Dean Johnson Highlights School Progress
The Citadel’s School of Education—in collaboration with colleagues in the Schools of Humanities and Social Sciences and Science and Mathematics—is transforming itself into a Center of Excellence for the preparation of principled educational leaders. Our primary mission is to prepare principled educational leaders to be knowledgeable, reflective, and ethical professionals. Candidates completing our
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| Colonel Tony W. Johnson Dean of Education |
programs are committed to ensuring that all students succeed in a learner-centered environment.
As the new Dean of The Citadel’s School of Education (I am just beginning my second year), I am pleased to share with you our recent accomplishments and our plans for the future. First of all, tangible evidence that quality resides here is the national recognition earned by all of The Citadel’s professional education programs for meeting or exceeding the rigorous national standards established by their respective specialty area organizations. Meriting special recognition here is the School of Education’s Counseling program achieving full CACREP accreditation, one of only four programs in South Carolina to earn this national distinction.
In addition to these accomplishments, the School of Education is busy preparing for a National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) follow-up visit next September (2007) focusing on our assessment system. To coordinate this effort, Dr. Marilyn Feldmann—a nationally known NCATE expert and member of the Unit Accreditation Board (NCATE’s governing body)—has joined us as a visiting associate professor. To assist us in facilitating the collection and aggregation of data to foster candidate and program improvement, the School of Education is currently implementing LiveText, a web based program that enables us to align our assessments with state and national standards and with our own conceptual framework. We are confident that these initiatives will result in a very positive NCATE review and visit next year (September 30-October 2, 2007).
A major focus of The Citadel’s School of Education is to partner with our P-12 colleagues in transforming the way educational leaders are prepared and the places where they work. Illustrative of such collaborative efforts is the School’s receipt of a $1 million GEAR UP grant from the U.S. Department of Education. This GEAR-UP or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs initiative focuses on Schroder Middle School, a rural public school in the Hollywood region of the county that enrolls more than 300 children from low income families. As the first step toward transforming this school into the educational equivalent of a teaching hospital, School of Education faculty are traveling to Schroder and providing teachers there graduate level coursework on the teaching of reading. In addition, the School of Education is providing a variety of services for the candidates, parents and staff of Schroder designed to ensure the academic success of these middle school students in higher education.
Recognizing that the ability to read is foundational and aware of the all too common reality that many urban children are not reading on grade level, The School of Education—in collaboration with the Wachovia Foundation—has developed a reading program designed for children reading two or more years below grade level. As graduate candidates in our masters in literacy program, practicing professionals gain valuable experience tutoring a child with reading deficiencies. Children participating in this program during a special summer adventure experience an average gain of 1.4 years of growth. Partnering with the Charleston County Public Schools, The Citadel’s School of Education has recently expanded the scale and impact of this very successful program by providing it to the teachers and children of the districts’ neediest elementary schools.
In collaboration with the S.C. Department of Education’s Division of Educator Quality and in accordance with reforms championed by the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB), The Citadel is hosting and Dr. Kathy Brown is teaching one of the four regional leadership groups for second year principals. Additionally, the Citadel’s School of Education—in collaboration with the College of Charleston and the Lowcountry Graduate Center—is taking the lead in bringing the University of South Carolina’s Ph.D. program in educational leadership to the Lowcountry. Graduates of The Citadel’s educational specialist program are to be the primary target audience for this new opportunity.
The School of Education is taking the lead in developing new or revised teacher education programs for Cadets in mathematics, the sciences, English, and in modern foreign languages. With the focus on preparing teachers for such critical need areas as the sciences and mathematics, The Citadel is pursuing scholarship dollars and resources from the SC Teacher Loan Fund to provide incentives for Cadets and graduate candidates willing to teach in these high need areas. In addition to these initiatives, The Citadel’s School of Education is pursuing—in collaboration with the College of Charleston—the development of middle level certification programs at both the graduate and undergraduate levels.
As these initiatives illustrate, The Citadel’s School of Education is on the march, transforming itself into a Center of Excellence for the preparation of principled educational leaders. The future is bright for The Citadel’s School of Education and with your help we will continue preparing principled educational leaders for the region, state and nation. Please visit our website, www.citadel.edu/education, to stay informed of the many activities taking place in the School of Education. Please contact me at (843) 953-5097 or by email tony.johnson@citadel.edu with your suggestions and concerns. I look forward to meeting you and—with your help—transforming a good School of Education into a great one.
Sincerely,
Tony W. Johnson
Professor and Dean
