A Message from Interim Dean Kevin Laudner

Welcome to the 2018 Annual Report for the College of Education at Illinois State.

Illinois State’s educator preparation program boasts an alumni base of more than 60,000 with graduates serving in all 50 U.S. states and in 68 countries around the world. Almost one in six teachers in Illinois are alumni of the University. The Laboratory Schools have produced an additional 9,000 alumni who serve in a variety of industries.

Exhaustive efforts to recruit and prepare the best and most dedicated educators have enabled our college to maintain a steady enrollment of more than 2,800 students. Not only is Illinois State the largest preparer of teachers in the Midwest, it is the fourth largest in the nation among approved institutions of higher education. Over the past two years, we have placed a larger emphasis on increasing the skills and leadership capacities of practicing P–20 educators. As a result, our graduate enrollment grew by 12 percent in 2016 and an additional 5 percent in 2017.

The support we have received from the Illinois State community through partnerships and giving has served to strengthen our college’s reputation as a top preparer of educators in the nation. Increased donations have facilitated new curricular opportunities, upgrades to classroom environments, and hundreds of scholarship opportunities for aspiring educators. The generosity of our Redbirds is truly humbling. Over the last three years, our college has received almost $8.6 million, a 70 percent increase from 2013–2015. In addition, student scholarship funds reached a new high in fiscal year 2018, topping $506,000 to support more than 350 future educators.

The data provided in this report demonstrate the quality of our educator preparation program, and we’ve also shared the impact of these numbers through several stories. You can read about one alum’s gift that is facilitating the creation of a dynamic cultural and social justice curricula for student affairs professionals and our principal preparation efforts, which are enhancing K–12 leadership in districts across the U.S. These stories, past reports, and a 360-degree video tour of the college’s upgraded teaching and learning spaces are available below. We hope that you enjoy learning more about our progress and will join us as we continue to prepare future generations of outstanding educators.

Additional Content

Alumnus Ed Manley's estate gift will go toward bolstering the College Student Personnel Administration program’s social justice and cultural curricula. The program prepares student affairs professionals in higher education around the world. Ed Manley’s distinguished career as a special education teacher and curriculum developer for Microsoft afforded him the opportunity to give back to the University that first ignited his love for teaching.

The College of Education has been at the forefront of Illinois' efforts to overhaul principal preparation with a focus on student learning. The college’s Center for the Study of Education Policy (CSEP) has engaged constituents across all levels of education to redefine standards for higher education programs and to enhance the capacities of practicing administrators. This work has made Illinois into a national model for preparing these educational leaders.

The college has been busy upgrading its academic spaces with a focus on providing flexible learning environments for students to learn, collaborate, practice, and explore new ideas. The above video shows the Richard L. Benson Flexible Learning Space, carries the namesake of its donor.