A Message from Dean James Wolfinger
Welcome to the 2021 Annual Report for the College of Education at Illinois State.
Over the past year,our educators and future educators across all P-20 programs faced some of the most pressing social issues of our time. I am proud of how we have grown as researchers, writers, teachers, and students. Our Redbirds keep teaching, learning, and achieving at all levels. As you read through this report, you will see the incredible strength of the College of Education at Illinois State University.
With an alumni base of more than 60,000 educators throughout all 50 U.S. states and in 68 countries worldwide, Illinois State is a leader in the field of education. Within Illinois, almost one in six teachers are alumni of the University.
We continue to work at the local, state, and national level to recruit and prepare the highest quality educators and administrators. This past year, we launched CommuniTeach, a pipeline program that partners with school districts and community colleges in Chicago and Central Illinois to provide the quality of an Illinois State University education in students’ home communities. These programs are preparing teachers through nontraditional pathways and clinical experiences close to home.
Our enrollment remains strong and steady, and our students continue to be the top priority in the college. In fact, we significantly increased our scholarship support this past year by just more than $200,000. In such a challenging year, we were committed to helping more students persist in their education through scholarships. We further solidified our commitment to student achievement by establishing the Barbara and Larry Efaw Center for Educator Excellence that will support all education students.
The Department of Special Education was ranked as the top program in the country by College Factual. Graduate program enrollment rose by more than 15 percent in the past two years, and we jumped to the 80th Best Graduate School for Education according to U.S. News & World Report.
As we work together as faculty, staff, alumni, and students in the College of Education, we will continue to prepare educators who are ready to meet the challenges ahead and excel in any environment. We are extremely thankful for our donors, whose generous gifts have helped provide student scholarship support, new curricular opportunities, and upgraded classroom environments.
We hope that you enjoy learning more about the progress of the college’s efforts to provide premier programs that further cement Illinois State’s reputation as a leader in educator preparation.
Additional Content
Illinois State's College of Education is fighting against the trend of declining teacher education enrollment. The growing shortfall is well documented. The Economic Policy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C., reports that the shortage of teachers nationwide from preschool through high school worsened from 64,000 in the 2015-2016 academic year to 110,000 just two years later. The agency projects the shortfall will reach at least 200,000 by 2025.
For several years, the College of Education has prioritized the redesign of classrooms and computer labs to reflect the flexible learning needs of aspiring educators and their future students. Areas that were once used for storage have been converted to classroom spaces with several interactive monitors that can be controlled individually or together through a single source.
Pre-service teachers are able to utilize a new simulated classroom environment to speak with avatars using Illinois State's Virtual Nest. Avatars serve as students, parents, or educators in a simulated classroom or conference environment. Each avatar possesses an extensive back story and is controlled in real-time by an actor behind the scenes.