Helping Teachers Teach Writing

Posted on July 19, 2012December 8, 2016 by

Many students at all levels struggle with writing. And many teachers welcome some help in working with them, too.

The Connecticut Writing Project (CWP) at UConn is a resource both for those who teach writing, from kindergarten through college, and for the students they teach.

The CWP-Storrs was established in 1982 with the goal of improving the writing of incoming students and providing training to teachers in how to teach writing. It is one of the oldest sites of the National Writing Project.

Today, the CWP works closely with the Neag School of Education, the University Writing Center, the Early College Experience and Freshmen English programs, and the Creative Writing program. Much of this is facilitated by the Aetna Chair of Writing, which the CWP helped establish.

The common thread among these programs is that they recognize the paramount importance of writing to student achievement. To that end, one of the CWPʼs main goals is to provide teachers and students with opportunities to be writers.

From its earliest days, the CWP published the undergraduate literary journal Writing UConn, which later became the award-winning Long River Review, as well as a journal of graduate student writing that was a forerunner to Essay Connections. While these two publications have long since become the purview of other programs, the CWP continues to provide writing opportunities through a Summer Institute, Writers Retreats, a Teacher-as-Writer program, and Connecticut Student Writers magazine.

The Summer Institute is the foundation of the CWP. It is an intensive, interdisciplinary, four-week program that provides an interactive environment in which K-college teachers share their research and their writing. Half of the coursework is dedicated to work in writing groups and the development of a portfolio of original writing.

Participants say that having the opportunity to share work and receive peer feedback is invaluable. “Some of the best times are when we share our own writing,” says Kelly Andrews-Babcock, a teacher from Killingly who co- teaches the Summer Institute with CWP director Jason Courtmanche. “There are often gales of laughter, tears, and

some heavy sighs. Friday read-arounds become an emotional roller coaster for all of us. It becomes a time of discovery, and we bare our souls through sharing our passions and pains.”

At the conclusion of the Institute, participants are asked to self-select one piece of writing for publication in Teacher- Writer, an annual journal that also includes writing from a fall contest and the Writers Retreats program.

Writers Retreats for teachers have been held since 1990, and take place at Wisdom House in Litchfield. These retreats provide teachers much-needed time to write and to benefit from the company of other teachers who write. Participants leave the retreats energized and recommitted to their work.

Nicole Waicunas, an English teacher at EO Smith High School in Storrs and recipient of the 2012 Stephen Sondheim Inspirational Teacher Award, said of her recent experience, “I felt welcomed as I read the words that I had so carefully written. The experience could not have been better for a new writer like me.” Rosemary LoStocco, also an English teacher at EO Smith High School, said of the program, “Wisdom House provided the uninterrupted concentration I needed to quiet my spirit and awaken memories. I grew from sharing my work with such gifted, compassionate writers.”

Denise Abercrombie runs both the Writers Retreats and the Teacher-as-Writer program, which meets several times a year on the Storrs campus. In this program, a small group of teachers gather to share their writing in a supportive environment.

Abercrombie describes the essence of the program when she says, “Teachers who make themselves vulnerable as fellow writers not only model the writing life for their students, but deepen their own teaching and writing practice.”

The CWP also provides opportunities for students to publish their writing. Since 1988, the CWP has published Connecticut Student Writers magazine, which features writing by students from kindergarten through high school. The magazine is currently edited by Griswold High English teacher Nadine Keane. More than 1,000 students submit their work each year; about 150 are published or receive honorable mention. These students are honored each spring at an event called Recognition Night, which is held at the Jorgensen Center for the Performing Arts and features a keynote address by a local children’s or young adult author, as well as readings by select students from each grade level.

“Students often work toward extrinsic rewards, such as good grades or parental approval,” says Keane. “However, the intrinsic rewards that come from publication are more profound. As the students enter Jorgensen Auditorium on Recognition Night, the young authors are radiant with pride.” This yearʼs event was held on May 15.

Peter J. Nichols Scholarship in Educational Leadership

Posted on July 19, 2012March 31, 2016 by

As announced in a previous Spotlight article, Provost and Executive Vice President Peter Nichols, Ph.D., is returning to the UConn faculty after serving the university with distinction. Dr. Nichols will teach in the Neag School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership to build his experience in leadership and administration, as well as to engage in higher education policy and governance research. While serving as provost, Dr. Nichols was involved with the Higher Education Student Affairs (HESA) program and had the opportunity to interact with HESA students. He looks forward to this continuing.

To acknowledge Nichols’ many contributions, Neag School friends, colleagues and students are invited to help endow a scholarship in his name to benefit graduate students seeking leadership roles in higher education. The goal is to raise $10,000 by May 31, 2013, to endow the Peter J. Nichols Scholarship in Educational Leadership. All funds raised will be administered and held by the UConn Foundation, Inc., in accordance with its policies and procedures. Donors to the Foundation have the right to request, in writing, that their gifts remain anonymous.

For more information including how to support the fund, please contact Heather McDonald, Neag School of Education Director of Development, at hmcdonald@foundation.uconn.edu or (860) 486-4530.

Former Neag School Dean Invested as Professor

Posted on July 19, 2012December 13, 2021 by

Richard Schwab gives remarks during Investiture Ceremony. (Peter Morenus/ UConn Photo)

Former Neag School of Education Dean Richard L. Schwab ’78 MA, ’80 Ph.D., was invested as a Neag professor on June 7. Longtime UConn donors Carol and Ray Neag ’56, who provided support for the professorship, were on hand for the investiture ceremony.

A professor of educational leadership, Dr. Schwab is director of the Institute of Urban School Improvement at the Neag School of Education.

During the ceremony, current Neag Dean Thomas DeFranco, Ph.D., proudly remarked: “He is a man of integrity and conviction, a consensus builder and, most of all, a man of vision. He believes in developing strong, positive relationships among faculty, students and staff, as well as helping them achieve their goals.”

When Dr. Schwab became dean in 1997, UConn’s School of Education was unranked in U.S. News & World Report. When he retired in 2009 to return to the faculty, the school was ranked 21st in the U.S. overall, 13th in elementary education, 17th in secondary education, 19th in curriculum and instruction, and 20th in special education. The school’s Kinesiology Department was also ranked No. 1 in the nation.

During Dr. Schwab’s tenure, the School of Education also received from Ray Neag the largest gift ever given to a U.S. school of education.

“As dean, he inspired the faculty to dream more, the students to learn more, and the school to become more,” Dr. DeFranco continued. “I know he will continue to inspire all of us in his new role.”

In addition to working at UConn, Dr. Schwab is a past president of the Council of Academic Deans at Research Education Institutions (CADREI), a national organization for research-oriented private and land grant schools/colleges of education. He has published extensively on issues relating to teacher education, educational technology, and occupational stress and health in educational organizations.

Before coming to UConn, Dr. Schwab was dean of the Drake University School of Education, head of Drake’s Educational Leadership Department at Drake, and professor and director of Field Experiences at the University of New Hampshire.

Dr. Casey Cobb, head of the Neag School’s Department of Educational Leadership, also provided remarks during the investiture ceremony. “I relish his contributions to date, but I am also excited about what the future brings.

“Our department – and, of course, the whole school – is on the cusp of some great things,” Cobb said, “and Rich will be right in the middle of it, if not leading it. He will be heavily involved in the Policy Center and many of its new initiatives, including a State Leadership Academy and a legislatively mandated study of the new teacher evaluation program. We’re honored to have a colleague like Rich, who is such as passionate advocate for what’s right in education,” Cobb said.

“We are grateful to have him in our department, grateful for his great contributions to the Neag School, and confident that more greatness is ahead,” Cobb concluded.

(Shawn Kornegay contributed to this article.)

UConn Embarking on Major Expansion of Faculty

Posted on July 19, 2012October 25, 2018 by

Charles B. Gentry building on the UConn Storrs campus. Home of the Neag School of Education. — Charles B. Gentry building, home of the Neag School of Education, where strategic hiring of faculty to address the achievement gap will be conducted. Source: Neag School of Education.

As other institutions are slowing – or even reversing – the growth of their faculty, the University of Connecticut has embarked on one of the most ambitious faculty-hiring plans in U.S. higher education. Seeking to strategically expand its faculty in key research and teaching areas and boost the number of classes offered, UConn is aiming to hire 290 new tenure-track faculty members over the next four years, including 65 beginning this fall and another 90 for the fall of 2013. This hiring will be in addition to normal hiring to fill vacancies as needed.

“Our goal is to dramatically expand our faculty ranks in strategic and meaningful ways to ensure we are the university we want to be in the future, both in terms of teaching and research,” said UConn President Susan Herbst. “UConn is pursuing this aggressive strategy to transform our institution by generating more research that has national and international impact, increasing our research productivity, building great graduate programs, providing excellent teaching and service to our undergraduate students and expanding course offerings.”

In preparation for this undertaking, Herbst met with the deans of all UConn’s schools and colleges in January, and charged them to propose hiring plans for the coming year that:

Target specific areas of impact;
Increase an existing strength or generate new strength in a particular area;
Involve cluster hires across departments, schools, or colleges, or multiple hires within a discipline or department;
Capitalize on opportunities to attract accomplished groups of faculty to UConn;
Complement major UConn initiatives, such as Bioscience Connecticut and the Technology Park;
Increase the diversity of the faculty;
Meet critical teaching needs.

The majority of this effort is being funded through a four-year tuition increase plan passed by the University’s Board of Trustees in December 2011. The plan, which increases tuition by between 5.5 percent and 6.25 percent each year, was presented to students, faculty, and the board as a means to significantly boost research capability and increase course offerings for students. All the net dollars generated from the increases will go toward the faculty hiring, which will also be supplemented through other University funds and spending reductions elsewhere on campus.

“The sour economy and state budget troubles have slowed faculty hiring nationwide,” said Herbst. “At UConn, we wanted to buck that trend and implement plans that were bold, far-reaching and would clearly set us apart from other institutions.”

Deans solicited ideas from within their schools and colleges, generating scores of proposals from across the University community. The deans vetted these and developed proposals, which they submitted to the provost. The proposals were posted on an internal website so that the Deans could see all proposals from across the University. The proposals went through three rounds of revision and were ultimately approved by the president and provost.

Examples of this strategic hiring include the following:

Genomics: Searches will be conducted for more than 20 different new faculty members in the field of genomics across disciplines from Engineering to Molecular and Cell Biology to Physiology and Neurobiology to Pharmacy and Statistics. This is one of the most important emerging scientific fields in higher education, and has special significance for Connecticut as the state embarks on an $864 million effort to make the UConn Health Center and its partner, Jackson Lab, an international hub for bioscience research and development.

Achievement Gap: The gap in school achievement between under-performing schools and their peers has become a matter of national concern, and Connecticut is home to one of the most dramatic such divergences in the country. For the first time, UConn will develop a purpose-built institute at the Neag School of Education to research the causes and consequences of the achievement gap and find policy and practice solutions designed to close it.

Insurance Risk: new faculty hires in the areas of Health Insurance and Finance, focusing on health insurance markets and legal regulation of the structure and delivery of health care services; Retirement Security, a matter of urgent national concern and a key part of the insurance industry; and Complex Financial Instruments, for cutting-edge practical and theoretical work in the important field of derivatives and hedge funds.

These represent only a handful of examples. The hiring plan touches virtually every corner of the University, including the fields of environmental sustainability, health, food, nutrition, life sciences, social sciences, new media, language, human rights, art, theater, business, and pain management, among others.

Neag School Provides Teachers With PRIME Way to Implement, Maintain Interventions

Posted on July 19, 2012February 17, 2023 by

Kids in classroom. Helping teachers successfully implement and sustain interventions needed to stop bullying, best implement a new curriculum, improve hand raising or address countless other behavioral and educational issues is the focus of the Neag School of Education’s Project PRIME, which is looking to partner with Connecticut schools and classrooms.

The research study co-directed by Neag School Psychology Assistant Professor Lisa Sanetti, Ph.D., and University of Wisconsin School Psychology Program Director Tom Kratochwill, Ph.D., pairs area teachers with Neag educational psychology graduate students who, acting as consultants, help the teacher develop the best strategies to execute and then maintain the needed intervention or change.

“Teachers are responsible for so many things during the school day that the task of implementing a new program or behavior can be overwhelming,” Sanetti said. “What often happens when a teacher starts an intervention for a student is that it becomes like a New Year’s resolution. The teacher is gung-ho for a week or 10 days, but then they go back to their old routines or behaviors. We provide the tools and support a teacher needs to maintain the change over the long term.”

Funded with a $1.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences, PRIME–which stands for Planning Realistic Intervention Implementation and Maintenance by Educators–will begin its third year this fall.

Started in 2009, the first year was spent on developing the needed protocols and materials, and last year on both developing an assessment tool and test-piloting the program. Four Connecticut school districts have so far taken part.

This year, Sanetti hopes to at least double that number, providing teachers with the support and planning assistance needed to be successful starting a new intervention and proactively solve problems to make it easier to keep it going.

“Planning is the key word,” Sanetti explained, “because that’s what we focus on. We help the teacher come up with a detailed, individualized plan designed to help them be successful.

“Is there a best time of day to introduce the change? Where in the room should a conversation take place–at the teacher’s desk? At the student’s desk? How often does the change need to be discussed? Are there any materials or tools like stickers or charts that the teacher and student will need? Thinking about these details in a systematic way before starting the intervention can have big results,” Sanetti continued. “After the intervention is introduced, we provide follow-up support for those teachers who need it.”

The program is based on a health psychology adult behavior change model called the “Health Action Process Approach,” which has been proven to help people make, and stick with, difficult lifestyle changes related to exercise and diet. The approach focuses on creating detailed strategies that help people successfully bridge the intention-behavior gap, indentifying potential problems and solutions before they occur.

“The process focuses not so much on getting people motivated to implement change, but to stay motivated,” Sanetti said. “There are several programs that provide teachers with support and help after a roadblock occurs, but PRIME focuses on avoiding the roadblocks. That’s where the detailed planning comes in. If you know what you may need to do, and where and when you may need to do it, you’re less likely to be overwhelmed and more likely to be successful.”

Teachers who participate in Project PRIME are paid a $10 per week stipend and commit to working with PRIME staff for 14-22 weeks. The first two weeks are spent developing the needed strategies, which are then implemented–with the PRIME consultant guiding and monitoring each step–over 12 weeks. The PRIME consultant follows up with teachers one and two months after to offer further support and collect additional data. At the end of the program, teachers are given a detailed outcome report that analyses both their and their student’s or students’ outcomes.

Teachers interested in learning more can contact PRIME Project Manager Anna Long at (860) 486-0187 or anna.long@uconn.edu. Additional information is also available at www.primeimplementation.com.

Preventing School Bullying Behavior

Posted on July 19, 2012October 18, 2018 by

As sure as school bells begin to ring after Memorial Day, so too do news stories appear of students in elementary, middle, and high school being bullied. Some school districts have a new state “cyber bullying” law that allows administrators to punish students for what they say online.

With one out of every three online teens reportedly victimized by potentially menacing activities on line, and recent national news stories about cyber bullying leading some teens to commit suicide, seven states – including Connecticut – have enacted laws that allow school officials to intervene in online student speech.

Neag School of Education educational psychology professor George Sugai, Ph.D., is one of the worldʼs preeminent experts on behavior management and school discipline. Earlier this year, he was invited to a White House summit to testify on practices that focus on preventing and reducing the effectiveness of bullying behavior, including a prevention approach called Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports.

PBIS has been supported in more than 16,000 schools nationwide by the National Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports. Funded by the U.S. Department of Education, the PBIS Center is co-directed by Sugai in the Center for Behavioral Education and Research in the Neag School of Education at UConn.

Sugai reports that PBIS researchers have documented when PBIS is implemented accurately, schools experience reductions in office discipline referrals, improvement in test scores, decreases in suspension rates, enhancements of reported school organizational health and safety, and most recently, decreases in teacher-reported incidents of bullying behavior and peer victimization.

“PBIS provides students and teachers with a multi-tiered continuum of interventions aligned with student needs,” says Sugai. “What this means is that every student experiences prevention-based and school-wide social skills instruction. For example, a school might adopt three core social skills, such as respect, responsibility, and safety, which would be taught and encouraged throughout the school year with behavioral examples that are culturally, developmentally, and contextually relevant to students and family and staff members.”

Sugai says that contextually relevant means the social skills and behavioral expectations would be taught and applied in real school settings, like the playground in elementary grades, hallways and eating areas in middle schools, and sporting events and dances in high schools.

“If done well, about 80 percent of the students will get it, and contribute toward a positive school climate,” Sugai says. “Some students, however, may need more behavior support to be successful, which might be provided in small groups or to individual students by teachers, counselors, social workers, school psychologists, and others with more specialized training.”

Sugai emphasizes that “by implementing a continuum of behavior support that is based on the behavior needs of all students, we improve our ability to deliver specialized help to those who really donʼt benefit from the school-wide experience.”

“School-wide discipline systems that focus on catching kids when they violate a school rule generally inhibit the problem behaviors of students who are basically socially competent,” Sugai suggests. “Students with chronic problem behavior tend to be the least responsive to punishment, and our tendency is to give them more punishment. When giving more doesnʼt work, we get tougher, and the problem tends to get worse.”

Sugai suggests that a better approach is to “develop a school-wide approach that teaches and encourages what we want to all students, and then develop more specialized and preventive interventions for those students who need more supports.”

The PBIS Center got its start in 1996, when Congress included a provision in the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act to improve behavior supports and outcomes for students with problem behaviors. The Center is co-directed and coordinated by staff in the Center for Behavioral Education and Research in UConnʼs Neag School of Education and at the Universities of Oregon and Missouri.

DPT Students Learn Important Skills Through White Coat Ceremony

Posted on July 19, 2012December 8, 2016 by

Students in the DPT program gather after receiving their white coat.

Seventeen students in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program’s (DPT) class of 2014 were recognized at the annual White Coat Ceremony, held in the Gentry Building at the end of the semester. The White Coat Ceremony, a recognition event held between the students’ first and second year, is held prior to when the students go out on their first clinical rotation. The students recently finished their first full year in the program and will enjoy some well-deserved time off, before starting their clinicals in locations ranging from Connecticut to New York and Texas to California.

The annual ceremony is completely organized by the DPT students, who are responsible for planning and financing the entire event. The current class began the program in May of 2011 and started fundraising for it shortly thereafter. The ceremony, a tradition held at similar transition points by many doctoral programs, has been an annual event since the physical therapy program transitioned from a master’s to a doctoral program and was initiated by the first DPT class.

According to event organizer and class president, Elizabeth Leslie, “We raised money through UConn DPT clothing fundraisers, an event at Ted’s Bar & Grill and various class activities. We will continue our fundraising efforts to finance our graduation ceremonies in May of 2014.”

“The planning and fundraising took about a year with a few bumps in the road, but it was all worth it,” recalled Leslie. “The ceremony went smoothly and we all had a lot of fun.”

The program featured Dr. Craig Denegar, director of the DPT program, who provided the welcome remarks. Student representatives Elizabeth Leslie, class president, and Nora Therrien, class vice president, addressed the class with a short speech. Dr. Susan Sullivan Glenney, faculty member with the DPT program, spoke to the class on behalf of the faculty. Denegar and Glenney, along with DTP faculty member, Dr. Deborah Bubela, presented the white coats to the class.

When reflecting on the ceremony itself and the process involved, Leslie had the following insights, “Making it to this point in the program is worthy of celebration. I can remember looking back to last fall and certain points when we as a class — or I as an individual – didn’t think we/I could make it this far.”

“We made a lot of sacrifices to be here to commit to doing this, and I think it’s amazing that we as a class took the time to show others and ourselves what we have accomplished thus far,” she continued.

Like her fellow students who came from diverse academic backgrounds, Leslie graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a business degree. She worked as an insurance claims adjuster for two years, before deciding to return to school to complete the pre-requisite courses to apply to the DPT program. Other students completed their undergraduate degrees in varied programs, including Middle Eastern studies, family studies, history, marketing, education and sociology. There are also grads from exercise science, chemistry, biology and allied health programs.

“Some of us came here to UConn straight out of undergrad (programs), others of us worked as social workers, personal trainers, physical therapy aids, clinical research coordinators, insurance adjusters, legal assistants, special education teachers and bartenders,” noted Leslie. “Others of us worked for the WNBA, attended medical school and were involved in theater.”

Leslie chose UConn’s DPT program due to how the curriculum is laid out. “It’s different from other schools. Many schools front load their programs with classroom learning and send their students out on clinical affiliations all at the end of the program.”

UConn’s program is small, which Leslie believes is a major plus. “The faculty is interested in us, not just as students, but also as people with lives separate from our education. They are understanding, easy to get a hold of and easy to talk to. Conversations with professors are multi-dimensional and not just as student speaking with teacher.”

“The faculty truly wants us to succeed and we as students want each other to succeed,” concluded Leslie.

Since the students were required to plan and organize the White Coat Ceremony, they quickly learned how to work together and support each other’s successes. Something that will help them through the program and beyond.

For a slideshow from the event, click here.

Alma Exley Scholars Represent Neag in Washington, D.C.

Posted on July 19, 2012March 31, 2016 by

Two Alma Exley Scholars, Desi Nesmith and Jessica Raugitinane, represented UConn’s Neag School of Education on a recent visit to the Capitol in Washington, D.C.

Dean Thomas DeFranco invited them to join him for a Day on the Hill, an annual event organized by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE).

Raugitinane, the 2012 recipient of the Alma Exley Memorial Scholarship, recently completed her junior year in the five-year Integrated Bachelor’s/Master’s Program at the Neag School. She is home for the summer in Alexandria, Va.

Nesmith, honored as an Alma Exley Scholar in 2000, is principal of Metacomet School in Bloomfield, Conn. He holds bachelor’s and graduate degrees from the Neag School. Joining them was Tara Murphy, a Neag 2006 graduate, who has taught for six years at a public elementary school in Fairfax County, Va., where she was named the First-Year Teacher of the Year. Also participating were Associate Dean Marijke Kehrhahn and Assistant Dean Yuhang Rong.

Raugitinane called the two-day event an “educational and inspirational experience.”

“I am extremely honored to have been a part of this event,” she said. “I learned so much about education and the politics affecting it. I am now more motivated to continue learning about educational politics so I can be an effective advocate for education and voice for my college peers.”

The group visited offices of the members of Connecticut’s congressional delegation. They discussed educational issues with legislative aides for Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-3rd District), Rep. Jim Himes (D-4th) and Rep. Chris Murphy (D-5th).

Dean DeFranco said the group’s main message was that Congress should not paint all teacher-preparation programs with the same negative broad brush stroke. Rather, he said, Congress should identify centers of excellence and use resources wisely in encouraging the sharing of best practices.

Nesmith, Raugitinane and Murphy shared with the congressional aides some of the lessons they have learned from the Neag School, and described why the school has been producing effective educators.

The group also met with a number of the representatives of other educator-preparation programs who were attending from 34 other states.

“This was a great opportunity to meet and share ideas and concerns with educational leaders from around the country,” Nesmith said. “And when we visited the congressional offices, we had the opportunity to let them know about the impact of the Alma Exley Scholarship Program.”

(Source: Woody Exley, Founder’s Blog, www.almaexleyscholarship.org)

Spotlight on Assessment – Entrance Surveys, Statewide Forums and Website: Current Exciting Priorities for Assessment

Posted on July 19, 2012December 27, 2016 by

survey image This summer is filled with excitement with all of the happenings under the umbrella of “assessment” at the Neag School of Education. This includes:

Planning to distribute the Common Entrance surveys for new candidates in four of our programs – IB/M and TCPCG Teacher Education, School Counseling, School Psychology, and UCAPP programs.
Organizing the third annual summer forum for K-12 school staff entitled, “Transition to the Connecticut State Standards and System of Assessments.” The Assessment Office is facilitating the Connecticut State Department of Education and the Neag School of Education is co-sponsoring this forum August 13 and 14. For the third year in a row, we are anticipating a “sell-out” crowd.
Designing the second generation of our assessment website. The modified site, http://neag.uconn.edu/assessment/, will display all assessment-related information including our 79 reports completed in 2011-2012. Among these reports that may be of interest to you are: Investigating Interest in the Dual Degree: Survey Results from Alumni and Students; Teacher Education: Employer Survey of Principals Employing Neag Teachers; Neag School of Education 2012 Employer Report: A Look at What Superintendents Say Regarding Teachers, School Counselors, School Psychologists, and Administrators Educated in the Neag School of Education

Appreciation is given to the Neag School of Connecticut Assessment Committee that provided insight for this design and to Jamison Judd for assisting with getting the site up-and-running. By the way, this committee helped to formulize the vision and mission for “assessment.” The vision is:

The Neag School of Education’s will be recognized as having an Office of Assessment whose vision is to serve as a national model of excellence, embracing and promoting an assessment culture characterized by evidence-based decisions, with the intended purpose of providing a more challenging, learner-centered academic community that advances knowledge and improves vitality in all aspects of the School.

This committee was instrumental in establishing the mission.

The Office of Assessment is an innovative, supportive unit that:

Enhances the school’s assessment culture by encouraging evidence-based decisions which may advance knowledge, improve teaching, and transform learning.
Focuses its efforts on providing support, especially for accreditation purposes, by providing annual external and internal reports, facilitating survey and evaluation implementation, conducting assessment and program evaluation research, and implementing the strategic initiative known as Spotlight on Assessment.
Serves the School and the University in committee work, while also being the hub with regional, state and national assessment communities.

Today, all stakeholders – such as the alumni – need to be actively involved with assessment. That is why the Office of Assessment works diligently with the dean, associate dean, department chairs, directors, program leaders, other administrators, faculty, staff, students, and key stakeholders in the School and the University. Through assessment, we can determine what works well in a program and where fine-tuning is needed. For example, if you are an alumnus from the IB/M and TCPCG Teacher Education, School Counseling, School Psychology, and UCAPP programs, this fall you will be asked to complete a survey that will provide us with invaluable feedback. More details coming. Together, with assessment, all of us can make a difference.

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

Posted on July 19, 2012March 31, 2016 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

Evan Johnson (current doctoral student in kinesiology) gave a presentation on “Effects of switching low and high drinkers on physiological markers in free-living conditions” at the Hydration 4 Health Annual Scientific Conference in Evian, France.

Leanne Masterjoseph (current doctoral student in educational leadership) will be the chief academic officer for Family Urban Schools of Excellence, a charter school management organization connected with Jumoke Academy Charter Schools in Hartford. Masterjoseph has been superintendent of Stonington Schools since January 2010, and was the assistant superintendent for two years before that. This year, she was named Southeastern Connecticut United Way’s “Volunteer of the Year.”

Colleen Muñoz (current doctoral student in kinesiology) attended the Hydration 4 Health Annual Scientific Conference in Evian, France. She was accepted to attend the conference through the “Young Investigator Award” based on her research on “evaluation of common tools for assessing hydration state and how these tools are influenced by different methods of achieving dehydration.”

Jeffrey Ventres is returning for his 5th season with the UConn Marching Band. Prior to becoming drum major, Jeff was a section leader of the trumpet section for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. He has had many opportunities with the marching band to perform in a variety of venues including the BCS Fiesta Bowl, the University of Michigan’s newly renovated stadium, and many others. He is a 5th year music education major and is actively teaching music around the state in K-12 schools while completing his degree. Ventres has been a member of the UConn Symphonic Band, Chamber Ensembles, and is currently a member of the Wind Ensemble, Symphony Orchestra and Pep Band.

Alumni

Laura Cretella (BS special education ’01, MA special education ’02) was named principal at Holland Hill Elementary School in Fairfield. Cretella, the new principal at Holland Hill School, is currently the instructional improvement teacher at McKinley School, a job that she has held since 2010. She previously taught second and fifth grades at Burr School as well as first grade in Darien.

Matthew Curtis (Sixth-Year Diploma educational administration ’05), a former Squadron Line principal and current assistant superintendent in Glastonbury, was unanimously chosen by the board of education to be the next superintendent of Simsbury Schools.

Lisa Cutting (Sixth-Year Diploma educational administration ‘00) has been appointed assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Mohonasen Central School District. Most recently, she was the English language arts academic administrator. Cutting came into the district in 2002 as the Mohonasen High School principal.

Theodore A. Donahue (BA Spanish/economics ’88, UCAPP ’07), who currently serves as assistant principal at Irving A. Robbins Middle School, has been appointed principal at the school. Donahue, who has spent his entire teaching and administrative career in Farmington, was unanimously appointed by members of the school board after a national search. He’s been with the district for 12 years, first starting as a social studies teacher at Farmington High School. In 2006, he was appointed social studies department leader and in 2009, he was appointed dean of students at FHS. In 2011, he was selected as assistant principal at IAR.

Zato Kadambaya (MA mathematics education ’03) was one of nine people to receive an “Outstanding Alumni Educational Leadership Award” from CCSU. The nine honorees were asked to comment on the ongoing changes in education.

Kate Lund (BS English ’06, MA English education ’07, Sixth-year Diploma in educational administration ’12) was selected as the assistant principal at Smith Middle School in Glastonbury. Lund currently teaches English at Lyme-Old Lyme High School.

Elizabeth McGoey (Sixth-Year Diploma in educational administration ‘02) was named principal at Stratfield Elementary School in Fairfield. McGoey, is currently the principal at Nichols Elementary School in Stratford. Before she was named to that post in 2006, she was an assistant principal in Norwalk and Dayville.

Ebony Murphy-Root (BA English ’04, MA curriculum and instruction ’10) was selected as a 2012 participant for the Women’s Campaign School at Yale. The WCSY is a one-week, non-partisan, issue neutral leadership program whose mission is to increase the number and influence of women in elected and appointed office in the United States and around the globe. She currently teaches ninth grade English and composition at Capital Preparatory High School in Hartford. She plans to hone her skills in preparation for new opportunities within the areas of education, literacy, gender and politics and is hoping you will pass this on to the UConn and Neag community.

John Silva (BS elementary education ‘73, MA education ‘74) recently retired from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (UNC- CH) after 31 years in higher education. Silva was a professor emeritus in sport psychology and certified consultant with the Association for Applied Sport Psychology. At UNC-CH, he developed the sport psychology graduate program and served as the director of the sport psychology program and the sport psychology laboratory. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in sport psychology and statistics and has consulted with UNC student athletes, professional athletes Olympic athletes, coaches and teams.

Cindy Van Fleet (BS home economics education ’79, MA education ’85) was named Meriden’s “Teacher of the Year.” A teacher at Platt High School, Van Fleet has been working at Platt for the past 33 years. She started working at the high school after graduating from the UConn at the age of 21, eventually taking on the role of home economics education teacher, which later became called family and consumer science. Van Fleet also teaches human development and family studies at UConn’s Waterbury campus during its fall, spring and summer sessions.

Tiffany Violette (BA journalism, sociology ’93, Sixth-Year Diploma in educational administration ’02) the South Windsor High School assistant principal who was honored as the state’s top assistant principal by the Connecticut Association of Schools this year, has been named the new head of Pleasant Valley Elementary School.

Faculty/Staff

Gifted and Talented — Exploring Shapes with Imi and Zani, first grade geometry from the department’s NSF grant was awarded the prestigious curriculum division award from the National Association for Gifted Children at their annual meeting in 2011. There have been several presentations at national conferences: NAGC, ASCD, AERA, NCSM, NCTM. These presentations involved the NSF grant-funded curriculum Project M2: Mentoring Mathematical Minds.

Debra Bubela was recently recertified as a board certified clinical specialist in pediatric physical therapy through the American Physical Therapy Association.

Jennifer Lease Butts, faculty member in the Higher Education and Student Affairs Program, has accepted the position of assistant vice provost and director of UConn’s Honors Program.

Doug Casa is being recognized by the National Strength and Conditioning Association with the President’s Award in July.

Sandra Chafouleas, professor in the School Psychology Program and a research scientist in the Center for Behavioral Education and Research, has been named associate dean of UConn’s Graduate School.

Sandy Chafouleas and Lisa Sanetti co-authored an article with several colleagues including a school psych doctoral student who lead the project, “Evaluating sensitivity to behavioral change across consultation cases using Direct Behavior Rating Single-Item Scales (DBR-SIS)” in Exceptional Children.

Craig Denegar has been named the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Athletic Training, a three-year appointment with one, three-year renewal.

Michael Faggella-Luby is being awarded the Michael Pressley award from Notre Dame to honor the impact of young scholars in education. The Michael Pressley Award for a Promising Scholar in the Education Field goes to an ACE formation program graduate whose work in academia echoes Dr. Michael Pressley’s commitment to strengthening education through research and scholarship. In addition, Fagella-Luby co-authored a publication with a doctoral student and other colleagues, “Building a house on sand: Why disciplinary specific strategies are not sufficient to replace general strategies for adolescent learners who struggle with reading and writing,” to appear in Topics in Language Disorders. He also co-presented “Teaching content to all: New ways of thinking about content, curriculum, and college teaching summer institute” at a weeklong professional development workshop for university faculty at the Center for Research on Learning, University of Kansas.

Wendy Glenn has several publications in press, “Omdefinerer en Norsk Norge: The influence of changing demographics on Norwegian schooling for social democracy” Equity and Excellence in Education Special Theme Issue, Global and Local Perspectives on Social Justice Pedagogy: History, Policy, and Praxis. She co-authored “Looking into and beyond time and place: The timeless potential of young adult literature” in The ALAN Review. The other article, “Developing understandings of race: Pre-service teachers’ counter-narrative (re)-constructions of people of color in young adult literature,” in English Education is due out in July.

Donald Leu co-authored the following publications:

“New literacies in a Web 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, …∞ world” to appear in Research in the Schools
“New literacies for new learners,” to appear in The Educational Forum
“An online learning community as support for at-risk students’ literacy growth: Findings, implications, and challenges” to appear in Technology for literacy achievement in children at risk.
“Working on understanding during collaborative online reading,” to appear in Journal of Literacy Research.
“New literacies: A dual level theory of the changing nature of literacy, instruction, and assessment” to appear in Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading, Sixth Edition.
“The new literacies of online reading comprehension,” to appear in The Encyclopedia of Applied Linguistics.

Leu also gave the keynote plenary address at the annual conference of the Australian Literacy Educators’ Association in Sydney, Australia. While there, he also delivered a lecture at Wollongong University and worked with their faculty on new literacies issues. In addition, he delivered, via video conference, the opening address to the New Literacies Teacher Leader Institute at North Carolina State University. This institute is sponsored by the NC State Department of Education. Finally, he is delivered the keynote at the third annual New Literacies Summer Institute of Massachusetts.

Betsy McCoach, organized and planned DATIC, five weeks of week-long summer data analysis training workshops. Over 100 faculty and researchers from all over the country and the world came to the workshops. She also oversaw, MMM, the 2nd annual Modern Modeling Methods conference, which had 125 people attend, again, from all over the world. McCoach is now the chair of the AERA Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent Development SIG, along with being program chair of the Educational Statisticians SIG of AERA. She is the current chair of the Research and Evaluation Network of the National Association of Gifted Children, until September 1, 2012. McCoach presented a one-day workshop on HLM as a preconference at AERA 2012. She has also been invited to serve as a standing review panelist for the IES Reading, Writing, and Language Development Scientific Review Panel for a three-year term, beginning in fiscal-year 2013.

Betsy McCoach and Kathy Gavin co-authored a publication, with a former graduate student, “The effects of gifted programming on Mathematics and Reading Achievement” Gifted Child Quarterly. She also co-authored with former graduate student, “Teacher Attitudes toward Subject Specific Acceleration” in Journal for the Education of the Gifted. McCoach also co-authored two book chapters with Del Siegle: “Underachieving gifted students” in Fundamentals of gifted education and “Underachievers” in The Encyclopedia of Adolescence. Finally, she co-authored another chapter “Issues in the analysis of change” in the Handbook of measurement, assessment, and evaluation in higher education.

Natalie Olinghouse co-authored a new practice guide “Teaching Elementary School Students to be Effective Writers” for the What Works Clearinghouse, funded by the Institute of Education Sciences. She was one of seven panel members on this guide and spent the past three years working on it.

Linda Pescatello, was a participant with ACSM’s Distinguished Leaders in Sports Medicine and Exercise Science video series produced and distributed by Healthy Learning.

Lisa Sanetti co-authored an article with a school psychology doctoral student, “The link between obesity and academics: School psychologist’s role in collaborative prevention” for School Psychology Forum. In addition, she has been awarded the Lightner Witmer Award from Division 16 of the APA. This award is provided to academic school psychologists within the first seven years of receiving their PhD who “have demonstrated remarkable scholarship.”

Del Siegle has a new book coming out “The Underachieving Gifted Child: Recognizing, Understanding, and Reversing Underachievement” from Prufrock Press. He is chair elect of the AERA Research on Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent SIG and he spent a week in March consulting with the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education on issues of underachievement and creativity.

Kimberly Silverman, a physical therapist and clinical faculty at UConn Health Center who takes DPT students on a regular basis, was recognized with the “Clinical Educator of the Year” by the New England Consortium of Academic Coordinators of Clinical Education. She was nominated by a DPT student.