The Department of Education
Burton D. Morgan Hall
The College of Wooster
Wooster, Ohio 44691
330-263-2303

Contact: Alison H. Schmidt, Chair
E-mail: aschmidt@wooster.edu

The Department of Education’s fundamental purpose is to provide opportunities for its students to explore learning and teaching. Its mission is to prepare reflective professional, active researchers, knowledgeable instructors, and autonomous decision-makers for life and work in a global society. It recognizes that this preparation is provided in collaboration with all academic programs at Wooster. Throughout the preparation program students are immersed in hands-on, one-on-one experiences with classroom teachers and students. Students who complete the Teacher Education program are fully licensed to teach in the state of Ohio. Those who plan to teach elsewhere find that Ohio’s high standards for licensure provide them with a sound preparation for teaching and also allow them to pursue licensure in other states with relative ease.

A hallmark of Wooster’s program is its collaborative relationships with area educators and schools and its emphasis on field and clinical experiences. These activities allow teacher candidates to experience the profession first-hand by providing them with opportunities to participate in pre-K, elementary, middle, and secondary classrooms. This weaving of theory and practice promotes on-going professional development and prepares teacher candidates effectively for their Student Teaching and future teaching experiences.

Graduates of Wooster’s program have the benefit of a well-rounded education. Assuming a student-centered focus, the program is designed to provide teacher candidates with knowledge and skill in instructional planning, implementation, and assessment. In addition, these future educators are encouraged to gain insight into their own teaching style and broaden their understanding of educational systems. Through active learning within the liberal arts tradition, teacher candidates are guided by a student-centered model emphasizing critical inquiry, collaboration, and reflection. These themes guide their work at Wooster and further prepare them for their professional lives in which they will shape knowledge into vision and action.

Student Accomplishments

Graduates of Wooster’s Teacher Education program pursue a variety of professional opportunities. While many teach in the public and private school sectors, others also contribute to the education profession in other ways. In addition to teaching, Wooster graduates are employed as school administrators, guidance counselors, early childhood specialists, higher education faculty, members of the Peace Corps, and Christian educators. One recent graduate completed a year in Berlin, Germany as a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in a German secondary level school and went on to teach at the elementary level in a German Immersion School. Many Teacher Education graduates also attend graduate school and earn advanced degrees. Another recent graduate spent a year teaching in Africa before returning to the U.S. to teach French in a large urban district.

Professional Testing

Praxis II: Since reporting Praxis II results to Title II, Wooster has had two years at 100% passage rate, one year at 91% and one year at 92%.

Praxis III: Nine Wooster graduates completed and passed the Praxis III exam in 2002-2003 for a 100% passage rate. Twenty-two Wooster graduates completed and passed the Praxis III exam in 2003-2004 for a 100% passage rate. Prior to the 2002-2003 academic year, a seven-year pilot program included three College of Wooster graduates teaching in the public schools in Ohio. The Wooster graduates demonstrated a 100% passage rate on all nineteen criteria.