Research

Grants and Contracts

Neag School faculty continued to be highly engaged in seeking extramural funds to support their scholarship.

    $6.9M

    in awarded grant funding

    $18.3M

    in grant expenditures

    Enhanced Support for Research

    In 2024-25, the Neag School also enhanced its support for research through several mechanisms:

      Workshops and Ongoing Opportunities

      • Research Development Opportunities: OVPR’s Matt Mroz presented on OVPR’s support for faculty research proposal development on Sept. 26, 2024.
      • Watercooler Research Conversations: These monthly drop-in meetings are part of our ongoing efforts to stimulate research. Held by Associate Dean for Research Morgaen Donaldson and pre-award specialist Dan Stolzenberg, these informal drop-in sessions allowed faculty and students to ask any question regarding research proposal development.
      • Pizza with Post-Docs and Assistant Research Professors: We held one session in spring 2025 with this group to answer role-specific questions and build community. This was particularly critical given the threats to research posed by federal cuts.
      • Hub Spark Conversations: Meetings over the spring semester, led by Dr. Latoya Haynes-Thoby, brought together faculty and students with an interest in research on trauma-informed care.

        Additional Opportunities

        • DRIA: Three researchers carried out projects funded by Dean’s Research Incentive Awards awarded in spring 2024. One researcher was awarded a new DRIA in spring 2025. Dr. Jessica Koslouski’s collaborative proposal with Dr. Mallory Perry-Eaddy from the School of Nursing was selected in the 2025 round of grants. This is the second year in a row that Neag has awarded DRIA funding to an interdisciplinary team that includes a researcher from outside the Neag School. Across the four awards, three teams included researchers from outside the Neag School, reflecting our emphasis on cultivating connections with faculty in a range of disciplines.
        • QuantumCT: Neag faculty have become involved in QuantumCT, a ground-breaking collaboration between UConn and Yale. In 2025, Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead (EPSY), Jennie Weiner (EDLR), and Morgaen Donaldson (Dean’s Office) formed the evaluation team for UConn’s joint Quantum Engine proposal with Yale to the National Science Foundation. This initiative aims to establish Connecticut as a national leader in quantum technology. The project is a finalist for $160 million grant through the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Engines Development program.
        • CCERC: The Connecticut COVID-19 Education Research Collaborative was rebranded as the Center for Connecticut Education Research Collaboration (CCERC). This initiative funds research that brings together scholars from across Connecticut to investigate pressing problems in the state’s schools. In 2024-5, CCERC oversaw 22 grants funded at $6 million total from the state department of education. Over this year, eight Neag faculty served as principal investigators or co-principal investigators on CCERC grants investigating a range of topics. These grants were paused by the federal government in March 2025 and restarted in July 2025.

        The Neag School of Education Journal

        The cover of the Neag School of Education Journal's 2025 issue.The Neag School of Education Journal is an editor-reviewed, open-access, annual journal. As highlighted on the Journal’s webpage, the Journal’s “primary purpose is to offer a platform for graduate students to share their research and knowledge with academic communities, to broaden and deepen the literature of education, as written and experienced by graduate and doctoral students, as well as early-career scholars.” The journal invites non-traditional academic writing including essays, pilot studies, personal experiences and reflective pieces, along with literature reviews and research articles. Authors can retain copyright of their materials and continue to develop these pieces to be sent to peer-reviewed publications later in their careers.

        Dr. Jennie Weiner serves as the advisor for the Journal. Current board members are:

        • Jessica Bourget, Educational Psychology/Special Education doctoral student
        • Shea Charles, Educational Psychology doctoral student
        • Hannah Cooke, Curriculum and Instruction doctoral student
        • Elizabeth Farnum, Learning, Leadership and Educational Policy doctoral student
        • Talbot Hook, Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent Development doctoral student
        • Emily Lisy, Curriculum and Instruction doctoral student
        • Tobey Duble Moore, Educational Psychology/Special Education doctoral student
        • Taylor Strickland, Learning, Leadership and Educational Policy doctoral student
        • Charles Wentzell, Learning, Leadership and Educational Policy doctoral student
        • Jimmy Wilson, Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent Development doctoral student

        The journal has a DOI: 10.59198/2493064. In 2024-2025, the Journal reviewed 11 manuscripts and published three articles in its third issue.

        Research Center Highlights, 2024-25

        The Neag School’s Research Centers serve as hubs of interdisciplinary activity that strive to further the School’s educational, research, and public engagement mission. As such, they play a vital role in contributing to the Neag School’s visibility through interactions with national, state, and local communities as well as industry and foundations.

        Center for Behavioral Education and Research logo. [Links to CBER site.]Center for Behavioral Education and Research (CBER)

        CBER is a research and education center in the Neag School of Education whose mission is to conduct rigorous research and translate and disseminate empirically supported practices that promote equity and improve educational outcomes for all learners, especially those with or at risk for learning and behavioral difficulties.  Learn more about CBER.

        2024-25 Center Highlights

        • Broad Public Engagement: CBER faculty engage with educators, schools, families, communities, and agencies on reciprocal research and implementation partnerships at the local, state, national, and international levels.
          • CBER faculty partners with hundreds of schools across Connecticut
          • CBER’s reach extends to schools in all states and U.S. territories
          • CBER sponsors an ongoing series of conferences, talks, and events to engage the Neag School and UConn communities as well as serve the needs of the larger educational community of parents, teachers, and leaders
        • Research Impact: CBER faculty are productive scholars, as evidenced by the following highlights over the past 15 years:
          • $60M in federal and state research grants and contracts
          • $800K per faculty per year
          • More than 4 publications per faculty per year
        • Collaborative and Informed Scholarship: CBER faculty form collaborative partnerships to inform and support scholarship and implementation.
          • Approximately a third of funding is from state/local contracts
        • Shaping Tomorrow’s Leaders: CBER faculty actively prepare and mentor leaders to shape the future of education.
          • CBER faculty have been awarded leadership grants of more than $5.5 million to prepare doctoral students
        • Events: CBER Researcher Scientists have sponsored conferences and events including the Postsecondary Disability Training Institute and the Northeast PBIS Leadership Forum:
          • NEPBIS Leadership Forum, May 14-16, 2025, Mystic CT
          • Postsecondary Disability Training Institute, May 27-30, 2025, Boston MA

              Center for Education Policy Analysis, Research, and Evaluation (CEPARE)

              CEPARE is a member of the Education Policy Alliance, a nationwide network of university-based research centers and organizations. The center director is Morgaen Donaldson and the steering committee includes Bianca Montrosse-Moorhead, Kathleen Lynch, Megan Staples, Grace Player, Kenny Nienhusser, and Jennie Weiner. Learn more about CEPARE on its website.

              Center for Education Policy Analysis, Research, and Evaluation logo. [Links to CEPARE site.]

                2024-25 Highlights

                • The Center for Connecticut Education Research Collaboration (CCERC): CCERC has gained a national reputation for bridging the divide between research, policy, and practice. With Ajit Gopalakrishnan, Chief Performance Officer at the CSDE, Morgaen Donaldson co-leads the CCERC, which was funded initially through a $3 million ARP ESSER grant and will be continued through another $3 million grant in summer 2023. This Collaborative brings together researchers from across Connecticut’s universities to conduct important research. Dr. Donaldson and post-doctoral researcher Alex Lamb and CCERC project PI Eric Brunner presented findings from CCERC at the annual conference Performance Matters, sponsored by the Connecticut State Department of Education, October 10, 2025. Findings from CCERC have been highlighted by The New York Times and the EduRecoveryHub, which produced, “Funding What Works in Education: Connecticut’s Unique Education Research Collaborative,” described in this interview with Morgaen Donaldson.
                • Rapid Research Briefs for Alliance Districts: With the support of AERA’s Education Research Service Project (ERSP) funding, the Center for Education Policy Analysis, Research, and Evaluation (CEPARE) produced short-duration, fast-turnaround Rapid Research Briefs (RRB) that investigate pressing issues in Connecticut’s Alliance Districts, 36 of the lowest-performing and lowest-resourced school districts in the state. These districts have faced numerous challenges, including student mobility, increasing student poverty, educator turnover, and declines in state funding over time. Many of these challenges were exacerbated by COVID. Alliance districts face unprecedented challenges in the current moment that give rise to numerous, urgent questions. CEPARE published four Rapid Research Briefs in the 2024-25 school year and two student authors, Kristin Simmers and Julia Oas, presented their findings to Alliance district superintendents:
                • UConn Undergraduate Admissions: This ongoing evaluation of the test-optional undergraduate ad¬missions pilot program is led by Morgaen Donaldson and includes Eric Loken, Catherina Villafuerte, and Kiah DeVona. The Annual Report Year 3 was completed in March 2025.
                • CEPARE Speaker Series in 2024-25:
                  • Dr. Alex Friedus and Hannah Cooke. Mandating an Elective? The Implementation of Black and Latino Studies Courses in Connecticut High Schools. November 12, 2024.

                Reading and Language Arts Center logo. [Links to RLAC About page.]Reading Language and Arts Center

                The Reading and Language Arts Center coordinates the improvement of literacy instruction and literacy teacher education from the undergraduate through the doctoral levels. The center’s faculty provides graduate programs and courses within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction that offer concentrations in reading and language arts, including programs that lead to state certifications. Learn more about the center on its website.

                2024-25 Center Highlights

                • Adolescent Literacy Summit
                  • Over 100 educators from around New England gathered for the Adolescent Literacy Summit, held in Hartford on May 16, 2025. Teachers, school and district leaders engaged with nationally renowned speakers focused on adolescent literacy development, and heard from local students who shared their experiences, insights and ideas for programming, pedagogies and the perspectives they need to thrive as readers and writers in and out of school settings. See more on the Summit webpage on the Center website.
                • Research Excellence Grant Winner: Advancing Educational Equity through Language Assessment and Statistical Modeling
                  • This interdisciplinary project addresses two pressing needs: enhancing the usability of a critical language assessment tool for deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) students and advancing statistical methods for analyzing small and diverse datasets. The ASL Assessment Instrument (ASLAI) is a standardized tool designed to evaluate ASL proficiency in students aged 4–18. This project is establishing the first ever comprehensive set of ASL norms using data from over 7,000 ASLAI administrations, providing educators with insights to better support DHH students’ language development. To improve the tool’s practicality, we are streamlining the assessment, reducing its length while maintaining accuracy. By refining the ASLAI and establishing robust norms, this project is promoting educational equity, improving instructional planning, and contributing to methodologies that support underserved populations across disciplines.
                • Hartford Campus Community-Building Grant: “Hack it” Zine
                  • Doctoral student, Emery Roberts, won a community building grant from UConn Hartford to run a zine-making workshop for students and community members in Hartford. The project invited people with disabilities to submit entries a zine focused on how they “hack access” in higher education. The workshop on zine-making allowed community members and students to craft and curate the entries into a publishable form. It has been printed for distribution when students return in the fall.
                • Readingpolicy.org
                  • We launched a reading policy tracking website that compares state policies and rating information related to curriculum and assessment K-5. We will be adding a rating information sheet for 6-12 at www.readingpolicy.org
                • Service
                  • Hannah Dostal was named the co-chair of the International Congress on the Education of Deaf and published a book with Easterbrooks and Beal: Literacy Instruction for Students who are Deaf and Hard of Hearing (2024) with Oxford University Press. She continues as editor in chief of the Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education.
                  • Rachael Gabriel published a book with Teachers College Press called Doing Disciplinary Literacy, and continues as editor in chief of The Reading Teacher.
                  • An incoming doctoral student in deaf education was accepted into UConn’s Transcend Ph.D. Training Program in education and neuroscience.

                Renzulli Center for Creativity, Giftedness, and Talent Development

                The mission of the Renzulli Center is to promote enjoyment, engagement, and enthusiasm for learning in teachers and students at all levels of education through high quality research and outreach on innovative teaching strategies. The Center’s work in talent development and gifted education is based on practical applications of over four decades of research, as are the direct services its members provide to teachers, administrators, researchers, and policy makers throughout the world. Learn more about the Renzulli Center on its website.

                Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development logo. [Links to Renzulli Center site.]

                2024-25 Center Highlights

                • Currently, the Renzulli Center for Creativity, Gifted Education, and Talent Development is actively involved in research initiatives totaling over $16 million. This encompasses the National Center for Research on Gifted Education (NCRGE), the sole federally funded national center on gifted education, along with four 5-year Javits funded projects (three continuing and one new grant). Our investigations are focused on enhancing identification and services for underserved populations in gifted programs, developing professional learning materials and screening procedures to better serve students, improving identification practices for subject-specific and whole-grade acceleration, exploring the broader benefits of gifted education, and examining potential disparities in achievement based on teacher assignments.
                • Dr. Catherine Little was elected president of the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), the nation’s largest professional organization dedicated to gifted education. Dr. Del Siegle, who directs the Center and the NCRGE, was honored as the Neag School’s 2024 Distinguished Researcher. Dr. James Kaufman was also featured multiple times in the New York Times on creativity-related topics.
                • In August 2024, Dr. Del Siegle was one of four featured keynote speakers at the ECHA international conference in Thessaloniki, Greece. ECHA now incorporates Siegle’s Achievement Orientation Model into its professional learning modules on underachievement, furthering the reach of the Center’s research and learning strategies.
                • The Renzulli Center partnered with SKLAD and International Academy of Pedagogy in the Republic of Kazakhstan as part of a two-day virtual professional learning event. Drs. Sally Reis and Del Siegle both provided featured presentations, expanding the Center’s global outreach.
                • To sustain and grow these international collaborations, the Center is forming an advisory board with its inaugural meeting planned for 2026. This board will play a key role in guiding strategic partnerships and furthering enrichment learning initiatives in the next five-year cycle.
                • The Center held its popular campus-based Confratute, offering a four-day on-campus event. This initiative reached over 500 educators, significantly extending our impact in the field of education across the nation and around the world.
                • The Renzulli Center produced 19 publications and gave 25 keynotes or invited presentations. These include:
                  • Dr. Catherine Little’s keynote presentation in September, 2024 at the Virginia Consortium of Gifted Education Administrators, Charlottesville, VA, United States
                  • Dr. Del Siegle’s keynote at the Education of Gifted/Twice Exceptional Students: Challenges and Prospects, SKLAD and International Academy of Pedagogy (Republic of Kazakhstan).
                • The Center also contributed to the development of the next generation of scholars in gifted education:
                  • Three postdoctoral scholars were mentored
                  • Graduate student Mei Zheng, collaborating with Catherine Little, received a $5,000 research fellowship from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) to examine the connections between interpersonal relationships and job satisfaction in arts domains.
                  • Graduate student Shana Lusk received a $12,000 grant from the Catawba Nation Foundation to support her dissertation study examining perspectives of members of the Catawba Nation about their educational experiences.
                • Lastly, the Center had four funded grants in 2024-25:
                  • National Center for Research on Gifted Education (NCRGE) — Del Siegle, PI; D. Betsy McCoach and Catherine Little, Co-PI
                  • Project Focus — Catherine Little, PI; Kylie Anglin, Co-PI
                  • Project EAGLE (Eliciting Advanced Gifted Learning) — Del Siegle, PI; D. Betsy McCoach and Susan Dulong Langley, Co-PI
                  • Project BUMP UP (Building Up Mathematics Proficiency Utilizing Push-In) — Del Siegle, PI; D. Betsy McCoach, Co-PI)