Casey Cobb, a professor at UConn’s Neag School of Education, has interviewed many families about what goes into them choosing whether to send their children to predominantly white suburban schools if they win the lottery.

“What we found was, yeah, race and socioeconomic status, that sort of diversity, does play a role in their decision making,” he said, pointing out that magnet schools are typically more diverse, and that was one of the reasons families tend to seek those schools.

The expansion of a program to allow urban students in Danbury and Norwalk to attend suburban schools in Fairfield County has met a variety of challenges as the wealthier surrounding towns debate whether to enroll the students. In 2021, the state legislature set aside $1.175 million over two years to expand Open Choice – a program that currently serves children in Bridgeport, New Haven and Hartford – to include Danbury and Norwalk.

“As a former school board member – and as a researcher who studies educational leadership and policy – I find it worrisome when polarizing issues generate so much attention from candidates,” says Casey Cobb, Neag Professor of Educational Policy at the Neag School of Education. “The reason I worry is that I know from firsthand experience that being an effective school board member is never just about taking a stance on a few hot-button topics. Rather, it’s about much broader issues, such as meeting the educational needs of all students in the school district.”

Research can inform policy, but it must first be vetted and publicly debated. A recent exchange illustrates the value of such a public deliberation.

Casey D. Cobb has been appointed the Neag Endowed Professor of Educational Policy, Dean Richard L. Schwab announced this week to faculty and staff of the Neag School.

“Dr. Casey D. Cobb has a national reputation as an expert scholar in education policy” who has “demonstrated strong scholarly leadership throughout his academic career,” said Provost Mun Y. Choi in a statement to the University of Connecticut Board of Trustees, which approved Cobb’s appointment at its Feb. 24 meeting.

Because Sport Management is more about educating students to become leaders in the sport industry than exercise scientists, athletic trainers or physical therapists, the program has transitioned out of the Department Kinesiology and into the Department of Educational Leadership. Both are within UConn’s Neag School of Education. Sport Management faculty offices are now located in […]

One of the hottest topics in public education is the issue of evaluating teachers. Two years ago, a fierce competition for federal Race to the Top money prompted states to propose using data analysis to tie teacher performance directly to student test scores. “I think we’ve all realized it’s far more complicated than it appears,” […]

Both white and minority children in Connecticut’s magnet schools showed stronger connections to their peers of other races than students in their home districts, and city students made greater academic gains than students in non-magnet city schools, Casey Cobb and a team of colleagues found in research commissioned by the state. Cobb, associate professor of […]