UConn Stamford and UConn’s Neag School of Education have received $2.8 million from the U.S. Department of Education to recruit, support, and mentor Hispanic and under-resourced students to pursue a master’s degree in education. The five-year partnership, Sueños Scholars: Supporting Latiné Teacher Dreams, will ultimately increase the number of teachers from historically marginalized communities in Connecticut.

Sueños Scholars is specifically funded by the department’s Office of Postsecondary Education’s Developing Hispanic-Serving Institutions program. It serves both undergraduate and graduate students at UConn and aligns with the University’s strategic efforts to improve academic success, particularly for under-resourced students.

“We are so excited about this significant grant, as it will allow us to further support our students, their families, and our community,” says Jennifer Orlikoff, UConn Stamford Campus Dean and Chief Administrative Officer. “Preparing Latiné students to become teachers in our school districts will strengthen the road to success for future students. I’m delighted that we are going to offer this impactful opportunity.”

The new program has a specific tie-in with the Neag School’s Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates (TCPCG), which is a 10-month, post-baccalaureate program leading to teacher certification and a master’s degree. TCPCG is currently offered at UConn’s four regional campuses, including UConn Stamford which, along with UConn Waterbury, is designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution.

“This funding will strengthen relationships with community public schools and support UConn Stamford student success,” says Katie Nagrotsky, assistant clinical professor and principal investigator for the grant. “The Sueños Scholars program will prepare students to teach in Connecticut’s most underserved school districts.”

Preparing Latiné students to become teachers in our school districts will strengthen the road to success for future students. — Jennifer Orlikoff, UConn Stamford Campus Dean and Chief Administrative Officer

At UConn Stamford, about 37% of students identify as Hispanic/Latino, a number that has steadily grown from about 15% in 2008. Diversity continues to grow in the region as well; more than half of PreK-12 students in Stamford Public Schools and Norwalk Public Schools are Hispanic/Latino. UConn, at large, is also the top awarder of bachelor’s degrees to Hispanic students in the state.

Over the course of five years, Sueños Scholars will enhance UConn Stamford’s support of its Hispanic and under-resourced students who are interested in becoming teachers by:

• Collaborating with UConn Stamford’s nonresidential La Comunidad Intelectual to provide targeted resources to the undergraduate learning community, including a speaker series addressing the assets and needs of teachers of color.
• Scholarship support for undergraduate students
• Full tuition support for 50 UConn Stamford TCPCG students; 10 each year
• Resources to meet fundamental health and safety needs of students

“The Sueños Scholars program exemplifies everything we stand for at the Neag School of Education,” says Dean Jason G. Irizarry, whose research expertise includes urban teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention with an emphasis on increasing the number of teachers of color. “I’m thrilled this program will make teaching careers more accessible for under-resourced students. UConn Stamford is a wonderful partner in this effort and the transformational impact this collaboration will have on UConn students and, eventually, K-12 schools throughout Connecticut is truly inspirational.”

Irizarry is also a co-principal investigator on the grant, along with UConn Stamford’s Orlikoff and Laura Tropp, Associate Campus Director and Director of Academic Affairs; and the Neag School’s Director of Teacher Education, Alyssa Hadley Dunn, and Director of TCPCG, Tracy Sinclair.

A key element of Sueños Scholars and TCPCG is partnering with the state’s Alliance Districts, which are Connecticut’s 33 lowest performing school districts. For the past few years, TCPCG has partnered with several Alliance Districts to offer paid internships to future teachers. Students spend five days a week in a school, with a minimum of 14 hours a week in their specified content area – special education, mathematics, English, science, etc. Currently, there are half-year (late August to mid-January) and full-year (late August to mid-June) internships options, based on availability.

The paid internships allow students to gain professional experience while offsetting the cost of graduate school. For the schools, the benefits of the internships are twofold.

“Not only do they receive an additional staff member in the form of a building substitute during critical times, such as the lead-up to the holiday season, but they also gain the advantage of having a potential future employee immersed in their school environment for an entire year,” Sinclair says. “For students, this integration into a school community can foster deeper connections and increase their chances of securing employment post-graduation.”

Public schools across Connecticut reported 1,092 teacher vacancies and 1,276 paraeducator vacancies in August 2024. Of those, 719 were teacher vacancies and 590 were paraeducator vacancies in Alliance Districts. TCPCG has long helped reduce such shortages, and now the Sueños Scholars program will specifically prepare new educators from historically marginalized backgrounds.

Year One of the program is already underway. Since Oct. 1, the team has developed a speaker series and an undergraduate education elective course for UConn Stamford students to introduce them to careers in education. Students worked with fourth graders at a local elementary school within walking distance of campus and the course benefits from a partnership with Stamford Public Education Foundation. UConn Stamford senior Marven Gene ’24 (CLAS) completed the elective course this fall.

“I’ve learned how real-world connections can make lessons more meaningful and foster deeper engagement,” he says. “By involving students in discussions about societal issues and encouraging them to apply their learning to real-world challenges, I can help them see the relevance of their education.”

As a first-generation student, being awarded the Sueños Scholars fellowship grants me access to resources, classes, and workshops … as well as fellow graduate students that share the same goals. — Luisa Floridia ’25 MA

The project team was also able to support fall and spring tuition for 10 current TCPCG students in the 2024-2025 UConn Stamford cohort as the grant started mid-semester.

“As a first-generation student, being awarded the Sueños Scholars fellowship grants me access to resources, classes, and workshops in my certification area, as well as fellow graduate students that share the same goals,” says current UConn Stamford TCPCG special education cohort student Luisa Floridia ’25 MA. “Through the fellowship, I’ve been able to attend speaker series events that provided me with different perspectives on important issues in education. The fellowship has opened doors to many opportunities that will help shape my professional journey.”

The project team is also in the midst of recruiting and interviewing potential Sueños Scholars students who will begin TCPCG in summer 2025. Besides continuing to recruit 10 students each year, Years Two through Five of the grant will also prioritize curriculum revisions to emphasize strategies for teaching multilingual PreK-12 students and culturally responsive teaching.

“This grant is an exciting collaboration between higher education and elementary and secondary education,” Tropp says. “UConn Stamford will be at the forefront of developing and sharing the newest practices in multilingual teaching and experiential learning.”

Sueños Scholars: Supporting Latiné Teacher Dreams is a collaborative program between UConn Stamford and UConn’s Neag School of Education. Funding is provided by the United States Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Programs.