Neag School of Education

School children using computers. (Tetra Images – Erik Isakson/Getty Images)

UConn Researchers Lead National Collaborative Effort to Improve Gifted Education Programs

UConn researchers will lead a national effort to improve gifted education, funded by a $5 million federal grant.

Parent holding tablet for child.

4 Questions to Ask Now in Preparing Your Child for School

I recently read a post from a frustrated parent who attended a back-to-school virtual meeting. The parent wanted practical steps on preparing for school, but instead received a lot of information about mindfulness and social-emotional health. The school perhaps missed an opportunity here to engage families in why social, emotional, and behavioral health is so important, and how it is critical for schools and families to partner as we head into fall.

Diandra J. Prescod.

Counseling Expert Strives to Support Individuals Facing Unemployment Due to COVID

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, unemployment rates in the U.S. rose to their highest level since the Great Depression as of mid-April. Last week alone, the U.S. Department of Labor reported more than 1.4 million new unemployment claims. Diandra J. Prescod, associate professor and program coordinator of counselor education and counseling psychology at the Neag School, is working to combat the obstacles faced by those Americans who have lost their jobs or been furloughed as a result of the pandemic. She wants them, first and foremost, to have hope.

UConn alumna Pauline Batista Souza da Silva carries the torch at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Ph.D. Student Pauline Batista Seeks to Support Youth’s Voice

“In my work as a researcher,” says LLEP doctoral candidate Pauline Batista ’16 MA, “I come from an understanding where youth do not have a voice unless youth have the educational skill set or the educational apparatus.”

Andrew Girard.

Reimagining the Ballpark Experience Amid COVID-19

Andrew Girard MA ’19 has been preparing for baseball’s opening day since this past September. As the stadium operations manager for the Hartford Yard Goats, Girard oversees the maintenance and facility enhancement projects at Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford, Connecticut. When he learned that the season start date would be delayed due to COVID-19, he and his team began creating systems to ensure that fans would feel comfortable and safe when they were able to return to the park. 

Neag School alum and school superintendent Nathan Quesnel greets a student at East Hartford High.

Strategies for Fostering an Emotionally Safe School Environment

Schools play a critical role in fostering emotional safety for adults and students. In responding to COVID-19, schools planning to reopen must include efforts that define a safe school environment as having not only physical elements such as cleaning practices, ventilation conditions, and physical distancing protocols, but also emotional elements.

Associate Vice President for Global Affairs, Yuhang Rong, Appointed to CAEP Board of Director

Associate Vice President for Global Affairs Yuhang Rong, Ph.D., was appointed as a member of Board of Directors on July 1, 2020 by the Council of Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), the national accreditation agency for educator preparation programs. UConn’s Neag School of Education is accredited by CAEP.

Books to be distributed through summer reading program.

Reading and Language Arts Center Champions Literacy Amid Pandemic

In the wake of the pandemic, schools have pivoted to online learning. Rachael Gabriel, associate professor of literacy education and director of Neag School of Education’s Reading and Language Arts Center, knew she wanted to help the education community amid this major shift.

Students Build Fictional World With Real Educational Impact

Polykosmia is a universe dreamed up by students in two classes led this spring by Stephen Slota (he/him, they/them), Neag School assistant professor-in-residence of educational technology. The project, an exercise in both worldbuilding and lesson planning, involved designing everything from mythologies to local governments to individual character arcs. Students also learned how to adapt worldbuilding activities into K–12 classrooms and how to design lesson plans that connected story objectives in a fictional world with learning objectives in the classroom.

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A Message From the Neag School Equity and Social Justice Committee

Our hearts ache. George Floyd’s life matters. Breonna Taylor’s life matters. Ahmaud Arbery’s life matters. Black lives matter. Racist violence is killing Black people and destroying our community, nation, and larger world. The violence happens every day. Every single day.