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{{Short description|Division within a university in the U.S. Canada}}
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In the [[United States]] and [[Canada]], a '''school of education''' (or '''college of education'''; '''ed school''') is a division within a [[university]] that is devoted to scholarship in the field of [[education]], which is an interdisciplinary branch of the [[Social Science|social sciences]] encompassing [[sociology]], [[psychology]], [[linguistics]], [[economics]], [[political science]], [[public policy]], [[history]], and others, all applied to the topic of [[Elementary School|elementary]], [[High school (North America)|secondary]], and [[College|post-secondary]] education. The U.S. has 1,206 schools, colleges
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2023}}
and departments of education and they exist in 78% of all universities and colleges.<ref>Levine, A. (2007). Educating researchers. New York: Education Schools Project.</ref> According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 176,572 individuals were conferred master's degrees in education by degree-granting institutions in the United States in 2006–2007. The number of master's degrees conferred has grown immensely since the 1990s and accounts for one of the discipline areas that awards the highest number of master's degrees in the United States.<ref>[http://www.nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d08/tables/dt08_272.asp Digest of Education Statistics - National Center for Education Statistics Web Site.] Accessed on December 4, 2009.</ref>

⚫
In the United States and Canada, a '''school of education''' (or '''college of education'''; '''ed school''') is a division within a [[university]] that is devoted to scholarship in the field of [[education]], which is an interdisciplinary branch of the [[social science]]s encompassing [[sociology]], [[psychology]], [[linguistics]], [[economics]], [[political science]], [[public policy]], [[history]], and others, all applied to the topic of [[Elementary School|elementary]], [[High school (North America)|secondary]], and [[College|post-secondary]] education. The U.S. has 1,206 schools, colleges and departments of education and they exist in 78 per cent of all universities and colleges.<ref>Levine, A. (2007). Educating researchers. New York: Education Schools Project.</ref> According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 176,572 individuals were conferred master's degrees in education by degree-granting institutions in the United States in 2006–2007. The number of master's degrees conferred has grown immensely since the 1990s and accounts for one of the discipline areas that awards the highest number of master's degrees in the United States.<ref>[http://www.nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d08/tables/dt08_272.asp Digest of Education Statistics - National Center for Education Statistics Web Site.] Accessed on December 4, 2009.</ref>


==History and areas of interest ==
==History and areas of interest ==
Schools of education are historically rooted in the 19th century [[normal school]]s. After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], universities began to include instruction in pedagogy, competing with normal schools in the preparation of teachers. [[Pedagogy]] and [[psychology]], which previously were considered to be subsets of [[philosophy]], gained status of legitimate collegiate academic disciplines thanks to [[William James]] and [[John Dewey]]. By 1900, most universities had some formal instruction in pedagogy.<ref>David B. Tyack, ''Turning points in American educational history'' (1967), pp. 415-416</ref> For a long time teacher education, curriculum, and instruction remained the core offering of schools of education.{{fact|date=November 2019}}
Schools of education are historically rooted in the 19th-century [[normal school]]s. After the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], universities began to include instruction in pedagogy, competing with normal schools in the preparation of teachers. [[Teachers College, Columbia University]] is the oldest graduate school of education in the United States, founded in 1887. [[Pedagogy]] and [[psychology]], which previously were considered to be subsets of [[philosophy]], gained status of legitimate collegiate academic disciplines thanks to [[William James]] and [[John Dewey]]. By 1900, most universities had some formal instruction in pedagogy.<ref>David B. Tyack, ''Turning points in American educational history'' (1967), pp. 415-416</ref> For a long time teacher education, curriculum, and instruction remained the core offering of schools of education.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}


By the 1930s, schools of education started training educational administrators such as principals and superintendents, and specialists such as guidance counselors for elementary and secondary schools.{{fact|date=November 2019}}
By the 1930s, schools of education started training educational administrators such as principals and superintendents, and specialists such as guidance counselors for elementary and secondary schools.{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}


Many graduates of schools of education become involved in education policy. As such, issues such as equity, teacher quality, and education assessment have become focuses of many schools of education. The issue of equitable access to education, specifically focusing on [[low-income]], [[minority group|minority]], and [[immigrant]] communities, is central to many areas of research within the education field.<ref name="labaree">{{cite journal|last=Labaree|first=David F.|title=Progressivism, schools and schools of education: An American romance|journal=Paedagogica Historica|date=1 February 2005|volume=41|issue=1-2|pages=275–288|doi=10.1080/0030923042000335583|url=http://www.stanford.edu/~dlabaree/publications/Progressivism_Schools_and_Schools_of_Ed.pdf|accessdate=28 April 2013|publisher=Routledge|issn=1477-674X}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
Many graduates of schools of education become involved in education policy. As such, issues such as equity, teacher quality, and education assessment have become focuses of many schools of education. The issue of equitable access to education, specifically focusing on [[low-income]], [[minority group|minority]], and [[immigrant]] communities, is central to many areas of research within the education field.<ref name="labaree">{{cite journal|last=Labaree|first=David F.|title=Progressivism, schools and schools of education: An American romance|journal=Paedagogica Historica|date=1 February 2005|volume=41|issue=1–2|pages=275–288|doi=10.1080/0030923042000335583|url=http://www.stanford.edu/~dlabaree/publications/Progressivism_Schools_and_Schools_of_Ed.pdf|access-date=28 April 2013|publisher=Routledge|s2cid=17219998|issn=1477-674X}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|url=http://ed.stanford.edu/suse/aboutsuse/
|url=http://ed.stanford.edu/suse/aboutsuse/
|title=Message from the Dean
|title=Message from the Dean
|year=2007
|year=2007
|author=Deborah J. Stipek
|author=Deborah J. Stipek
|accessdate=2007-03-30
|access-date=2007-03-30
}}</ref>
}}</ref>


==Types of programs==
==Types of programs==
Typically, a school of education offers [[research]]-based programs leading to [[Master of Arts]] (M.A.), [[Master of Education]] (M.Ed.), [[Doctor of Philosophy]] (Ph.D.), [[Doctor of Education]] (Ed.D.) or [[Educational Specialist]] (Ed.S.) degrees, as well as professional teacher-education programs leading to [[Master of Arts]] (M.A.), [[Master of Education]] (M.Ed.), or [[Master of Arts in Teaching]] (M.A.T.) degrees. Schools of education also offer teacher certification or licensure programs to undergraduate students. Generally schools of education have graduate programs related to teacher preparation, curriculum and instruction (or curriculum and teaching), public policy and education, and educational administration. In addition, some schools of education offer programs in [[school counseling]] and [[counseling psychology]].{{fact|date=November 2019}}
Typically, a school of education offers [[research]]-based programs leading to [[Master of Arts]] (MA), [[Master of Education]] (MEd), [[Doctor of Philosophy]] (PhD), [[Doctor of Education]] (EdD) or [[Educational Specialist]] (EdS) degrees, as well as professional teacher-education programs leading to [[Master of Arts]] (MA), [[Master of Education]] (MEd), or [[Master of Arts in Teaching]] (MAT) degrees. Schools of education also offer teacher certification or licensure programs to undergraduate students. Generally schools of education have graduate programs related to teacher preparation, curriculum and instruction (or curriculum and teaching), public policy and education, and educational administration. In addition, some schools of education offer programs in [[school counseling]] and [[counseling psychology]].{{citation needed|date=November 2019}}


==Criticism==
==Criticism==
===Low academic standards===
===Low academic standards===
Schools of education have been blamed for low academic standards and "Mickey Mouse" courses,<ref>Finn, C. E. (2001). Getting better teachers—and treating them right. In T. M. Moe (Ed.), A primer on America’s schools (pp. 127-150). Stanford, CA: Hoover Institute.</ref> suggesting that earning an advanced degree in education, specifically a master level degree, doesn't seem to actually make someone a better teacher.<ref name="WaMo030210">{{cite news
Schools of education have been blamed for low academic standards. Critics argue that earning an advanced degree in education, specifically a master level degree, doesn't seem to actually make someone a better teacher.<ref name="WaMo030210">{{cite news
|first=Daniel
|first=Daniel
|last=Luzer
|last=Luzer
Line 27: Line 29:
|work=[[Washington Monthly]]
|work=[[Washington Monthly]]
|date=22 February 2010
|date=22 February 2010
|accessdate=2012-03-02
|access-date=2012-03-02
}}</ref> [[George Pólya]] quoted a typical pre-service secondary school mathematics teacher, "The mathematics department offers us tough steak which we cannot chew and the school of education [feeds us] vapid soup with no meat in it". Polya suggested that a college instructor who offered a methods course to mathematics teachers knew mathematics at least on the level of a master's degree and had some experience of mathematical research.<ref>{{cite web
}}</ref> [[George Pólya]] quoted a typical pre-service secondary school mathematics teacher, "The mathematics department offers us tough steak which we cannot chew and the school of education [feeds us] vapid soup with no meat in it". Polya suggested that a college instructor who offered a methods course to mathematics teachers knew mathematics at least on the level of a master's degree and had some experience of mathematical research.<ref>{{cite web
|first=George
|first=George
Line 33: Line 35:
|url=https://archive.org/details/GeorgePolyaMathematicalDiscovery
|url=https://archive.org/details/GeorgePolyaMathematicalDiscovery
|title=Mathematical Discovery
|title=Mathematical Discovery
}}</ref> Katherine Merseth, director of the teacher education program at Harvard University, described her opinion that graduate schools of education as the "cash cows of universities".<ref>{{cite news|title=What You Should Consider Before Education Graduate School|url=https://www.usnews.com/blogs/on-education/2009/03/25/what-you-should-consider-before-education-graduate-school.html|access-date=28 April 2013|newspaper=U.S. News & World Report|date=25 March 2009|author=Eddie Ramirez|quote="We need to hold graduate schools of education more accountable." Merseth says that of the 1,300 graduate teacher training programs in the country, about 100 or so are adequately preparing teachers and "the others could be shut down tomorrow."}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Graduate Schools of Education: "Cash Cows" says Harvard lecturer|url=http://teacherrevised.org/2009/03/31/graduate-schools-of-education-cash-cows-says-harvard-lecturer/|work=Teacher, Revised|access-date=28 April 2013|author=Jesse Scaccia|date=31 March 2009}}</ref>
}}</ref>

In her book ''The schools we deserve'', Diane Ravitch suggested that "it would be preferable if there were no education majors at the undergraduate level, if every would be teacher majored in some subject or combination of subjects". She claimed that more than one third of bachelor's degrees in education were awarded to future elementary teachers, followed by physical education teachers, special education teachers, and teachers "of such specialized areas as home economics, vocational education, prekindergarten instruction, and health education." She pointed out that "less than three percent of the education degrees went to secondary teachers, which suggests that those who want to teach in high school take their baccalaureate degree in the subjects they want to teach and get their education credits on the side or in graduate school".<ref>{{cite book |last=Ravitch |first=Diane |title=Schools we deserve |publisher=Basic Books |year=1987 |page=95 |chapter=Chapter 6: Scapegoating the teachers |isbn= 978-0-465-07235-4}}</ref>

Former U.S. Education Secretary [[Arne Duncan]] said that "by almost any standard, many if not most of the nation's 1,450 schools, colleges and departments of education are doing a mediocre job of preparing teachers for the realities of the 21st-century classroom."<ref name="NYT030212">{{cite news
|first=Jennifer
|last=Medina
|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/education/23teachers.html
|title=Teacher Training Termed Mediocre
|work=[[New York Times]]
|date=22 October 2009
|accessdate=2012-03-02}}</ref>

=== Prominence of ideology ===

Some people, including [[E.D. Hirsch, Jr.]], [[Diane Ravitch]], [[Chester Finn]], and [[Lynne Cheney]]<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/edcrisis.html
|title = Ed Schools in Crisis
|date = October 2002
|author = Martin A. Kozloff
|publisher = Watson College of Education, University of North Carolina at Wilmington
|accessdate = 2007-03-29
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20061224062140/http://people.uncw.edu/kozloffm/edcrisis.html
|archivedate = 2006-12-24
|df =
}}</ref> criticized schools of education for [[left-wing]] political bias, for favoring [[socialist]] philosophies such as Paulo Freire's [[critical pedagogy]]<ref>Sol Stern "Pedagogy of the Oppressor" City Journal, Spring 2009 http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_2_freirian-pedagogy.html</ref> and the "[[Teaching for social justice|Teaching for Social Justice]]" movement, for creating academically, professionally, and socially inhospitable environment toward students whose political views do not conform to the left-leaning ideology.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.city-journal.org/html/8_2_a1.html |title=Why Johnny’s Teacher Can’t Teach |date=Spring 1998 |author=Heather Mac Donald |publisher=City Journal |accessdate=2007-03-29 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.city-journal.org/html/16_3_ed_school.html |title=The Ed Schools’ Latest—and Worst—Humbug |date=Summer 2006 |author=Sol Stern |publisher=City Journal |accessdate=2007-03-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10753446/site/newsweek/ |title=Ed Schools vs. Education |date=2006-01-16 |author=George F. Will |publisher=Newsweek |accessdate=2007-03-29 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070106002917/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10753446/site/newsweek/ <!-- Bot retrieved archive --> |archivedate = 2007-01-06}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://chronicle.com/weekly/v53/i30/30b00801.htm |title=Social Justice and Political Orthodoxy |volume=53 |issue=30 |author=Greg Lukianoff |publisher=The Chronicle of Higher Education |accessdate=2007-03-30}}</ref>

Other critics like Lyell Asher argued that Paulo Freire may be more revered than read, for ed schools pushing "an already left-leaning academy far in the direction of ideological fundamentalism".<ref name="Quilette-Lyell-Asher">{{cite web |url=https://quillette.com/2019/03/06/how-ed-schools-became-a-menace-to-higher-education/|title=How Ed Schools Became a Menace to Higher Education|author=Lyell Asher|publisher=Quilette|date=March 6, 2019}}</ref> Their interest in [[educational equity]] sometimes crosses over the line between academic research and [[political activism]],<ref name="labaree" /> intimidating even the social strata meant to be protected by the ed schools' ideology, so that "small differences of opinion are seized on and characterized as moral and intellectual failures, unacceptable thought crimes".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/professors-like-me-cant-stay-silent-about-this-extremist-moment-on-campuses/2017/10/27/fd7aded2-b9b0-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story.html |title=Professors like me can’t stay silent about this extremist moment on campuses|author=Lucía Martínez Valdivia|publisher=Washington Post|date=October 27, 2017}}</ref>


=== Emphasis on administration ===
=== Emphasis on administration ===
[[Abraham Flexner]] called courses like "the supervision of the teaching staff", "duties of school officers", "awareness of situations and planning of behavior", "reflective thought as a basis for teaching method" to be "absurdities and trivialities". He admonished the attention "devoted to tests, measurements, organization, administration—including administration of the teaching staff and how to organize for planning the curriculum".<ref>{{cite book|title=Universities: American, English, German|first=Abraham|last=Flexner|url={{Google books|IDsop8ag0t8C|page=101|plainurl=yes}}|page=101|year=1930}}</ref>
[[Abraham Flexner]] called courses like "the supervision of the teaching staff", "duties of school officers", "awareness of situations and planning of behavior", "reflective thought as a basis for teaching method" to be "absurdities and trivialities". He admonished the attention "devoted to tests, measurements, organization, administration—including administration of the teaching staff and how to organize for planning the curriculum".<ref>{{cite book|title=Universities: American, English, German|first=Abraham|last=Flexner|url={{Google books|IDsop8ag0t8C|page=101|plainurl=yes}}|page=101|year=1930}}</ref>


Lyell Asher blames the surge of residential life "curricula" on the selfish motives of the ed schools' administrators to present themselves not as resident advisers but as residence-hall "educators". According to him, campus administrators "talk not just about social justice 'training' but also about social justice 'literacy'", which must be learned "beyond the classroom". Mr. Asher says that there might be "nothing wrong with training students in equity and social justice were it not for the inconvenient fact that a college campus is where these ideals and others like them are to be rigorously examined rather than piously assumed".<ref name="Quilette-Lyell-Asher"/>
Lyell Asher blames the surge of residential life "curricula" on the selfish motives of the ed schools' administrators to present themselves not as resident advisers but as residence-hall "educators". He supports the argument of E. D. Hirsch that professors of education, "surrounded in the universities by prestigious colleagues whose strong suit is thought to be knowledge, have translated resentment against this elite cadre into resentment against the knowledge from which it draws its prestige".<ref name="Hirsch-schoools-we-need">{{cite book|title=The schools we need, and why we don't have them|first=E.D.|last=Hirsch|url={{Google books|xEuNDQAAQBAJ|page=116|plainurl=yes}}|pages=115–116|year=1996}}</ref> Mr. Hirsch warns that it is "never a healthy circumstance when people who are held in low esteem exercise dominant influence in an important sphere. The conjunction of power with resentment is deadly".<ref name="Hirsch-schoools-we-need"/>


⚫
==Notable schools of education in the US==
He supports the argument of E. D. Hirsch that professors of education, "surrounded in the universities by prestigious colleagues whose strong suit is thought to be knowledge, have translated resentment against this elite cadre into resentment against the knowledge from which it draws its prestige".<ref name="Hirsch-schoools-we-need">{{cite book|title=The schools we need, and why we don't have them|first=E.D.|last=Hirsch|url={{Google books|xEuNDQAAQBAJ|page=116|plainurl=yes}}|pages=115–116|year=1996}}</ref> Mr. Hirsch warns that it is "never a healthy circumstance when people who are held in low esteem exercise dominant influence in an important sphere. The conjunction of power with resentment is deadly".<ref name="Hirsch-schoools-we-need"/>
⚫
The annual rankings of ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' placed the following schools of education in the top 20 of all graduate education institutions in the United States for 2022.<ref>{{cite web | title=2023-2024 Best Graduate Education Schools | website=US News Rankings | url=https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-education-schools/edu-rankings | access-date=17 July 2023}}</ref> They follow here, with identical numbers indicating ties:

⚫
==Notable schools of education in the U.S. ==
⚫
The annual rankings of ''[[U.S. News & World Report]]'' placed the following schools of education in the top 20 of all graduate education institutions in the United States for 2018.<ref>https://www.usnews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-education-schools/edu-rankings?int=951208</ref> They follow here, with identical numbers indicating ties:

#[[UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies|University of California—Los Angeles]]
#[[Harvard Graduate School of Education|Harvard University]]
#[[Harvard Graduate School of Education|Harvard University]]
#<li value="2">[[University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education|University of Wisconsin—Madison]]<li>
#<li value="1">[[University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education|University of Pennsylvania]]
#<li value="4">[[Stanford Graduate School of Education|Stanford University]]<li>
#<li value="3">[[UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies|University of California—Los Angeles]]
#<li value="4">[[University of Pennsylvania]]<li>
#<li value="4">[[University of Wisconsin–Madison School of Education|University of Wisconsin–Madison]]
⚫
#<li value="5">[[Peabody College|Vanderbilt University]]
#<li value="6">[[Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development|New York University]]<li>
#<li value="6">[[Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development|New York University]]<li>
#[[Teachers College, Columbia University]]
#<li value="6">[[Stanford Graduate School of Education|Stanford University]]<li>
#<li value="8">[[Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy|Northwestern University]]<li>
⚫
#[[Peabody College|Vanderbilt University]]
#<li value="9">[[Teachers College, Columbia University]]<li>
#[[University of Washington]]
#<li value="10">[[Northwestern University School of Education and Social Policy]]<li>
#<li value="9">[[University of Michigan School of Education|University of Michigan—Ann Arbor]]
#<li value="10">[[USC Rossier School of Education|University of Southern California]]<li>
#<li value="11">[[Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College|Arizona State University]]
#<li value="10">[[University of Texas at Austin College of Education|University of Texas—Austin]]<li>
#<li value="11">[[USC Rossier School of Education|University of Southern California]]<li>
#<li value="13">[[University of Oregon College of Education]]<li>
#<li value="13">[[University of Washington College of Education|University of Washington]]
#[[University of Michigan-Ann Arbor]]
#<li value="14">University of Oregon<li>
#<li value="15">[[University of California, Irvine School of Education|University of California—Irvine]]<li>
#[[Arizona State University]]
#[[Curry School of Education|University of Virginia]]
#<li value="16">[[University of Texas at Austin College of Education|University of Texas—Austin]]<li>
#<li value="17">[[Johns Hopkins University School of Education|Johns Hopkins University]]<li>
#<li value="17">[[Johns Hopkins University School of Education|Johns Hopkins University]]<li>
#<li value="17">[[University of Kansas]]<li>
#<li value="17">[[University of Kansas]]<li>
#<li value="19">[[University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education|University of California—Berkeley]]<li>
#<li value="19">[[University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Education|University of California—Berkeley]]<li>
#<li value="19">[[College of Education and Human Development|University of Minnesota—Twin Cities]]<li>
#<li value="19">[[Curry School of Education|University of Virginia]]<li>


==Notable scholars within schools of education==
==Notable scholars within schools of education==
Line 121: Line 93:
*[[Certified teacher]]
*[[Certified teacher]]
*[[Alternative teaching certification]]
*[[Alternative teaching certification]]
*[[Postgraduate Certificate in Education]] ([[United Kingdom]])
*[[Postgraduate Certificate in Education]]
*[[Postgraduate Diploma in Education]]
*[[Postgraduate Diploma in Education]]
*[[Postgraduate education]]
*[[Postgraduate education]]
Line 130: Line 102:
==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* {{Commons category-inline|Teacher training colleges}}


{{Authority control}}
{{Authority control}}

Latest revision as of 07:53, 18 January 2024

In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences encompassing sociology, psychology, linguistics, economics, political science, public policy, history, and others, all applied to the topic of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education. The U.S. has 1,206 schools, colleges and departments of education and they exist in 78 per cent of all universities and colleges.[1] According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 176,572 individuals were conferred master's degrees in education by degree-granting institutions in the United States in 2006–2007. The number of master's degrees conferred has grown immensely since the 1990s and accounts for one of the discipline areas that awards the highest number of master's degrees in the United States.[2]

History and areas of interest[edit]

Schools of education are historically rooted in the 19th-century normal schools. After the Civil War, universities began to include instruction in pedagogy, competing with normal schools in the preparation of teachers. Teachers College, Columbia University is the oldest graduate school of education in the United States, founded in 1887. Pedagogy and psychology, which previously were considered to be subsets of philosophy, gained status of legitimate collegiate academic disciplines thanks to William James and John Dewey. By 1900, most universities had some formal instruction in pedagogy.[3] For a long time teacher education, curriculum, and instruction remained the core offering of schools of education.[citation needed]

By the 1930s, schools of education started training educational administrators such as principals and superintendents, and specialists such as guidance counselors for elementary and secondary schools.[citation needed]

Many graduates of schools of education become involved in education policy. As such, issues such as equity, teacher quality, and education assessment have become focuses of many schools of education. The issue of equitable access to education, specifically focusing on low-income, minority, and immigrant communities, is central to many areas of research within the education field.[4][5]

Types of programs[edit]

Typically, a school of education offers research-based programs leading to Master of Arts (MA), Master of Education (MEd), Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Doctor of Education (EdD) or Educational Specialist (EdS) degrees, as well as professional teacher-education programs leading to Master of Arts (MA), Master of Education (MEd), or Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) degrees. Schools of education also offer teacher certification or licensure programs to undergraduate students. Generally schools of education have graduate programs related to teacher preparation, curriculum and instruction (or curriculum and teaching), public policy and education, and educational administration. In addition, some schools of education offer programs in school counseling and counseling psychology.[citation needed]

Criticism[edit]

Low academic standards[edit]

Schools of education have been blamed for low academic standards. Critics argue that earning an advanced degree in education, specifically a master level degree, doesn't seem to actually make someone a better teacher.[6] George Pólya quoted a typical pre-service secondary school mathematics teacher, "The mathematics department offers us tough steak which we cannot chew and the school of education [feeds us] vapid soup with no meat in it". Polya suggested that a college instructor who offered a methods course to mathematics teachers knew mathematics at least on the level of a master's degree and had some experience of mathematical research.[7] Katherine Merseth, director of the teacher education program at Harvard University, described her opinion that graduate schools of education as the "cash cows of universities".[8][9]

Emphasis on administration[edit]

Abraham Flexner called courses like "the supervision of the teaching staff", "duties of school officers", "awareness of situations and planning of behavior", "reflective thought as a basis for teaching method" to be "absurdities and trivialities". He admonished the attention "devoted to tests, measurements, organization, administration—including administration of the teaching staff and how to organize for planning the curriculum".[10]

Lyell Asher blames the surge of residential life "curricula" on the selfish motives of the ed schools' administrators to present themselves not as resident advisers but as residence-hall "educators". He supports the argument of E. D. Hirsch that professors of education, "surrounded in the universities by prestigious colleagues whose strong suit is thought to be knowledge, have translated resentment against this elite cadre into resentment against the knowledge from which it draws its prestige".[11] Mr. Hirsch warns that it is "never a healthy circumstance when people who are held in low esteem exercise dominant influence in an important sphere. The conjunction of power with resentment is deadly".[11]

Notable schools of education in the US[edit]

The annual rankings of U.S. News & World Report placed the following schools of education in the top 20 of all graduate education institutions in the United States for 2022.[12] They follow here, with identical numbers indicating ties:

  1. Harvard University
  3. University of Pennsylvania
  5. University of California—Los Angeles
  7. University of Wisconsin–Madison
  9. Vanderbilt University
  11. New York University
  14. Stanford University
  17. Northwestern University
  20. Teachers College, Columbia University
  23. University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
  25. Arizona State University
  27. University of Southern California
  30. University of Washington
  32. University of Oregon
  35. University of California—Irvine
  38. University of Texas—Austin
  41. Johns Hopkins University
  44. University of Kansas
  47. University of California—Berkeley
  50. University of Virginia

Notable scholars within schools of education[edit]

Further information: Education theory

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Levine, A. (2007). Educating researchers. New York: Education Schools Project.
  2. ^ Digest of Education Statistics - National Center for Education Statistics Web Site. Accessed on December 4, 2009.
  3. ^ David B. Tyack, Turning points in American educational history (1967), pp. 415-416
  4. ^ Labaree, David F. (1 February 2005). "Progressivism, schools and schools of education: An American romance" (PDF). Paedagogica Historica. 41 (1–2). Routledge: 275–288. doi:10.1080/0030923042000335583. ISSN 1477-674X. S2CID 17219998. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  5. ^ Deborah J. Stipek (2007). "Message from the Dean". Retrieved 30 March 2007.
  6. ^ Luzer, Daniel (22 February 2010). "The Pedagogy Con". Washington Monthly. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  7. ^ Pólya, George. "Mathematical Discovery".
  8. ^ Eddie Ramirez (25 March 2009). "What You Should Consider Before Education Graduate School". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved 28 April 2013. We need to hold graduate schools of education more accountable." Merseth says that of the 1,300 graduate teacher training programs in the country, about 100 or so are adequately preparing teachers and "the others could be shut down tomorrow.
  9. ^ Jesse Scaccia (31 March 2009). "Graduate Schools of Education: "Cash Cows" says Harvard lecturer". Teacher, Revised. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  10. ^ Flexner, Abraham (1930). Universities: American, English, German. p. 101.
  11. ^ a b Hirsch, E.D. (1996). The schools we need, and why we don't have them. pp. 115–116.
  12. ^ "2023-2024 Best Graduate Education Schools". US News Rankings. Retrieved 17 July 2023.

External links[edit]

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