Neag School Professors Receive $6 Million in Grants to Assist Students Vulnerable to Behavioral Difficulties and Vocabulary Gaps

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Two members of the Neag School of Education faculty have been awarded two grants totaling more than $6 million in federal grants to expand their research into improving educational outcomes for students.

Sandra M. Chafouleas, Ph.D., a professor in the school psychology program and a research scientist at the Neag Center for Behavioral Research (CBER), has received a $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences (IES) for continuing work on Direct Behavior Rating (DBR), which she co-created with an earlier IES grant.

Michael D. Coyne, Ph.D., an associate professor of educational psychology and special education, program coordinator of Special Education, and also a CBER research scientist, was awarded a $4 million IES grant for his continued research into improving student language and literacy by providing a comprehensive system of Early Vocabulary Instruction and Intervention (EVI).

Chafouleas’s research team has focused on using DBR to measure respectful, non-disruptive and academically engaged behaviors that have been deemed important to the process of allowing all students to be in the classroom and ready to access instruction.

Although the tool has long been used for intervention and communication purposes, the DBR scales will continue to be studied in this new round of research as a method of assessing student behaviors. “This grant,” says Chafouleas, “allows for large-scale evaluation as to how DBR can be used to identify students at risk, and progress-monitor their response to behavior supports.”

The new research will take place in elementary and middle schools in Connecticut, New York and Missouri, and will involve approximately 2,000 students and teachers.

Chafouleas, who received her B.S. from the State University of New York at Binghamton, has an M.S. and Ph.D. in Psychology from Syracuse University, along with a Certificate of Advanced Study from SU’s Educational Leadership Program. In the new grant, she is part of a research team that includes Assistant Professor Megan Welsh and Professor Hariharan Swaminathan of the Neag School, as well as Associate Professor of Psychology T. Chris Riley-Tillman from the University of Missouri and Associate Professor Greg Fabiano of the University at Buffalo.

This grant is the largest the team has received to date in what has become a very competitive environment. Only five proposals at a time are accepted in this category, and Chafouleas’s was one of them. “What was extremely helpful to our team’s application,” she says, “was that it represented an extension of our original work, which is a priority for IES.” More information on DBR can be found at the team’s website, www.directbehaviorrating.org.

Coyne’s Early Vocabulary Intervention targets the “achievement gap” that persists among students in language and vocabulary development. “Our EVI team,” Coyne says, “is focused on the ‘vocabulary gap’ that is present at the beginning of kindergarten and continues to grow larger in the early grades. Early intervention can help at-risk students make meaningful gains in their vocabulary knowledge and, by extension, in their reading comprehension.”

To that end, Project EVI will work with more than 1,500 kindergarten students and teachers in Connecticut, Rhode Island and Oregon to implement high-quality classroom vocabulary instruction for all students as well as supplemental small-group intervention for those students most at risk. The intervention reinforces vocabulary introduced in whole-class activities by providing more explicit, scaffolded and interactive instruction coupled with immediate corrective feedback.

This multi-tiered approach is preventative rather than reactive. “Schools currently have access to very few evidence-based practices and strategies for targeting and narrowing the vocabulary gap,” Coyne says. “With this IES grant, we will be able to provide schools and teachers with the materials, resources and supports they need to maximize student outcomes.” The grant, the largest Coyne’s team has received, was one of only three awarded in this category.

Coyne, who received his B.A. in Music and Political Science from Williams College, has an M.T. in Special Education from the University of Virginia and a Ph.D. in Special Education, Literacy, from the University of Oregon.

IES is the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education with a budget of more than $200 million. Its aim is to improve educational outcomes for all students, especially those at risk of failure. The IES carries out its work through four Centers: the National Center for Education Research, the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, and the National Center for Special Education Research, which awarded the grants to both Chafouleas and Coyne.

A Passion for Education and Children

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Sally Reis and Ray and Carole Neag
Sally Reis (middle) pictured with Ray and Carole Neag after the Investiture Ceremony.

Sally M. Reis, nationally known for working with academically talented and high potential students, and noted as the principal investigator for the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, has been named the first to hold the new Letitia Neag Morgan Chair for Educational Psychology.

The endowed chair was established in honor of Reis’ mother, who passed away in October 2010. It was created by Ray and Carole Neag, generous supporters to the Neag School of Education at UConn. Letitia Neag Morgan was Ray’s sister.

During the recent Investiture Ceremony to bestow the chair, Dr. Reis spoke of the gratitude and kindness upon which she has tried to build her adult life. Numerous family members, friends and colleagues enthusiastically attended the ceremony to show their gratitude and appreciation toward Reis.

“I grew up in a home with a mother who loved all six of her children unequivocally,” Reis remarked. “Through the generosity of my wonderful uncle and aunt, Ray and Carole Neag, to know that my mother’s name will endure in this chair brings such joy to all of our family.”

She spoke about the gratitude toward other family members who taught her the value of family and love and colleagues who have supported her along the way.

“Gratitude for my work has also been a guiding principle in my life,” she said.  “There were and have been days that I looked at a pile on my desk and wondered how I could finish what I needed to do that day, and I have found simply being grateful for meaningful work to carry the day.”

“I am a teacher at heart.  I have loved my work from the day I started teaching but I especially love doing what that I believe in most—helping children with talents as well as students with special needs.”

Dr. Reis is a distinguished scholar of the National Association for Gifted Children and a fellow of the American Psychological Association, two of the highest honors given in her field. She is also a teaching fellow and Board of Trustees distinguished professor at UConn.

In his recommendation to the Board of Trustees that Reis be appointed to the chair, UConn Provost Peter J. Nicholls wrote, “Dr. Sally M. Reis is an internationally recognized scholar and a champion of students of special needs, ranging from those with learning disabilities to gifted and talented students.”

During the ceremony, Dean Tom DeFranco praised her achievements, “If Sally was measured on her professional accomplishments alone (scholarly production) she would be a giant in the field. However, academicians recognize that our legacy is not built solely on our scholarly reputation but also on the impact and influence we have on our students.”

“Over the years, Sally has built a legacy of being a good steward to the profession as well as a caring mentor to her students,” said DeFranco.

As noted by one of Sally’s former Ph.D. students, “Rarely does a day pass that I do not think about Sally and her profound influence upon my life and the lives of others. I am acutely aware that I hold my position today largely due to Sally’s mentoring, modeling, teaching, and friendship and the outstanding education she afforded me at UConn. I remember how Sally took care of her graduate students, and I try to pay it forward in true Sally Reis style.”

“Sally is one of the giants in our field, her scholarship is far-reaching, and her influence is profound. At the same time, she is gracious, kind, generous, and caring—a confluence of traits that make her truly one-of-a-kind, and someone everyone respects and admires.”

Investiture Ceremony for Sally M Reis, Ph.D. who was appointed the Letitia Neag Morgan Chair for Educational Psychology on November 17, 2011. (/UConn Photo)
Investiture Ceremony for Sally M Reis, Ph.D. who was appointed the Letitia Neag Morgan Chair for Educational Psychology on November 17, 2011. (/UConn Photo)

When asked how the new chair will make an impact on her work, Reis responded, “I hope to use the chair to continue my research on children of poverty and from working class families, those with disabilities and those with talents that are not often recognized by their teachers.”

“This award verifies the work that I have done in the past and will support my work in the future,” she continued. “The endowed chair means that I will have additional funds and additional time in the future to seek out opportunities to positively affect the lives of children of poverty and high potential.”

Reis completed her Ph.D. in educational psychology of the gifted and talented in 1981 at the Neag School and she fell in love with the academic area in which she did her work. After she graduated, she returned to her school district to work in administration for the next seven years. Then a position opened up back at her Alma mater, and she hasn’t looked back since.

Reis describes her mission as one focused on children with academic gifts and talents who are not well served in the United States right now. “It’s a deplorable situation in many high-poverty, urban and rural areas, where it’s common for a first-grader who reads at a fifth-grade level to leave fifth grade reading at a fifth-grade level. So much attention is paid to the students who achieve at the very lower levels, and minimal attention [is given] to children at higher levels.”

Reis sees this as a terrible direction for education and a terrible loss for the country. With the work she’s done with the National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented, she’s been able to focus on that loss and turn the attention toward academically talented children from high-poverty groups.

“I’m productive because it’s my passion, because I believe in what we do,” she said. “Because I work with wonderful people, and because I’m supported by a community of scholars who agree with me and who have given me every opportunity to be successful and be productive.”

In creating the chair, the Neags sought to pay tribute to the importance Letitia Neag Morgan placed on education and to reward significant contributions in the field of psychology.

“Our focus is UConn,” said Ray Neag, “and in thinking about what to do with some of our good fortune, we thought that because education was so important to Letitia, wouldn’t this be a nice way to honor her?”

Reis says with gratitude to her uncle and his wife, Carole, “That the chair is named for my mother is a special joy to my entire family.”

In her new role, Reis plans to share the pedagogy of gifted education with more students, to enable more schools like the Renzulli Academy for Gifted and Talented to serve high-potential learners from high-poverty families, and to help more educators focus on students’ strengths and interests as opposed to their deficits.

“I am a very grateful person,” said Reis. “I am fortunate to work with wonderful colleagues and staff, have the support of a marvelous dean, and am very fortunate to have found work that I love and continue to love.”

“I commit myself to be worthy of this chair—to extend the work that I do for the good of children to the greater vision of the University of Connecticut,” concluded Reis.

The Neag School of Education, along with the education community, is grateful to have Reis advocating for children and is grateful to the Neags for their generous support for this important chair.

Dr. Douglas Fellows: UConn Alumnus Comes Home

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Dr. Doug Fellows stands next to a CT scanner at the UConn Medical Center, which is used for advanced imaging. Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay
Dr. Doug Fellows stands next to a CT scanner at the UConn Medical Center, which is used for advanced imaging. Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay

Dr. Douglas Fellows ignored the recruiting calls for six months. Administrators from UConn were calling him to interview at the UConn Health Center, to lead their radiology department. He was happy where he was, as the vice chair of radiology, at UMass Medical Center in Worcester, MA.

But then one day, he finally took the call. He was vacationing on the Cape, at Nauset Beach. “I decided to come down and take a look at the position,” he recalled.

It turned out to be a good fit, and in 2007 Dr. Fellows became UConn Health Center’s new Chair of Diagnostic Imaging and Therapeutics. He liked the size of the practice group and was intrigued by the opportunity for teaching and research the academic practice provided. There was the opportunity to build relationships, positively impact his profession and to go somewhere he admired. “It was like coming home.”

Connection with UConn and Storrs

Fellows has a long, historic connection to UConn that began with his family. He attended E.O. Smith High School, located next to the UConn campus, and played soccer for the State Championship Team. He met his future wife at E.O. Smith, who, along with Fellows and his siblings, pursued a college career at UConn.

His father, Dr. Irving F. Fellows, was a professor at UConn for 40 years in the Department of Agricultural Economics. Dr. Irving Fellows was a UConn alumnus, having earned a B.S. in Dairy Manufacturing from the College of Agriculture in 1937.

The elder Dr. Fellows retired as a professor emeritus in 1981, with a long and distinguished career, including launching programs and initiating public policies that led to the preservation of land in open spaces and agriculture in Connecticut.

There was also a great aunt, who was in the first graduating class that allowed women students. Ethel Freeman’s name is inscribed on a sign at Whitney Hall, noting the historic event.

The senior Fellows encouraged the younger Fellows to attend UConn. The younger Fellows fondly recalled times of sliding on Horse Barn Hill, and being around the campus as a high school student. “There was a certain excitement, being around a university.”

He took his father’s advice, and applied to UConn and never looked back. Fellows frequently comes back to Storrs. He likes to see the campus, and often lectures or tries to attend a soccer game.

Connection with Physical Therapy Program

As an undergrad, Fellows took a human anatomy class. He fell in love with anatomy, and ultimately decided physical therapy would be his career path. After graduation, he spent 10 years working as a physical therapist and as an anatomist.

UConn provided the necessary academic background that would serve him well in medical school, internship, residency and finally in his Fellowship in Neuroradiology at Johns Hopkins.

The physical therapy program has changed over the years, and Fellows appreciates how the program has evolved, for the better. It started as an undergraduate program, then a master’s and, in the past few years, has become a Doctor of Physical Therapy program.

He recalled how tough the program was in his day, and how he had such a wonderful experience, but acknowledges it’s much tougher now. “It’s more difficult, there is stronger faculty and there is a greater integration with other programs.”

Having reconnected with the program in 2007 when he started at UConn Health Center, Fellows has seen the evolution first hand. He noted how there is a lot of sharing of ideas, resources, research and faculty.

When he arrived at UConn, Fellows reached out to Joe Smey (the former dean of the School of Allied Health, which housed the physical therapy program before the School of Allied Health closed). Smey invited him to come back and lecture to a physical therapy class on neuroimaging and he was also invited to give a lecture to alumni and students on “Advanced Imaging for the Clinician.”

The physical therapy program was realigned with the Neag School of Education and has since merged with the Department of Kinesiology. Fellows also connected with Craig Denegar, the current director of the Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program, and Carl Maresh, head of the Department of Kinesiology.

Fellows sees big things for the DPT program. “Under the guidance of Craig and Carl, the program is already emerging as a great program. They are really reaching out, bringing in top notch students.”

There is a lot more sharing of ideas, and because of the current leadership, there are higher standards for faculty and students, he noted. “The outcomes are much better now. It’s well-based in science, but not at the expense of interpersonal skills.”

He’s also noticed the difference in the students. “They have real-life experiences, which makes for stronger student applicants.”

An advisory group came out of the evolution of the DPT program, of which Fellows is chairperson. “They invited me to participate with the advisory group; I like where they’re going. They listen well and are willing to implement recommendations.”

In addition to giving lectures and serving on the DPT advisory group, Fellows has also provided insight and guidance for the remodeling of a UConn lab, which will be used by three different departments: physical therapy, kinesiology and biology.

”I’m a physical therapist, an anatomist and a physician. I’ve taught at different levels along the way and see that imaging can provide better insight. It’s a more efficient way for teaching–using advanced imaging,” he said.

Fellows knows that having medical imaging –in the lab, will better help the students correlate course work  with their clinical experiences. “ We can show them how to study the human body with medical images in addition to gross dissection.”

Radiology Industry/Career Path in Military

Prior to joining the civilian world of healthcare radiology, Fellows spent 30 years in the Army, retiring as a colonel. His role as the Radiology Consultant for the Army’s Surgeon General included overseeing 142 radiologists and a $300 million dollar budget.

During his military career, he saw first hand the evolution of physical therapy as a profession. “ In the Army, we were the first to utilize physical therapist to perform primary screening of patients and to perform EMGs (electromyography),”he noted. “It was really fun to be part of the group, and the military supported the profession by sending folks to graduate school and medical schools.”

Fellows is enthusiastic about the prospects of radiology at the UConn Health Center and has big plans. He is focusing on improving the quality of clinical care, assuring highly effective education of residents and medical students, maintaining a high level of professionalism and being fiscally responsible to the Health Center. The Radiology residency has recently received full accreditation, for the maximum five years, without any citations.

As chair of radiology, he’s already been involved with numerous research projects, including aging of the brain, prostate cancer, detecting adverse effects of chemotherapy on the heart by MRI and other important health issues.

“CT and MRI have provided wonderful opportunities for research,” he said.

He is also enthusiastic about the upcoming Bioscience Connecticut project, where his team will provide leadership and insight, with their expertise in diagnostic imaging, to the planning process and in the acquisition of the advanced imaging devices that will help improve the quality of care.

Coming Full Circle

Fellows is appreciative of his good fortune along the way, from UConn as a student, to the military, and back to his current role at UConn.“ Every step, someone has facilitated me. I always live by giving back.”

“I want to do it well, move on and provide new opportunities for others. I want to let them come up, and let others be successful,” he said.

He learned these values from his parents, which were reinforced by his years in Scouting, resulting in becoming an Eagle Scout while at E.O. Smith High School, and his years in the military.

“Loyalty. Integrity. Service above Self. Personal Courage.”

Those are good words to live by. Dr. Fellows is glad to be back at UConn. The sentiments are mutual.

Dr. Jason Stephens Publishes Book on “Creating a Culture of Academic Integrity”

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Recent cheating scandals in schools across the U.S. have generated alarming national headlines. Connecticut’s own Waterbury Hopeville School is  under investigation for suspected educational misconduct during this year’s state mastery test.

Dr. Jason Stephens, an associate professor in the Neag School of Education‘s Department of Educational Psychology, addressed academic integrity issues like these reported cases and provided insight on prevention strategies in his new book.

The text, Creating a Culture of Academic Integrity: A Tool Kit for Secondary Schools, examines Stephen’s research with co-author David B. Wangaard, E.D., from their three-year intervention project, Achieving with Integrity.

The empirical information from their analysis of six Connecticut high schools further justifies the need for aid in scholastic honesty improvement and establishes academic integrity as a priority.

According to Stephens in a recent NPR interview, “Where We Live: Cheating Schools,” nine out of 10 students admit to some form of cheating in the previous year, in which half view their behavior as morally wrong.

“We’ve had an epidemic in academic dishonesty for really decades now,” he said.

Stephens’ book strives to reverse this trend by discussing plagiarism, providing tactics to improve students’ understanding of cheating, as well as suggesting policies and resources to abide by as means of constructing ethical standards.

“The problem itself I think is just symptomatic of what we’ve done with education over the past literally 30 years for children, but the past 10 under No Child Left Behind, and that is to make it a high stakes game,” Stephens said in his interview. “This kind of cheating becomes inevitable.”

Stephens and his colleague believe cheating issues are routed in the higher pressures of student performance success.

“I think of it as the soil and not the seed,” he said.

The book provides school leaders and teachers the support needed to develop ethical learning communities to promote academic engagement and honesty.

One of Creating a Culture of Academic Integrity’s most important features is the instruction plan for establishing an Academic Integrity Committee through the collaboration of teachers, students, administrators and parents.

It is the authors’ hope that by implementing a climate of diligence and probity, there will be a greater resistance for cheating and therefore more honest learning.

At the Neag School, Stephens teaches classes on human learning, academic motivation and research methods. His fieldwork focuses on moral development during adolescence with Stephens’ primary interest being the normative dishonest behavior as it is related to cheating.

For more information about the book, contact Dr. Stephens at jason.stephens@uconn.edu.

UConn Researchers Develop Model to Assess Teacher Preparation

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A research study examining the performance of elementary and secondary school teachers in Connecticut indicates that students taught by Neag School of Education alumni score far better on math portions of the Connecticut Mastery Test than do students taught by alumni of other universities.

Perhaps more important, though, says Dr. Mary Yakimowski, the Neag Schoolʼs director of assessment and a lead author of the study, the work she and her team put into developing an evaluation model to measure graduatesʼ performances can now be adopted by other universities across the country.

“All across the nation, higher education institutions are being told to assess the outcomes of teacher education programs, but nobody has designed a model for incorporating the assessment of student performance,” says Yakimowski, who also is an associate professor-in-residence in the educational psychology department. “This is important because schools are now being told to assess K-12 outcomes.”

The increased calls for accountability are tied to the landmark No Child Left Behind  federal legislation in 2001. The latest NCLB reports, released Sept. 19, say that only 53 percent of Connecticut schools made Adequate Yearly Progress in 2011, down from 72 percent in 2010, primarily due to the annually increasing standards of NCLB.

Yakimowski says knowing how well alumni from teacher preparation programs are performing in the classroom informs schools of education about whether to keep doing what theyʼre doing or to alter their methods.

The study looked at overall CMT mathematics scores from grades 3-8, in five urban and suburban districts. Test results from more than 11,200 students were analyzed, and the researchers – Yakimowski, Dr. Mary Truxaw, and Dr. Wei Xia – looked at the studentsʼ overall mathematics scores, focusing on scores within five domains, a series of objectives called strands, and the studentsʼ proficiency levels. (A domain could include, for instance, questions regarding whole numbers, fractions and decimals, and whether students revealed “number sense.”)

The information was presented to a conference of the American Educational Research Association and, says Yakimowski, was well received. She says the study has been submitted for consideration to a top education journal. She and her colleagues also have prepared longitudinal research studies to help the Neag School determine how well the graduates from its teacher education program are assisting pupils in reading, and how students with disabilities are performing.

“The overall scores among students taught by our alumni were significantly higher than the pupil performance of other teachers,” Yakimowski says. In fact, 76 percent of the students taught by Neag School alumni either reached the state goal or better, compared to less than 60 percent of students taught by graduates of other universities; and only 8.6 percent of the Neag graduate-taught students were less than proficient, compared to 19.8 percent of students taught by non-Neag alumni.

“Despite many challenges, these types of pupil achievement studies linked to teachers must be conducted to provide feedback to school administrators, teacher preparation programs, and researchers to continue to improve the educational opportunities of our nationʼs pupils,” the reading study says.

The research to create an assessment model was funded, in part, from Carnegie Corp. through the Teachers for a New Era grant in 2002. UConn was one of only 11 universities in the nation to win the TNE designation.

Of the roughly 35,000 teachers in Connecticut, more than 2,300 are graduates of the Neag School. Another 254 work in related service areas, 484 serve as school administrators, and 21 alumni are school superintendents. About 86 percent of Neag graduates remain and teach in Connecticut schools.

Neag School’s “Reading Recovery Certification Program” Wins $1.7 Million Dollar Grant

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There is a very simple reason why, for nearly 20 years, Neag professor of curriculum and instruction Dr. Mary Anne Doyle has been a passionate advocate for and the driving force behind UConn’s participation in Reading Recovery, a program aimed at dramatically improving the reading skills of at-risk first-graders. “It just works phenomenally well,” says Doyle. “And it’s about so much more than reading.”

The funding, part of a $46 million U.S. Department of Education grant to be shared among 19 partner schools, will enable Doyle to continue reaching out to, and reducing tuition costs for, Connecticut schools electing to implement this early intervention and participate in the program. In-service teachers are nominated by their districts and receive Reading Recovery certification through the Neag School of Education at UConn, the only university in the state that offers it.

Created more than 30 years ago by University of Auckland professor Marie Clay, Reading Recovery is a one-to-one program aimed at helping first-graders with extreme difficulty learning to read and write. They are typically in the bottom 20 percent of their classes. Students work in 30-minute sessions, with a specially trained Reading Recovery instructor, in a curriculum that emphasizes reading and writing development.

Reading Recovery teachers assess their students’ progress daily and document measurable results in a very short period of time.

After a full series of lessons, taking anywhere from 12 to 20 weeks, most students reach grade-level standard. “For those students who don’t,” says Doyle, “the lessons serve as a period of diagnostic teaching that can be the basis for long-term planning. Both of these outcomes are positive.”

Reading Recovery children who exit the program at grade level continue to improve their literacy skills and perform within an average range of class performance without ongoing remediation or special support. “Considering where these students start,” Doyle adds, “these results are remarkable and have profound implications for schools and districts implementing response-to-intervention methods while striving to achieve yearly progress in literacy.”

Early intervention is Reading Recovery’s reason for being. “For too long,” says Doyle, “educators insisted that all we needed to do was give children the ‘gift of time’ and their reading skills would evolve and improve.” But, she adds, that was a grave disservice to students. “When they’re not catching on,” she says, “they’re trying to make connections and do it for themselves, and they’re very confused about it. What they need is someone helping them immediately.”

The program’s successes support that point of view. Reading Recovery can claim more than 2 million first-graders nationwide, across all socioeconomic levels, who have benefited from the program. Nearly 80 percent achieved grade-level reading skill within the 20-week period. In October of this year, the National Center on Response to Intervention (NCRTI) gave Reading Recovery’s screening tool, An Observation Survey of Early Literary Achievement, its highest possible rating for scientific rigor.

The NCRTI called the survey “valid, reliable and evidence-based.”

In addition, in 2007, the Institute of Education Sciences  “What Works Clearinghouse” gave Reading Recovery the highest rating possible for research evidence relating to its effect on alphabetic skills and general reading achievement, and the second-highest rating for its effect on fluency and comprehension.

But even with all the accolades, Doyle is still working as hard as ever to promote the Reading Recovery approach to school districts around Connecticut. Several cities and towns have been with the program since the mid-1990s; but in a time of serious budget-cutting and uncertainty about education funding from the state, some districts have had to put a hold on implementing this intervention and sending teachers for training.

Doyle demonstrates to superintendents and boards of education that while Reading Recovery has its costs, it can also be a cost-saving move by reducing retention and lowering remediation rates and special education numbers. “I tell the districts that Reading Recovery always makes a difference for every child who participates,” Doyle says, “regardless of whether he or she achieves grade level skill. It also helps identify other needs the child might have and kick-starts the ways those needs can be met once the program ends.”

Though she doesn’t say so specifically, Doyle could easily tell school districts to “accept no substitutes.” Reading Recovery is a trademarked program, administered through Ohio State University, and while it has been modified, based on research and annual evaluations, it is still disseminated and implemented according to guidelines designed and established by Clay. School districts sometimes attempt to mimic its one-to-one reading instruction without having teachers receive the extensive training that Reading Recovery provides.

Doyle emphatically says they will not be as effective. “This program is not a bandwagon,” she says. “It’s not a little bag of tricks that teachers can pick up at a conference. Graduate-level study means you read theory, you analyze deeply, you problem-solve. This is about teaching children to read. It is hard work.”

A hallmark of Reading Recovery is intense, year-long training for school-based teachers, which entails graduate coursework offered by the Neag School, and ongoing professional development offered six times a year thereafter. In the final analysis, the power of the program rests in knowledgeable teachers. Thus, Reading Recovery is an investment in teachers who are well-prepared to have an impact on both learners and programs. They acquire the professional knowledge and skills to make a profound difference for young learners in need of an intensive, early intervention in literacy to assist their colleagues with curricular and instructional “issues.”

Doyle confirms Reading Recovery, a school-university partnership, makes a difference for children and their parents as well as for teachers and schools. The i3 (Investing in Innovation) grant, awarded by DOE to support the scaling up of Reading Recovery, is giving the Neag School’s Reading Recovery Training Center and our Connecticut schools an exciting and unprecedented opportunity.

 

Heather McDonald Joins the Neag School of Education as Director of Development

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Heather McDonaldHeather K. McDonald has recently joined the Neag School of Education as director of development. In her new role, she will be participate in strategic planning for the college’s fundraising, aiming to secure major and principal gift level commitments.  Since 2008 at the UConn Foundation, McDonald was an associate director of development of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

“I am very excited about Heather joining the Neag School as our new development officer,” said Dean Thomas C. DeFranco. “Heather brings a wealth of experience as a fundraiser and has studied and worked in higher education. We are very fortunate to have someone with her talent and background join us.”

“Coming from my last position,” McDonald said, “I know how important it is to learn about the departments, programs, faculty and students. I look forward to meeting people and learning about all the intricacies Neag has to offer. My role as director of development is to help in fundraising but it’s all about relationships. I hope to build upon the great work of those who’ve come before me and I look forward to an exciting future. We have a terrific dean and amazingly talented faculty. I know alumni and friends will want to support the Neag School of Education.”

McDonald first joined UConn in 2000 as a residence hall director in the Department of Residential Life. She went on to supervise two Higher Education and Student Affairs graduate students, oversaw the Honors Community and implemented the new First Year Learning Communities as a community director for Academic/Learning Communities. She later joined the UConn Foundation as program director for Constituent Groups in the Office of Annual Giving, where she was then promoted to the interim director of Annual Giving. In addition to her B.A. in Women’s Studies from the State University of New York at New Paltz, McDonald earned her M.Ed. with a concentration in administration and supervision from the University of Hartford and a graduate certificate in nonprofit leadership and management from UConn.

McDonald is the recipient of the 2004 Women’s Issues Outstanding Achievement Award. She was a 2001 Case Study Award Winner in Northeast Associations of College and University Housing Officers and was inducted into the Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in Education in 2000. McDonald has served as a chair and board member of the Women’s Center Advisory Board since 2007 and was involved in the UConn Alumni Association, both as a reunion and gala committee member.

If you are interested in supporting the Neag School of Education through scholarships, fellowships or faculty support you may give a gift now online or by contacting Heather at (860) 486-4530 or hmcdonald@foundation.uconn.edu to discuss the various opportunities.

Timex Partners with Korey Stringer Institute to Improve Athletic Training

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A Timex Global Trainer GPS Unit. Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay.
A Timex Global Trainer GPS Unit. Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay.

The Timex Corporation is joining forces with UConnʼs Korey Stringer Institute (KSI) on a variety of research projects that will assist Timexʼs development of advanced training products to enhance the performance and safety of athletes in a wide variety of sports.

As part of these studies, professional and college endurance and team athletes will participate in a number of programs over the next three years.

The studies will emphasize the importance of using proper equipment both during and after training and competition. They will include research into the use of advanced heart rate/GPS monitors and “heart rate training zones,” in order to safely intensify training over time, resulting in maximized performance, personal fitness and recovery.

“What athletes and coaches need to know is that using the proper training equipment can enhance their results, while maximizing safety and recovery,” says Douglas J. Casa, professor of kinesiology in the Neag School of Education and chief operating officer of KSI. “These studies will enable our team and Timex to identify key facts about all levels of athletes during training and competition.”

Members of the UConn menʼs soccer team participated in a Timex-funded research study in August.

“A primary focus of the soccer study was to determine the relationship of on-field, real-time practice heart rate and GPS data of speed/distance with physiological biomarkers,” says Casa, an expert on exertional heat stroke and exercise in the heat. “For instance, is heart rate related to hydration status, stress hormones, fatigue, muscle damage, etc.? If heart rate values can provide a window to the biomarkers, they can be utilized to implement more successful training programs. Additionally, issues related to recovery were examined.”

Named for former Minnesota Vikings football player Korey Stringer, who died of complications related to exertional heat stroke following an NFL preseason football practice in 2001, the Korey Stringer Institute is dedicated to providing first-rate research, information, resources, assistance and advocacy for the prevention of sudden death in sport, especially as it relates to exertional heat stroke. With the new research partnership, the Timex Corp. joins the NFL and Gatorade as sponsors of the Korey Stringer Institute.

The Korey Stringer Institute is part of the Neag School of Educationʼs Department of Kinesiology, which is currently rated the No. 1 kinesiology doctoral program in the country.

UConnʼs kinesiology researchers are recognized leaders in the fields of exercise science, exercise and sport nutrition, athletic training, physical therapy and sport management. UConnʼs Human Performance Laboratory and Laboratory for Sport Management is widely recognized and published worldwide.

Casa has published more than 100 peer-reviewed publications and presented more than 300 times on subjects related to exertional heat stroke, heat-related illnesses, preventing sudden death in sport, and hydration. He is a 2008 recipient of the medal for distinguished athletic training research from the National Athletic Trainersʼ Association and a 2007 recipient of the Sayers “Bud” Miller Distinguished Educator Award from the National Athletic Trainersʼ Association. He has been a fellow of the American College of Sports Medicine since 2001.

Heberto Calves, vice president of marketing for the Middlebury, Conn.-based Timex Corp., says, “This partnership will enable Timex to utilize firsthand research data related to a number of integral training elements, including heart rate, pace, body/skin temperature and fitness level, to improve training techniques and develop innovative new products for athletes of all levels. “We plan on integrating all of our assets into these studies to ensure we offer training solutions that will truly impact performance during training and competitions.”

Best known as the nationʼs leading watch manufacturer, the Timex Corp. has an unparalleled heritage of creating innovative, technologically advanced and reliable timepieces for endurance athletes. Through its Timex Ironman brand, the company has developed an extensive anthology of elite training devices and fitness aids. Timex Ironman timepieces can monitor heart rate, calories burned, pace, distance, speed and more. They are worn by athletes on every continent and have been added to the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. The Timex Corp. in recent years has developed strategic partnerships with the World Triathlon Corp., New York Road Runners Club and the New York Giants.

One of the UConn studies funded by Timex will feature members of the Timex Corp.ʼs Multisport Team, a diverse team of professionals and amateurs who embody the sacrifice, commitment and passion of the sport of triathlon. Researchers from UConnʼs Korey Stringer Institute will be with the athletes prior to and during the 2011 Ford Ironman World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. The KSI team will work closely with each of the participating athletes to educate them on how they can maximize their training and performance with the use of Timex products. The research and performance data collected during the competition will later be analyzed, in order to help Timex develop more advanced products and to make sure athletes are getting the maximum benefit from them.

Neag School Welcomes New Faculty Members

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Pictured L-R: Joseph Abramo, Christopher Rhoads and Rachel Gabriel. Photo credit: Shawn Kornegay.
Picture L-R: Joseph Abramo, Christoper Rhoads and Rachael Gabriel.

The following are recently hired Neag faculty members. Congratulations and a warm welcome from the Neag School of Education.

Joseph Abramo

Joseph Abramo, Ed. D., is a clinical assistant professor of music education in the Neag School of Education where he teaches courses in instrumental methods and supervises student teachers. In February he was the recipient of the Outstanding Emerging Researcher Award from the Center for Music Education Research at the University of South Florida. He is a co-editor of the on-line, peer-reviewed journal Gender, Education, Music, and Society. His articles include publications in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Music Education Research, and Music Education Research International and his areas of research include popular music, gender, cultural studies, race and multiculturalism, poststructuralism, and constructivism. He holds degrees from Teachers College, Columbia University, Michigan State University, and the Crane School of Music at SUNY Potsdam. He previously served as an assistant professor of music education at Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY.

Rachael E. Gabriel

Rachael Gabriel received her Doctor of Philosophy in Education with a concentration in literacy studies in 2011 from the University of Tennessee after earning her M.A. in Secondary English in 2007 from American University. Gabriel has served as a graduate teaching associate in the Department of Theory and Practice in Teacher Education at the University of Tennessee and was a Baker Scholar at the Baker Center for Public Policy. Most recently, Gabriel worked as a member of the transition team for the new Commissioner of Education in Tennessee where she focused on recommendations for teacher professional development. Gabriel’s areas of interest include education policy, teacher preparation and professional development, reading instruction and qualitative methods. Gabriel is an assistant professor of literacy education in the Neag School of Education.

Christopher H. Rhoads

Chris Rhoads received his Ph.D. in Statistics from Northwestern University in 2008, where his dissertation research focused on developing methods for improving the statistical power of cluster randomized experiments. Since then, he has been an Institute of Education Sciences postdoctoral fellow in policy research at the Institute of Policy Research at Northwestern University. Rhoads is assistant professor in the Neag School of Education’s Department of Educational Psychology, where he will focus on methods for improving causal inference in educational research, particularly in the areas of experimental design and the analysis of multi-level data structures.