CommPACT Community Schools Collaborative Transitions into Focusing on Parent Engagement

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Two CommPACT community members, Christina Lapierre from CREC Two Rivers Magnet High-Middle and Callie Boston-Gardner from CREC, participated with a "Friday Cafe" networking session at the UConn campus. The focus was on using an on-line tool to gather information on links among parents and between families and teachers.
Two CommPACT community members, Christina Lapierre from CREC Two Rivers Magnet High-Middle and Callie Boston-Gardner from CREC, participated with a “Friday Cafe” networking session at the UConn campus. The focus was on using an on-line tool to gather information on links among parents and between families and teachers. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay, Neag School)

Increased family and community involvement are among the successes Bassick High School in Bridgeport has experienced since becoming part of the Connecticut CommPACT Community Schools Collaborative.

“The message to the masses is that ‘it takes a village’ for effective education reforms and improvements to occur,” says Bassick Interim Principal Kathryn Silver. “I cannot make the necessary changes alone. But when experts in the CommPACT initiative come together with parents, students, staff, administrators, and the community at large, we are able to move mountains.”

Based out of UConn’s Neag School of Education and directed by Michele Femc-Bagwell, assistant professor in residence in Neag’s Department of Educational Leadership, the seven-year-old CommPACT program matches communities, parents, administrators, children, and teachers with experts and best practices designed to improve education and opportunities for students and family members alike.

Michele Femc-Bagwell, director of the CommPACT program and assistant professor in the Neag School, welcomes guests at the Friday Cafe community event.
Michele Femc-Bagwell, director of the CommPACT program, and assistant professor in residence at the Neag School, welcomes guests at the Friday Cafe community event. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay, Neag School)

“It’s all about empowerment,” Femc-Bagwell says. “We impart to parents and staff the importance of owning their school’s challenges and solutions. We work with them to identify the best research-based models and frameworks to achieve their goals.”

From ‘The School’ to ‘Our School’
Among other achievements, the program’s comprehensive and coordinated efforts toward school turnaround have led to the creation of a Parent Resource Center at Bassick High, which provides parents, grandparents, students, and others in the community with computer training, resume help, English as a Second Language support, immigration assistance, life balance and parenting skills, and a wide variety of other services. More than 2,500 visits have been logged in the past two years.

Similar successes have been achieved at the three other schools currently working with CommPACT, which include John Barry Elementary School in Meriden, Robert J. O’Brien STEM Academy in East Hartford, and West Side Middle School in Waterbury.

One of the newer schools in the program, O’Brien STEM Academy recently used CommPACT’s resources and experience with successful outcomes to organize and facilitate a “visioning event” that involved more than 60 parents, teachers, administrators, and community members brainstorming how these groups can work together to advance students’ educational opportunities through family and community engagement over the next five years. A Family Resource Center with services similar to Bassick’s was also established, but expanded to include a food pantry supported by area partner Whole Foods.

“CommPACT has led to families making strong school connections and better understanding the intricacies of the educational process,” says East Hartford Superintendent of Schools Nathan D. Quesnel. “With the help of CommPACT, there’s been an important terminology shift and change at O’Brien. Parents used to visit ‘the school,’ but they now visit ‘our school.’ CommPACT is helping us make a difference in the lives of children by bringing families into the classrooms, hallways, and cafeterias.”

Two community members, Jennie Navarro and Diana Lopez from Windham Public Schools, practice entering data for the online program.
Two community members, Jennie Navarro and Diana Lopez from Windham Public Schools, practice entering data in the system to track links among parents and between families and teachers. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay, Neag School)

Engaging Families
This idea of inclusiveness — of bringing family members into schools to learn, volunteer, share skills, and participate in student learning as engaged partners and role models — is exactly what CommPACT is all about.

At each of the schools, a family and community cadre comprising community members, parents, administrators, teachers, and often students works with school staff to coordinate and implement projects and activities, guided by the resources of CommPACT partners.

“One of the many strengths of CommPACT is that we focus on fundamental family needs that parents and school staff identify as being essential to their community. The result is truly engaged families, whom we help by using the expertise of the partnership to find the resources they need, whether it be assistance in selecting and implementing evidence-based practices in governance, instruction, decision making, community involvement, or behavior management,” says CommPACT Family and Community Engagement Specialist Jocelyn Ault.

“We also survey parents’ interests and skills in an effort to connect their identified human capital in meaningful and important ways to curricular, extracurricular, and fundraising activities. Building relationships of trust and valuing the talents that parents bring to a school is a critical component of our work that also promotes social capital and builds community,” says Femc-Bagwell.

In addition to the Neag School, CommPACT partners include the American Federation of Teachers of Connecticut, Connecticut Education Association, Connecticut Federation of School Administrators, and Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents.

Part of the Paradigm Shift
Parents and staff at West Side Middle School are currently working with CommPACT to improve communication internally with staff and externally with families. Also being supported by CommPACT is a Parent and Community Leadership Conference to take place May 1. Additional community partners working together to plan the event include: Naugatuck Valley Community College; the U.S. Department of Education-funded Waterbury GEAR UP program to improve college access and readiness; the City of Waterbury Department of Education/Title I; and Waterbury Bridge to Success partnership of local organizations, families and volunteers. The focus of the day will be to develop parents as leaders in improving students’ educational outcomes.

“With the help of CommPACT, our school has been transformed,” says West Side Middle School CommPACT parent liaison Griselle Myers. “We’re excited for even more opportunities to make the positive changes needed to affect the most important people we serve: our students.”

“Closing the achievement gap requires not just getting kids excited about learning, but whole families and communities. Especially in our urban areas, there are many parents who grew up without a lot of educational support and who, because of that, limited their dreams,” she says. “If through our Family Resource Centers we can help them achieve some of their goals — finish high school, save money, get a better job — they, in turn, will better understand how to help their children set and achieve their own goals and dreams. Every parent and community member also has a skill or gift that they can share.”

Buying into the idea that it takes entire communities, working together, to effectively educate students requires a complete paradigm shift. CommPACT values the importance of all stakeholders working collaboratively to achieve this goal.

Neag Alumni Society Recognizes Outstanding Graduates

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Outstanding Alumni Recognized by the Neag School of Education

The Neag School of Education Alumni Society and the faculty of the Neag School of Education recognized outstanding alumni at the 17th Annual Awards Dinner on Saturday, March 28, 2015, on the UConn campus in Storrs.

““It is our sincere honor to celebrate the accomplishments of such a notable group of Neag School alumni with this level of recognition,” says Dean Richard Schwab. “Each of this year’s awardees exemplifies the kind of strong leadership skills and ongoing commitment to the field of education that we strive to instill in every one of our graduates here the Neag School of Education.”

 

CombsOutstanding Early Career Professional

Ashley Combs – Executive assistant to the senior vice president of basketball at Excel Sports Management in Los Angeles, Calif.

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Ashley Combs received her Bachelor of Arts in communication sciences at UConn in 2009 and later obtained her Master of Science in sport management from the Neag School of Education in 2014. Combs currently works in sport management and athlete representation at Excel Sports Management, where she helps to coordinate the marketing, public relations, sales, and community service initiatives for NBA, MLB, PGA, and other entertainment industry clientele.

Previously, Combs worked as community responsibility coordinator with Spurs Sports and Entertainment – the parent company of the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs, WNBA’s Stars, and AHL Hockey’s Rampage – creating partnerships with schools, families, hospitals, and service agencies in the San Antonio area. She also developed service-learning curriculum alongside local university professors and students. In addition, she planned and implemented a workplace mentoring program for middle and high school students as a part of a larger Big Brothers Big Sisters collaboration.

Combs started her journey in sport management working for the UConn men’s basketball program. She spent five years working with the team, beginning as a volunteer student manager, then was hired as an office assistant, and later was promoted to assistant office coordinator. Her roles with the team included recording and sharing statistics, communicating with prospective student-athletes, and coordinating many of the community-based outreach efforts and events. UConn men’s basketball coach Kevin Ollie calls Combs “a valuable contributor to our 2011 National Championship Program, as well as the Spurs 2014 NBC Championship organization.”

 

 

DartOutstanding School Administrator

Peter Dart — Principal at Environmental Sciences Magnet School at Mary Hooker in Hartford, Conn.

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Peter Dart graduated from the UConn Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP) in 2009. He is currently the principal at Environmental Sciences Magnet School (ESMS) at Mary Hooker in Hartford.

As the principal for an interdistrict magnet school that serves urban and suburban students from 45 different towns in Connecticut, Dart has initiated reforms for the overall betterment of the school. His professional classroom experience began when he served as a 4th-grade teacher for seven years at Colchester Intermediate School in Colchester. He held other teaching and administrator positions in secondary schools before becoming a principal, while also maintaining an 8th-grade science teaching position at another magnet school and serving as an adjunct professor at the University of Hartford.

Through an integrated environmental sciences theme, he initiated systematic reform to close the achievement gap at ESMS. In addition, he developed a staffing plan and program to include two resident scientists and magnet coaches at the science-focused magnet school. Under his supervision, ESMS has been recognized as a school of excellence by the Magnet Schools of America, a Green Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education, and a Connecticut Green LEAF School.

Committed to future teacher leaders, Dart also serves as a mentor for UCAPP, advising participants through their two-year journey to becoming an administrator.

 

McManusOutstanding Higher Education Professional

John “Jack” F. McManus – Professor of education at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif.

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Jack McManus received his Ph.D. in educational psychology and evaluation from the Neag School of Education in 1969. He is currently a professor of education at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif. He also serves on the Board of Regents of the DaVinci Schools, three high schools in an economically depressed area of Los Angeles.

Although he taught French and Latin at Wolcott High School in Wolcott, Conn, he quickly transitioned to learning about the then-emerging field of computer applications in education as well as the research and evaluation methods and techniques that could be used to determine the effects of these and other educational innovations.

In 1975, McManus began his higher education career, serving in faculty and administrative roles at several institutions before joining Pepperdine University in 1979 as the director of computer services. In 1983, he became a professor of education. He has also served as associate dean of Pepperdine’s Education Division, as its director of graduate business programs, and as interim dean of Pepperdine’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology.

McManus has taught courses in statistics, education research, and computer applications at the master’s and doctoral levels. He has chaired dissertation committees and has authored many publications, including textbooks for high school and college students. McManus has also brought his talents to the courtroom, where he has been an expert witness in a number of court cases in California, often working pro bono.

 

BaumOutstanding Professional

Susan Baum – Professor Emeritus for the College of New Rochelle in New Rochelle, N.Y.; co-director of the International Center for Talent Development; director of the 2e Center for Research and Professional Development at Bridges Academy for the Joint Commission on 2e Education

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Susan Baum received her Ph.D. from the Neag School of Education in 1985, where she focused on special education, educational psychology, and education of the gifted and talented. She has been recognized as the world’s leading expert in working with twice-exceptional (2e) students.

She first came to UConn in 1980 to study with Professor Joseph Renzulli; her pioneering dissertation research opened the door to recognizing the needs of struggling students who are both gifted and have learning differences. Working early in her career as a special education teacher as well as in the gifted education program, she noted that many students who were diagnosed with learning disabilities also had characteristics of gifted children and wondered what would happen if these students were placed in a learning setting that was better suited for their needs.

Baum has conducted hundreds of presentations all around the world in such places as Zimbabwe, Guatemala, Dominican Republic, Latvia, Romania, Ethiopia, and Ghana,. She also has published more than 50 publications on topics including 2e students, young gifted children, gifted underachievers, and social and emotional issues of gifted students.

As professor emeritus for the College of New Rochelle, Baum continues to teach annually on the UConn campus during Confratute (the Neag Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development’s international summer institute in enrichment teacher and learning) and Three Summers (UConn’s master’s degree program in gifted education and talent development). She is co-director of the International Center for Talent Development and director of the 2e Center for Research and Professional Development at Bridges Academy in Studio City, Calif.

 

HullOutstanding School Superintendent

William Hull – Superintendent of Schools in Putnam, Conn.

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William Hull’s successful career in educational leadership and school district management has spanned more than two decades. Hull graduated from the Neag School of Education’s Executive Leadership Program in 2006; he also earned a Bachelor of Arts in history/secondary education in 1979 and Master of Arts in elementary education in 1986 from UConn.

He has worked as a teacher, dean of students, assistant principal, elementary school principal, and assistant superintendent in many districts across the state of Connecticut, including Montville, Lyme-Old Lyme, Oakdale, and Salem. He currently serves as superintendent of schools in Putnam, Conn. When he took on that role in the spring of 2009, almost 60 percent of the students were in need of remediation in mathematics and reading. Under Hull’s leadership, 70 percent of the students are now performing above-average in reading and math, and professional development opportunities for staff have been increased, leading to improvements in teaching and learning. In 2013, the State Department of Education recognized Putnam Elementary School as a School of Distinction.

Hull serves as the chairperson for the Northeast Area Superintendents’ Association and has serves on the boards of directors for many magnet schools around the region.

 

DonnellyDistinguished Alumni Award

John J. Connolly – President and CEO of Castle Connolly Medical Ltd.

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John J. Connolly, Ed.D., – the nation’s foremost expert on identifying top physicians, is the President & CEO of Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. publisher of America’s Top Doctors® and other consumer guides to help people find the best healthcare. He is also Chairman of Castle Connolly Private Health Partners, LLC, a concierge medicine company.

Dr. Connolly served as President of New York Medical College, the nation’s second largest private medical college, for more than ten years. He is a Fellow of the New York Academy of Medicine, a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, a Director of the Northeast Business Group on Health. He was formerly a member of the President’s Council of the United Hospital Fund, and a member of the Board of Advisors of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.

Dr. Connolly has served as trustee of two hospitals and as Chairman of the Board of one. He is extensively involved in healthcare and community activities and has served on a number of voluntary and corporate boards including the Board of the American Lyme Disease Foundation, of which he is a founder and past chairman, and the Culinary Institute of America for over 20 years where he is now Chairman Emeritus. He also served as a director and Chairman of the Professional Examination Service and is presently on the board of the American Swiss Foundation. His current corporate board service includes: Baker and Taylor; Dearborn Risk Management, Air Methods Inc., and the Advisory Board of the Hudson Group. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Worcester State College, a Master’s degree from the University of Connecticut, and a Doctor of Education degree in College and University Administration from Teacher’s College, Columbia University. He has been awarded honorary doctorates from Mercy College (LHD) and from Worcester State University (LHD).

Dr. Connolly has appeared on or been interviewed by over 100 television and radio stations nationwide including “Good Morning America” (ABC-TV), “The Today Show” (NBC-TV), “20/20” (ABC-TV), “48 Hours” (CBS-TV), Fox Cable News, “Morning News” (CNN) and “Weekend Today in New York” (WNBC-TV). The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Daily News (New York), The Boston Herald and other newspapers, as well as many national and regional magazines, have featured Castle Connolly Guides and/or Dr. Connolly in stories. He is the author and/or editor of seven books.

Neag Professors Work with American Museum of Natural History on Science Education Reform

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Photo credit: American Museum of Natural History
Photo credit: American Museum of Natural History

Neag School of Education faculty members Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead and Suzanne M. Wilson are working with scientists, science educators, and teacher leaders at the American Museum of Natural History and other partners to raise the quality of science education in the U.S. and meet Next Generation of Science Standards.

Developed by the National Academy of Science’s National Research Council, the Next Generation of Science Standards outline the performance expectations, disciplinary core ideas, scientific practices, and crosscutting concepts that all kindergartners through 12th-graders should know. To help assess progress in meeting them, UConn researchers are partnering with the Gottesman Center for Science Teaching and Learning at the American Museum of Natural History and the University of California Berkeley’s Lawrence Hall of Science to develop both a middle school ecology curriculum and the professional development framework needed to teach that curriculum effectively.

Documenting What Students – and Teachers – Learn

Suzanne Wilson (on the right), who is also heading up Neag's new faculty mentoring efforts, discusses the project with Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead.
Suzanne Wilson (on the right), who is also heading up Neag’s new faculty mentoring efforts, discusses the project with Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay, Neag School)

Wilson, previous to joining Neag as Endowed Professor of Teacher Education, had served for five years at Michigan State, where she took part in a project that laid the foundations for the current work, “Learning Science as Inquiry with the Urban Advantage.” Today, she and Montrosse-Moorhead are focused on investigating the effects professional development has on teachers’ knowledge and practice. To do this, the two, along with a team of Neag graduate student research assistants, have developed a system that will document what teachers as well as students learn from a set of curricular materials, which focus on the real-life and harmful invasion of zebra mussels in the Hudson River.

“You can’t just put teaching materials into teachers’ hands and expect them to figure it out.”

—Neag Endowed Professor of Teacher Education Suzanne Wilson

“You can’t just put teaching materials into teachers’ hands and expect them to figure it out,” says Suzanne Wilson, Neag Endowed Professor of Teacher Education. “Teachers need to learn and fully understand that material they’re teaching, and that means they need to engage with the materials themselves. They also need to understand options for how to best teach the material to their students.”

“Science education reform,” Wilson says, “has traditionally been a tough nut to crack. But if we can get teachers immersed in, and excited about, scientific inquiry, they can get kids excited about it, too. It’s important to remember that not all middle school teachers are science experts. Many teach more than one subject, or are elementary teachers who’ve moved up to the middle school-level and are finding their way.”

Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead, who was named the 2014 Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator with the American Evaluation Association, shares her ideas on the data collection process.
Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead, who was named the 2014 Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator with the American Evaluation Association, shares her ideas on the data collection process. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay, Neag School)

Developing tools to evaluate teacher professional development efforts is key, says Montrosse-Moorhead, Neag School assistant professor of measurement, evaluation and assessment.

“On the whole, despite growing agreement around best practices for professional development, rigorous studies that test these practices produce mixed results,” she says. “We still do not know enough about how to provide professional development that produces long-term, sustained results for teachers and their students across the wide variety of contexts in which science is taught. It’s exciting to be part of and contribute to this national conversation.”

The Potential to Expand

If successful, Wilson and Montrosse-Moorhead’s measurement tools could be used to evaluate the effectiveness of similar future professional development efforts and help advance national science education overall. Their work is a component of a larger four-year, $3 million National Science Foundation grant that made the total project possible.

“One of the hopes of all involved,” Wilson says, “is for the curricular materials to expand beyond its current use in New York City public middle schools, and that it be taught first to teachers, and then to students, throughout the country.

“Our collective goal is to develop engaging curriculum materials, high-quality professional development that supports teachers learning how to teach those materials in their classrooms, and authentic measures that can assess both teacher and student learning,” Wilson says. “Like the scientific inquiry being done by students during the unit, developing a system to evaluate the unit’s effectiveness can be messy. There’s no one formula involved. It’s been a process of discovery, and we’ve all learned a lot. We’re hoping this project helps advance science education in meaningful ways for teachers and their students.”

First-Year Neag Educator Wins “Faculty of the Year” Award

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Ron Beghetto, associate professor of educational psychology, is an international expert on creativity in educational settings.
Ron Beghetto, associate professor of educational psychology, is an international expert on creativity in educational settings. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay, Neag School)

In addition to celebrating his one-year anniversary of teaching at the Neag School of Education, Dr. Ron Beghetto, associate professor of educational psychology, has yet another milestone to celebrate. This year, Beghetto received the 2015 Alpha Lambda Delta (ALD) Faculty of the Year Award after spending just one year teaching in the Neag School, an incredible achievement for any faculty member who works at an institution as large as UConn.

Beghetto is an internationally recognized expert on creativity in educational settings. Prior to joining the faculty at UConn, Beghetto served as the College of Education’s associate dean for academic affairs and associate professor of education studies at the University of Oregon. Although he only recently began his teaching career at UConn, he says that joining the UConn community was an easy transition.

“I’ve quickly adjusted to becoming a Husky. I attribute this quick adjustment to all the wonderful people and possibilities here at UConn,” Beghetto says. “UConn’s scholarly community is vibrant, and the students are outstanding, and all the opportunites to collaborate with colleagues in the Neag School and across campus are ever-present.”

“UConn’s scholarly community is vibrant, the students are outstanding, and all the opportunities to collaborate with colleagues in the Neag School and across campus are ever-present.”

—Assistant Professor Ronald Beghetto 

A Role Model to His Students

Perhaps the most meaningful part of the award is that the entire process, from nomination to selection, is completely run by UConn students.

Alpha Lambda Delta is a national honor society that enlists freshman college students who have shown academic excellence throughout their first semester. The chapter encourages members to nominate a faculty member that has inspired them and impacted their experience at UConn. The executive board, made up of 11 members, reviews each submission. This year, there were 10 nominations for UConn professors with a wide range of teaching specialties, from accounting to thermodynamics.

“Our new members are all freshmen at UConn, so we believe this inspires and encourages them for the future at the school and shows them that there are faculty members available to lead and advise them in their career here at UConn,” says Nicole Davoren, vice president of UConn’s ALD chapter.

“As a future teacher, I could not have asked for a better role model.” Holly Cunningham, a sixth-semester elementary major in the Neag School, who nominated Beghetto for the award.

“I actually learned rather than memorized material, and he taught in such a creative way that come time to take the exam … the material was ingrained in my brain,” Cunningham says. “He made each class entertaining and has a way of keeping students alert and engaged.”

Beghetto says he designs his courses to help students take charge of their own learning and develop their capacity to take on complex and ill-defined educational problems. Students are expected to put their learning to work in developing new ways of thinking when educational challenges arise.

“As a future teacher, I could not have asked for a better role model.”

—Holly Cunningham, sixth-semester elementary
major and Beghetto’s nominator

“Learning about teaching is a special form of learning. You can only learn so much from reading about instructional theories, hearing professors lecture about principles of learning, or observing skilled teachers,” Beghetto says. “Learning about teaching is, in large part, ‘embodied learning.’”

Beghetto translates that embodied learning into a series of classroom simulations called “mini-teaches,” which provide students with a realistic “stress test” for testing out the principles, concepts, and techniques they have learned and developed in the class. In Cunningham’s nomination letter, she mentions that the mini-teaches “pushed the class to step outside of our comfort zones and think on our feet.”

‘Lesson-as-Lived’

Through Beghetto’s teachings and lectures, students come to understand that working in the field of education is not something that can be taught simply through PowerPoint slides, textbooks, and exams; no two days are the same, and even the most well-behaved child can become difficult. Beghetto says he strives to prepare his students to learn how to deal with the unexpected and how to better navigate the gap between the “lesson-as-planned” and the “lesson-as-lived.”

“These surprising moments represent defining moments in the development of one’s teaching identity. They are the moments when you have no idea of what to do next or when you made an instructional decision that you wish you could take back,” he says.

Beghetto’s dedication to ensuring that each student understands the concepts at hand is made evident in his lectures. Beghetto even went so far as to show home movies of his own daughter to teach his class about certain developmental concepts.

“Dr. Beghetto’s classes are the closest thing there is to a ‘how-to guide’ to teaching,” Cunningham says.

As a professor who spends a majority of his time doing research on creativity in educational settings, he also integrates a lot of his own findings and insights from current research projects.

“When the students’ insights and experiences combine with insights and principles drawn from formal research and professional practice, my teaching becomes an opportunity for my students and me to learn from – and with – each other,” Beghetto says.

Dr. Del Siegle, head of the Neag School’s Department of Educational Psychology, notes that Beghetto’s success as a teacher emanates from his passion for excellence and his deep understanding of how individuals learn.

“Ron actively and purposefully infuses his research into his teaching and capitalizes on students’ past experiences to help them reflect on what they believe and how that relates to the content he is covering,” Siegle says. “He is able to make learning fun by making the content relevant and allowing his students to actively engage in the learning process.”

While Beghetto has clearly made an incredible impact on his students in the short amount of time he has been at Neag, the feeling is mutual.

“I share this award with all my students, as I know I have learned as much from them as they have learned from me,” he says.

 

 

 

What Ever Happened to Gillette Castle?

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Gillette Castle is missing. In a new serialized e-book, The Great Connecticut Caper, students can follow the clues to find it.
Gillette Castle is missing. In a new serialized e-book, The Great Connecticut Caper, students can follow the clues to find it.

Students across the state are wondering: what happened to Gillette Castle?

In the real world, the historic mansion built in 1914 by actor William Gillette sits safely atop its perch overlooking the Connecticut River in East Haddam. But in The Great Connecticut Caper – a serialized e-book being released, with help from UConn Libraries, by the nonprofit organization Connecticut Humanities – students must follow the clues to find and recover the national historic landmark.

The mystery story, which incorporates Connecticut historical sites and figures, is being written by 12 Connecticut authors and illustrated by 12 Connecticut artists. It’s also being brought to life by faculty, staff, and students at the state’s public research university.

UConn Libraries’ Digital Scholarship and Data Curation team has been working for months with Middletown-based Connecticut Humanities to create the website for the book, as well as to develop interactive games to accompany it.

In addition, Neag School of Education associate professor Wendy Glenn and a group of Neag students are helping create a curriculum around the book for educators and parents.

Amanda Roy, the program officer at Connecticut Humanities who is spearheading the project, says she came up with the idea after seeing a presentation in Washington, D.C. about The Exquisite Corpse Adventure, a similar e-book published by the Library of Congress’ Center for the Book. Connecticut Humanities runs the Connecticut Center for the Book.

“How do we bring this back and make it uniquely Connecticut?” Roy recalls thinking.

After the results of an online poll dictated which Connecticut landmark would go missing in the book, the volunteer collective of authors and illustrators was let loose with a broad mission: write a story for children aged 8-12 in which Gillette Castle disappears, based only on what’s contained in the previous chapters.

CTCaper-poster-final-e1421246212506Roy says that perhaps the most exciting thing about the project is the collaborations it has facilitated, including those between UConn and her organization.

“UConn Libraries have been a great team to brainstorm with. We started from scratch with this idea that didn’t have any meat to it, really,” she says. “It was nice that we could brainstorm and think about ways to get students and families to interact with each other and read this story.”

A springboard for learning

The website features games, puzzles, and other interactive components that teach readers more about the story and its setting, characters, and plot.

Roy, Glenn, and the Neag students are creating a curriculum to accompany each chapter, which includes activities, vocabulary words, and discussion questions to enrich the story.

For the UConn students, this project provides a different experience than the typical education coursework and internships, according to Glenn, an associate professor of English education.

“It’s a great opportunity for the students and me to work together in a different capacity, in more of a professional capacity than a teacher-student capacity,” she says.

Working on the curriculum with others will also prepare the
students for the evolving landscape of the education world, Glenn adds.

“As schools are changing as institutions, more and more teachers are asked to work together, and I don’t know that teacher education programs do a great job of helping students develop those co-planning skills,” she says. “I think this will help them gain that knowledge.”

Kara Wojick ’14 (ED), ’15 MA recently started working with Roy on the curriculum as an intern. Wojick, who majored in secondary English education as an undergraduate, said the internship is a valuable supplement to her education.

She says the Connecticut Humanities job has given her an opportunity to continue the creative process of lesson planning for a variety of grade levels, and the activities she is coming up with are applicable to many different novels. The work is also exposing her to many state historical landmarks and nonprofit organizations she didn’t previously know about.

Gillette Castle in East Haddam was selected by online poll as the Connecticut landmark that would go missing.
Gillette Castle in East Haddam was selected by online poll as the Connecticut landmark that would go missing.

“These are resources I can, ideally, use in my own classroom next year,” Wojick says.

The lessons, with built-in connections to Common Core concepts, encourage exploration of everything from the types of literary devices used in the story to its Connecticut cultural references, Roy says. Those references also provide opportunities to involve other Connecticut organizations in the project.

For example, in the first chapter (online now), a tour guide on the Becky Thatcher riverboat discusses the Connecticut River Watershed. Not only does this give teachers a chance to teach students about watersheds, it has also enabled a partnership with the Connecticut River Watershed Council to promote their work.

The power of literature

The primary objective of The Great Connecticut Caper is two-fold, according to Roy.

“The main goal is to get kids excited about reading. But we also want to get them excited about their cultural heritage here in Connecticut, connecting them with their state,” she says. “We may have readers beyond the state, but for students in Connecticut – how great would it be for them to go with their family and friends to see this landmark they read about?”

Glenn, an expert in young adult literature, says the project exemplifies the power of books – regardless of the intended age group.

“[It’s] the recognition that literature has the power to help kids make connections across content areas and to find engagement in their community,” she says. “I think that transcends any audience.”

Chapter two of The Great Connecticut Caper, which is funded by the NewAlliance Foundation, will be released on Jan. 18 at ctcaper.cthumanities.org. New chapters come out every two weeks.

A launch party for parents and educators, featuring workshops with some of the e-book’s authors and illustrators, was held at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven on Jan. 28.

Passion for Art May Thwart Pursuits of the Heart

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Photo credit: A couple dancing the tango. A UConn study has found that couples who share creative pursuits are more likely to enjoy longer relationships, but solo pursuits may keep them single. (Think stock Photo)
Photo credit: A couple dancing the tango. A UConn study has found that couples who share creative pursuits are more likely to enjoy longer relationships, but solo pursuits may keep them single. (Think stock Photo)

Being creative can be sexy in any relationship, but how you apply your creativity can influence how long a relationship lasts.

In two recent studies that looked at the intersection between creativity, personality, and relationships, UConn professor James C. Kaufman and colleagues found that people who immerse themselves in purely artistic pursuits – such as writing the next great novel, composing an opera, or painting a brilliant landscape – are more apt to be single and experience short-term relationships.

On the other hand, individuals who share their creativity regularly in their everyday lives – such as taking a ballroom dancing class with their partner or surprising their mate with a new dish for dinner – are more likely to enjoy longer, committed partnerships.

“There is some evidence that artistic creativity is linked to short-term mating success,” says Kaufman, an internationally recognized leader in the field of creativity. “And that makes sense. Artistic creativity is a way to display, a way to entice people. But if you look at what endures, it’s not something you put on to impress people or a passion that consumes your life; it’s the kind of creativity you can share with your significant other.”

Kaufman, a professor of educational psychology in UConn’s Neag School of Education, says the findings – which appear in the Journal of Family Issues and the Journal of Creative Behavior – weren’t what he expected.

“I was a little surprised,” Kaufman says. “I was assuming that creative people would be better in love regardless. I tend to see creativity linked to generally positive outcomes. But sometimes it is not.”

The findings are based on the results of two scientific surveys that gathered information about participants’ relationships and personalities as well as their own self-assessment of their creative pursuits. One survey sample involved more than 1,500 participants; the other, more than 700.

The findings are not applicable to everyone, of course. Kaufman notes that for every artist who lives or lived alone embracing their craft (think Emily Dickinson, Vincent Van Gogh, Harper Lee, and Quentin Tarantino) there is a happily married individual who has found success in their chosen field (we’re looking at you Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Mark Twain, Meryl Streep, and Paul Newman).

Still, Kaufman believes the findings provide important insight into the role of creativity in relationships and says the studies may be helpful to individuals, counselors, and others seeking to understand the dynamics behind strong interpersonal relationships. “A lot of creativity is what you make of it,” Kaufman says. “Creativity is not inherently good. It is not inherently bad; it’s an ability, like intelligence.”

Individuals who focus largely on artistic pursuits may do so for a variety of reasons, Kaufman says.

“There are a couple of reasons why people who are artistically creative have negative associations with long-term relationships,” Kaufman says. “They may have other negative attributes such as high anxiety, anti-social behavior, or mental illness. I don’t like that explanation as much as others but it’s certainly a possibility.

“The other possibility is that the arts can be a source of meaning in your life,” Kaufman continues. “The arts can fulfill your life in a way that is very personal and profound; it can be a way of having your passions met without another person.”

Kelly Campbell, an expert in love and relationships from California State University at San Bernardino, collaborated with Kaufman on one of the studies. An associate professor of psychology, Campbell says those that engage in daily creativity in their relationships keep the passion alive.

“Doing creative things with and for your partner benefits the relationship,” Campbell says. “In order for relationships to thrive, partners need both predictability and newness. That is, they need to feel safe and secure, which comes from stable, predictable interactions, and in order to keep the passion alive, they need spontaneity and novel activities.”

For Kaufman, it all comes down to a matter of choice.

“It’s not that single people are naturally better at art or that artistic people repel everyone around them,” says Kaufman. “It’s much more of a choice as to how we spend our time. It’s a Faustian bargain. If you choose to pursue only your creative artistic passion, there are going to be costs. I have a friend who is a movie director who has made a conscious choice that he is going to be alone and just spend his life doing that. He’s been successful, but some would say at a cost.

“On the other hand, there are ways to make creativity conducive to a long-term relationship,” Kaufman continues. “If you want a spouse and kids, then find a way to share your artistic creativity or have it be a hobby. Your family comes first, your art comes second. You just need to be aware and make those decisions consciously. ”

 

Neag Professors, Grads Take Part in White House Summit to Lead School Counseling Policy Change

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Team Connecticut, including Neag faculty and students, along with other school counselors, attending the school counselor summit meeting at San Diego State University.
Team Connecticut, including Neag faculty and students, along with other school counselors, attending the meeting at San Diego State University.

When the White House organized the nation’s first-ever summit focused on improving school counseling and college advising last year, experts from UConn’s Neag School of Education were among those invited to speak and share ideas as recognized leaders.

Headed by Neag Counseling Program Associate Professor Rachelle Pérusse, the Connecticut team of seven – including partners from the Connecticut College Access and Success Program and national ECMC Foundation – presented strategies currently being used in Connecticut to increase the overall number of students attending postsecondary schools, with a particular focus on students of color who would be the first in their families to earn a college degree.

“No data is bad data, and whatever we discover about our efforts will only serve to improve school counseling services, which we are thrilled to have finally come into the spotlight.” —Associate Professor Rachelle Pérusse

These tactics include adding additional equity-based college and career readiness education to the Neag School’s master’s-level school counseling curriculum; providing Neag counseling students and working school counselors with the proven college-awareness and preparation training evaluated by educators at the University of California at Berkeley; and establishing a data-driven system to measure the process, content, and outcome of these efforts.

“No data is bad data, and whatever we discover about our efforts will only serve to improve school counseling services, which we are thrilled to have finally come into the spotlight,” Pérusse says. “The invitation to the summit led to us putting together this team, and creating partnerships, which is exciting. Without the team, all of us involved would be working passionately on our own to improve school counseling and college readiness,” she continues. “But as a team, our power and vision is so much larger, and our resources so much stronger. Together, we’ll be able to better connect the dots to reach all those involved in getting kids ready for college or a career, which includes not just the student, but parents, teachers, extended family members, and community members.”

Support for School Counselors

Held in partnership with the White House’s College Opportunity Agenda and the First Lady’s Reach Higher Initiative, the November summit was designed to be the first of a series of discussions leading to new national and state policies about school counseling. First lady Michelle Obama attended via videoconference, stating that “if we truly want to help young people reach their college dreams, we need to support our school counselors.”

Those words delighted UConn team member and graduated Neag doctoral student Jennifer Parzych, who said the importance of school counselors is often overlooked.

“What many don’t realize is that postsecondary readiness – meaning the student is prepared after high school to attend a four-year college, community college, or technical school – really begins in kindergarten, because it’s not just about a young person getting good grades,” says Parzych, who also serves as president of the Connecticut School Counselor Association. “It’s about a young person believing he or she is capable to go to college, that they have needed resources, that their parents are involved and encouraging their child to continue their education, and that all are aware of available options.”

Connecticut Department of Education consultant Kimberly Traverso, also a member of the team, says she’s excited about UConn’s plans to expand a three-credit, equity-based college and career readiness course for school counselors: “I think the talent acquisition of our Connecticut task force is very diverse, which is a critical ingredient for maximizing system efficiency and leadership. Strengthening partnerships between universities and school districts will build a sustainable infrastructure that includes collaboration across internal and external boundaries. More than ever, school counselors have the opportunity to impact student outcomes, reduce barriers, and create equitable options.”

How Counselors Can Help

While the recommended national average is one counselor for every 250 students, the ratio in some Connecticut elementary schools is one counselor for every 1,000 students.

“The good news is that Connecticut high schools are pretty much aligned to the national ratio,” Traverso says. “In some districts, counselors are at the forefront. But in others, where counselors’ significance hasn’t yet been recognized, students may not maximize their potential.

“One of the goals of our team is to educate districts about how counselors can improve attendance, behavior, and achievement, starting as young as elementary school. When this occurs, everyone is not trying to play catch-up in high school.”

There’s a great deal of information to share with districts, Pérusse says, including the White House-backed Reach Higher Initiative that, like the focus on school counselors, is geared to inspire students to continue their education past high school.

Other Connecticut team partners working toward this end include Mark Danaher, president of the National Career Development Association; Holly Franquet, director of The College Place in Connecticut; March Kessler, executive director of the ECMC Foundation; Erik Hines, assistant professor in school counseling at the Neag School; and Neag alum Vanessa Montorsi ’04 MA, school counseling department head at Cheshire (Conn.) High School, and a semifinalist in the first-ever School Counselor of the Year Award, presented in January by Mrs. Obama.

“All of us involved are committed to making a difference for children, particularly for those who face obstacles related to poverty, ethnicity, and first-generation students,” says Pérusse. “When I teach, I tell my graduate students: ‘As a school counselor, you must be passionate about school counseling and being a force for equity and change.’”

 

 

 

A 21st-century Approach to Teaching Social Studies

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Alan Marcus, associate professor of curriculum and instruction, visits London Bridge. Marcus takes UConn education students to Europe to learn more about the global community.
Alan Marcus, associate professor of curriculum and instruction, visits London Bridge. Marcus takes UConn education students to Europe to learn more about the global community.

Connecticut education officials recently approved the biggest change in social studies instruction in more than 15 years, designed to help teachers develop student skill sets essential to understanding a networked world of growing cultural and historical complexity.

In January, the State Board of Education voted to adopt the proposal – called the Connecticut Elementary and Secondary Social Studies Frameworks – as a guide recommended for use by local school districts. The framework, as spelled out by the State Department of Education, specifies that social studies instruction should be more than a teacher telling students what they need to know. Instead, teachers must guide students through history, economics, geography, and civics, helping them develop their own questions and conduct their own inquiry.

Alan S. Marcus, an associate professor of curriculum and instruction in UConn’s Neag School of Education, was a lead writer for the state’s new Social Studies Frameworks. Marcus, who is the advisor for the secondary history education program at UConn, taught high school social studies for seven years and is a University of Connecticut Teaching Fellow, whose research focuses on social studies education, specializing in museum education and teaching with film. He is also past president of the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies. UConn Today asked Marcus to share his insights on the impact the new frameworks will have on social studies instruction.

Q: Why is social studies so important that Connecticut wanted to overhaul how the subject is taught?

A: Social studies are about how our society functions, from our local town to the global community. If we expect our children to become adults who work for the common good of society and if we believe in maintaining our democratic way of life, then we need social studies frameworks that prepare them for success in civic life.

Q: What makes the new frameworks different from what teachers have been using in the past? How unique is Connecticut in this approach?

A: The frameworks place Connecticut as a national leader in social studies education through four innovative features. First, an inquiry process where students ask questions based on their own curiosity, develop positions grounded in evidence, and take informed action. Secondly, they use compelling questions such as “How do Americans define freedom and equality?” and “How can people make a difference in society?” to make content more engaging. The frameworks also use themes such as the role of geography in history or the impact of science and technology on society, to move beyond a parade of facts. Of course students can’t answer questions without knowing facts and dates, but the emphasis is on knowing facts and dates toward a larger purpose, rather than as an end in and of themselves. Thirdly, the frameworks emphasize a more interdisciplinary approach that includes history, geography, economics, and civics in every year, K-12. Finally, the frameworks do more to include local and state history throughout the K-12 social studies experience.

Q: There is a lot of controversy about the Common Core curriculum and testing. Do the new frameworks have an impact on the current testing system in Connecticut?

A: The frameworks are not part of Common Core and are not associated with any new test. The frameworks are a guide, not a mandate. Ultimately, local districts and schools decide the specific curriculum and content for social studies. There is an expectation that districts will have some level of fidelity to the frameworks, but the frameworks do not provide specific content to be covered.

Q: Social studies typically include topics that may reflect a point of view, so that how they are taught may influence students’ perspectives. How do the revised curricula strive to remain impartial?

A: The aim is to help students consider multiple perspectives on important issues. Take for example, contemporary issues such as immigration policies, our relationship with Cuba, how to respond to terror threats, and tax reform … It is imperative that teachers include these issues as part of the curriculum, but in a way that presents a balanced array of evidence and prompts students to weigh the evidence and reach their own conclusions. Tackling these issues head-on is precisely what the frameworks do – encourage the deliberation of important “difficult” issues both from today and from the past.

A tall ship docked at Connecticut’s Mystic Seaport. The new social studies frameworks emphasize local community and culture, and ‘spiral out’ to the global context. (Alan Marcus/UConn Photo)
A tall ship docked at Connecticut’s Mystic Seaport. The new social studies frameworks emphasize local community and culture, and ‘spiral out’ to the global context. (Alan Marcus/UConn Photo)

Q: In today’s highly interconnected world, there are calls for “globalizing” U.S. education. Do the new social studies curricula give Connecticut students a deeper understanding of the United States in our modern, networked world?

A: Absolutely! Global connections – economic, political, cultural, environmental, military, human rights – are critical in today’s society. However, everything starts with the local community. From there the frameworks examine state history, U.S. geography, followed by U.S. history and global studies. By starting with the local and spiraling outward, students will appreciate the connections among the local, regional, national, and global spheres.

Q: Is the new social studies curriculum designed to enhance students’ appreciation of cultural complexities and their understanding of international perspectives?

A: Again, it begins with the local and spirals out to the global. The frameworks start right away with the theme of “Diversity and Culture in the World,” repeated across Kindergarten, first grade, and second grade. In third grade, that becomes “Cultural Diversity and a Connecticut State Identity;” and by middle and high school, possible themes include “Cultural Diversity and an American National Identity.” We are a better society when we better understand and appreciate each other’s similarities and each other’s differences.

Q: Who was involved in creating the frameworks and what was that process like?

A: The frameworks were created in a partnership between social studies teachers from all over Connecticut, university faculty, and the State Department of Education. There was also tremendous support from the State Board of Education and other stakeholders, including the Connecticut Council for the Social Studies, the museum community, and school superintendents. We spent more than a year discussing, debating, and writing, based on the latest educational research about how students best learn. We hope the process can serve as a model for the way teachers, the state, and universities can partner to improve K-12 education for our children.

Link to the new frameworks.

Neag Faculty and Graduate Students to Present at AERA Annual Meeting in April

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More than 60 faculty researchers and graduate students from the Neag School of Education will be attending this year’s American Educational Research Association (AERA)’s Annual Meeting, taking place Thursday, April 16, through Monday, April 20, in the heart of downtown Chicago.

Chicago
More than 60 faculty researchers and graduate students from the Neag School will be taking part in the 2015 AERA Annual Meeting in Chicago this April.

The Neag School’s attendees will be presenting academic papers, serving as invited speakers, participating in roundtable discussions, leading professional development courses, and accepting awards conferred to them by various divisions of AERA.

View a complete listing of the Neag School’s faculty and graduate student AERA sessions at s.uconn.edu/aera.

The theme of the 2015 AERA meeting is “Toward Justice: Culture, Language, and Heritage in Education Research and Praxis.” Attendance is expected to top 14,000, with more than 2,600 sessions scheduled over the course of the five days.

The AERA Annual Meeting is the largest gathering of scholars in the field of education research, showcasing groundbreaking, innovative studies in topics as diverse as digital learning, adolescent literacy, teacher preparation and evaluation, and creativity.

Access a PDF of the Neag School’s sessions here, which lists the dates, times, and other details regarding those sessions that feature attendees affiliated with the Neag School of Education.

The full AERA program, listing all sessions featuring participants from across the country, is available online on the AERA website.

Collective Uplift: How Research Could Reshape the Educational Experiences of Black Male Student-Athletes

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Growing up in North Carolina and idolizing the likes of Michael Jordan and legendary college basketball coach Dean Smith, Joseph Cooper says he was not unlike many other kids raised in “basketball country” – throughout his childhood, he had his sights set on playing sports professionally. Even up until he started his undergraduate years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Cooper dreamt of making it to the NBA.

Neag Assistant Professor leads a panel discussion featuring UConn student-athletes of color on March 12, 2015.
Neag Assistant Professor Joseph Cooper leads a panel discussion on March 12, 2015, titled “Behind the Face Masks: The Voices of Black and Latino Male Student-Athletes,” featuring participants of Collective Uplift, an organization founded by Cooper this past fall to support student-athletes of color.

Quickly realizing, however, that “it wasn’t going to be my career trajectory,” Cooper found himself at a loss. “I had an identity crisis when I stopped playing basketball,” he says. “I started to ask questions like: Why do individuals like me feel this way when a certain aspect of our lives is no longer salient?”

And although he struggled to pinpoint a major that felt right to him at the time – changing his mind nearly half a dozen times – Cooper began to find his footing through extracurricular involvement outside of the athletics realm.

Co-founding a minority service organization at UNC known as Gentlemen of Leadership and Distinction and Ladies of Virtue and Excellence (GOLD-N-LOVE), which is still active today, Cooper says: “I started to understand that I had skill sets outside of playing basketball, and really believing that. It’s one thing to possess those skills and to perform on them – and another thing to internally believe that you have value in that way.”

Ultimately, this emerging sense of self-discovery guided Cooper down a winding path to the world of academic research. Now an assistant professor of sport management at UConn’s Neag School of Education, Cooper is taking the same kinds of questions he long wrestled with and is not only exploring them through qualitative and mixed methods research studies – but also applying his findings directly in reaching out to young black male student-athletes who face the same stereotypes and stigmas he once encountered himself.

Valuing Student-Athletes – Beyond Athletics

Throughout his academic career, Cooper has focused on the experiences of black male student-athletes, uncovering the ways in which they are stigmatized as intellectually inferior within educational spaces, constrained to think of themselves as valued only in an athletics context.

“When I see a lot of students of color, particularly student-athletes of color, not feeling comfortable in educational spaces, I understand that, and I think that’s a big part of the disconnect taking place in our educational pipeline,” he says. In addition to many student-athletes of color lacking role models in the educational realm, he adds: “What I found through the research was that many black student-athletes weren’t involved in campus organizations. They aren’t getting the full college experience; it seems like they’re in a silo.”

“I just felt like there should be a space, something that is intentionally designed to take into account their unique experiences as black males and foster their holistic development.”

—Assistant Professor Joseph Cooper, founder of Collective Uplift

His work also exposes the stark differences between graduation success rates of black male student-athletes and their peers. According to data published by the NCAA this past fall, for instance, black male student-athletes are graduating at a disproportionately lower rate (65 percent) than that of white male student-athletes (85 percent) – a gap that has persisted over time. Cooper believes there are long-standing, systemic inequalities that play a role in these differences. “There’s a lot of exploitation of black student-athletes,” he says. “Ultimately, athletics is at the core of a lot of the decisions that are made.”

UConn football offensive lineman Gus Cruz '14 (CLAS) answers questions from the audience on March 12, 2015, during a panel titled "Behind the Face Masks: The Voices of Black and Latino Male Student-Athletes," featuring participants of Collective Uplift, a group of student-athletes of color founded by Neag assistant professor Joseph Cooper.
UConn football offensive lineman Gus Cruz ’14 (CLAS) answers questions from the audience on March 12, 2015, during a panel featuring participants of Collective Uplift.

While Cooper acknowledges the dedication of UConn’s own athletics staff in supporting their students, he also feels there is an opportunity to offer targeted support for black male student-athletes to build on the current support systems within the athletics department.

“I just felt like there should be a space, something that is intentionally designed to take into account their unique experiences as black males and foster their holistic development,” he says.

A New Grassroots Effort

This past fall, Cooper turned that idea into an active outreach effort. He began reaching out to black male student-athletes at UConn, gathering them for weekly meetings as part of a new grassroots effort he calls Collective Uplift. The purpose behind Collective Uplift, Cooper says, is to empower, educate, and inspire ethnic minorities at UConn to maximize their full potential as holistic individuals, not exclusively in the realm of athletics, but also beyond.

The group – which now regularly comprises up to 10 UConn student-athletes of color – meets to discuss such topics as leadership development skills, resume building, and career options in the field of education, as well as to talk openly about their day-to-day experiences on campus and any other issues important to them.

“I’m not their coach; I’m not going to take away their scholarship. I’m not their advisor or professor; I don’t have control over their grades,” Cooper says. “They have a space to express themselves free of that type of judgment or any type of penalty. Ultimately, the goal is to help them view themselves as holistic individuals and nurture those holistic identities.”

Holistic development and empowerment, he says, are the core themes of Collective Uplift. “Those two things will facilitate their success in life – way beyond athletics.”

Neag Assistant Professor Joseph Cooper, right, poses questions to a panel of UConn student-athletes at the African American Cultural Center on March 12, 2015. The athletes are participants in an organization Cooper established this past fall called Collective Uplift.
Neag Assistant Professor Joseph Cooper, right, poses questions to a panel of UConn student-athletes at the African American Cultural Center on March 12, 2015. The athletes are participants in an organization Cooper established this past fall called Collective Uplift.

Yet keeping in mind the many hours these student-athletes must dedicate to their sport, Cooper offers them an analogy: “I tell them: The repetitions that you do with lifting weights, practicing your moves on the field, we need to be just as vigilant about repetition in developing you. Every week, this is our training session.”

Unlike similar organizations across the nation, such as the NCAA CHAMPS Life Skills program, which supports the development of student-athletes at several NCAA member institutions, Collective Uplift is unique in that it focuses specifically on the experiences of black male student-athletes.

“You’ve got to have a testimony. You’ve got to have something to speak to, a lived experience that informs why you feel the way you feel about certain things …”

—Assistant Professor Joseph Cooper, founder of Collective Uplift

Ultimately, Cooper says he would like to see this kind of support system adapted nationwide to serve the needs of other subgroups within University student-athlete populations. “There are some unique challenges that student-athletes of color are facing,” he says; just as other campus services are designed to meet the needs of specific groups of students, this program could likewise be “mimicked with the guidance of research on different subgroups.”

10,000 Hours

Cooper’s academic research has, undoubtedly, informed his approach to Collective Uplift. His findings over time have led him to outline what he refers to as holistic development principles – a set of six qualities he says play a key role in an individual achieving his or her goals. Originally termed by Cooper as critical success factors, these six qualities had consisted of personal development, social harmony, engagement with a strong support system, career aspirations, time management skills, and spirituality and/or organized religion. More recently, Cooper has coined them as holistic development principles, updating them to include the following components: self-identity awareness, positive social engagement, active mentorship, academic achievement, career aspirations, and balanced time management.

UConn student-athletes Marquise Vann, left, and Gus Cruz, right, participate in a panel discussion about the stereotypes faced by student-athletes of color.
UConn student-athletes Marquise Vann, left, and Gus Cruz, right, participate in a panel discussion about the stereotypes faced by student-athletes of color.

At the same time, he points to the importance of his own experiences in shaping his research interests – as well as in understanding the needs of Collective Uplift participants. “You’ve got to have a testimony,” he says. “You’ve got to have something to speak to, a lived experience that informs why you feel the way you feel about certain things and why you’re engaged in the type of work that you’re engaged in.”

For example, when Cooper talks about the critical success factor of personal development, he is quick to emphasize the influence of his mother, who encouraged Cooper and his brother, whom she raised alone, to stay involved in activities outside of sports.

“Whether I knew it or not, my mother definitely knew what she was doing. She was creating an identity for me, nurturing an identity that wasn’t connected to sport,” he says. “She knew that eventually the ball would go flat, the time on the clock would expire, and I would need to be prepared to excel in life outside of that.”

Cooper also remarks on the impact that the many books he has pored over throughout the years have had on his research ideas and his work with Collective Uplift. For instance, in reading best-seller Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell, Cooper says he began to consider an additional layer integral to the idea of time management.

“Gladwell talks about the idea that anybody who spends over 10,000 hours on something is an expert. I started to put that together,” Cooper says. “A lot of black males are celebrated for their athletic prowess … but a lot of that is just time spent on the activity. So if we can apply [in these student-athletes] that same mentality, that same time and effort and cultural support for academic endeavors, you’ll see the same success.”

Even as he continues to fine-tune the fundamentals of his six holistic development principles, Cooper shares his findings with the Collective Uplift participants, encouraging discussion around the ideas of academic achievement, career aspirations, and self-identity. The takeaway for these student-athletes, he hopes, is “to pay it forward, find their purpose and passion, and make a positive impact on the world. The more of us that are doing that, the less exploitation we’re going to see.”

For an insider’s look into Joseph Cooper’s ongoing efforts with Collective Uplift, check out this video.