Each new year brings the opportunity to explore fresh perspectives. As you embark into 2022, check out these reading recommendations from our team.…
While our images may not have the drama of TIME’s top 100 photos, they capture the faces of folks working hard to improve educator preparation.
As Thanksgiving approaches, our team took time to reflect on what we’re feeling grateful for.
We grieve today as we remember Scott Ridley, dean of the school of education at Texas Tech University, who passed away yesterday at the age of…
Each year, nearly 200,000 new teachers graduate from preparation programs in the United States. Many of them report feeling unprepared to teach in…
To paraphrase David Foster Wallace’s modern parable: Two fish are swimming along when they encounter another fish heading in the opposite direction. “How’s the water?” the solo fish says as he swims by. The two fish swim a little further until one turns to the other and says, “What the hell is water?”
The events of this past year have magnified differences in our culture, and produced conflict – but active efforts, including protest, can lead to reform. In many ways, this idea animates all of the activities we undertake at Deans for Impact. We believe in the power of helping existing and future educators practice better pedagogy with all students, so that over time, our work – and the work of so many others – will join together such that the stark racial segregation we witnessed during one school visit will seem an unconscionable aberration, rather than an accepted norm.
Tom Philion is the dean of the College of Education at Chicago’s Roosevelt University, which was founded in 1945 with a mission of making higher education available to all students who qualify academically, regardless of their backgrounds. Roosevelt is the second most diverse college in Illinois, and about 45 percent of the university’s students are the first in their families to attend college. We spoke to Tom recently about how his personal experiences have influenced his approach to educator preparation and why he joined Deans for Impact.
Michael Hillis is the dean of the Graduate School of Education at California Lutheran University, a private, liberal-arts university located in Southern California. In its 25-year history, the Graduate School has prepared more than 8,000 professionals in K-12 and higher education, and currently offers 10 graduate programs through the departments of Learning and Teaching, Counselor Education, and Educational Leadership. We spoke to him recently about why he joined Deans for Impact and his passion for transforming teacher preparation.
Dr. Andrea Kent is the dean of the University of South Alabama’s College of Education and Professional Studies, which is the largest teacher-preparation program on the Gulf Coast. The College enrolls about 2,100 students across 15 academic programs at five degree levels, ranging from the baccalaureate to the doctoral degree. Dr. Kent was a fellow in the inaugural cohort of Deans for Impact’s Impact Academy. We spoke to her recently about why she joined Deans for Impact and why, to her, teacher preparation is personal.
