School of Education

The School of Education prepares educators at the undergraduate, master's and doctoral levels. Its student are actively involved in learning, analyzing, discussing, assessing and applying their knowledge and skills in practical settings.

Overview

  • For the 2009-2010 academic year, 896 undergraduates and 1,455 graduate students enrolled in the School of Education, making it one of the largest schools of education in the Chicago area.

  • The School of Education is Chicago's education partner. It sponsors or is involved in a host of programs and projects designed to improve Chicago schools. The School of Education currently is engaged in partnerships with more than 200 Chicago area public and private schools.

  • In concert with the Chicago Public Schools and the Archdiocese of Chicago, the School of Education has established Professional Development Schools, an innovative educational concept designed to enhance pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade education while providing a creative environment for teacher training and professional faculty development. The PDS Network links faculty and students from DePaul with administrators, teachers, counselors and parents from partnering schools to support and encourage research, best-practice teacher professional development and school improvement. It is funded by the Searle Funds at the Chicago Community Trust, the McDougal Foundation and the Mayer Family Foundation.

  • More than 3,000 School of Education graduates are employed as teachers.

Distinctions

  • Three School of Education graduates won prestigious Golden Apple awards in 2008, chosen from 850 Chicago-area teachers nominated for the award that year. The Golden Apple Foundation recognizes and develops outstanding teachers, especially for schools of need. At least nine other School of Education graduates have won the award since 1990.

  • Jim Duignan, associate professor in the School of Education and founder of the Stockyard Institute, won a 2008 Artadia Award, which includes a $15,000 stipend that allows him to pursue his work. New York-based Artadia has partnered with local foundations and private patrons of the arts who recognize the importance of providing unrestricted funding to visual artists at the local level. Duignan founded the Stockyard Institute in 1995 to serve as an arts and pedagogical initiative that creates collaborative art projects with youth, teachers, artists and residents in underserved Chicago communities. Working in the Back of the Yards, Austin and Howard-area communities, the Stockyard Institute coordinates with schools, youth centers, cultural organizations and community centers to design and organize both temporary projects and sustainable programs. Since its inception, the institute has connected with more than 2,000 students and exhibited projects locally and around the world.

  • Kenneth Saltman, an associate professor of educational policy studies and research, won a 2008 American Educational Studies Association Critics' Choice Award for his book "Capitalizing on Disaster: Taking and Breaking Public Schools" (Paradigm Publishers 2007), for its relevance to the foundations of education and the mission of AESA, originality of research, scholarly/intellectual impact on the field, and the significance of the topic. The book examines how privatization policies such as the federal No Child Left Behind Act are designed to deregulate and privatize public schools, favoring businesses while undermining public oversight, community involvement and critical approaches to teaching and learning. 

Programs

  • The School of Education offers degree programs in early childhood education; elementary, secondary and physical education; bilingual/bicultural education; curriculum studies; educational leadership; human services and counseling; and special education (language, literacy and specialized instruction).

  • In fall 2008, the School of Education partnered with the School for New Learning to offer a new bachelor of arts degree in early childhood education. The program is uniquely designed for adults working in early childhood education so that they can continue working while obtaining a bachelor's degree in addition to Illinois teacher certification. Students age  24 or older pursue courses in both SOE and SNL and have the opportunity to receive class credit for life and work experience related to early childhood education.

  • In September 2008, School of Education Associate Professor Akihiko Takahashi established the Asia-Pacific Mathematics and Science Education Collaborative at DePaul. The collaborative catalyzes systemic improvement in mathematics and science education through research dissemination, curriculum and program design, and professional education. Collaborative personnel work in concert with colleagues and allied organizations of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperative member countries. Takahashi is an internationally known expert on the Japanese Lesson Study method of professional development, which uses collaborative teacher planning and evaluation to improve mathematics teaching.

  • The newly remodeled Family Lab in the School of Education has been serving students ages 6 to 16 in Chicagoland for nearly 40 years. It provides diagnostic assessment and offers academic tutoring, instructional interventions and related support. Services are provided by graduate students who are supervised by university faculty members in a clinical setting. The lab offers a plethora of educational resources for students, staff and families.

  • School of Education faculty, students and alumni work with the Howard Area Leadership Academy, a charter school on Chicago's northern border serving 120 students who have left traditional high schools. The academy works to build on students' strengths so they can finish high school. DePaul School of education faculty provide counseling and consulting services as well as coach faculty and team-teach at the academy.

  • The Web-enhanced Family Literacy Initiative (WE FLI), which is funded by the Illinois Reading Council, embodies DePaul University's central mission of serving the community through educational endeavors. The project harnesses the power of new technologies aimed at engaging all stakeholders - students, parents, grandparents and community - to create positive literacy experiences that benefit all involved. Located at www.wefli.org, the project site provides free downloadable podcasts and other resources for parents. To date, site content is downloaded through iTunes more than 4,000 times a week.

  • School of Education Assistant Professor Horace Hall established the REAL Youth Program nine years ago in certain Chicago public and charter schools to provide a safe haven for sixth-grade through high school boys and girls to discuss and vent about pertinent life issues. Adult facilitators work with the students to help them become better students and position them as agents of change in their own lives and communities.

  • The School of Education is helping to bridge the education gap and digital divide in Chicago's Humboldt Park community through its Learning by Association Community Technology Center. The program is operated in partnership with Association House, a social service agency with locations in Humboldt Park. Residents in this community can take a variety of classes through the program, including GED preparation, English as a second language and computer training.

  • In 2005, the School of Education established the Frank and Frances Zeman Memorial Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Education. Fueled by a portion of the proceeds from a $2.5 million bequest from Emily Zeman, a 1942 DePaul alumna who dedicated her life to teaching, the scholarship benefits teachers enrolled in School of Education graduate programs.

About the Dean

  • Paul Zionts was appointed dean of the School of Education in July 2009. Zionts is the author, co-author or editor of five books and more than 25 articles and chapters. A professor of special education, his research interests include educating children and youth with emotional and behavioral disorders, cognitive behavioral interventions and classroom management. Before joining DePaul, he served as dean of the School of Education at the University of Michigan-Dearborn from 2005-2009. He previously served as a professor and chair of educational foundations and special services at Kent State University and as professor at Central Michigan University.

The School of Education's Web site is education.depaul.edu.



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