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

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104516017-hands-clapping1-300x2001Below are news and notes from our alumni, faculty, staff, and students. We are proud of all the amazing accomplishments by our Neag family. If you have an accolade to share, we want to hear from you! Please send any news items (and story ideas) to neag-communications@uconn.edu.

Students

The Neag School has voted in the new Teacher Education Student Association (TESA) officers for the 2015 year! We would officially like to congratulate:

Madison Corlett – President
Kathryn Dooley – Treasurer
Cheyann Kelly – Secretary
Olivia Sherman – Event Coordinator

Alumni

Vera Harsh ’80 is the external affairs officer for the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, Conn. Vera joined Lyman Allyn with a wealth of experience, having spent the past 12 years working in development and fundraising. As a longtime southeastern Connecticut resident, she began her career at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association as the assistant to the president and development associate. Later, as the director of development at New England Science and Sailing, she created the organization’s development department, including infrastructure, fundraising, marketing, and event planning.

The Irish Voice, a New York City-based newspaper that focuses on news from the Irish-American perspective, named Patrick J. Healy ’91, senior vice president for finance at Quinnipiac University, a top Irish educator.

Dr. Sandra Diana Ingä ’02 was inducted into the Connecticut Women’s Hall of Fame (CWHF) at the CWHF’s 21st Annual Induction Ceremony & Celebration, “Shaping Our World: Women in Design & Innovation,” in October. Ingä is the PK-12 STEM director for Hartford Public Schools and is a recognized STEM educator, leader, and mentor in the Hartford region. Ingä oversees the development and integration of science, technology, engineering, and math programs in 53 schools across the city. She served as co-chair of the design team for a K-8 STEM magnet school that has been recognized by the federal government as a Blue Ribbon school and has established the first Hartford STEM Conference as well as the district’s STEM Leadership Team to coordinate an integrated approach to science, math, and technology instruction. She has also presented at numerous local, state, and international STEM conferences. Additionally, she is responsible for the ongoing observation, evaluation, and professional development of STEM educators as well as the teacher-in-residence program.

Zato Kadambaya ’99, ’03 has been appointed interim assistant principal at New London (Conn.) High School. Kadambaya says, “This is a true testimony of the great program that the Neag School Education provides. I am very grateful.”

Sarah LaRose ’07, ’08 and Michael Kingsbury ’11, ’12 were recognized in November by the National Association of Agricultural Educators (NAAE) during the organization’s annual convention in Nashville. Sarah, an agricultural educator at Nonnewaug High School in Woodbury, Conn., was one of only six individuals nationwide to receive the NAAE’s Outstanding Young Member award. Michael, an agricultural educator at Middletown (Conn.) High School, was honored with the NAAE’s 2014 Teachers Turn the Key professional development scholarship.

Jeff Larson ’03, ’05, ’11 is the principal at CREC Public Safety Academy in Enfield, Conn. He previously served as an assistant principal at Hartford’s Classical Magnet School. Prior to that, Larson was a teacher, dean, athletic director, and coach. He was a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army, and he served in the Connecticut Army National Guard. Larson earned his bachelor’s, master’s, and sixth-year degrees from UConn.

Tim Shriver ’97, chairman of the Special Olympics, released his memoir Fully Alive: Discovering What Matters Most in November (Sarah Crichton Books, 2014). He was also featured on Oprah Winfrey’s “Super Soul Sunday” that same month. Shriver spent 15 years in public education as a high school teacher in New Haven, Conn., and as a counselor and teacher in UConn’s branch of the Upward Bound program for disadvantaged youth. He received his Ph.D. from the Neag School.

In memoriam:

Henry W. Beck Jr.  ’62
Ralph M. Clark Jr. ’71
Eugene E. Combs ’54
Phyllis M. Dixon ’60
William J. Dowd ’58
Suzanne V. Drake ’75
Pauline G. Dreher ’77
Ann Dublirer ’73
Marion M. Fischer ’59
Ashley C. Gray ’67
Kenneth G. Holt ’57
Jean M. Jubenville ’68
Marion H. Kerr ’33
John S. Kleszy ’57
Jessie M. Linicus ’52
Lawrence V. Marinaccio ’61
John J. McGrath ’63
Garry W. Milsop ’79
Myrtle L. Morse ’70
Diane F. Neff ’74
John J. Olha ’50
Carol A. Olson ’77
Rita Pierce Powers ’84
Douglas C. Seymour ’70
Janice S. Simpson ’78
Michael W. Sokol ’51
June C. Tanner ’58
Paul W. Temple ’72
Helen P. Thomas ’59
Maurice W. Villano ’73
Robert M. Watts ’51
Gwen Wexler ’51
Civita C. Wilcox ’59
Valerie Wintsch ’60
Marcella G. Vreeland ’63
Elizabeth B. Zakowicz ’90

Faculty

UConn Mentor Connection has been approved for a $20,000 competitive grant to support the 2015 Summer Program by the Fairfield County’s Community Foundation.

The National Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports has been awarded a $787,000 supplement for 2014-15 to provide technical assistance for the National School Climate Transformation Grant initiative. Under the direction of George Sugai, the Center for Behavioral Education and Research will receive $330,000 to provide technical assistance to schools, districts, and state departments of education that are increasing capacity to improve school climate, academic achievement, school safety, and behavioral and mental health challenges. In addition, CBER has received a $100,000 subcontract from the Connecticut State Department of Education to support capacity-building efforts related to PBIS training and coaching. This work contributes to the development of a PBIS network of 10 Northeast states, led by CBER researchers.

The Connecticut K-3 Literacy Initiative (CK3LI) has been funded for a third year for $2,990,000. CK3LI is an ongoing partnership between the Center for Behavioral Education and Research (CBER) in Neag, the Connecticut State Department of Education, the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus in the Connecticut General Assembly, and the Connecticut Commission on Children. The goal of CK3LI is to work to close the reading achievement gap in Connecticut by supporting schools and districts in implementing effective reading practices in instruction, intervention, and assessment. A focus is to build leadership capacity as well as the school and district systems and structures necessary to implement and sustain a comprehensive, multitiered reading approach to meet the needs of all students.

Jae-Eun Joo has received a one-year research funding grant from the Connecticut State Department of Education to develop and evaluate a series of seven online modules about the Connecticut’s new Educator Evaluation System and Support Initiative. The Online Learning Modules Project aims to enhance the ability of Connecticut educators, both classroom teachers and school leaders, to develop high-quality student learning goals and objectives as well as to collect and analyze the student performance data to improve instructional and leadership practices. These seven online modules will be designed to promote inquiry-oriented and data-informed decision-making practices by applying research-proven adult learning and online learning theories to the module activities and deliverables.

James Kaufman will be speaking at the 37th Annual maaps Conference in Marlborough, Mass., in March. He will be presenting his new book, Teaching Creativity in the Common Core Classroom (Teachers College Press, 2014), alongside co-author and Associate Professor Ron Beghetto. In addition to this conference, he will speak at the 92Y Second Annual 7 Days of Genius: Venture into the Extraordinary. This festival is partnered with MSNBC and features world-class speakers and interactive online content.

Jonathan Plucker was listed on the 2015 American Enterprise Institution’s Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings, which recognizes 200 university-based scholars who shape public discussions on education. He is also leading a brand-new project funded by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation in which he and his team will help the Foundation create state-by-state profiles on the levels of support for gifted students, especially those who have been underserved.

Xaé Alicia Reyes was invited to Chile to hold a seminar at Andrés Bello University.

Sarah Woulfin presented at the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Cultures and Institutions Colloquium in November 2014. She discussed Catalysts of Change: How coaches frame a district reading reform. She also facilitated a professional development session for Windsor (Conn.) Public School administrators on observing literacy instruction.

 

The International Language of Sports

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Husky Sport is a campus-community partnership based at the Clark Elementary and Middle School that has tapped the power of sport to connect Hartford and UConn since 2003. (Neag School of Education/UConn File Photo)
Husky Sport is a campus-community partnership based at the Clark Elementary and Middle School that has tapped the power of sport to connect Hartford and UConn since 2003. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay, Neag School)

Connecticut is 12,500 miles from South Africa. But shooting hoops with fifth-graders at the Clark Elementary & Middle School gym in Hartford recently, Sikhulu Zondo was suddenly aware that playing with the American students had erased the age and cultural barriers between them.

“I’m so glad to be here,” says the Cape Town middle school teacher. Sweeping her arm in a gesture encompassing all the players – which included 10 UConn students – she added: “When I get back home, I’m going to start a program like Husky Sport.”

Husky Sport is a campus-community partnership that provides groups of UConn students as mentors who between them spend 40 hours a week engaged in sports with Clark School students. At the same time, they build friendships that, in time, allow them to also talk about nutrition, healthy lifestyles, and life skills, as well as provide tutoring and other academic support.

Zondo says her students at the Ark Ministries Christian School for homeless children where she works mostly live at the school, so after school they need something like Husky Sport.

Cultural Exchange

Through a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs SportsUnited Division, UConn, partnering with the University of Western Cape in Cape Town, hosted a 12-day Sports for Cultural Change program in October for 10 South African educators, including Zondo, who manage community or school youth sports programs that use sport as a tool for positive social change.

Developed by UConn’s Global Training and Development Institute, the two-way exchange provided the African participants – chosen by the University of Western Cape through a merit-based, competitive process – the chance to interact with Americans and experience American society, culture, and values firsthand.

As the program is reciprocal, in March 2015, 10 Americans who also work in sports-based youth development organizations, such as schools, the YMCA, and youth sports leagues, will travel to South Africa to learn more about managing and organizing youth sport in the Western Cape region. During their visit to South Africa, the American participants will also help their South African counterparts launch sport-based youth development projects in the Western Cape region that replicate some of the U.S.-based programming. UConn will support these mini-projects with funding from the grant intended to leverage resources toward sustainable capacity-building and community development.

Roy Pietro, director of the Global Training and Development Institute and architect of the program, says the focus is on “using youth sports to promote academic success, psychosocial development, tolerance, cross-cultural exchange, and conflict resolution.”

Pietro originally developed and piloted the program in Hong Kong in 2012, when Chinese and American colleagues shared their experiences administering sports programs in their respective countries. The success of that exchange led to the creation of this year’s program with South Africa.

The U.S. State Department partners with universities that have a capacity to manage programs successfully because they want the exchanges to continue, Pietro says. “The friendships and broadening of mutual understanding achieved through our pilot in Hong Kong illustrated sport’s ability to increase dialogue and cultural understanding between people worldwide.”

‘Stronger than sitting in a classroom’

A favorite feature of the program pairs the visiting participants with peers from the host country for a three-day job shadow, to help them learn about one another’s experiences and share innovative ideas and best practices in managing and organizing youth sport. Time spent watching their peers at work – as Zondo did at Hartford’s Clark School – allows visitors to observe new methods and applications that might be adapted for their communities or schools back home.

The Global Training and Development Institute worked with UConn’s Husky Sport program to include job shadowing for the South Africans.

Person-to-person exchanges play a huge role in making the program a great learning experience, says Jennifer Bruening, professor and head of the Department of Educational Leadership in UConn’s Neag School of Education. “It’s so much stronger than sitting in a classroom. It’s so much more meaningful and inspirational.”

Zondo’s American shadow partner was Justin Evanovich ’04 (CLAS), ’06 MA, ’11 Ph.D., assistant clinical professor of educational leadership and managing director of Husky Sport, who was a walk-on UConn undergrad on the men’s basketball team and also earned his Ph.D. from UConn. He says the time spent with Zondo validated his zeal for using sports as a tool for positive change.

“It’s very cool to see that we’re on the same page with some of the concepts and approaches that we’re taking,” he says. “It’s like we’re using a board with X’s and O’s, asking whether this works for your team, or how would this work at your school.”

What Can Come From Sport

Using sport as a tool is at the heart of the Husky Sport model and guides how the UConn student mentors approach their engagement with Clark School students, their curriculum planning, and lesson delivery, he says.

“Having been involved in sport my entire life,” he says, “and how it took me to different places, helped me learn and interact with different people, be in mutual relationships, develop communication skills, a respect for sacrifice, and a work ethic – all that came from sport.”

Evanovich says that understanding a community is foundational when trying to implement new programs and establish credibility with students so they will trust adults – such as the UConn Husky Sport mentors.

“But you can’t teach lessons to someone you don’t know,” he adds, noting that Husky Sport purposefully partners with the community in an eight-block radius around Clark School, going to the same location, working with the same kids and their families, and working with the same teachers day in and day out. “We think this makes a difference in the relationships we build. … Sport is a way to begin that process.”

Zondo says the emphasis on building trust through relationships was the most outstanding thing she learned.

“In our country, we don’t get to that stage of talking about relationships,” she says. “We are going to embrace this because … I think our children will benefit.”

 

Experience, Enthusiasm, and a History of Results Make Chafouleas Ideal for New Associate Dean for Research Position

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Associate Dean of Research Sandra Chafouleas meets with Neag’s Center for Behavior Education and Research graduate students to discuss their research projects.
Associate Dean of Research Sandra Chafouleas meets with Neag’s Center for Behavior Education and Research graduate students to discuss their research projects. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay, Neag School)

Set smart goals, divvy up the work, and then attack it. It’s an oversimplified, but accurate description of how new Neag School of Education Associate Dean for Research Sandra M. Chafouleas is working to support Neag faculty. Her commitment is not just to help colleagues advance their own individual research projects, but to advance the Neag School, UConn, and the field of education overall.

“It’s such an important time in education,” says Chafouleas who, with along with Neag Dean Richard Schwab and Associate Dean Casey D. Cobb, assumed her new role in July. “There’s so much in education we need to change and better understand. But to find the best solutions, we need to effectively study the problems. My job in a nutshell is to help identify research opportunities that match our faculty’s amazing expertise, shepherd our researchers through the proposal and grant management process, and work to increase the Neag School’s total research portfolio. It’s exciting because it’s a field I love, and the opportunities of what we can do are endless.”

“Sandy is among the top school psychology professors in the nation.”

—Dean Richard Schwab, Neag School of Education

Chafouleas’ “visible passion” for research is part of what made her Dean Schwab’s top choice for this newly created position. Also apparent was her desire to use the Neag School’s ambitious academic vision to take both the School and University to new heights, Dean Schwab says. But most impressive were her accomplishments: the awards and fellowships she received from organizations like the American Psychological Association, Association for Psychological Science, and UConn Alumni Association; the more than 100 articles, book chapters, and titles she authored; her work as both an educational psychology professor and school psychologist; and the research she’s conducted in the areas of children’s and school-based behavioral, social, and emotional health.

Her previous role as associate dean of UConn’s Graduate School also provided her with the leadership experience needed for what Dean Schwab calls “the most important new position we have created in many years in our School.” Also invaluable is her experience as chair of the University-wide Research Dean’s Council, which was created last year by UConn Vice President for Research Jeff Seemann to develop projects in major existing and emerging research areas, as well as facilitate increased interschool and interdisciplinary collaboration.

“We have recruited some of the top researchers in the field of education and have established a faculty of internationally recognized scholars,” Dean Schwab says, “and growing the Neag School’s research portfolio is one of our top priorities. Sandy is an outstanding scholar and researcher who will help make all of them more productive by supporting their grant writing, submissions, post-award implementations and, later, communicating results to the educators, alums, policymakers, and practitioners who will benefit from the new knowledge.

“Sandy is also among the top school psychology professors in the nation and has established an outstanding record of receiving large federal grants,” Schwab continues. “She’s worked with faculty across departments and has established a reputation as a collaborative person who delivers.”

A Vital Partner

Kent Holsinger, vice provost for UConn Graduate Education, credits Chafouleas with building the Graduate School’s Student and Postdoctoral Affairs division “from scratch.” It’s thanks her, Holsinger says, that graduate students are able to receive support and guidance in finding and applying for jobs and fellowships, among other services. He called her a “vital partner.”

“Sandy is an advocate and model of success for new and experienced researchers.”

—Scott Brown, Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor
of Educational Psychology, Neag School of Education

During her two years at the Graduate School, Chafouleas also served as a Neag educational psychology faculty member and researcher. As Neag associate dean, she will continue her research, including her current work examining the relationship between students’ mental, emotional, and behavioral health and their educational outcomes. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s prominent Institute of Education Sciences, it is the first national study that has ever compared the kinds of behavioral screening practices schools have in place, or that has examined whether students being screened are meeting benchmarks. Over the course of the project, data will be collected from 2,000 U.S. public school districts. Chafouleas is principal investigator.

“Sandy is an exceptional leader who did more than suggest needed changes,” Holsinger says. “She implemented them, demanding evidence that the changes made sense every step of the way. Her knowledge, and the skills she acquired as the Graduate School associate dean, will only serve the Neag School.”

‘Model of success’

Educational psychology Professor Scott Brown – whose research using a computerized, problem-based GlobalEd 2 social studies game has led to middle and high school students experiencing improved critical and scientific thinking, along with increased leadership and problem-solving abilities – agrees with Holsinger and is nothing but excited to see Chafouleas in this role. He also considers her appointment a statement of the Neag School’s commitment to research and scholarship.

“Sandy is an advocate and model of success for new and experienced researchers because of her own research success. She understands the research enterprise inside and out and is as ideal to mentor emerging scholars, as she is to guide experienced ones,” Brown says.

Meeting with Neag faculty and creating a catalog of their researcher experiences, interests, and assets is part of Chafouleas’ current focus. She’s also eager to facilitate connections between those working in different disciplines: “Traditionally, researchers work in silos, focused on their own field and not always aware of how their research or expertise might benefit others. So looking for opportunities for crossover is also first and foremost for me.”

Chris Riley-Tillman, professor and associate director of the University of Missouri Department of Education’s School and Counseling Psychology division, has no doubt Chafouleas will achieve whatever she sets her mind to pursuing. Former classmates at Syracuse University, he’s known her for 20 years.

“I have never seen Sandy taken on any job and not excel,” Riley-Tillman says. “She is a born leader and, most importantly, I don’t know anyone who cares more about actually helping children. While it is easy in modern-day academia to get caught up in grants, publications, and awards, Sandy never forgets that it is all a waste of time if lives of children in need are not impacted in a positive manner. She is quite simply an amazing scholar, colleague, and person.”

The latter is something Dean Schwab repeats: “Between Sandy and Casey Cobb, I have the best leadership team any dean could ask for to help move the Neag School forward.”

 

 

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

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104516017-hands-clapping1-300x2001Accolades – below are news and notes from our alumni, faculty, staff, and students. We are proud of all the amazing accomplishments by our Neag family. If you have an accolade to share, we want to hear from you! Please send any news items (and story ideas) to shawn.kornegay@uconn.edu

Students

Caroline Thompson, an IB/M student, presented at this year’s Northeastern Educational Research Association conference, held in Trumbull, Connecticut in late October.

Nick Ahmed, former Neag student and baseball player for the Arizona Diamondbacks shared his experiences and personal stories of being a student-athlete and professional MLB player at an event sponsored by the UConn Alumni Association.

 

Alumni

Christie Attansaio, ‘14, was named the Fairfax County First Year Teacher of the Year. She teaches first grade at Dogwood School.

Gara Field, PhD ‘07, is headed to Washington, DC for the White House Future Ready Superintendent’s Summit. The US Department of Education is recognizing outstanding examples of how to transform an urban public school by leveraging technology, full service, and family engagement to make overall improvements.

Holly Hagemen, principal of Nayaug Elementary School, is leaving to become assistant superintendent in Regional School District 17. She served as director of curriculum and instruction in Region 12 prior to coming to Glastonbury. She earned her doctoral degree in educational leadership from UConn.

Michael Louis ’05 (ED), ’07 MA a four-year letter winner for the UConn men’s tennis team and a six-year assistant coach for the Huskies, is the UConn men’s tennis head coach. He previously served as head coach of the men’s and women’s teams at the University of Hartford.

Kevin McLaughlin, secondary teaching ‘93, director of diversity and outreach for UConn’s School of Engineering, was recognized with a Public Engagement Award from the Office of Public Engagement for outstanding staff member.

Cara Quinn, ‘03, ‘04, was awarded the 2015 Connecticut Teacher of the Year. She currently teaches sixth grade at Sunset Ridge School in East Hartford. She majored in Elementary Education and spent the fall semester of her 5th year in London.

Irving “Irv” Schein ’55 (ED), president and director of publisher International Consulting & Trade Associates, Inc., in West Hartford, Conn., is the co-author of The Thinking Academy: A School Which Embraces Cognitive Education Across the Curriculum: A Proposal to Redesign America’s Schools, published in December 2013 by International Consulting and Trade Associates.

Suzanne Taylor just published “Love Letters to and from a Monk, My Aunts Letters and His Responses.” An unlikely story and romance between a widow and a monk, Taylor’s book is an exchange of letters than exposes an “unyielding romance between two unlikely people.” She is currently a professor at the University of Rhode Island.

Dr. Nivea L. Torres, ‘06, was named the 2014 Connecticut Latina Citizen of the Year. Torres currently is the superintendent of the Connecticut Technical High School System.

 

Passings – The following Neag alums have passed away:

Carol Roche Virostek, PhD, a former Connecticut Teacher of the Year in 1989 and Milken Award Winner in 1991. She taught English at Berlin High School. The American Association of University Women (AAUW) established an endowment in her name.

Gertrude E. Austra ‘59

Victoria A. Baird ‘75

Frank Bucci

Paul R. Burch PhD ‘64

Evan E. Confrey PhD ‘67

Mona L. Cunningham ‘78

Alan O. Dann PhD ‘98

Stephanie E. Dunshee ‘01

Judith A. Glassenberg ‘71

William Z. Goldstein ‘79

John P. Griffin Jr. ‘71

Kenneth F. Hardick ‘75

Peter A. Mahler ‘77

Harold A. Pinkham ‘56

Paul C. Porter ‘81

Lewis E. Randall PhD ‘73

Delores B. Roderick ‘94

Judith A. Roy-Dobeck PhD ‘95

Rosalie H. Savarese ‘60

Richard E. Sheehan ‘69

Catherine A. Wade PhD ‘75

 

Faculty

The National Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Support has awarded $787,000 supplement for 2014-2015 to provide technical assistance for the National School Climate Transformation Grant Initiative. Under the direction of George Sugai, the Center for Behavioral Education and Research in Neag will receive $330,000 to provide technical assistance to schools, districts, and state departments of education who are increasing capacity to improve school climate, academic achievement, school safety, and behavioral and mental health challenges.

The Connecticut K-3 Literacy Initiative (CK3LI) has been funded for a third year for $2,990,000. CK3LI is an ongoing partnership between CBER, the CT State Department of Education, the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus in the CT General Assembly, and the CT Commission on children. The goal of this initiative is to close the reading achievement gap in CT by supporting schools and districts who implement effective reading practices in instruction, intervention, and assessment.

Casey Cobb was inducted into the Orono High School Hall of Fame for sports including football, baseball and basketball.

Shaun Dougherty authored a report for the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Department. Dougherty has released a new research brief on the academic impact of career and technical education in Massachusetts. The report finds that enrolling in and attending an oversubscribed regional vocational-technical school increases the probability of on-time graduation to nearly 100 percent. That compares to a rate of roughly 60 percent for those students who just barely missed gaining admission and did not attend one of these schools.

Erik Hines, was invited as a panelist for two presentations at the International Conference on Urban Education in Montego Bay, Jamaica. His presentation entitled “African American Male Students in Pre-K12 Schools: Informing Research, Policy, and Practice” in which he discussed the school counselor’s role in creating college-going culture for African American males at the middle school level. The second panel was, “African American Students in Urban Schools: Critical Issues and Solutions for Achievement. He spoke about the solutions for helping African American students become academically successful.

David Kerns is an experienced educator, having taught as an elementary school teacher, reading specialist, and literacy coach. He has authored many books including: Modeling polymorphemicword recognition: Exploring differences among children with early-emerging and late-emerging word reading difficulty, How elementary-age children read polysyllabic polymorphemic words, How to use Reading PALS: Peer-Assisted Learning Strategies to improve students’ word recognition and reading comprehension, and press). Orthographic, phonological, and morphological predictors of children’s word reading skills in Arabic: A literature review. Recently, he gave a presentation at the Virginia Council of Administrators of Special Education.

Don Leu’s research on online literacy tied to income levels was highlighted by President Herbst at the State of the University presentation. He was only one of a few professors featured.

Alan Marcus participated in a public hearing at the CT State Board of Education on new elementary and secondary social studies frameworks for the state. Marcus helped write the new standards.

Alan Marcus and Wendy Glenn, co-hosted a workshop on “Teaching The Holocaust: Exploring Pedagogical Dilemmas.” The workshop included a presentation from Holocaust survivor Henny Simon. The event was supported by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in DC as a way to provide pre-service history and English Neag students strategies on teaching about the Holocaust and other historic events.

James O’Neil has a new book out Men’s Gender Role Conflict: Psychological Costs, Consequences, and an Agenda for Change. he combines numerous studies from renowned scholars in men’s psychology with over 30 years of his own clinical and research experience to promote activism and challenge the status quo.

Rachelle Pérusse formed a team from Connecticut that will represent at the San Diego White House Convening in November. this was a highly competitive endeavor, but the team was selected in its entirety. Eric Hones is also part of the team.

Sue Saunders co-authored a book with colleagues from Virginia Tech and the University of Georgia. The book, Learning through Supervised Practice in Student Affairs assists students in applying leadership, advising, conflict management, and planning skills to their practice. This book explores the theories that foster learning and understanding of higher education organizations while exercises, reflection activities, and case studies illuminate the skill areas that students must develop to become successful practitioners.

Achievement Gap Exists in Online Reading Skills

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students-at-computer-smallStudents in lower income school districts have a significantly harder time analyzing and understanding information on the Internet than their peers, according to a new University of Connecticut study that indicates a troubling online reading achievement gap may exist in the nation’s schools.

Online reading skills are considered vital to students’ future academic and professional success. The achievement gap found in the UConn study is separate from the widely recognized gap in traditional, offline reading ability.

“The results of this study show a new, separate, and independent achievement gap for online reading,” says Professor Donald Leu, Neag Endowed Chair in Literacy and Technology and the study’s lead author. “This type of reading is not adequately recognized by schools in most states, and yet it will define our students’ future.”

Leu points out that the words ‘online’ or ‘Internet’ never appear in the Common Core State Reading Standards, and online reading comprehension is currently not included in the National Assessment of Educational Progress, considered ‘the gold standard’ of achievement tests.

‘The study was led by a research team in UConn’s Neag School of Education. The findings appear in the September online edition of Reading Research Quarterly, the flagship journal for reading research published by the International Reading Association.

In the study, researchers with UConn’s New Literacies Research Lab asked seventh-grade students in two Connecticut districts to complete online reading tasks in science and write short reports of their findings in an email message and on a classroom wiki. The districts were identical in the number of computers available for instruction and connected to the Internet. The two school districts were substantially different in three areas related to income inequality: median family income, the percentage of families below the poverty line, and the percentage of students eligible for free and reduced lunch.

Students in the economically advantaged district, on average, performed twice as well as students in the economically challenged district in online reading. After controlling for pretest differences on the state reading test, the state writing test, and a test of prior knowledge, a large and significant difference for online reading ability still remained between students in the two school districts.

“Recent research has helped us to understand achievement gaps in the context of the usual amount of learning that occurs across the school year,” says Chris Rhoads, assistant professor in the Neag School of Education and a member of the research team. “Based on this work, the achievement gap that we found is approximately equivalent to a year of learning in the middle school years.”

Unprepared for a lifetime of online information

Nicole Timbrell, one of the study’s co-authors and a UConn graduate student working in the New Literacies Research Lab, says, “Students from both schools appeared particularly underprepared to read online and learn new information in science.”

Overall, students responded correctly to fewer than 50 percent of items. Students in the economically disadvantaged district, however, responded correctly to fewer than 25 percent of items.

“For a generation raised in an online world, these results surprised us,” says Elena Forzani, an advanced UConn doctoral student involved in the study. “Student performance in both districts was especially low in two areas: the ability to evaluate the reliability of scientific information on a web page, and the ability to communicate results in an email message and on a classroom wiki.”

The performance-based assessment asked students to complete two online reading and research tasks. The reading tasks were conducted within a simulation of the Internet with a social network, email, text messaging, web pages, a search engine based on Google, and a wiki. A student avatar guided students through each activity with text messages.

“The students in our study appeared to be unprepared for a lifetime of reading and learning with online information,” says Leu, an international authority on the new literacies of online reading comprehension. “They may be digital natives with video, texting, and gaming but with online information use, they appear to be digital dilettantes.”

The two districts in the study did not represent the most extreme economic levels of the U.S. The economically challenged district had a median family income of nearly $60,000, whereas the poverty threshold is $24,028 for a family of four, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“Our results are perhaps best construed as an exploration of the achievement gap between the privileged and the middle class,” Leu says. “Had schools from greater extremes in income been evaluated, the differences might have been greater.”

The study used performance-based, Online Research and Comprehension Assessments developed as part of a federal research grant funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Educational Sciences. Other members of the project included Jonna Kulikowich (Pennsylvania State University), Nell Sedransk (The National Institute of Statistical Science), Julie Coiro (University of Rhode Island), and Michael Hillinger (Lexicon Systems).

As part of the research project, team members developed valid, reliable, and practical assessments of online research and comprehension. These assessments and the results of this research project are now being adapted for use in ePIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study), an international assessment of reading ability among 10-year olds.

New York Teacher, Jewelry Designer Donates $150K to Create ‘Fuller Scholarship for Social Justice in Education’ at UConn’s Neag School

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Katie FullerTen years working as a teacher in Los Angeles, London and New York City led to Kathryn Fuller experiencing many realizations, including the limited role “smarts” or intelligence can play in classroom learning.

“When kids live in poverty, don’t have family support, or don’t receive the kind of early childhood education needed to effectively prepare them for elementary school and beyond, how are they supposed to ever catch up and succeed like more privileged peers?” said Fuller. Her anger and frustration at the effects of discrimination and other forms of social injustice caused her to take action, and for UConn Neag School of Education students to benefit.

Using money from her family’s railroad business, Fuller recently presented $150,000 to the Neag School to establish the Fuller Scholarship for Social Justice in Education. The first three $10,000 scholarships from the fund were presented at the start of the fall 2014 semester.

Like future awardees, the undergraduates chosen to receive the funds showed what Fuller called an eagerness and “spark” to confront inequalities and take part in the kind of long-term conversations needed for significant change to occur.

“At 18, you may not yet know exactly how you want to focus your life, but you do have an idea of what’s important to you,” said Fuller, who currently works as a museum educator at the New York Historical Society Museum & Library, as well as creates jewelryfrom leather, metal and semi-precious stones as owner of Palomino Jewelry NY. “The scholarship is for future educators who want to talk about race and discrimination, and who believe, as I do, that we can’t move forward until we confront our past. Real change doesn’t come from a quick fix. It comes from discovering the root of the problem, and then focusing our ideas and energy on ways to make it right.”

“Teachers also play such an enormously important role in educating young people about the need for social change, and showing their students how we all can all help create a more socially just world,” she added.

According to Neag School Dean Richard Schwab, a gift as large as Fuller’s is always note worthy. But the fact that Fuller is not a UConn alumnus, nor has any ties to the school, makes it especially so.

Simmons College in Boston is where she earned a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, followed by a master’s in English Education from New York University.

“But when she was looking for a non-profit, public school of education that shared her vision and belief in the dire need for future teachers to be well-versed in social justice issues, she chose the Neag School,” said Schwab. “And for that, we are grateful. We’re also proud she recognized our commitment to eradicating inequalities.”

Indeed, addressing educational inequalities like poverty and racial discrimination is part of the focus of the Neag School’s “Our Time: UConn’s Path to Excellence” strategic plan. Released this summer, the plan outlines how UConn is uniquely positioned to use its expertise and knowledge base to address state and federal efforts to reinvent public education for the 21st century, which includes addressing the educational inequalities that President Barack Obama calls “the civil rights issue of our time.”

Fuller said it took just one visit to UConn for its commitment to become clear. “Everything about the Neag School was so impressive. I left there knowing I’d found a school that shared my vision for the need for more social justice in education, plus the willingness and ability to act on what they believed.

“Children have no control over what families and communities they’re born in to,” Fuller continued. “Yet they enter school carrying the burden of their economic situation, as well as having to handle discrimination cased by their religious background or skin color. To stop the ways these children are being discriminated against, we need to get messy. We need to have conversations and seek out lasting solutions. It’s a huge task, but not an impossible one.”

 

For more information about scholarships like this one, please contact Heather McDonald at hmcdonald@foundation.uconn.edu or (860) 486-4530. 

Neag Faculty Member Recognized with Promising New Evaluator Award

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Dr. Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead, an assistant professor in Measurement, Evaluation, and Assessment at the Neag School of Education, was named the 2014 Marcia Guttentag Promising New Evaluator Award winner from the American Evaluation Association (AEA).

The AEA is the leading international evaluation association. This award is presented to a promising new evaluator during the first five years after completion of a graduate degree and whose work is consistent with the AEA ethical code of conduct.

“This is the association’s only early-career award, so it’s hard to overstate how much the award means to me. Needless to say, I’m very grateful,” Montrosse-Moorhead said.

Montrosse-Moorhead attributes her achievements to the “supportive environment and outstanding colleagues” at Neag.

“When I interviewed here, it was clear that this school, which already had an outstanding reputation, was continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible in education. I feel very fortunate to be able to contribute to such a legacy,” Montrosse-Moorhead said.

Early in her career, Montrosse-Moorhead noticed that there was still a lot of work to be done on the topic of evaluation quality. She began working in this area when she realized she could help the field of education move forward. Since then, her research has allowed her to examine this particular area, specifically how validity plays a role in the context of evaluation practice.

Since joining the Neag School of Education last fall, Montrosse-Moorhead has collaborated extensively with colleagues on evaluation and research proposals. She co-authored proposals that resulted in four projects awarded to Neag, totaling over $4 million in all. These projects span from the state level to the national level, and evaluate various teaching practices and programs across all ages and all subjects.

With financial support from the State of Connecticut, she is leading a statewide evaluation of Connecticut’s Pre-Kindergarten program, Montrosse-Moorhead said. Her team is comprised of five other faculty members from Neag: Tamika La Salle, Hannah Dostal, Shaun Dougherty, Jennie Weiner, and Jennifer Freeman.

On a national level, Montrosse-Moorhead and Suzanne Wilson, a Neag Endowed Professor of Teacher Education, received a grant from the National Science Foundation. Using this grant, Montrosse-Moorhead and Wilson hope to develop teacher and student measures, which are aligned with the Next Generation Science Standards and the Common Core State Standards, for a middle school ecology unit,

“A portion of our work will also be centered on how best to capture how this unit differs from ‘business-as-usual’ in terms of how middle school ecology is commonly taught,” Montrosse-Moorhead said.

She is working with Del Siegle, Neag Professor in Gifted and Talented Education, and other professionals involved in the National Center for Research on Gifted Education at UConn to help identify components within gifted programs that are most related to positive outcomes among traditionally underserved students in terms of identification, persistence in gifted and talented programs, and improving academic achievement. She also works for Vanderbilt University as an external evaluator for one of its centers funded by the U.S. Department of Education.

“Certainly, it’s an honor to be trusted with evaluation responsibilities for significant federal investments,” Montrosse-Moorhead said.

With Neag assistant professor Jennie Weiner, Montrosse-Moorhead’s fourth and final project proposal provides evaluation services for a small non-profit that provides professional development training for veteran teacher leaders.

“My research has three main goals: to contribute new knowledge to the field of evaluation as a means to develop stronger evidence-based evaluation practices and theories, to advance knowledge of importance to the education policy community, and to contribute to help education move forward through the application of innovative evaluation methodologies,” she said. “My applied research includes assessing preschool through high school interventions, practices, and programs which are designed to promote social betterment and educational equity.”

“My hope is that this award allows me to contribute new knowledge to the field of evaluation, to continue to generate accurate, credible, and actionable knowledge to the national conversation about educational evaluation,” Montrosse-Moorhead said.

In addition to receiving the prestigious honor, Montrosse-Moorhead was recently asked to serve on the AEA Membership Survey Working Group, which is responsible for crafting and disseminating an association-wide survey instrument. Every couple of years, this survey instrument will provide information for decision making for association management and the AEA Board of Directors, Montrosse-Moorhead said.

This award recognizes individuals who demonstrate early career promise. As another nominee for the award said of Montrosse-Moorhead, “she has emerged as one of the new generation of leading evaluation scholars.”

“Those are the goals that have defined my past, and at least for the foreseeable future, will continue to guide the research I do,” Montrosse-Moorhead said.

 

 

Neag Administrator Returns to Faculty to Focus on Research; Reflects on 10 Years in Administration

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Marijke Kehrhahn
Marijke Kehrhahn, associate professor of educational leadership, discusses reading materials with students during her adult education class. (Shawn Kornegay/Neag School photo)

Marijke Kehrhahn, who returned to faculty this fall after serving in administration in the Neag School of Education for 10 years, talks about her past experiences and future plans.

Q: What did you like best about serving as the associate dean?

I really liked having access to the ‘whole school’ perspective and to have the opportunity to be engaged in projects that would have an impact on the school level and the university level. As a faculty member, my interests and influences were at a more local program and department level. One example was setting up and leading the Neag Leadership Academy. I really enjoyed working with department heads to identify potential future leaders and to facilitate the yearlong cohort of future leaders. Some good leaders came out of that group – Sandy Chafouleas, Morgaen Donaldson, Betsy McCoach, and David Moss!

Q: What would you say were your proudest moments/biggest accomplishments during the five years?

I think it has to be working with the dean to get approval for two cluster hires and then successfully filling those positions, as well as recruiting and hiring some stellar senior faculty. The recruitment effort and the search process took a lot of focus and a lot of work, and resulted in adding a really terrific group of new faculty to our school. They bring new ideas and at the same time, fit so well with what we are all about as a school.

Q: What was your favorite memory as the associate dean?

Being able to read all the names at Commencement!

Q: During your sabbatical this coming spring in London, what are your plans for research/writing?

After spending ten years in administration in the Neag School, I am way behind on my reading in my field of study, adult learning and workplace learning! I plan to find a cozy chair in the British Library and read, read, read. I am hoping to be inspired by the great British authors and produce four manuscripts for publication, as well. I am seeing my time in London as an urban writing retreat. I am working on plans for a collaboratively developed book on how school leaders can help teachers adopt and integrate new classroom practices into their instructional repertoires.

Q: Having recently returned to faculty after 10 years in administration, what do you look forward to most about teaching?

Well, I’ve been teaching all along, but I do look forward to spending a bit more time with my students than my previous job allowed. I also had to teach at 6:30 pm to have enough time at the end of the administrative day to get ready for class – so I am looking forward to teaching at least some classes at more reasonable times!

Q: What will you miss most about being in administration at the Neag School?

The people – working day to day with the folks in the Dean’s Office was rewarding. It was wonderful to be part of such a smart, thoughtful and enjoyable team. We laughed together, cried together, and sometimes stewed together. These are the people who are here in the Gentry building every day, all year. We developed a bond and while our relationships will certainly remain, I miss our day-to-day interactions.

Q: With the Higher Education and Student Affairs (HESA) program, tell us the international partnership with the University of Glasgow and their future plans?

I’ve enjoyed working with former Provost Peter Nichols and Dr. Sue Saunders to support the HESA International Experience at the University of Glasgow. The HESA “Glasgow 5” did an excellent inquiry project on the use of social media to attract, enroll, and support international students at UG and the Glasgow community of student affairs professional really embraced the HESA scholars. At the moment, U Glasgow continues to be our priority and we plan to continue to nurture and grow our student affairs partnership in a number of ways. Completing a three week international experience is challenging for HESA students, given their assistantship responsibilities here at UConn but we are hoping that we will build enough interest to develop additional sites and are currently focused on UConn’s U-21 partner University of New South Wales in Sydney.

DSC_5340 copyQ: Outside teaching, what are your top research plans?

I continue to work on NSF-funded projects on problem-based learning (PBL) in technical education and have just co-authored and submitted another grant, with a research focus on how departments support teachers to integrate new PBL teaching practices into their instructional routines. I am very interested in the process of modifying and innovating work routines, early career development, and organizational learning systems and hope to do more research and writing on these topics. I think my reading during my sabbatical will help me hone in on research ideas that will contribute to the body of knowledge about adult learning in the workplace.

Q: What interests you most about Neag’s new academic vision?

The high level of involvement in crafting the four dimensions of the Neag academic vision resulted in a plan that speaks to the majority of our faculty and students in a real way and shows a path to having a collective impact on the university, the state, and the nation. I look forward to seeing how Neag faculty use their creativity to turn the ideas into action in ways that capitalize on our collective expertise and have a real impact in the field of education.

Q: As a triple UConn alum, how has the academic training helped you throughout your career?

After graduating from UConn with a BFA in Dramatic Arts, I earned two degrees from the Neag School. I earned my Master’s in Special Education in 1980, then worked as a special education teacher in Windham Public Schools and then went on to work for the Connecticut Department of Developmental Services, essentially to resolve the CARC v. Thorne lawsuit and close the Mansfield Training School (now the UConn Depot Campus).

During my Master’s program, I learned from Neag faculty greats – Stan Shaw, Jim Strauch, Mel Reich, AJ “Pappy” Pappanikou, Isabel Liberman, and Miriam Cherkes – who held us to high standards of practice and modeled a capacity-driven mindset about disability that provided me with excellent skills and dispositions for being successful as we all engaged in the work of inclusion and education for all.

As a doctoral student in the Adult and Vocational Education program, under the guidance of another Neag great Barry Sheckley, I was provided with many opportunities to practice academic and research skills and was very well prepared to be a successful faculty member at a Research 1 university.

Q: With your early background as a middle school special education teacher and director of volunteer services for 1995 Special Olympic Games in New Haven, how did those experiences impact your professional career?

My teaching time in the special education classroom changed my life in big ways – each and every student taught me something about life, about interaction, about goals, about collaboration. And although much has changed in the 30 years since I was in the K-12 classroom, my memories of that time connect me to the Neag students of today and fuel the deep respect and admiration I have for them and their desires to change the lives of young people in their care. Honestly, nearly every day I am inspired to tears by the dedication, compassion, and desire to reach every child that is displayed by Neag students. They’re amazing!

My work at the 1995 Special Olympics World Games impacted my career by providing me with a goal that was bigger than anything I had ever done before – so that work was a game changer because it changed the boundaries on what I thought I could accomplish. AND it brought me into day-to-day work with another Neag alum, Dr. Timothy Shriver, who challenged me, inspired me, and conspired with me to change the ways we think about people with intellectual disabilities.

Neag Students Reflect on the Impact of Scholarship

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Neag Alumni President Louis Ando (pictured in the middle) attends Neag’s Honors Ceremony with Alyssa Bogdanowicz and Gabrielle Pollatto.
Neag Alumni President Louis Ando (pictured in the middle) attends Neag’s Honors Ceremony with Alyssa Bogdanowicz and Gabrielle Pollatto.

Alyssa Bogdanowicz received her bachelor’s degree in Special Education with a concentration in English last year. Gabrielle Pallotto earned her bachelor’s degree in Early Education and is currently studying abroad in London through the Neag IB/M program. Current Neag Alumni Society Scholarship recipients recently reflected on the impact of the scholarship. 

Q. What did the Neag Alumni Scholarship mean to you?

AB: When I received notice that I had been selected for the scholarship, it was shortly after my father had passed away. Living off of a single parents income and having 3 siblings is a challenge for any family. This scholarship meant that I could finally help contribute to the costs of my education and didn’t have to rely on loans and my mother’s bank account.

GP: The Neag Alumni Scholarship means a lot to me because I feel it is one of the most prestigious scholarships that can be awarded through Neag. The presenter of the scholarship at the night of the award ceremony showed great gratitude toward me as a future educator and I felt as if the Neag Alumni Association has hand picked me because they feel I will be a great asset to the field.

Q: What are your plans for the scholarship?

AB: The scholarship was applied directly to my fee bill to help pay for some of the expenses of a Master’s year program. Because I will have to start paying back college loans shortly after graduation in May, the scholarship means that I will have less money to pay back which is very helpful for me.

GP: In Fall 2014, I was chosen to attend the Neag IB/M program in London, England, among 14 other recent undergraduate students. This will be a continuation of our graduate studies through the Neag program. This scholarship will go to great lengths in helping me receive a well-rounded experience while abroad.

Q. How has the Neag School of Education prepared you thus far for your future career?

AB: After spending 2 ½ years in the program, I couldn’t imagine feeling any more prepared for my future. Neag has not only taught me the skills necessary to be a great educator, but has helped me become a mature professional. I am a strong collaborator with staff and parents, and have learned how to be a team player as well as a leader in each school I have interned in.

GP: The Neag School of Education instills us with the notion that we are the ones that can make the change, be the difference in the system. I feel as Neag pushes its graduates into the field, giving them a notch up from other education programs around the world because of their commitment to success.

 

 Thank you to all those who have supported students like Alyssa and Gabrielle. We greatly appreciate your support with helping our future educators! Do you want to make a difference? Please join us and make a gift today! Visit www.friends.uconn.edu/neagschool and select our Neag Alumni Society Scholarship Fund. For more information, please contact Heather McDonald at hmcdonald@foundation.uconn.edu or (860) 486-4530.

Neag Alumnus Awarded Milken Award

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Desi Nesmith reacts to being recognized with the Milken Award. Photo credit: Milken Family Foundation
Desi Nesmith reacts to being recognized with the Milken Award. Photo credit: Milken Family Foundation

Sitting in the exact gym where he sat as an elementary school student, Metacomet Elementary School Principal Desi Nesmith was brought to tears when he learned that he had received the Milken Educator Award–nicknamed ”the Oscars of Teaching.”

“I wasn’t sure if it was real,” Nesmith said of receiving the prestigious honor. The Milken Educator Award is the premiere teaching accolade that recognizes the “unsung heroes” of education, providing them with a $25,000 award. Nesmith says that he is giving “serious consideration” on what to do with the award money.

Nesmith was told that Commissioner of the State Department of Education Stefan Pryor was visiting to congratulate Metacomet Elementary School on their reading and writing scores. Before Nesmith was named principal four years ago, the Bloomfield elementary school had a wide achievement gap of 19 percent and struggled in reading, writing, and math scores. Just last year, Metacomet reported that these scores exceeded the state average by 8.1 percent. Nesmith is credited for eliminating the achievement gap and bringing up the academic scores.

“It’s fantastic when a home-grown hero-educator receives the recognition they deserve,” Pryor told the Hartford Courant. “He’s the superb kind of leader we need to foster in Connecticut … he sets a precedent for his peers and we are so proud.”

Nesmith was “absolutely overwhelmed and humbled” to receive this award and was the only educator in Connecticut this year to do so. His roots are here in Connecticut, graduating from the Neag School of Education and working around the state. Previously, Nesmith presided over the turnaround of SAND Elementary School, which went from being the sixth lowest performance school to being recognized in 2010 as one of the top ten improved schools.

This isn’t the first time Nesmith has been highlighted for his accomplishments. After earning his BS in 2001 and an MA in 2002 through the Neag School of Education’s IB/M program, he went onto complete the UCAPP administrator preparation program in 2009. In 2009, he received the inaugural “Outstanding Young Professional Award” from the Neag School of Education Alumni Society.

“Neag prepared me for my position by equipping me with the tools necessary to be a change agent for kids,” Nesmith said. “The relationships that are established are life long relationships with professors and Dean Schwab that last far beyond the end of the semester. Neag faculty stay with you as a support system for all your endeavors.”

To receive this prestigious award at Metacomet, where his love of learning began, is something Nesmith will always cherish.

“I remember my older brothers walking me across the street to school every day before they’d run off to the middle school – we lived right across the street,” Nesmith told the Hartford Courant. “Being able to be a principal here is what it means to me to come full circle – this award, this is just so much more.”

Nesmith is added to the list of 92 Connecticut educators to be recognized as Milken Educator Award recipients since the award’s inception. The Milken Family Foundation has honored early to mid-career educators around the country with unrestricted $25,000 awards since 1987.

“I see this award as a culmination of the hard work of many people including the Metacomet students, teachers and families,” Nesmith said. “To receive this award and to represent both Metacomet and Bloomfield Public Schools with this honor is the most humbling thing that could happen to me as an administrator.”