Niralee Patel-Lye

Assistant Clinical Professor

Curriculum and Instruction

---

Title:

Assistant Clinical Professor
Teacher Preparation Program

Academic Degrees:

Ed.D., Southern Connecticut State University
MS, Central Connecticut State University
BS.Ed., Education, Central Connecticut State University
BA, Biology, State University of New York at Albany

Biography:

Niralee Patel-Lye has an array of teaching and administrative experiences in both public school and higher education. She most recently served as a PDC (Professional Development Center) Coordinator in the Neag School of Education’s IB/M program teaching and supporting student placements in Manchester and Willington, Connecticut. Prior to joining UConn, she had been a faculty member in the Education Department at Connecticut College and also in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy at Southern Connecticut State University. Previously, she served as the Director of Clinical Experiences for the Education Department at the University of Saint Joseph.

In addition, she has taught undergraduate coursework in early childhood education at Mitchell College, graduate coursework in measurement and metrics at Post University, and a range of doctoral courses at the University of Bridgeport. She also has many years of experience as an educator in urban, suburban, regional, and magnet schools. She has held positions ranging from ABA therapist to classroom teacher to teacher evaluator to administrator.

Dr. Patel-Lye earned a doctorate in educational leadership from Southern Connecticut State University in 2013. Her dissertation, “Small Learning Communities: Social and Cultural Capital in an Urban, Comprehensive High School”, was a mixed methods study that focused on the ways in which the small learning community model resulted in educational inequities for students and teachers.

Her research explores the role of schools as places in which issues of social capital, cultural capital, power, and identity influence systemic inequities for students and educators. Stemming from her years as an educator, her work centers on providing under-represented students with equitable access to educational resources and supports in order to address the ever-widening opportunity gap in education.

Selected Publications and Presentations:

Patel-Lye, N. (2019, August). Racial Isolation, Choice, and Segregation in Secondary Magnet Schools. Paper presented at University of Bridgeport Doctoral Residency Week.

Patel-Lye, N. (2018, August). Motivation, Metacognition, and Student Outcomes in a Secondary Magnet Program. Paper presented at University of Bridgeport Doctoral Residency Week.

Patel-Lye, N. and Gregory, J. (2015, October). The Illusion of Choice: Small Learning Communities in an Urban Setting. Paper presented at the Center for Scholastic Inquiry Conference.

Patel-Lye, N. and Gregory, J. (2015, April). Smaller but Still not Equitable: Smaller Learning Communities in an Urban High School. Paper presented at New England Educational Research Organization Conference.

Hesser, T., Gregory, J., and Patel-Lye, N. (2015, April). An Examination of Motivation and Metacognitive Awareness in College-Ready Versus Underprepared Students. Paper presented at New England Educational Research Organization Conference.

Patel-Lye, N. and Gregory, J. (2014, October). Small Learning Communities: Separate but Not Equal. Paper presented at Transformative Research Educators for Democracy Conference.

Patel-Lye, N. (2012, November). Engaging the Digital Language Learner. Paper presented Connecticut Organization of Language Teachers Conference.

Patel-Lye, N. (2010, November). Differentiated Instruction in the World Language Classroom. Professional development at Bridgeport Public Schools.

Patel-Lye, N. (2009, August). Integrating Reading into the World Language Curriculum. Professional development at Bridgeport Public Schools.

Patel-Lye, N. (2008, November). Common Formative Assessments in the World Language Classroom. Professional development at Bridgeport Public Schools