A proposal to create a School of Education has been approved by the Provost and will move to the Faculty Senate in early fall.

The written proposal calls for “a plan for combination of the Departments of Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) and Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (ELPS) and associated centers, along with the University Teacher Education Program, to create a new structure known as the Iowa State University School of Education (SOE).”

Pamela White, dean of the College of Human Sciences said that this new proposal will not change the secondary education programs, but he would like the education program to become more visible within the college, university, the state and the nation.

The School of Education will be better organized to address the challenges that face educators in Iowa, White said. She explained that it will do this by enabling more collaboration between teacher and administrative preparation programs and the areas of content expertise.

White said the school will aim to create a greater sense of unity and commitment to  a shared mission among all the education programs at Iowa State and build upon the programs’ collective strengths.

“Overall, we feel this is a very good time for us to come forth with this creative proposal,” she said. “One of the reasons is the increased interest in our teacher preparation programs nationally. And, we feel the changes that will be taking place in the way we offer our programs will be very beneficial to our students.”

The School of Education will remain a part of the College of Human Sciences, but the educational leadership and policy studies program, a graduate student only program, and the curriculum and instruction program, available to undergraduate and graduate students, will be combined in a different, more creative way, White said.

She explained that the programs will now focus on the areas that are important to the teacher preparation programs and educational leadership programs to form the School of Education.

The School of Education will offer students three main subfields to specialize in: educator preparation study, an educator foundations core and an educator leadership study. Students will receive instruction in all three subfields . However, they can still pursue majors in the fields that most interest them. They will also have the same advisors and professors, White said.

The proposal states that the School of Education will “build on strengths of current programs while increasing potential for collaboration across the programs” and “provide greater efficiency of human/financial resources.”

The School of Education will also have “a noted emphasis in leadership, and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education.”

Elizabeth Hoffman, executive vice president and provost, said that the goal of the School of Education will be “to provide students with more opportunities to work with a broader variety of faculty.”

“It’ll allow faculty an opportunity to collaborate on projects that cross disciplines,” Hoffman said.

She said creating a School of Education will bring a “cross-disciplinary coherence” to a larger entity, in the manner of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. It will also give a stronger voice to the education side of human sciences, Hoffman said.

If the proposal passes a Faculty Senate review, it will move to a Presidential Review Committee before being presented to the Board of Regents for review. If the proposal is approved by the Board of Regents, the search for a director of the School of Education could begin as early as December 2011.

Inauguration of the School of Education will ideally take place in July 2012.

“I think it’s going to be a real jewel in the college,” Hoffman said.