to each student by “dedicated supervisors who are, in essence, on call 24/7 to be there as a coach and mentor,” Gonzales says. On the accreditation front, the program has also consistently demonstrated its alignment with state and national leadership standards.
But even beyond all of that, Gonzales adds, the program owes much of its success to two other important features – one is the cohort model on which all UCAPP programs are based, bringing together students in each cohort for all courses and assignments for the duration of the program. Cohorts typically comprise 12 to 15 students.
“It’s as much a core value as a design element,” he says. “We believe that is one of the best ways, if not the best way, to prepare future school leaders. It should be a shared experience. You benefit from working and learning with others – and growing together among a group of aspiring leaders.”
LEARN MORE ABOUT UCAPP’S TRACKS
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The other is the UCAPP change project, a recently instituted capstone assignment that requires each student to identify a specific issue facing a school in which they teach, work, or are mentored – and to determine how they can serve effectively as a leader to make a positive change or enhancement. “The key is, they are not the implementers,” Gonzales says. “They have to be the leaders, facilitators, and supporters of this change. That is the kind of ribbon that they tie into a bow at the end of their UCAPP experience.”
Growing Program Choices
Initially launched with what is now known as the UCAPP Traditional track, which recruits Connecticut-certified educators with at least three years of teaching experience and an interest in securing a school-based leadership position, the UCAPP program has more recently evolved to include three additional UCAPP tracks – all aligned with the UCAPP Traditional model.
But why grow the program beyond what had already been proving successful?
“It has not been growth for growth’s sake,” Gonzales says. “The Traditional model has been working – and is still working.”
Each of the additional tracks is shaped to target a specific audience and to serve a specific need (See “Learn More About UCAPP’s Tracks” sidebar). For instance, one of the newer models, called UCAPP PLUS, caters to individuals who wish to become school leaders in the Hartford Public Schools (HPS) system. Launched in 2013, UCAPP PLUS evolved in part out of the HPS’ interest in improving the quality of their principalship pipeline. “They wanted a higher caliber of applicants for their principal vacancies,” Gonzales says, and “they wanted to develop that talent all the way back to the classroom.”
At the same time, the Neag School recognized that existing UCAPP cohorts were not necessarily coming from – or going on to serve – the state’s most challenging urban or small-community settings. “We weren’t making the same impact in those communities as we had been in the rest of the state,” Gonzales says. “There was an interest in changing that pattern. The leadership in Neag wanted UCAPP to evolve in order to meet the needs of urban centers and historically low-performing schools throughout the state.”
Hence, with HPS as a partner, the Neag School launched UCAPP PLUS in 2013, offering not only a clear path for those interested in school leadership within HPS, but also a special program emphasis on urban leadership. “None of this would have happened – or can continue – without the support of the Neag School leadership,” Gonzales says.
Additional UCAPP models – namely, the UCAPP Residency and UCAPP Law tracks – have similarly evolved out of the needs of various school and communities across Connecticut. And the growth of these types of programs at the Neag School is not likely to slow any time soon. A UCAPP PLUS model based in the New Haven area, for example, is now also on course to launch next summer.
Those who complete the UCAPP Traditional, PLUS, or Residency tracks are eligible to receive the sixth-year diploma. In addition, they may be eligible to earn an endorsement from the Neag School that recommends them to the state of Connecticut for certification. Earning this recommendation is dependent upon how well students perform in class, the level of professionalism they demonstrate during the internship, their demonstration of knowledge, their disposition, as well as feedback shared with the Neag School by their mentors. Halfway through the program, regardless of the UCAPP track, every cohort receives an evaluation on their standing – with checkpoints scheduled thereafter for anyone who may be struggling.
As UCAPP continues to foster relationships with partners statewide and advance the program’s choices, Gonzales stresses the need to evolve. Over time, he says, “We’ve got to change whatever can be made better. The shift to partnerships reflects that priority. When [our partners] are part of the process and get to shape [the program], it’s better for our students because they are a better fit for what the districts are looking for.”
Ultimately, Gonzales says, the key is sustainability. “We want to keep recruiting groups and offering a stronger experience for the students. We want our students to graduate, take jobs, and prove that this is working. They have to be able to perform well in schools throughout the state.”
Questions about UCAPP? Reach Richard Gonzales at richard.gonzales@uconn.edu or visit ucapp.education.uconn.edu for more information.
Whether she’s faced with a classroom of culturally diverse fourth-graders or an after-school group from Hartford’s North End, UConn senior Symone James ’16 (ED) has one goal in mind: to able to relate to every student.
James is the recipient of the Degnan Family Scholarship, an award funded by James and Elizabeth Degnan, both UConn graduates. The scholarship was established by the couple in 2013 to support one academically outstanding student in the Neag School’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s (IB/M) Program for his or her junior, senior, and graduate years.
Elizabeth “Beth” Degnan ’87 (CLAS) and her husband, James ’87 (CLAS), created the scholarship fund as a way to give back to the community. They chose to support the Neag School specifically, Beth Degnan says, because the graduates of the School’s IB/M program go on to serve as schoolteachers who will ultimately change the lives of many children.
She says James was specifically chosen for her energy, intelligence, and motivation in the IB/M program.
“This scholarship will financially assist one person to reach [his or] her educational goals. However, that one person will ultimately educate hundreds of others,” she says. “That seems like a pretty good return on an investment to us.”
Firsthand Experience
For James, an elementary education major from West Haven, Conn., becoming a teacher is not a newfound dream. Throughout her childhood, James’ parents – both emigrants from Jamaica – emphasized the importance of education because it was something they never got to pursue to the extent they desired. James’ mother, a certified nursing assistant, came to the United States at age 11 and began working to escape an abusive household. Her father, a skilled machinist, worked hard to put himself through college, but didn’t quite finish.
“My parents lived their education through me and my sister,” James says. Her 24-year-old sister, Brittney, a graduate of Pace University, now works as a program teacher at a community center in Queens, N.Y.
Her Jamaican heritage, James says, is something that she is conscious of when she envisions herself as an educator. Thanks to the IB/M program, she says she understands what being a teacher of color means for herself and for her students, as she has been an integral part of class discussions regarding the demand for more classroom diversity.
“My favorite aspect of the [IB/M] program is in the ways it has helped to foster my own personal growth and self-reflection,” she says.
Experiencing her parents’ desire for their children to have a quality education made James want to become a teacher herself. She wants to work with schoolchildren in kindergarten through second grade, where she thinks she can have the greatest impact on her students’ learning and development.
For James, learning how to connect effectively with children at varying stages of behavioral and intellectual development began even before she joined the Neag School’s IB/M program. As a freshman, James joined Husky Sport, a Neag School service learning program that teaches schoolchildren in Hartford about nutrition and life skills through active games and sports.
Students in the program are from the city’s North End, a community that faces economic disparities. But James didn’t enter the program with the mindset of “saving” these students – she just wanted to build a positive relationship with them.
“Don’t go in with preconceived notions that you’re going to help somebody. It interferes with your level of interaction,” James says. “Just get to know them for them, and you’ll end up impacting their lives.”
James remembers a day when her task was to teach a sixth-grader to score a goal in a game of soccer. The kicker? The student was autistic and unable to speak. Over and over again, James demonstrated how to kick the ball and direct it toward the goal. She recalls the moment when the student finally scored as one of her proudest career memories.
“It’s so gratifying when you can break across that barrier and get a student to have an ‘aha’ moment, especially when they can’t speak,” she says.
Later, through her student teaching experience in the IB/M program, James had additional opportunities to see what other sorts of language and cultural barriers students might face in the classroom. The level of cultural diversity at both Bowers Elementary in Manchester and W.B. Sweeney Elementary in Windham, where James served as a student teacher, challenged her to further consider how she might best serve students from many different backgrounds. For instance, many of the first-graders at Sweeney with whom James worked spoke English as a second language. Meanwhile, at Bowers, some of the fourth-graders James encountered while student teaching would come to school tired and hungry, having not had breakfast.
Beyond Teaching
Aside from her teaching endeavors, James is the president of Nubian Foxes, a Caribbean and African dancing group at UConn, and also works for the African-American Cultural Center and Leadership in Diversity, a program that supports minority students on campus.
As a Jamaican-American, she finds it important to be involved in programs supporting minority students. Her involvement extends to the classroom, too, where she says she feels a certain level of pressure to share her views with the class, especially if minority students are underrepresented.
“As a minority student, there’s a spotlight on you when you’re discussing diversity and social issues in class,” she says. “I feel it’s my duty to share my perspective.”
It is a perspective that James knows will also ultimately be valuable when it comes to teaching young children. She says she makes it her priority to get to know all of the children with whom she works so that she can identify with each one.
That is exactly what she did during her time in Husky Sport with one sixth-grader who had behavioral issues, and faced problems at home. James approached the child with her seemingly simple approach – to just try talking to her. It didn’t take long for James to discover the child had a passion for hair styling. A connection was formed. The student opened up, coming to depend on James for a listening ear and a helping hand.
“A teacher really can be that one person for students, that one person who can support them,” she says.
Not only does James plan on impacting children’s lives, but she also hopes to one day be able to support aspiring educators such as herself.
“The Degnans’ kindness reminds me that in the future,” she says, “I, too, have a responsibility to help those who come behind me to succeed.”
Learn more here about how you can help to support future schoolteachers and other Neag School students.
Editor’s Note: Neag School faculty and local educators recently celebrated a two-year project with local school districts to provide professional development on math instruction in response to new Common Core standards. The following story covering the celebration first appeared on the Manchester (Conn.) Public Schools website in September 2015.
Arguments in school are not always appropriate and thus not always encouraged.
But some math teachers in Manchester, Conn., are insisting that their students thoughtfully and deliberately construct arguments as they analyze and defend their classwork.
“The ability to justify conclusions with evidence and critique the reasoning of others is critical for proficiency in mathematics,” said Dr. Santosha Oliver, Manchester’s director of teaching and learning for science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics.
Oliver was among a group of educators from Manchester and two other school districts who joined representatives from the University of Connecticut on Monday for an event celebrating a yearlong project focused on using argumentation in math instruction.
The program, officially called “Bridging Practices Among Connecticut Math Educators,” was a Math-Science Partnership grant funded by the state Department of Education and also involved schools in Mansfield and Hartford.
“I think it’s very appropriate that we celebrate,” said Oliver, who said she “truly believes” that teachers and numeracy coaches involved in the project are now among the best in the state as far as developing students’ capacity to engage in active mathematical discourse through the lens of argumentation.
Mathematical Practice 3 (MP3) is part of the Common Core and refers to “constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others” in mathematics.
“Argumentation is really about vetting ideas,” said Megan Staples, an associate professor of mathematics education at UConn’s Neag School of Education, who gave an initial overview to the crowd gathered at MCC on Main.
She said argumentation also involves coming to consensus, evaluating arguments and deciding about the truth of mathematical claims.
(Incidentally, Staples is married to Parag Joshi, who is a Social Studies teacher at MHS and was the creator last year of a popular Truth Seminar course.)
After Staples’ overview, there were a series of workshops and presentations, during which time teachers shared stories and student work from the 2014-15 school year.
Last year, 13 master’s students from UConn’s Neag School of Education had internships in the partnering schools, where they worked with math teachers. UConn also had doctoral candidate students involved in the program.
Laura Kowaleski, a fifth-grade teacher at Highland Park, said she and others in her professional learning community met about once a week with Steve LeMay, who is pursuing his PhD in the mathematics department.
“We looked at student work, and developed a lot of tools and tasks,” said Kowaleski.
LeMay noted that these “mutual discussions” gave him insights that have informed his graduate work. He said that historically, there has been a great deal of attention paid to pedagogy – that is, the practice of teaching – but not as much to actual content itself. He added that he is intrigued by the gap that exists between what students know and can do after they graduate high school, compared to the challenges that await in higher education – and he believes that collaborative ventures such as this one can help bridge that gap.
As for the presentations?
Kowaleski and Highland Park colleague Grace DeAngelis gave one called “Showcasing 5th-Grade Tasks and Student Work.”
Other presenters from Manchester were:
Oliver said she is hoping that Manchester will be able to extend its affiliation with the UConn project, but noted that in the meantime there are over 200 resources available for teachers to use at bridges.education.uconn.edu. The UConn project artifacts are also available in the K-5 Math Launch Unit Resources.
Editor’s Note: This September, Washington state’s Supreme Court ruled that taxpayer-funded charter schools are unconstitutional. Preston Green, the John and Carla Klein Professor of Urban Education in the Neag School and an expert on charter school law, penned this piece, summarizing the ruling and its implications:
In 2014, there were more than 6,400 charter schools serving more than 2.5 million students. Charter schools are commonly defined as public schools that receive greater freedom in their operations, while being held accountable for student achievement.
Legal scholars have countered that charter schools are really hybrid institutions that possess both private and public characteristics. For instance, charter schools are like public schools in that they are funded by state and local taxes, cannot discriminate on the basis of race or religion, and cannot charge tuition. By contrast, charter schools are similar to private schools in that they are “schools of choice” and are run by independent school boards.
Because of the hybrid nature of charter schools, courts have a difficult time determining whether they are public or private. Indeed, charter schools have argued that they are private in order to evade state and federal laws that they do not like.
One question that courts have had to address is whether charter schools are too privately governed to be eligible for funding under state constitutional law. This question is significant because 18 charter school states have constitutional provisions that prohibit such funding.
Courts in California and Michigan rejected state constitutional challenges that charter schools were too privately governed to be eligible for public funding. In both cases, the courts observed that state agencies and charter school authorizers exercised control over charter schools from the approval of applications to decisions to revoke charters. Because of this authority, the courts found that they were public schools even though private boards of directors operated them.
However, in League of Women Voters v. State, the Washington Supreme Court has just ruled that charter schools are not “common” or public schools under the state constitution. This is the first case in which a state supreme court has ruled in this manner.
The court based its ruling on a 1909 decision in which it defined a common school, in part, as being under the “complete control” of the “qualified voters of the school district.” Such control included the power to elect members of school boards as well as the power to discharge them if the voters were so inclined.
Because appointed boards or nonprofit organizations ran the state’s charter schools, the court ruled in the League of Women Voters case that charter schools could not qualify as common schools under the state constitution. Because charter schools were not common schools, the court further concluded state could not use the “common school fund” to fund charter schools.
League of Women Voters is significant because so many charter school states have constitutional provisions that are similar to that of Washington’s. While it is impossible to determine how other courts would interpret their constitutional provisions in light of League of Women Voters, it is safe to say that there will be more state constitutional challenges in the future.
Preston Green, JD, Ed.D., whose research has focused on legal issues related to charter schools, is the John and Carla Klein Professor of Urban Education at UConn’s Neag School of Education, as well as a professor of educational leadership and law. Contact him at preston.green@uconn.edu.
The Neag School of Education is seeking nominations for the Annual Neag Alumni Society Awards. You are invited to nominate individuals for any of the six prestigious awards.
Learn more about specific award criteria, and see videos of last year’s winners.
Submit your nomination today in one or more of the following award categories:
All nominations are due no later than Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2015. Online submission preferred.
Awardees will be honored at the 18th annual awards celebration on the evening of Saturday, March 19, 2016. All Neag alumni are invited, so mark your calendars now and come celebrate with us as we honor our outstanding alumni. Event information coming in January.
The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accredits the Neag School of Education at the University of Connecticut. Read more about CAEP Accreditation, including the programs covered and the accountability measures.
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