Neag School Ranks in the Top 10 Percent

Posted on March 31, 2014February 23, 2017 by

DSCN7221 vertical crop copy The U.S. News & World Report released its 2015 rankings of Graduate Schools of Education and the Neag School of Education continues to achieve top-ranking status, ranking #33 in the nation. This ranking puts the Neag School at #24 among all public graduate schools of education in the nation.

In addition, the #33 ranking puts the Neag School in the top 10 percent of all graduate schools of education surveyed by U.S. News & World Report. Also, in the specialty rankings, the Special Education program is #12 in the nation, Educational Psychology program is #16, and the Secondary Teacher Education program is ranked #18 in the country. This is among approximately 1,500 teacher preparation programs across the nation.

Each year, U.S. News gathers opinion data from school superintendents and deans from across the country to rank professional school programs. Thomas C. DeFranco, dean of the Neag School said, “These rankings are a testament to the scholarship and effort of all the faculty and staff within the Neag School. Congratulations on this accomplishment.”

DeFranco also believes a factor helping to build the Neag School’s reputation is its work with public schools in Connecticut and across the country. “Faculty within the Neag School are not only focused on research and scholarship, they are committed to working in partnership with classroom teachers and educational stakeholders across the state sharing information about best practices and improving the academic performance of children,” he says.

“Our goal is to produce highly qualified teachers, principals, superintendents and health professionals who will impact the academic performance and health and well-being of children and adults in Connecticut and in the nation,” DeFranco says.

For more information on the Neag School of Education, visit www.education.uconn.edu.

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

Posted on February 3, 2014November 25, 2024 by

Accolades – 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

Five of our current IB/M Honors juniors have received SHARE grants with faculty members for the spring semester – representing 25% of all the SHARE grants awarded for this year. They include: Daniel Arndt, Educational Leadership, Evaluation of Gifted Education Using State Accountability Systems; Rachael Cerutti, Elementary Education, Evaluation of Gifted Education Using State Accountability Systems; Jennifer Moore, Secondary Education, Gifted Students Achievement Patterns Beyond High School; Bailey Muchin, Special Education, Discourse in Linguistically Diverse Mathematics Classrooms; and Melissa Scarbrough, Secondary Education/French, Examining Questioning in Reading Classrooms.

Joshua Wilson is being recognized by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) with the Division for Research Student Award for his paper “Does Automated Feedback Improve Writing Quality.” He will be recognized at CEC’s annual convention in Philadelphia in April.

Alumni

First-year teachers came back to visit fifth-year teacher education students in order to provide insight and answer questions. The students included Arianna Aquilinoa, Meloney Bailey, Shannon Bostiga, Marissa Boucher James Dinnan, Jeffrey Russell and Kelly Soule. Richard Schwab and Michele Femc-Bagwell organized the visit.

The Neag Alumni Society recently elected the following new individuals to the board: Katy Lenehan, Sarah Mische, Kaitlin Roig and Kim Ruiz. New officers include: Lou Ando, president; Desi Nesmith, vice president; Megan Baker, treasurer; and Kate Heintz Lund, secretary.

Carly Buehler, BS ’11, MA ’12, visited the Neag School, along with Gertrude Banda, the principal of Chikumbuso, a community school in Zambia, to talk about their experiences. The presentation was how two people — and Chikumbuso, a local project — are making a difference for orphans, women, and at risk youth. They provided insight to current IB/M students how the students’ professional training could help serve others beyond our borders as well as in U.S. schools. While a high school student, Buehler first volunteered for the school doing her senior project on “The Stigma of AIDS” and spent two weeks doing fieldwork within the classrooms. She continued her involvement while a Neag student through doing two independent studies about the school. After graduation, she moved to Zambia and is currently volunteering doing teacher training and curriculum development at the school.

Jennifer (Elman) Cushman, BS ’07 in animal science, MA ’08 in curriculum and instruction, ’12 sixth year, head agriscience teacher at Glastonbury High School’s Regional Agriscience and Technology Center, was recently given an “outstanding young member” award by the National Association of Agricultural Educators. It is one of six handed out nationwide by the 8,000-member professional group for agricultural educators. The West Hartford native has been a teacher at Glastonbury since 2008, her first job in the field.

Kathryn Desrosiers, ’01, was named Bolton Public School’s Teacher of the Year. She serves as the music coordinator for the district while teaching high school concert band, 7-8th grade concert band, advanced placement music theory, and music technology. A flute player, Desrosiers earned a B.S. in education and a B.A. in music.

Timothy Dowding, Ph.D. ’88 in educational technology, who teaches at UConn’s Stamford Campus, received a 2013 Provost’s Award for Excellence in Public Engagement for his project, which consists of converting wastes like seaweed into liquid fertilizer and coconut fiber into particleboard, as well as implementing the processes into countries where these natural resources and emerging markets exist, such as Haiti.

Donna Johnson, MA ’83 in educational psychology, was one of six poets selected by the Carnegie Mellon University Press Poetry Series to publish a collection of her poems titled Selvage.

Nancy Mattoon Kline, Ph.D. ‘94, received one of five Excellence Awards for leadership, innovation, and service to the Library and Information Sciences profession. The award was presented at the URI Graduate School of Library and Information Studies “50th Anniversary Gala” in Warwick, RI. She earned her master of library science degree from URI and is a retired academic librarian.

Lynn Segal Mark, MA ’74, recently received the 2013 Tomko Award for Outstanding Achievement from Southwest Ohio Rehabilitation Association. This is a lifetime achievement award presented to an individual or organization whose lifetime achievement represents a major contribution to the rehabilitation of people with disabilities. She was a senior vocational rehabilitation counselor for the State of Connecticut from 1975-83 and later became a senior vocational rehabilitation counselor in the State of Ohio.

Mary Jo (Cervoni) Myslinski passed away at the age of 63. She retired as a principal from Center Road School. She earned a master’s degree and sixth-year in educational leadership from the Neag School.

Stamford’s Denis and Britta Nayden, alumni and long-standing donors to the UConn, have donated $3 million toward the new UConn Basketball Champions Center and for scholarships for student athletes. A key feature of the gift is a challenge match to all former UConn Husky basketball players who contribute to the new practice center. The Nayden gift has three parts: $1 million for the UConn Basketball Champions Center currently under construction on the Storrs campus, $1 million in scholarships for student-athletes and trainers enrolled in the School of Business or the physical therapy or kinesiology programs of the Neag School of Education, and a challenge match of up to $1 million for gifts from former UConn Husky basketball players.

Sally Neal, MA ’01 in higher education student administration, Ph.D. ’09 in adult learning is director of the Academic Advising Center at Ithaca College in Ithaca, N.Y.

Steve Nelson, Ph.D. ’96 in higher education, has published his fifth book, College Presidents Reflect: Life In and Out of the Ivory Tower.

Janet Robinson, Ph.D. ‘06, was named the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents (CAPSS) Superintendent of the Year. Prior to joining Stratford Public Schools as superintendent in June 2013, Dr. Robinson served five years as superintendent of Newtown Public Schools and three years as superintendent of Derby Schools. She is also a recipient of the 2013 Neag School of Education Alumni Society’s Outstanding Superintendent Award.

Kaitlin Roig, BS ’05, MA ’06, who was the teacher who hid her class keeping them safe from the tragic events in Sandy Hook in December 2012, was given the Woman of Worth Award sponsored by L’Oréal Paris for her “Classes 4 Classes” project. As a result, she received $10,000 to use in support of her project. In addition, she is now one of ten women nominated to receive an additional $25,000 for her charity. Roig was recently invited to serve on the Neag School of Education Alumni Society board.

Kristen Shanley, BS ’99, MA ’00, was named Cheshire Teacher of the Year. She’s been a seventh-grade language arts teacher at Dodd Middle School for the past 13 years, since graduating from UConn.

Lois Greene Stone ’55 (ED), author and poet, has personal items in 49 different museums and historical societies, including The Smithsonian Institution. Married since 1956 to Dr. Gerald E. Stone, she witnessed her physician husband place the Doctor of Medicine hood over a grandson’s shoulders. Two of her 15 grandchildren are married.

Zato Kadambaya, MA ’04, is the math/science department head and STEM administrator at New London High School. He also has a MS in electrical engineering from UConn.

Faculty

Center for Policy Analysis (Morgaen Dondaldson and Casey Cobb) submitted a report on the pilot for the state’s new teacher evaluation system finds that it provides more guidance for teachers, but raises questions about whether educators have enough time to carry out the demanding assessments. The new evaluation system, which started in 14 districts last year and expanded statewide in September, ties a teacher’s performance rating to student achievement, including students’ test scores, as well as a variety of other factors, such as classroom observations by administrators.

EDCI hosted a Human Diversity, Rights and Disparities public forum on Nov. 7.

EKIN hosted a seminar on the “Underlying Mechanisms of Blood Pressure Responses to Acute Aerobic, Resistance, and Concurrent Exercise” featuring visiting professor Paulo Farinatti from Rio de Janeiro State University.

DPT students hosted the Class of 2014 Research Presentations and Alumni Lecture, featuring student and faculty presentations.

Husky Sport was recognized by the Community Renewal Team (CRT) with one of CRT’s partner awards at their 50^th Annual Meeting for Husky Sport’s work in the Clark Street neighborhood.

Keith Barker recently presented a poster session at the 2013 New England Faculty Development Consortium‘s conference, along with one of his Graduate Certificate in College Instruction students, Matt Girgenti. Barker has offered EDCI courses since 1998 to prepare university graduates for future faculty positions. Well over 500 graduates from across all disciplines and campuses have now taken all or some of these courses.

Sandy Bell presented Extending Extension: Adult learning theory and practice applications in Cooperative Extension at the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education 62nd Annual Conference in Lexington, KY.

Mary Beth Bruder, director of the UConn A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Research, Education and Service co-chaired the statewide committee that spent four years developing the “Connecticut Guidelines for a Clinical Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.” Also involved was Laura Kern, a third-year Educational Psychology doctoral student at the Neag School, is both the mother of a 9-year-old son with autism and one of the parents involved in providing the data and insights needed to craft the new guidelines.

Jennie Bruening was part of the grant development team that was awarded $225K for the International Sports Programming Initiative exchange grant with UConn’s Global Training and Development Institute (GTDI). Husky Sport has a similar grant active right now with Hong Kong Baptist University. She also co-authored “Early adolescent male development: A study of a sport-based after-school program in an urban environment” in Research Quarterly in Exercise and Sport.

Laura Burton (fall 2013) is serving as a UConn Large Faculty Social Science Grant reviewer. She was also selected as an associate editor for the Journal of Intercollegiate Sport.

Sandy Chafoulous, along with CBER colleagues, came out with the Final Performance Report of “Project PBER: Postdoctoral Fellowship in Behavioral Education and Research” funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The report included information on four postdoctoral fellows, who are now faculty members at various universities across the US. They include Nick Gage, assistant professor of special education at the University of Florida; Dan Maggin, assistant professor of special education at the University of Illinois; Sabina Neugebauer, assistant professor of reading at Loyola University Chicago; and Breda O’Keeffe assistant professor of special education at the University of Utah.

Casey Cobb facilitated a panel at the 2013 Education Policy Symposium on State and Local Policy Implications of Mastery-Based Credit and Mastery-Based Diploma, Legislative Office Building, Hartford. He is giving a keynote next week at the symposium on “Magnets in a School Choice Arena: Innovation in Learning – What We Know” at Goodwin College. He also presented “Mentoring session for assistant professors seeking tenure and promotion” at the Annual Meeting of the University Council for Educational Administration in Indianapolis, IN. He has been invited to serve on the editorial board of the American Educational Research Journal (AERJ), Social and Institutional Analysis for 2014-15. He co-authored Fundamentals of statistical reasoning in education (4^th Edition). HE also facilitated a panel session on Accountability and Assessment with the “State and Local Policy Implications of Mastery-Based Credit and Mastery-Based Diploma” at the Legislative Office Building.

Morgaen Donaldson, Casey Cobb and Kimberly LeChasseur co-authored “New roles for teachers unions? Reform unionism in school decentralization” in the Journal of Educational Change. They also co-authored “Negotiating site-based management and expanded teacher decision making: A case study of six urban schools” in Educational Administration Quarterly.

Morgaen Donaldson and Casey Cobb were co-presenters for a webinar on educator evaluation implementation with the Northeast Educator Effectiveness Research Alliance (NEERA). Morgan was also recognized with the 2013 University Council for Educational Administration’s Jack Culbertson Outstanding Junior Scholar Award (national award for research).

Wendy Glenn is the recipient of the 2013 Richard A. Meade Award for Research in English Education for her study, “Developing Under-standings of Race: Preservice Teachers’ Counter-Narrative (Re)Constructions of People of Color in Young Adult Literature,” in this year’s English Education. This award recognizes published research that investigates English/language arts teacher development at any educational level, of any scope and in any setting. The award was established in 1988 in honor of the late Richard Meade of the University of Virginia for his contributions to research in the teaching of composition and in teacher preparation.

Preston Green has co-authored “Having it Both Ways: How Charter Schools Try to Obtain Funding of Public Schools and the Autonomy of Private Schools” which will be published in the Emory Law Review. He also co-authored “Fighting ‘demographic destiny’: A legal analysis of the strategies that white enclaves might use to maintain school segregation” in George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal. He was also a panelist on “Race and Education Today” at the “Brown v. Brown at 60: Looking Back, Looking Forward” symposium at the Washburn School of Law. In addition, The Greater Hartford Legal Aid (GHLA) Board recently elected him as its newest member.

William Kraemer was recognized at the “top expert in the US in the field of resistance training research” by Expertscape.

Catherine Little is on the Board of Directors of the National Association for Gifted Children.

Stephanie Mazerolle was honored with the Eastern Athletic Trainer’s Association (EATA) Research Grant in 2013. She will be recognized at EATA’s annual meeting in January.

Betsy McCoach, Kathy Gavin (recently retired from UConn), and Jill Adelson (former UConn doctoral student and now assistant professor at the University of Louisville) won the 2013 Gifted Child Quarterly Research Paper of the Year for “Examining the Effects of Gifted Programming in Mathematics and Reading Using the ECLS-K.”

Natalie Olinghouse is a featured panelist on “Redesigning Elementary Preparation Programs” at the upcoming AACTE Annual Meeting.

Jonathan Plucker and Frank Worrel (UC Berkley) won the National Association for Gifted Children 2013 Distinguished Scholar Award. Of the 200 ranked education scholars, he was ranked #94 by the American Enterprise Institute’s (AEI’s) on the “2014 Edu-Scholar Public Influence Rankings.”

Lisa Sanetti co-edited an American Psychological Association (APA) book Treatment Integrity: A Foundation for Evidence-Based Practice in Applied Psychology.

Del Siegle and Sally Reis were members of the closing conference keynote panel of past presidents of the National Association for Gifted Children that reflected on the past, present and future of gifted education. Siegle’s book “The Underachieving Gifted Child” received a glowing review from Teachers College Record.

George Sugai and Michael Coyne were panelists at the Education Forum, held at Housatonic Community College. The forum brought together education experts to discuss positive school climate and maximizing educational outcomes for youth.

Suzanne Wilson was elected as a new member to the National Academy of Education (NAE). The current members of this prestigious organization are the preeminent research scholars in the field of education. This recognition is a testament to Suzanne’s reputation, as an international scholar in education, as well as recognition of a lifetime of scholarly work that has had a significant impact in the field. She was also commissioned by NAE to write a paper on the “Recent Developments in STEM Education Relevant to the Qualities of Teacher Preparation Programs.”

Mary Yakimowski is the historian for the American Educational Research Association’s Division H. The organization itself is going to celebrate its 100^th birthday. Currently, she is surveying members and then will be creating a video. Most people do not realize AERA has its roots in Division H; and it was started by 16 superintendents in school districts.

Neag School Hosts “Respect for All” Workshops to Improve School Inclusivity

Posted on January 28, 2014December 7, 2021 by

Workshop participants discussed different ways their schools handled gender and bullying issues.

Teachers and administrators from throughout New England spent two days attending a Neag School of Education-sponsored workshop that focused on challenging stereotypes, exploring gender roles, reducing bullying and helping ensure that school is a place where all youths—no matter what their background—can thrive.

The National Network for Educational Renewal selected the UConn Neag School of Education as the site for this progressive, timely and important “Respect For All” pilot training program, which presented four interactive workshops made up of short films, group discussions, experience sharing and various other activities. Topics included:

“Let’s Get Real”: A look at bullying and bias through the eyes of middle school-aged youth
“Straightlaced – How Gender’s Got Us All Tied Up”: An exploration of how gender roles and sexuality pressures impact teens
“That’s A Family!”: An exploration of what children growing up in a wide range of family structures would like classmates to know about their families
“It’s Elementary – Talking About Gay Issues in School”: A documentary and discussion about the power and possibility of LGBT-inclusive education

Teachers and administrators shared experiences as it related to the four short films. — Teachers and administrators shared experiences as it related to the four short films shown during the workshop.

More than 30 teachers, school administrators, teacher educators, social workers and guidance counselors attended, including Ellen Montgomery. “The information fueled my passion for social justice issues and made me feel like I am not alone in trying to make change in this world,” said Montgomery, who teaches art at Hunt Middle School in Burlington, VT.

She said she was especially inspired by the gender issues workshop, which made her see how terms like “male” and “female” could alienate some people. “One of the biggest changes I saw in myself was a shift in thinking regarding gender and sexuality, which I now realize should be looked at as part of a spectrum and not as just black and white.”

Run by the San Francisco-based educational and social non-profit GroundSpark, the event was organized by Neag Teacher Education Associate Director and Clinical Professor René Roselle, who said she found the workshops “deeply moving.”

“The workshop allowed participants to bond and connect over very important topics of social justice,” Roselle added.

High school math teacher Kevin Liner, a Neag alumnus, walked away with similar sentiments.

“I loved hearing how honest and vulnerable the other participants were willing to be,” said Liner, who teaches at the Metropolitan Learning Center magnet school in Bloomfield. “Their stories were inspiring to me, because there are always perspectives you don’t consider, and it helped us discuss topics from various angles. The workshop also inspired me to take more action on a day to day basis with my students and helped me realize the magnitude of importance that a safe school climate has on a student both personally and in regards to their academic success.”

Respect For All instructor Amy Scharf said one of the most exciting aspects of the event was the GroundSpark-Neag School partnership, which ensured the topics and issued covered were relevant to participants.

“Participants were also interested in staying connected with each other for ongoing support, so we will create a listserv where they can maintain their relationships, get advice and remain motivated,” Scharf added.

Roselle said she or a Respect For All liaison will follow up with participants in three and six months to see how they’ve used workshop materials and training.

“It’s important that local communities move the work forward,” Scharf added.

Healthy Husky: Exercising for Change

Posted on January 28, 2014December 7, 2021 by

Belval in the KSI offices, taking a quick break. (Source: Shawn Kornegay)

While New Year’s may seem like a distant past due to the now busy, shuffling life of the semester, an important part of New Year’s is still relevant. New Year’s resolutions are at or near their tipping point. The most common resolutions, involving weight loss or improving fitness, fall slave to the same trend every year. By February, individuals have either succeeded or failed to make a “new year” a “new you.”

Many of the reasons for failed resolutions are not linked to motivation. With unrealistic goals impossible fitness and diet plans, many individuals set themselves up for failure – sometimes by being overzealous. Therefore, here are some tips to either keep you motivated and on the right track or to give that New Year’s resolution another shot.

When it comes to goal setting, everyone likes to imagine how much better they would look 10, 20 or 30 pounds lighter – without giving much thought to how they will get from Point A to Point B. While the visualization is a great motivation tool, setting realistic goals and developing incentives is key. By picking out an item of clothing that you would like to fit into on your way to your ultimate goal, you can begin to see changes on a physical scale – which can be more rewarding than seeing it on the scale on your bathroom floor.

While “The Biggest Loser” may be all about the extreme weight loss, this is impractical and difficult for the average person. One pound per week is a very realistic goal for the majority of individuals. This weight loss alone takes discipline and lifestyle changes. Remember that one pound of fat loss is equivalent to 3500 calories. So, to make things easy, some combination of eating less and exercising more is necessary to cut 500 calories a day each day of the week. For reference, 500 calories is about two slices of pizza or about an hour of running.

Another key principle to maintaining fitness goals is to make lifestyle changes rather than following fads. By making eating healthy and exercising more a true sustainable daily habit you can ensure that you will not fall victim to the lack of variety that comes with many diet trends. There is no rule that states you can only lose weight through one exercise or that you must eat the same meals everyday. In fact, that is a sure-fire way to end up gaining back the weight you lost. Instead, it is important to understand the healthy choices you can make in variety of circumstances that will lead you to success. When you are sitting down for a meal, it can often be easier to think about what food is healthier than worrying about the exact amount of calories.

While excitement inevitably comes with any plan to become healthier, it’s also easy to get overwhelmed. If and when this happens, start small. By making one small change every day for a week, you will see a drastic change over the course of seven days. It takes about 21 days for a new habit to truly set in, so don’t give up too soon and you may begin next year with new resolutions.

Luke Belval, an undergraduate student in the Neag School of Education’s kinesiology program, is a campus correspondent with The Daily Campus. Belval is also director of special projects with the Korey Stringer Institute, which is part of the Neag School of Education.

Published with permission from The Daily Campus. 2014

First-Year Teachers Share Do’s and Don’ts with Teachers-To-Be

Posted on January 28, 2014December 7, 2021 by

First-year teachers gathered before the class began. Pictured: Back row: James Dinnan, Jeffrey Russell, Marissa Boucher Front row: Shannon Bostiga, Kelly Soule, Arianna Aquilinoa, Meloney Bailey. — First-year teachers gathered before the class began. Pictured: (back row) James Dinnan, Jeffrey Russell, Marissa Boucher; (front row) Shannon Bostiga, Kelly Soule, Arianna Aquilinoa, Meloney Bailey.

“Take good notes in class during your last year at Neag. They will not only be helpful for you, but for your team members and colleagues when you start teaching,” advised Arianna Aquilino, a fifth-grade teacher at West Woods Upper Elementary School in Farmington. She was speaking to 60 students who will graduate from the Neag School of Education’s Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Teacher Education Program in May 2014.

Aquilino was one of seven recent Neag alumni who returned to Dr. Richard Schwab’s Teacher Leadership and Organization course to take the podium and share their first-year teaching experiences.

The event marked the third year Schwab, UConn’s Raymond Neag Endowed Professor of Educational Leadership, has invited former students back to campus.

“When my students graduate, I remind them I’ll be asking them back to talk with the next cohort of new teachers,” said Schwab, also Dean Emeritus. “Every time I do this, I enjoy watching alumni and current students laugh and learn together. The advice alumni give is always helpful, and they learn a great deal from reflecting on their first-year experiences.”

Kelly Soule (pictured in the middle) provided insight for the current students. Also pictured are Arianna Aquilinoa and Jeffrey Russell.

Job hunting and job interviewing tips were the two areas current Neag students were most interested in learning about. Each alumnus shared advice, which included the importance of attending career fairs, rehearsing for interviews, building a portfolio, and utilizing Neag connections.

“When you prepare answers for the interview, don’t forget to also prepare questions about the school. It shows how prepared and serious you are about the opportunity,” said James Dinnan, now teaching social studies at Farmington High School.

“And be prepared for anything,” he added, noting that the part-time position he was hired for turned into a full-time one on his first day of work.

Marissa Boucher, currently teaching seventh-grade mathematics at Ellington Middle School, shared what she did after getting a job offer: “If you have an opportunity, try to observe other teachers or substitute at the school before you officially start working there. It helped me to be better prepared with the school’s routines and get to know staff before the new school year started.”

Ranked as one of the top teacher preparation programs in the United States, the Neag School’s five-year Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s (IB/M) program provides students with both extensive classroom learning and intensive field experience. Students are admitted to the program as juniors after a competitive admissions process.

The IB/M program is a rigorous, well-planned program designed to provide students an optimum combination of experiences in which they can build content area knowledge, knowledge of teaching and learning, and the practical knowledge required to be a successful and effective teacher for all students.

Once admitted to the IB/M program, students generally complete two years of subject area major studies and professional education in teacher education leading to a Bachelor’s degree in education. The undergraduate years are followed by one year of graduate level professional education leading to a Master’s degree in education. Completion of all program requirements results in the recommendation for certification as a teacher in the State of Connecticut.

“I was so nervous to start my first year of teaching, but the program prepared me in more ways than I thought,” Aquilino recalled. “Just having all the background knowledge of classroom management and lesson planning was so helpful.”

Meloney Bailey, a fifth- and sixth-grade social studies teacher at Jumoke Academy at the Hartford Conservatory, also assured the soon-to-be teachers: “The program has equipped you with all the tools you need to be successful. Just make sure you utilize those tools. They may be time consuming at times, but will definitely alleviate a lot of stress.”

The visiting grads also agreed that the Neag School had prepared them well for the significant changes to education that came with the start of this new school year, including the implementation of the new Common Core State Standards. “The knowledge we gained at the Neag School made me less apprehensive about issues than some veterans,” Boucher said.

All alumni agreed, however, that being a first-year teacher is a challenge. “The field experience I received in college was essential, because classes can only prepare you so much,” said Shannon Bostiga, a fifth-grade teacher at Windermere Intermediate School in Ellington. “There are so many things I encountered that I would never had been prepared for without the Neag School.”

Managing time effectively, staying organized and prioritizing tasks were among the greatest challenges discussed by alumni. “The most challenging thing about the first year of teaching is finding time to do everything. Sometimes I wish there was an extra hour in the day to get everything done,” Bailey added.

Dr. Michelle Femc-Bagwell, who co-teaches with Schwab, had some advice for both the upcoming graduates and alumni: “Try to shadow other teachers and observe their work routines. There is never a best routine out there, but you can apply what’s best for you and your kids by taking a little from everyone.” A former public school educator and middle school principal, Femc-Bagwell also encouraged them to always seek help. “You will be surprised how people are more than willing to help,” she added.

Dr. Richard Schwab emphasized important tips for the graduating Neag students.

Reflecting on the almost three-hour experience, Schwab said: “I hope all my students can model support, not only for each other in class, but also carry that into their teaching careers in the future.”

A Report Card on Teacher Evaluation

Posted on January 28, 2014February 17, 2023 by

Nicole LaPierre ’11 (ED), ’12 MA, works with students in a classroom during her student teaching practice. Pierre is now an elementary teacher at Cider Hill School in Wilton, Conn. (Paul Horton for UConn)

A recent report by UConn education researchers on Connecticut’s new System for Educator Evaluation and Development (SEED) has the potential to impact every public school student in the state.

“Teachers have been identified as the No. 1 school-level influence on students’ achievement,” says Morgaen Donaldson, assistant professor of educational leadership in the Neag School of Education. “That means for students to score high and reach their full potential, teachers need to score high and work to reach their full potential. So for parents, grandparents, and anyone connected with a child, our work evaluating the SEED program is helping ensure students get the high-quality teachers they need to succeed.”

Mandated by the state General Assembly as part of aggressive legislation passed in 2012 to improve the quality of state schools and raise student achievement scores, the study was conducted by Donaldson and six other researchers from the Neag School’s Center for Education Policy Analysis. Among other results, it concludes that with additional administrative support and better-executed implementation, the SEED model has the potential for “even greater gains.”

Although teacher unions have criticized SEED for basing close to half of a teacher’s performance evaluation on their students’ performance, data gathered from the 14 school districts piloting the evaluation system during 2012-13 show that changes in mindset and practice are essential to the kind of teacher growth and improvement SEED was designed to achieve. These changes include:

Teachers spending more time on self-assessment and goal-setting;
Teachers more carefully considering how to best meet the individual needs and challenges of current students;
Principals and other administrators conducting more frequent classroom visits to observe teachers at work.

More than half of participating teachers and administrators rated their post-observation conferences to be “valuable” or “very valuable.” For both groups, however, the time needed to prepare and take part in rigorous observations, develop lesson plans tailored to individual students, and fulfill other SEED requirements was an issue. In addition, the time and funds required for much-needed professional development were cited in the report as an ongoing challenge.

Improvements recommended by Neag researchers include increased opportunities for teachers to learn about SEED; programs to build the skills and abilities of teacher evaluators; help with teacher goals setting; and a system for the state to continue to track and improve the program.

Additional resources needed

“I think it’s clear from our report that most districts will need added resources to carry out SEED, because even in districts with significant resources, teachers and administrators can be spread thin,” says Donaldson. “But the fact that behaviors were changing because of SEED is small but important evidence that shows what SEED can do. It’s going to be hard for educators to perform all that SEED expects without the necessary resources. But if those resources are made available, the impact on K-12 students can be huge. Better teacher performance will mean better student performance.”

While responses to the Neag researchers’ findings from education officials like American Federation of Teachers Connecticut President Melodie Peters have been cautiously neutral, Bridgeport Education Association President Gary Peluchette told the Connecticut Post his concern is that SEED focuses more on “chasing a test score than best practices.”

However, Connecticut Education Commissioner Stefan Pryor told the Hartford Courant that the Neag report gives “added confidence that the system has the potential to improve instruction for our students, and that the state can make implementation even better through continued and improved supports provided to teachers, schools, and districts. The fact that Neag researchers find there is potential for this system to lead to improvement in both teacher practice and student learning is profoundly important.”

Although many school districts are still figuring out how best to implement it, the SEED model went statewide at the start of the 2013-14 school year. Its process calls for teachers to be rated on a four-step scale as “exemplary,” “proficient,” “developing,” or “below standard.” In the pilot districts, 73 percent of teachers met criteria for “proficient” and 23 percent for “exemplary.”

The fact that Connecticut now has consistent, statewide evaluation standards for all public school teachers is one of the model’s biggest pluses, Donaldson says: “Between SEED and the introduction of the Common Core [State Standards], our school systems are going through huge, unprecedented changes. But if carried out well, the result of these ambitious reforms could be young people who are better educated and more skilled, and that really could make a difference in the future of our state, country, and world.”

Transcending Tragedy

Posted on January 28, 2014April 1, 2025 by

Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis ’05 (ED), ’06 MA founded Classes4Classes, a nonprofit organization focused on teaching kindness to students nationwide, earlier this year. (Peter Morenus/UConn Photo)

Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Kaitlin Roig-DeBellis ’05 (ED), ’06 MA always felt that teaching kindness was a critical lesson for her young students – perhaps no more so than in the wake of the tragic shooting in Newtown, Conn., that took the lives of six of her colleagues and 20 Sandy Hook students last December.

As countless gifts and messages of compassion poured into the school and uplifted her first-graders in the months that followed, the UConn alum sought a way to teach her students how to pay that kindness forward. “Eventually I just realized that when you get, you have to give,” Roig-DeBellis says.

Launching a nonprofit called Classes 4 Classes earlier this year, Roig-DeBellis has made the act of giving an engaging, tangible experience in her own classroom, as well as in many other classrooms nationwide. The organization, whose mission is to teach every child in America to have an interest in the well-being of others, invites K-5 teachers and their students to become sponsors for other K-5 classrooms elsewhere in the country – for instance, by helping to raise funds for the purchase of much-needed school supplies, a field trip, or a guest speaker for a classroom in need.

“It’s so important, especially for younger students, to have a genuine experience in learning to be caring, kind, compassionate, empathetic,” Roig-DeBellis says. “As teachers, we’re so busy with curriculum and all the major subject areas – which are so important – but there is still such a gap in how kids treat one another.”

Classes 4 Classes begins to address that gap, offering students the opportunity to experience firsthand the joy of giving, while involving the larger community.

“A lot of people say, ‘I’m not a teacher or parent,’ or ‘I have no involvement with schools,’” says Roig-DeBellis. “But this program is also about the people who are helping to make it happen – whether it’s monetarily or by spreading the word. Every person can be a part of it.”

To view a video about Kaitlin and to learn more about her story, click here.

To learn more, donate, or find ways to get involved, visit classes4classes.org. To contribute to UConn’s Sandy Hook Memorial Scholarship Fund, visit s.uconn.edu/sandyhook.

This article was first published in the Fall 2013 edition of UConn Magazine. To see more videos and stories like these, download UConn Magazine‘s free interactive app for tablet devices.

Coventry Public Schools Partner with Neag School for “Technology in the Classroom” Initiative

Posted on January 28, 2014December 7, 2021 by

Jae-Eun Joo conducts an instructional session on iPads for the Coventry School District. (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay, Neag School/UConn)

The Coventry Public Schools and the Neag School of Education have joined forces to discover new ways to integrate iPad technology into classroom learning, as well as to use their partnership to plan, implement, and assess both the process and the emerging impacts of this new area of technology integration.

Heading the collaboration is Neag Director of Online Programs Jae-Eun Joo, who has been working with Coventry school leaders and teachers since May as part of the Coventry school system’s $50,000 Technology in the Classroom initiative, which included providing iPads to 200 students at the start of this school year.

The possibility of this partnership was realized last Spring, when Coventry school teachers attended Joo’s presentations at the Neag School’s 2nd annual “Teaching and Learning with iPad Conference,” that Professor Del Siegle has started in 2012.

Coventry 2 — Pictured L-R: Michele Mullaly, principal with Coventry High School; David Petrone, superintendent with Coventry School District; and Stephen Merlino, assistant principal with Coventry High School.

“To be successful after high school, students need to be familiar with new technology and have the skill set needed to express themselves digitally,” said Coventry Schools Superintendent David Petrone, a Neag alumnus. “We’re excited by the many opportunities working with Dr. Joo and the Neag School of Education will bring.”

Equally excited is Joo, who in addition to using her extensive expertise to develop creative ways to “fuse technology and pedagogy” to more effectively engage students, and convey needed content, will use data collected during the partnership as the basis for “a Systemic Inquiry into the Potential of iPad for Teaching and Learning”—a research study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of integrating iPads into traditional classroom curricula. From December, Joo will closely collaborate with a group of seventh and eighth grade social studies teachers to examine and identify content areas for strategic integration of iPad into teaching and learning.

The partnership will also provide learning opportunities for UConn students, including Jake Sippel, a senior student who thanks to the UConn’s IDEA Grant program for undergraduates and has played a key role in the collaboration. Overseen by Joo, Sippel has conducted a series of workshops for Coventry leaders and teachers on the creative classroom use of iPads. He also plans to create a set of iPad e-manuals for K-12 educators and create a short documentary film on this partnership that both other educators and Neag students can learn from.

“The flexibility of the leadership group at Coventry is very cutting edge,” said Joo, reflecting on the collaboration thus far. “The leaders and teachers are willing to get together on their own time, share their learning experiences, get creative on the possibilities of what they can do with the iPad and then try out their ideas in class.”

Coventry 3 — David Petrone (pictured on the left) discusses classroom technology with UConn student and assistant for the program, Jake Sippel.

Joo and Sippel began instructing Coventry teachers this summer, providing professional development workshops that introduced them to already widely used education and productivity apps, such as Educreation, iBooks Author, Evernote, neu.Annotate and Nearpod. One of the main goals of the sessions was to help familiarize teachers with what for some can be intimidating technology.

Joo also used the workshops as an opportunity to better understand the Coventry district’s instructional priorities, which would allow her to best “create a professional learning community that caters to their educational goals.” What she decided on was a “bottom up” approach that will take all involved—teachers, students and family alike—through a process that shows why and how an iPad can help improve learning before it becomes part of the curriculum.

Her correlating research study will evaluate the process’ effectiveness, examining (among other aspects) student engagement, classroom collaboration and teachers’ use of technology before, during and after the iPad use.

“We’ve put a lot of thinking behind our design and every decision we’ve made in the collaboration.” said Joo, who also serves as an associate professor in-residence in the Neag School’s Cognition, Instruction, and Learning Technologies program.

Petrone said he couldn’t be more excited about the partnership: “The collaboration will greatly benefit our district. It puts students at the center of learning by challenging them with real-life situations and problem solving, and then giving them innovative technology to work collaboratively, and communicate effectively, with their peers to find creative solutions.”

“The added benefit, that’s also exciting, is we’ll be helping further research and providing our teachers with leading-edge professional development,” he continued.

Joo hopes that during the course of the collaboration, she’ll be able to involve additional UConn students, expanding and enhancing the learning experience even more.

“Emerging technology can provide creative educational possibilities,” Joo said.

Coventry faculty members made two videos as a result of the partnership, the Neag Coventry iPad Initiative and Coventry Chronicles: The iPad Initiative.

A Better Approach to Diagnosing Autism

Posted on January 28, 2014February 17, 2023 by

Mary Beth Bruder, director of the A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Research, demonstrates one of the techniques she would use to diagnose an autistic child. (Shawn Kornegay/UConn Photo)

As the number of children with autism increases nationwide, the need for effective and consistent clinical diagnosis is growing. A statewide committee recently published new guidelines designed to ensure health professionals, educators, parents, and all involved in diagnosing a child with autism are using proven and consistent practices.

The guidelines stress, among other things, that effective autism diagnosis and treatment requires a collaborative approach.

Mary Beth Bruder, a professor in UConn’s Neag School of Education and in the UConn School of Medicine, was co-chair of the committee, which spent four years developing the “Connecticut Guidelines for a Clinical Diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder.”

“Diagnosing autism doesn’t require a snapshot, it requires a comprehensive, interdisciplinary look at the child,” says Bruder, who heads a doctoral program in early childhood intervention in the Department of Educational Psychology and is director of UConn’s A.J. Pappanikou Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities Research, Education, and Service. “Physicians, educators, social workers, and speech pathologists are among the many professionals that should be involved in first the diagnosis, and then the treatment of a child with autism. A complete picture is required. And parents play a crucial role.”

Laura Kern, a third-year doctoral student in educational psychology at the Neag School, is both the mother of a 9-year-old son with autism and one of the parents involved in providing the data and insights needed to craft the new guidelines. She says one of the things she learned during her son’s diagnosis is that as many as 51 percent of parents report dissatisfaction at the lack of continuity in the process. The new Connecticut guidelines provide a step-by-step, interdisciplinary guide.

“The guidelines address parents’ concerns in a systematic way, and if you approach a diagnosis systematically, you’re more likely to reach needed services and early interventions more effectively and efficiently,” Kern says. “It was incredible to be part of the process of creating the guidelines, and to see so many different state agencies, parents, and professionals come together to create a united message about what a good diagnosis should look like.”

Funded with an $86,000 grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the guidelines are the result of a collaboration among members of the Connecticut Act Early Project, a partnership that includes experts from a wide range of leading childhood health and disabilities agencies, including the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities.

Bruder says Act Early Connecticut is now pursing the funding needed to educate and train all state professionals involved in autism diagnoses on the best practices included in the guidelines.

The rising number of children with autism makes this extremely important work, she notes.

The CDC estimates that as many as 1 in 88 children have a form of autism, which can range from mildly impaired social skills to severe cognitive and behavioral problems. This statistic, released in 2012, represents a 23 percent increase from data collected in 2009, and illustrates well the growing and urgent need for effective diagnosis, Bruder says.

“Scientists are working very hard to determine why this increase is happening,” she adds, “but essential to the process is consistency in how these diagnoses are being made. Autism affects every aspect of a child’s life, so it only makes sense to have people from each of those areas involved in realizing the positive outcomes that can come from appropriate and early interventions.”

Neag Expert Makes Call to Action for Educators to Teach “The Psychology of Men and Boys”

Posted on January 28, 2014February 17, 2023 by

Jim O'Neil (on the left) gathers with two of the co-authors, Bryce (Neag doctoral student) and Sara Renzulli (Neag alumnus). — Jim O’Neil (on the left) gathers with two of the co-authors Bryce Crasper (Neag doctoral student) and Sara Renzulli (Neag alumnus). (Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay Neag/UConn)

A special section of articles put together by Neag School of Education Educational Psychology Professor James O’Neil, PhD, is a call to action for more colleges and universities to offer courses on “Teaching the Psychology of Men”—an emerging, but often controversial, discipline.

Published in the July issue of the Psychology of Men and Masculinity, the seven articles focus on the content and process of teaching courses in the field. It’s an area slowly, but steadily, being recognized as increasingly important in psychology and education, though not fast enough for O’Neil. He began the process of creating this new teaching discipline in psychology 10 years ago by inviting three colleagues to join an American Psychological Association (APA) Committee on Teaching the Psychology of Men.

“Classes on women’s issues and the psychology of women have existed since the 1970s, but it’s not just women who are complex and face challenges and problems with gender roles,” O’Neil said. “Boys and men struggle with gender role issues that are related to social and emotional issues that touch all areas of their lives—home, school and the workplace.”

Understanding the psychology of boys and men is also critically relevant to being an educator, yet one of least developed areas of teacher education, O’Neil said, adding that he believes this deficit will change in coming decades.

“Too many men and boys are walking around masked, hiding their worries, confusion and pain, but these tend to not always be the most popular ideas,” explained O’Neil, who developed UConn’s first class in the discipline in 1990.

At the time, no more than a handful of classes like his “The Psychology of Men and Boys In Education” were being taught in the U.S. Today, O’Neil offers three courses on the psychology of men through the Neag School’s Department of Educational Psychology, as well as oversees what most consider the nation’s leading research program in the psychology of men.

This growth of courses at UConn is something that inspires O’Neil, but his goal is to see it occur nationwide. Currently, just 61 U.S. colleges offer psychology of men classes.

“That’s a problem that needs attention,” O’Neil said.

The complexity of developing curricula and resistance to the topic are among the reasons for the deficit, O’Neil believes. Articles in the special section are meant to help combat these and other challenges. Their authors include top leaders in the field, who in addition to O’Neil include Christopher Kilmartin from the University of Mary Washington, Michael Addis from Clark University, James Mahalik from Boston College, Joan Chrisler from Connecticut College and John Robertson, a private clinician in Lawrence, Kan.

However, another reason for the deficit, O’Neil said, is gender politics and denial: “The idea that there might be sexism against boys and men? To many, those are controversial words. The idea that boys and men might be vulnerable—that we might have to rethink gender roles—is threatening to the patriarchal status quo.”

Other articles in the special section provide a national survey on professors’ attitudes about teaching the psychology of men and examine its complexities and challenges. Among those writing about its need and implications are three graduate students: UConn Educational Psychology doctoral student and Eastern Connecticut State University counselor Bryce Crapser, University of Utah Counseling Psychology doctoral student William Elder, and recently graduated UConn Educational Psychology doctoral student Sara Renzulli.

“Course content in the psychology of men is unique, but I think it is the method used by its instructors that make it truly extraordinary,” Elder said. “I’ve found most instructors teach the subject from a psychoeducational perspective and prioritize students’ desire to clarify and deepen their of understanding of men. In the end, the success of the course is gauged on the quality of the students’ engagement.”

O’Neil believes the future of teaching the psychology of men lies with those entering higher education as professors. “I wanted my doctoral students involved in the research on teaching the psychology of men. Bryce, Sara and William all made significant contributions to the special section, and we had a good time with process. Most of my colleagues would agree, involving students in our research is what the Neag School of Education is really about.”

Renzulli, who co-authored two articles in the special section and served as a co-editor, called the experience “transformative.”

“The most essential lesson I learned during this multi-year project was that if you are passionate about a subject, and have the skills and drive to follow through on the work, you can perform and complete research that will benefit the field,” said Renzulli, who works as an academic advisor in UConn’s College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. “I believe all of us involved in the special issue made an important contribution to the field of psychology of men.”

Crapser shared similar sentiments: “Building and teaching a psychology of men course was a professional and personal challenge that brought new meaning to my work as a clinician and instructor. With the efforts of Jim, Sara, Will and the other incredible professionals, I hope we are working toward a more healthy and productive approach to teaching about, and living in, our gendered world.”

Today, the psychology of men consists of approximately 700 researchers, professors and practitioners from across the country, including 125 women, O’Neil noted. All are members of the Society for the Psychological Study of Men and Masculinity, a division of the APA O’Neil founded with a small group of psychologists in 1995.

To help educators preparing psychology of men classes, O’Neil and Renzulli created a teaching resource web page that includes texts, sample syllabi, videos, networking support and guidance on course preparation and implementation.

In July 2014, the APA will publish O’Neil’s latest book, The Psychology of Men and Contextual Paradigms of Gender Role Conflict: Theory, Research, Clinical Practice, and Expanded Services for Men. The work summarizes his 35 years of research on men’s gender role conflict and includes a review of the 325 studies that have used his Gender Role Conflict Scale.

“Another reason this discipline is so critical is that it’s committed to men’s diversity and multiculturalism, the oppressed in society and social justice,” O’Neil added. “It’s up to us in higher education to do research and teach courses and then public understanding and need for action will increase.

“There is resistance when you begin to talk about masculinity and gender role issues,” he continued. “We’re saying that superficial beliefs like ‘boys will be boys’ make no sense; that men and boys have social and psychological issues that need to be recognized and addressed, and that we in higher education are responsible for paving the way.”