(Updated 2/25/08 by the College of Education)
U.S. News and World Report Rankings
All of the College of Education's graduate programs in areas that are ranked by U.S. News appear in the top 15, with six programs in the top 10:
The College's graduate programs as a whole rank 31st out of the 277 colleges identified by U.S. News. Penn State is among the nation's leaders, which consist primarily of Ivy League, Big Ten, and Pac Ten universities.
Mid-Atlantic Regional Education Laboratory
Penn State, in collaboration with Rutgers University and three consulting entities, has entered into a $34 million contract with the U.S. Department of Education to establish the Mid-Atlantic Regional Education Laboratory. The Regional Lab, housed in Penn State’s College of Education, helps educators answer their very real questions about how to improve student learning. The Regional Lab enlists laboratory extension specialists living throughout a four-state region to gather questions directly from teachers and administrators. These specialists relay the schools’ priorities and needs to the Lab’s researchers, who can provide quick feedback based on existing research.
Mid-Atlantic Center for Mathematics Teaching and Learning (MAC-MTL)
The MAC-MTL partnership with the University of Maryland, the University of Delaware, and a public school partner in each state (in Pennsylvania, the Pittsburgh Public Schools), is the first such center designed to train a cadre of future mathematics education professors, as well as conduct research into how teachers learn mathematics.
Center for Science and the Schools (CSATS)
A University-wide initiative housed in the College of Education, CSATS is devoted to professional development and outreach in science education in the K–12 schools of Pennsylvania and beyond. Several current projects are:
Professional Development School (PDS)
The College's Professional Development School collaborative with the State College Area School District has twice been recognized as the nation's No.1 teacher education program via national awards. It received the 2004 Zimpher Award for the “best university/school district partnership in the nation,” presented by the Holmes Partnership. In 2002, it won the Distinguished Teacher Education Program from the Association of Teacher Educators, an award designed to recognize programs that exemplify collaboration between colleges and school districts and to stimulate innovation.
Student teachers in the PDS are in the classroom for the entire school year, from the first day to the last, and their mentor teachers work closely with Penn State faculty to provide a seamless integration of study and clinical practice.
The College of Education has developed a similar partnership with the Sheppard School, a public elementary school in Philadelphia. This partnership has been established to provide students with a strong student-teaching experience in an inner-city setting.
Exploring Directions in Ubiquitous Computing and Teacher Education (EDUCATE)
The College's new program titled Exploring Directions in Ubiquitous Computing and Teacher Education (EDUCATE) is a comprehensive effort to infuse technology across the teacher education program, and includes a research focus as well as a practical focus on preparing our own students to incorporate technology into classrooms.
EDUCATE is a program in which students learn how to use and create digital media such as video, audio, and print-based texts. They also are able to collaborate across distance and time efficiently with faculty and peers.
To make sure students have the necessary tools, the College has announced a new notebook computer requirement for the Secondary English Education and Elementary and Kindergarten Education programs, including the Early Childhood Education Option.
Penn State Supplies NASA to Schools
As part of a five-year, $27.3 million cooperative agreement, the Penn State College of Education is coordinating NASA's K-12 education outreach programs.
The College's Center for Science and the Schools and NASA education specialists are working closely with teachers and school administrators to infuse cutting-edge science content into extended instructional units. They're determining how summer course experiences for teachers translate to the classroom and how teachers adapt materials to the various states and schools. |
