Neag School Undergrad Student Leader Believes in Community Involvement and Giving Back

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Justis lead pixSenior Justis Lopez expected the Neag School of Education to show him how to become a social studies teacher. He did not expect it to shape him into a leader.

“One of the many things I’ve learned is how important it is to learn about yourself and find your own identity—how  important it is to know what you can bring to the table to impact the world,” Lopez said.

A Manchester, CT native, Lopez’s transformative journey began in 2010 when, as a freshman, he became a member of the Leadership Learning Community, one of 17 undergraduate learning programs run by Student Support Services that allow those with similar interests to live and take classes together, as well as to take part in group team-building activities, community service and other projects.

It was in this community, Lopez said, that he began to more clearly see his talents and potential. Among other abilities, he learned he was a strong and energetic program organizer, as well as a comfortable public speaker. Indeed, he became the first-ever freshman to serve as master of ceremonies of the Asian Nite event that packs the Jorgensen Center for Performing Arts with students, parents, friends and others—an experience Lopez remembers as “thrilling.”

Justis sub pixSince then, Lopez has emceed, organized and hosted a variety of other events, including various Learning Community kick-offs and campus-wide talent shows, homecomings, lip syncs and poetry slams.  His involvement in the Leadership Learning Community and UConn overall only deepened when he became a residential assistant and began the dual work of helping new students adjust to college life  and creating student leadership programs. The latter allowed him to work with many within the larger community, including ESPN founder Bill Rasmussen.

“All of my roles at UConn helped shaped who I am today, whether being a student, a mentor, an emcee or a residential assistant,” said Lopez, who spent part of this past summer in Europe as part of UConn’s Global Educators Study Abroad program that provides students with a first-hand account of how Europeans experienced World War II. It included time in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Berlin, where among other sites they visited Nazi headquarters.

According to Neag Associate Professor Alan Marcus, trip organizer and one of Justis’ favorite professors, “On our trip to Europe to visit WWII historic sites and museums Justis started each day with the words ‘I can’t believe we are here, I can’t believe I’m standing where …’   He was like a sponge absorbing new ideas and new perspectives.”

“The trip provided Justis with the opportunity to see historic events from a more global perspective which he is now using to be a more effective social studies teacher,” continued Marcus.

The first member of his family to attend college, Lopez’s dedication to service and excellence led to him being selected for the Leadership Legacy Experience, a year-long enhancement program that allows 14 exceptional students to build on their college experiences and prepare to become lifelong leaders.

Marcus is impressed with how Justis has become one of the most dynamic student leaders on campus. “He not only leads by running events and enthusiastically participating in activities, he leads by modeling. He is also a good listener and is open to ideas and perspectives.”

“He is a transformational leader in that he provides leadership that improves the lives of others, but also modifies his ideas and actions in response to others’ needs and feedback,” said Marcus.

“I’m so thankful to everyone who helped me get where I am today,” said Lopez, adding that he’s looking forward to the day when he can give students some of the same opportunities he received. “I’m excited to become a teacher.”

 

Brazilian Visiting Scholar in Kinesiology Paves Way for Future Collaborations with UConn

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Dr. Pescatello provides input on Hayley Macdonald's doctoral research while Dr. Farinatti listens.
Dr. Pescatello provides input on Hayley Macdonald’s doctoral research while Dr. Farinatti listens.

Kinesiology researchers at the Neag School of Education Human Performance Laboratory have been enjoying the collegiate company of a Brazilian visiting scholar. Dr. Paulo de Tarso Veras Farinatti, an associate professor from Rio de Janeiro State University’s Institute of Physical Education and Sports, arrived in late June through Brazil’s Science Without Borders program and has been working closely with UConn Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Kinesiology Dr. Linda Pescatello on her leading research projects in hypertension and exercise.

Funded by the Coordinating Office for the Advancement of Higher Education (CAPES) and National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq)—two organizations within Brazil’s Ministry of Education and Ministry of Science & Technology—Science Without Borders funds undergraduate students and senior researchers like Farinatti to study abroad at the world’s top universities as a way to promote scientific research and increase international cooperation within science and technology.

This exchange will allow Farinatti and Pescatello to work together for six months, though it won’t be their first collaboration. After meeting in 2009 in Brazil at the 13th International Symposium of Physical Activity and found they share similar research interests, the two published two research papers together. Science Without Borders, however, allowed them to morph their long-distance collaborations into in-person ones.

Dr. Farinatti and doctoral student (name) listen to research updates from members of the Human Performance Laboratory.
Dr. Farinatti and doctoral student Garrett Ash listen to research updates from members of the Human Performance Laboratory.

Since arriving in Storrs, Farinatti has been involved with Pescatello’s ongoing “Generating Reductions In Pressure” project, which is studying people’s blood pressure response to isometric handgrip and aerobic exercise. Working with Pescatello and graduate students, he’s also contributed to the “Syntheses of Prevention Intervention Research in Exercise” (SPIRE) project designed to examine the blood pressure response to exercise, with a focus on arterial stiffness,  an emerging important risk factor for hypertension and cardiovascular disease, while using meta-analysis techniques.

“I’m very excited about what I’ve learned and experienced since I came here,” Farinatti said. “Once I’m back in Brazil, I’ll be able to introduce the research techniques and trends I’ve learned to my students, propose similar projects in my institution or in collaboration with UConn, and hopefully continue the cooperation between our two institutions.”

One of the evolving ideas, Pescatello said, is to develop research exchange opportunities through Science Without Borders that would allow UConn and Rio de Janeiro State University graduate students to travel, collaborate and add hands-on global perspectives to their work.

“Both institutions would hugely benefit,” Pescatello said.

Pescatello, in fact, is excited about the potential that future collaboration can bring: “A lot of researchers interested in the blood pressure response to exercise, what Dr. Farinatti particularly wants to learn more about, are located in Brazil, so collaboration has the potential to not just build bridges, but expedite the efforts of our study and research.”

In addition to learning new research techniques, Farinatti’s time with Pescatello has exposed him to the many facets of U.S. academia. Among other experiences, he has sat in on Pescatello’s graduate classes. He’s also shared many of his own classroom and research techniques.

“Our countries’ academic philosophies are quite different,” Pescatello said. “The chance to experience some of these differences will only help strengthen future collaborations.

One area ripe for collaboration, Farinatti said, is within a project sponsored by the City of Rio de Janeiro’s Secretary of Healthy Aging and Quality of Life, called 3rd Age Academy. Researchers from the Rio de Janeiro State University are conducting a project aimed at studying elderly peoples’ blood pressure responses to exercise in public physical activity facilities called exercise machines set up in almost 200 public squares. The prospect of UConn and Rio de Janeiro State University collaborating on—and helping expand—this kind of exciting project has only the potential to “fireball,” Farinatti added.

“Observing different cultures and ways of life really add a perspective to a person’s thinking,” Farinatti continued. “The benefit of our future collaboration will definitely reach beyond a scientific perspective, especially for young students. I can’t even measure the value of that.”

 

Neag Professor Brings Rehabilitation Psychology Expertise to Turkey

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Orv in Turkey pix for SPNeag School of Education Professor Orv Karan, Ph.D., is using his more than 40 years of experience as a rehabilitation psychology and special education specialist to help medical, educational and social service providers in Turkey successfully transition youths with intellectual and developmental disabilities into the community.

So far, the Neag School Counseling Program coordinator has been to Turkey three times, the last trip in February at the request of Turkish leaders working to abolish the traditional practice of committing youths with low IQs and limited daily living skills to institutions. During his most recent visit, he gave two invited lectures: one on “Preparing students with disabilities for adulthood,” and the other on “Building skills for children and adolescents with intellectual disabilities.”

The lectures and case studies showed how it really does take a village to care for youths with disabilities, Karan said, but that the results can be life-changing for all involved.

“Young people who receive appropriate treatment and support from their families, professional caregivers and the community can experience amazing turnarounds and live rich, happy, productive lives as active members of their communities,” Karan said. “But it’s not one single fix that makes this kind of support available. It’s many fixes, in many areas, that create a totally new ecology and culture for how people with disabilities are viewed and cared for. Hospitals, schools, community leaders and parents are among the many aspects of society that all play a part.”

Although Karan has traveled throughout much of Turkey—roughly the same size as Texas—to meet as many people as possible, most of his interactions have taken place in or near the major cities of Istanbul and Ankara. To give all Turks access to Karan’s expertise, Turkish leaders have distributed subtitled videotapes, as well as translated copies of Karan’s lectures, to interested parents and caregivers across the country.

“So many things the United States does on behalf of children with disabilities and their families are still not even close to being a reality in other countries,” Karan explained. “Turkey is one of the most modern countries in the Middle East, yet for people with disabilities, there are few educational and healthcare services, and even fewer opportunities to become a part of their communities.”

Karan said it’s a professional passion to help people “in a real and lasting way” that led him to accept the Turkish government’s request to act as a consultant—and conduit—for disability care change. However, it was a personal interest that caused him to first get involved.

“About 13 years ago, I began working with a Turkish girl with extreme intellectual, emotional and behavioral disabilities,” Karan explained. “In Turkey, her family exhausted all available services seeking a solution, and it appeared an institution was the only option. But her parents had connections to Yale and could afford to bring her here, so they came to Connecticut for treatment, and that’s when I became involved. She now lives in her own home with support and enjoys a high quality of life. But it got me thinking. ‘What happens to the children of Turkish families who can’t afford to fly to the U.S. for treatment?’ ”

To find the answer, he decided to spend three weeks of his Spring 2011 sabbatical in Turkey.

“I visited programs serving children and youth with a wide variety of disabilities,” Karan said. “One of the things I stressed to the professionals and families I met was ‘As you may know, it wasn’t that awfully long ago that the U.S. believed institutionalization was the best way to care for adults and kids with developmental disabilities.’ But we’ve done much to change that in a relatively short time, and those in Turkey committed to making the same change can do it, too.”

Dr. Karan gathers with conference attendees in Turkey.
Dr. Karan gathers with conference attendees in Turkey.

Today, as a consultant, Karan talks with Turkish professionals via Skype roughly once a week. Conversations tackle everything from how Turkey can best enforce special education laws and dispel myths about disabilities, to how educators should integrate children with intellectual and emotional disabilities into public school classrooms.

“This work? It’s my passion,” Karan said simply. “Too often, people are held back because others don’t see their possibilities. But I look at people from a very different perspective. Often, my heart says ‘Try!’ when my brain says ‘It won’t work.’ Thankfully, I’ve proven my brain wrong on more than one occasion. I’m also thankful to UConn and so proud the school wants to share our expertise to make a difference in the lives of people thousands of miles away. That’s pretty incredible.”

 

Book Provides Strategies for Inspiring Underachieving Students

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del's book smallIt takes extra time and effort for teachers to learn what subjects their students are passionate about and then create lessons that tie in to those interests. But the link between student interest and performance is undeniable, said Neag School of Education professor and teaching fellow Del Siegle, Ph.D.

“Numerous studies show the one element that’s always linked to classroom success is interest,” said Siegle, who at UConn teaches graduate courses in gifted education, creativity and research design. “Students pay better attention and work harder when they care about the topic that’s being presented and are shown how it relates to their life.”

Most educators are aware of this fact, Siegle said, yet too few consistently put it into practice. The result is many talented students not giving their all, or achieving their potential, in school.

Siegle’s book The Underachieving Gifted Child: Recognizing, Understanding, and Reversing Underachievement provides educators and parents with a comprehensive overview of why bright students may underachieve, as well as how teachers can make lessons more engaging. Written in straightforward, easy-to-understand language, the book is available in paperback and electronic form.

“It’s important to note that in the past, IQ scores were used to determine whether a child was ‘gifted,’ but now we know that ‘giftedness’ comes in many forms and involves more things than just intelligence,” said Siegle, past president of the National Association of Gifted Children and coeditor of the Journal of Advanced Academics. “Some people are gifted leaders, some people are gifted in music, some people are gifted in math or language. Everyone has talent of some kind, and I believe one of our responsibilities as educators is to help identify and bring out each child’s individual talent.”

The importance of good work habits, an explanation of the various ways children underachieve, and suggestions of how parents and teachers can help students develop their abilities are among the many topics Siegle tackles in the The Underachieving Gifted Child. Woven into recent research findings are also effective, proactive strategies that can be used at school and home, said Siegle. Advice includes:

* Find out what kids are interested in, and then link their interests to lessons at school. “This is probably the single most important step. Every piece of evidence proves that kids pay attention, work hard and do better when lessons are meaningful and tie into their lives,” he said.

* Help kids set short- and long-term goals. Establish benchmarks, give direction, document progress and celebrate success. “Success builds confidence and makes students want to achieve more,” he said.

* Avoid -est words like greatest, quickest, smartest or fastest. “If they’re the best, there’s no room for improvement,” Siegle said. Students should always feel that they can grow and achieve even more, and that they aren’t already as good as they’ll ever be.

* Model the reality that success requires effort. Rather than complain about struggles at work, parents should share their successes.

“Kids need to understand that success isn’t something that just happens—it’s something they have to make happen,” Siegle added. “For some, learning comes easy. But most people have to work at it. And everyone loses when talented isn’t nurtured. One of the kids sitting in a classroom today may have inside them the ability to cure cancer or find a world-changing alternate energy source. Not nurturing talent doesn’t just lead to personal loss, but societal loss.”

 

Come Home to UConn and Show Your True Husky Spirit! Go Huskies!

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Homecoming imageThe UConn Alumni Association invites you to reconnect with UConn during Homecoming 2013. All alumni, families, and friends are welcome during this weeklong celebration. The festivities include such traditions as the Homecoming Parade and the Annual Student Lip Sync contest. The excitement and momentum build toward the game against University of South Florida and the HuskyTown Tailgate and BBQ on Saturday, Oct. 12.

At HuskyTown, be sure to stop the Neag School of Education tent for a free coffee at the coffee bar, enter a drawing for a Neag Swag Bag, get your free Neag drawstring sportspack (while supplies last), enjoy activities for the kids and lots of other cool stuff! We hope to see you there! Questions on the Neag School tent, contact robyn.wilgis@uconn.edu.

For more information on UConn Homecoming and to RSVP, visit here. For pictures from last year’s Neag tent, visit here.

Neag Adult Learning Expert Puts Focus on Farms

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Indian farmer in groundnut farm. Photo credit: ThinkStock
Indian farmer in groundnut farm. Photo credit: ThinkStock

As the work of Associate Professor Sandy Bell (’94 Ph.D. in adult and vocational education) well illustrates, effective adult learning just doesn’t occur in classrooms. It occurs in barns, corn fields and even on East African groundnut farms.

The latter accomplishment— achieved by a UConn Adult Learning Program doctoral student Bell oversaw—is one of the most recent examples of how Neag School of Education faculty and students have used their expertise to make a difference not just in Connecticut and the United States, but throughout the world. It also shows how Bell is coupling her lifelong interest in farming with her expertise in adult learning to help farmers improve their practices, possibilities and profits.

Recognized as a leading expert in the field, Bell’s current work includes affiliations with agricultural extension educators and researchers at UConn, the University of New Hampshire and USDA’s Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program. She’s also one of 11 educators and researchers, from six New England states, collaborating to earn a federal grant that will support developing effective ways to teach local farmers how to adopt food safety practices that will allow them to expand their market to schools, hospitals and other sites that require vendors to meet certain USDA certification requirements.

“Some small-scale and organic farmers feel that certification requirements place an undue burden on them, particularly in terms of record keeping and employee training. Some may even feel that their practices and their produce are already as safe as possible,” Bell said. “Our group wants to better understand how attitudes like these may get in the way of learning and find ways to show hardworking farmers how they can conveniently incorporate USDA requirements into their practices, so it becomes a win-win for everyone.”

Her role in a research study designed to help agricultural extension providers better meet the needs of East African groundnut farmers was part of a recently published article. The piece in the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension outlines the efforts she, doctoral student Mary Thuo, Agricultural and Resource Economics Professor Boris Bravo-Ureta, PhD, and others undertook to identify how the groundnut farmers learned about new seed varieties and design educational processes to help farmers increase productivity.

For a country like Uganda, where the majority of people depend on farming for both cash and food, learning new best practices can lead to much more than higher profits. It can lead to a significantly improved quality of life.

“We’ve had several agricultural extension professionals from Africa come to UConn to earn graduate degrees and gain the knowledge needed to go back and help farmers learn new approaches. Maybe even more importantly,” said Bell, “these students gain research and leadership skills to develop training programs for other extension educators so that they can look at the specific challenges farmers face, and then create the most effective learning processes to help them meet those challenges.”

“People generally don’t realize just how far-reaching our adult learning program can be,” continued Bell, who several years ago recognized that for growing concepts like conservation and sustainability to be put into practice, those championing the causes would need to know how to best communicate with, and teach, other adults.

Dr. Bell provides instruction to students in her adult learning class. Photo credit: UConn
Dr. Bell provides instruction to students in her adult learning class. Photo credit: UConn

As program coordinator of the Neag School’s Adult Learning Program (part of the Department of Educational Leadership), it’s Bell job to keep track of the roughly 30 students who, at any one time, are working toward a graduate certificate or degree. Students come from a variety of disciplines, including human resources, health care and technology.

Like Thuo, who worked in agricultural extension in her home land of Kenya before coming to UConn, some have agriculture service backgrounds and are eager to take advantage of Bell’s experience and the wide variety of research and outreach education opportunities offered through UConn’s College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Storrs Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension System.

“At one time, there was a huge void in agricultural education in terms of adult learning,” Bell explained. “It’s still not completely filled, but there’s now a small, solid core of us working to help agricultural and environmental experts effectively share information and support people in changing their behaviors in ways that enhance profits but also protect the environment. What’s unique about adult learning is that the general principles don’t change across disciplines—just the examples you choose to make the learning meaningful. It’s exciting to make a difference—especially in agriculture, where I have so much respect for farmers and the dedication of farmer educators.”

New Hires Unleash Opportunity for Leading Growth and Change

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DSCN7221 vertical crop copyIn 2012, UConn President Susan Herbst announced an ambitious hiring plan to recruit and hire faculty who would have a significant impact on research, scholarship, and funding within and across schools and colleges at the university. As a result of this hiring initiative the Neag School of Education is now home to 17 new faculty—a mix of junior and senior faculty and recognized across the nation as top scholars in the field of education and workforce development.

Combining the Neag School ‘s outstanding new faculty hires with the school’s already nationally recognized faculty, and the possibilities of what the Neag School will accomplish with respect to meaningful, nationwide education reform are endless.

Building upon our strong reputation, the Neag School is poised to move to the next level—a level that will bring national prominence and stature to the Neag School.

“We have an incredible opportunity to re-envision how we move forward as a school as well as providing a leading voice to the national conversation about complex issues impacting the education community,” said Thomas C. DeFranco, Dean of the Neag School.

A pathway to accomplish this goal will involve administration, faculty, and staff in the development of a new trans-disciplinary academic vision that will allow Neag School faculty to work collaboratively in research teams with faculty across the school, the university and the nation. These teams will develop and study important research questions—questions that have national impact in education, and research and grant funding will coalesce around important themes such as, teacher and administrator preparation and effectiveness, evaluation, policy and advocacy, genomics, and creativity, emerging technologies and creativity and innovation in education, equity and social justice in education, STEM education and closing the achievement gap.

“Today, within the Neag School we are creating a new culture of intellectual curiosity, a culture that will value the generation of new and innovative ideas in the advancement of education and the workplace,” DeFranco explained.

It is envisioned that over time the Neag School will develop an Education Think Tank whose purpose is to become a leader in innovation and galvanize scholars across the nation to develop the next big ideas in education.

The Neag School team’s growth and efforts also have the potential to bring even greater national prominence and stature to the Neag School and UConn. Currently, the Neag School is nationally ranked by U.S. News & World Report as 17th among all public education graduate schools, and 28th among all private and public graduate schools of education. Further, specialty programs such as Elementary and Secondary Teacher Preparation, and Special Education, are ranked 18th and 12th respectively among over 1000 teacher preparation programs in the nation. Also, the Neag School’s Kinesiology Doctoral Program is leading the nation, currently ranked at No. 1.

“As a school we’re poised to move to the next level,” DeFranco said. “We believe that through our broad vision, our investment in faculty and a new research infrastructure system, we will provide a leading voice to the national conversation about complex issues impacting the education community.”

“Our goal will be to partner with leading experts from various backgrounds and from universities across the nation to study large research questions and ultimately make a positive difference in the lives of child and adults in Connecticut and throughout the nation.”

 

 

$3.5 Million Grant Allows UConn’s GlobalEd2 to Expand Learning and its Reach

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Scott Brown, professor of educational psychology, co-founder of the international social studies simulation for middle school students, Global Ed2. (Al Ferreira for UConn)
Scott Brown, professor of educational psychology, co-founder of the international social studies simulation for middle school students, Global Ed2. (Al Ferreira for UConn)

A $3.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute for Education Sciences will allow more than 8,000 Connecticut and Illinois middle schoolers to experience the same kind of significant improvements in writing abilities, critical and scientific thinking, leadership, and problem solving that the 5,000 students who’ve already participated in UConn’s GlobalEd2 (GE2) program have achieved.

“We’re thrilled because one of the many results of the pilot program was the elimination of the academic gap that, at the start, existed between African-American and Latino students from low-income, urban schools and their Caucasian, suburban counterparts,” said Scott Brown, Ph.D., professor of Educational Psychology at UConn’s Neag School of Education, who co-facilitates GE2 in partnership with Kimberly Lawless, Ph.D.  A graduate of the Neag School’s Educational Psychology doctoral program, Lawless teaches and serves as chair of Educational Psychology at the University of Illinois – Chicago. “If we have the same kind of amazing response during this next phase, there’s a real possibility we can take GE2 nationwide.

Using technology available in most schools, GE2 is a computerized, interdisciplinary, problem-based social studies game that requires classrooms to represent assigned countries and—via secure online simulations, monitored emails and other internet-based interactions—work with other “countries” to find solutions for water shortages, climate change, the spread of dangerous and contagious illnesses and other contemporary, real-world science-based  problems.

Monitored by Neag doctoral students experienced in international relations, GE2 students are assigned writing tasks, questions and problems designed to educate them about their country’s geography, government, economics, culture, health challenges and human rights issues. They then need to not just come up with a solution for the science-based crisis they’ve been assigned, but develop a multi-national agreement.

“One of the best parts is that most of the kids want to do it because it’s fun,” Brown added. “In many respects, it’s like video gaming—and when you’re able to come up with a hard-to-find solution or negotiate a deal with another country, it’s exciting. For educators, it’s an empowering and innovative way to transfer knowledge, engage students in meaningful learning, and meet demands for improved literacy, math and science skills.”

Funds from the federal grant will be used to conduct an efficacy study over the next four years to track the academic growth of seventh- and eighth-graders who take part in the 14-week GE2 program, versus those taught in a more traditional classroom setting. In early July, 20 Connecticut and Illinois teachers took part in the online training required for classrooms to participate in GE2. Next year, 36 more will do the same.  Over the next four years, more than 6,000 students from Connecticut and Illinois will participate in GE2 simulations.

“The electronics and technology available today mean that we don’t need more than a handful of people to keep GE2 up and running for 56 classrooms or even more,” Brown said. “All the content is created in advance with the help of UConn and U of Illinois faculty, so students are making real decisions based on real data, and all our communications with them are virtual.”

Since its creation by Brown and UConn Political Science head Mark Boyer, Ph.D., in 1998, GE2 has been used by public school teachers in 14 states, two foreign countries and 35 Connecticut towns. Results from pre- and post-program evaluations of students include not just improved critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, but:

  • Increased interest in science and global issues
  • Greater ability to work collaboratively
  • Improved oral communications
  • Better understanding of technology for educational purposes

Perhaps most significant, Brown said, was the notable improvement of students’ “scientific literacy” and persuasive writing skills.  Writing quality and self-efficacy scores of low-income, urban student participants in many cases doubled because they wrote for GE2 every week.

“The difference GlobalEd2 can make in writing is huge,” Brown said. “In most instances, by the  end of the program, we can no longer use writing scores to tell which students are from low-income urban schools, and which are from affluent suburban ones, because we’ve closed the achievement gap, and their writing abilities are nearly the same. That’s pretty incredible and one of the many things we’re excited about.”

Also significant, Brown said, is that as students use GE2 to become decision makers, negotiators, researchers, inventors  and community leaders, they learn about real countries, real governments and “some of the very real problems our world faces today.”

“We know that not all students will leave the program with an interest in science,” Brown continued. “But all of them will leave as better global citizens than they entered. Hopefully they’ll realize that and learn from GE2 the importance of being a good citizen. Issues like climate change and the need for alternative fuel sources don’t just affect some people, but all people, including them.”

Teacher Education Expert Suzanne Wilson Joins UConn Faculty

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Suzanne WilsonFew topics in the world of education have as much resonance in the national conversation as the quality of the people entrusted with teaching American children: New standards, preparation, and evaluation methods for teachers are being discussed on an almost daily basis.

But Suzanne Wilson, a nationally renowned expert on teacher preparation and professional development who joined UConnʼs Neag School of Education as the Neag Endowed Professorship from Michigan State University, says thatʼs not an entirely novel development.

“Historically, weʼve gone through a number of periods where the public was concerned about the preparation of teachers,” she says. “You had it in the 1920s, in the 1930s, in the 1960s.”

Whatʼs new at this time, however, is the number of new institutions offering teacher preparation; the changes in school districts themselves, as models like charter schools become more common; and the unprecedented national pressure on schools. The result, Wilson says, is that the people under the microscope can start to feel overburdened.

“The accountability movement has hit education particularly hard, and has raised serious questions about what schools are actually for,” she says. “Itʼs one thing to say we want to hold everyone accountable, but itʼs another to decide what your standards and measurements are going to be. I think teachers have felt really besieged in holding onto what they feel is right for students.”

As the debate over schools and teacher evaluations continues, Wilson says itʼs important not to lose sight of whatʼs been proven successful in the best teacher preparation programs.

“Close, intimate, two-way relationships with the schools,” she says. “Schools are busy places, and so when somebody is becoming a teacher they really need to do it in a structured, protected way, and thatʼs what a good teacher preparation program will help you do. You donʼt want to throw a prospective teacher into a classroom and say, ʻSink or swim.ʼ But universities canʼt do a good job preparing teachers unless theyʼre working hand-in-hand with the people in the schools who see all the issues in education on a daily basis, including how quickly things change.”

Wilson comes to UConn from Michigan State University, where she was a University Distinguished Professor and chair of the Department of Teacher Education. She received her undergraduate degree in history and American Studies from Brown University, and also has a masterʼs degree in statistics and Ph.D. in education from Stanford University. Before joining MSU, she was the first director of the Teacher Assessment Project, which created prototypes used for assessments by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

“One of the things about UConn that struck me as really promising and exciting is that you have healthy collaboration and relationships with the disciplines outside the school of education,” she says. “The whole university is involved in teacher education, and thatʼs one hallmark of a high quality environment.”

Wilson comes to UConn at an auspicious time, shortly after the passage of landmark education legislation that created a role for the Neag School in helping to develop teacher evaluation models in the state. Wilson, whoʼs done research in Connecticut previously, says sheʼs looking forward to seeing how the state moves forward in the constantly changing realm of education policy.

“First, I just want to get to know UConnʼs programs and people, and I want to hang out in the schools of Connecticut, in the schools where new teachers are learning to teach,” she says. “Itʼs really going to be an interesting time in education not just in Connecticut, but around the country.”

For more information about professorships and supporting the Neag School of Education, contact Heather McDonald at (869) 486-4530 or hmcdonald@foundation.uconn.edu.

Neag School of Education’s Professor to Examine Teacher Evaluation in New Haven

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Morgaen for NAed story webMorgaen Donaldson, an assistant professor of educational leadership at UConn’s Neag School of Education, has been awarded a Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Academy of Education (NAEd) to study how incorporating student academic achievement in teachers’ performance evaluations affects teachers’ motivation and work behaviors.

Donaldson will focus her research and data gathering on New Haven’s large and diverse public school system, which according to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and others has as developed a “model” teacher evaluation system.

The study will be one of the first of its kind in the nation.

“Because of federal policies like Race to the Top and No Child Left Behind waiver requirements that target teacher performance as a primary lever for improving schools, more than 40 states have changed their laws in recent years to incorporate student achievement in teacher evaluations. Yet little published research examines the effects of doing this,” Donaldson explained. “My study will provide early findings about how those at the center of this reform – teachers – are responding to such changes, and how linking student achievement and teacher evaluation is influencing teachers’ attitudes, behaviors and effectiveness.”

Donaldson was one of just 20 educational fellows selected from a competitive pool of more than 200 applications, said NAEd Senior Program Officer Phillip Perin.

Now in its 27th year, the NAEd fellowship program is designed to support early-career scholars whose research has the potential to make “significant” contributions to the fields of education and educational research.

“We believe the fellowships enhance the future of education research by developing new talent in the many disciplines and fields”, said Perin added.

A research associate at the Neag School’s Center for Policy Analysis, Donaldson has also studied the implementation of Connecticut’s new educator evaluation system, the effects of school organization and leadership on science achievement, and the trade-offs associated with different teacher evaluation instruments, among other areas. Her findings have been published in American Educational Research Journal, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, Educational Administration Quarterly, Teachers College Record, Educational Leadership, and other scholarly and practitioner journals.

A former urban public school teacher, Donaldson was a founding faculty member of the Boston Arts Academy, Boston’s public high school for the arts. She holds an Ed.D. and Ed.M. from Harvard Graduate School of Education and an A.B. from Princeton University.