Strategic Plan Goal #2
Premier Graduate and
Professional Programs in a
Significant Number of Areas

College Rank Jumps to 11 th Overall, 6 th Best Public

In its 2005 report on the country’s best graduate schools, U.S.News & World Report ranked the College of Education 11 th best in the nation—up nearly two dozen spots from its ranking a year ago. When considering public schools only, the College’s rank jumps to 6 th.

Specialty programs within the college also continue to rank highly, according to the 2005 America’s Best Graduate Schools . Top ranking programs for 2005 include:

• Rehabilitation Counseling (#3)
• Counseling/Personnel Services (#13)
• Secondary Education (#15)
• Educational Psychology (#16)
• Higher Education Administration (#17)

Mentoring Program Pairs Experienced, New School Administrators

These days, a principal has to be many things to many people: a leader to her students, a manager and motivator to her teachers and staff, a sounding board for parents and—in this age of greater school accountability—a liaison to the state and federal governments.

But college courses only go so far toward preparing new school administrators for these sometimes daunting tasks. That’s why the Educational Administration program designed a new program to train experienced school administrators as mentors to up-and-coming school leaders.

The first class of 27 mentors, all principals or district administrators nominated by their peers as outstanding educational leaders, were paired with Educational Administration Master of Arts graduate students to help design model clinical experiences in the areas of elementary, secondary, and special education. They also oversee the progress of the students assigned them throughout internships, completion of degree work, and their application for state licensure.

The mentor program, connecting UI College of Education and education agencies and local school districts throughout Iowa, corresponds with Iowa’s new requirements for preK-12 licensure experiences. Professor Larry Bartlett, Associate Professor Carolyn Wanat, and Clinical Associate Professors Susan Lagos and Marcus Haack lead the College’s program.

“We know a truly meaningful clinical experience would require an aspiring administrator to spend quality time with teams of mentoring administrators,” said Lagos. “We believe our innovative, comprehensive program provides this. The clinical experience, as designed and outlined, will provide both a rich, culminating component of a candidate’s educational program and a beginning experience in meeting the challenge of a new position in educational leadership.”

To help mentors and students track their progress toward meeting state licensure requirements, participants in the program will use the ePortfolio™ web environment. The environment provides templates and checklists for students relevant to the state’s licensure requirements, as well as web space for uploading documents, graphics, and even interactive media to demonstrate their proficiency in a range of tasks.