A student exchange with Hebrew University builds on Haskins' history of discovery and its work with educators close to home and around the world
Students and faculty gather in the North Reading Room at UConn Storrs for the Language and Learning workshop on Oct. 7 (Fumiko Hoeft / UConn Photo)
When graduate students from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem gathered with their UConn and Haskins collaborators on Oct. 5, they had spent the preceding days developing joint projects on how children learn to read by drawing on the statistical structure of language-the regularities that make some sounds, spellings, and words more predictable than others. Comparing findings and refining their next experiments, they were advancing a shared goal: to understand the mechanisms that support reading, explain why reading comes more easily to some children than others, and explore how these insights could inform new instructional approaches.
That informal workshop set the tone for the Language and Learning Mini-Conference and Workshop at UConn Storrs on Oct. 6-7. The gathering brought students into a longstanding scientific partnership that connects research on the brain and learning with questions about how children acquire reading skills. Across talks, student presentations, and methodological workshops, participants explored how new tools can help test theories of language learning and reveal differences in the ways children learn to read.
Seven graduate students and three faculty members from Hebrew University joined colleagues from UConn, Haskins Laboratories, Yale, and other universities. For most students, the conference capped a week of collaborative research with UConn Psychological Science faculty Jay Rueckl and Yale faculty Erin Isbilen, both part of the Haskins research community.
"The visit to Haskins Labs and UConn was perhaps the most impactful academic gathering I've been part of, combining outstanding, inspiring presentations on reading, learning, and language with a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The meetings with researchers at both institutions and feedback on my presentation helped me make substantial leaps forward in my current projects in ways I couldn't have anticipated. I hope the connections made will also mark the beginning of several collaborations," says Hebrew University graduate student Tal Koren.
Beyond the scientific program, participants had opportunities to connect informally. UConn Psychological Sciences faculty Inge-Marie Eigsti and Jim Magnuson welcomed participants to their home for dinner, and Isbilen took visiting Israeli students apple picking. These gatherings helped strengthen relationships among colleagues across institutions.
Following the questions behind language and reading
The scientific program brought together connected strands of research on foundational questions in language research: making sense of language as it unfolds. How do we anticipate what someone will say next? How does a child move from slowly sounding out words to recognizing them with ease? How do general learning mechanisms contribute to speech and reading?
On Oct. 6, Hebrew University faculty Ram Frost explored how readers seek out information and adapt to patterns in language. UConn Educational Psychology faculty Laura Steacy described work with Rueckl and Hebrew University faculty Noam Siegelman on another puzzle. A child may know the word scissors long before its spelling makes sense. How does the child connect a sounded-out version with the familiar spoken word? Talks by Isbilen and Siegelman considered how learning regularities through experience contributes to reading.
Students took the floor the following morning, presenting work on topics such as predictable words and learning in noisy environments. Methodological workshops then opened up new ways to investigate those questions. UConn Brain Imaging Research Center Core director and faculty Nabin Koirala discussed portable brain imaging and wearable technology that can help researchers study learning in more everyday situations, including social interaction and storytelling; Hebrew University's Tal Koren presented new statistical approaches to reveal "archetypes" of readers.
"Student projects build on the rich legacy of Haskins/UConn research while pointing toward new directions for understanding how the human mind works. Together, they illustrate how universal biological and computational principles can give rise to the remarkable diversity of human cognition," says event co-organizer and emeritus professor of Psychological Sciences, Jay Reuckl.
"A central question is how differences in people's sensitivity to patterns in the mappings between speech and print relate to differences in reading skill. Our ultimate goal is to translate that understanding into more effective instruction for learners who struggle with reading. This exchange brought together researchers using shared methods across different populations and analytic traditions, helping us refine our questions and develop collaborative projects that move us closer to that goal," says event co-organizer and professor of Psychological Sciences, Nicole Landi.
A scientific tradition with a home in Waterbury
The effort to connect discovery with practical needs runs deep at Haskins. Founded in 1935, the laboratories took on the challenge of developing reading technology for blind people in the 1940s. Research into speech and reading helped establish the importance of phonemic awareness: recognizing the individual sounds within spoken words, a foundation for learning to read an alphabetic writing system. Haskins has been based in Connecticut since 1970. Its history helps explain the mix of basic science and educational purpose that still brings this community together.
The Haskins Global Literacy Hub, co-founded in 2017 by UConn Psychological Sciences faculty Kenneth Pugh and UConn Waterbury Campus Dean Fumiko Hoeft, carries that work into partnerships with educators across languages and cultures. An April 2024 MOU among Yale Child Study Center, UConn Global, and UConn Waterbury formalized the renewed partnership. UConn Waterbury became the Hub's headquarters, giving the Haskins name and scientific tradition a renewed presence at UConn. The hub also builds on the long history of international collaborations at Haskins, including with members of Hebrew University.
The work takes different forms in different communities. UConn faculty and conference organizer Nicole Landi and colleagues have established neuroscience laboratories inside partner schools, including AIM Academy in Pennsylvania and The Windward School in New York. Studying children as they receive reading instruction lets researchers follow how learning develops over time, while teachers help shape the questions. The aim is to understand why children respond differently to instruction and how support might be better matched to their needs.
In Connecticut, Hub Director Benjamin Powers also leads The Southport School and The Southport CoLAB. Their community programs include free public talks and reading screenings that help families recognize when a child may need additional support. At UConn Waterbury, Hoeft's related work through the Neurovariability Initiative helps faculty and staff design teaching and support around students' differing ways of learning.
Florencia Salvarezza brought an international classroom perspective to the gathering, presenting work with collaborators in Chaco, Argentina, on structured reading instruction in Spanish. Her presentation highlighted substantial gains in reading and writing following a shift toward explicit teaching of letter-sound relationships
In Jamaica, the Hub supported a conference designed by local educators with Winsome Wishes for Kids, sharing practical approaches to literacy, learning differences, and family engagement. Powers discussed these connections in Storrs, showing how research and educators' experience can inform one another.
"This workshop was made possible by decades of innovative collaboration between UConn, Yale and Hebrew University. These relationships have created a solid foundation for sustained collaboration, student training, and discovery. They also advance our public mission by bringing global knowledge and experience to questions that matter here in Connecticut, including how we help more children become successful readers," says Daniel Weiner, former VP for Global Affairs.
UConn Global helped make the exchange possible, with additional support from the Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences (IBACS), the NSF TRANSCEND PhD training program, and Hebrew University. Dan Weiner, former vice president for global affairs, supported the initiative's development.
The collaboration continues beyond the visit. All four joint projects remain active, with some preparing for data collection and collaborators working toward joint papers and future research. Building on the 12 institutions represented this year, participants hope to make the gathering a regular event, welcoming more Haskins Global Literacy Hub colleagues from across the United States and around the world while preserving the close connections and thoughtful discussions that made this gathering valuable. For the students, that next chapter is already underway in the projects and partnerships they brought home.
Learn more: haskins.global.uconn.edu/global/
