The U.S. Department of Education has distributed $2.8 million to the University of Connecticut’s Stamford Campus and Neag School of Education for a collaboration dubbed “Sueños Scholars: Supporting Latiné Teacher Dreams.”
This collaboration’s intent is to increase the number of teachers from predominantly Hispanic and other minority communities through internship opportunities in partner Alliance districts.
According to the School + State Finance Project, Alliance districts are 36 of the lowest-performing school districts with at least 1,000 students at the time of designation.
Alliance districts often suffer from underdeveloped educational systems and teacher shortages in critical special education areas.
The goals for Sueños Scholars as mentioned on the Neag School of Education: Office of Teacher Education website include:
- Higher enrollment in master’s degree programs in educational psychology along with curriculum and instruction to increase eligibility for CT teacher certification in content-specific areas
- Recruiting, developing and retaining highly qualified and diverse administrators and faculty
- Increasing UConn Stamford’s retention and completion rates for Hispanic and other students of minority backgrounds
“I think that it’s incredibly important to find ways to fund master’s degrees for future teachers, and this particular grant funding opportunity is to serve students who come from traditionally underserved backgrounds,” Dr. Tracey Sinclair, director of the Neag School’s Teacher Certification Program for College Graduates, said.
These include students from marginalized communities, such as those from Hispanic or lower-income backgrounds and first-generation students.
“I think it represents Neag and UConn Stamford’s commitment to supporting the most underserved students in our communities,” Sinclair said. “First generation students students who come from lower income background and students who come from marginalized backgrounds; that investment in our community at the level of undergraduates and graduate students is really important.”
Sinclair continued by saying that this funding follows the mission and vision at Neag and UConn Stamford as a Hispanic serving institution.
According to the CT State Department of Education, over 50 percent of students enrolled across Stamford public schools identified as Hispanic or Latino for the 2022-23 academic year. Only 8.7 percent of these educators being of the same demographic.
At UConn Stamford, about 37 percent of undergraduate students are of Hispanic descent.
“[And] it’s incredibly important because when you look at the kind of makeup of the teaching force, 80 percent are white females and that doesn’t match the students who are in the classroom,” Sinclair said. “And so it’s important that students who are in the classroom, particularly in urban areas like Stamford Public Schools, they can see themselves in their educators in the classroom.”
Although applications are currently closed for the 2025 Summer program, students can apply for the 2026 Sueños Scholars cohort starting in the fall.
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