Welcome to the College of Education! Thanks for visiting this site. We appreciate your interest in finding out who we are and what we have to offer. ECU’s College of Education has a variety of programs and degrees to meet a broad range of educational needs. For more than a century, East Carolina University has maintained teacher preparation and development as a central focus of its mission.
The College of Education offers both undergraduate and graduate programs of study in teacher preparation. All of our programs incorporate internship opportunities or capstone projects in collaboration with top-notch K-12 school professionals and community partners in state-of-the art facilities.
ECU continues to lead the state in the production of new education professionals. Based on data from 2006-2007, the shaded map of North Carolina (below) shows, by county, where ECU’s teacher education graduates are employed. The College of Education is proud of the fact that ECU teacher education graduates have the highest employment rate in North Carolina schools.
In addition to a stellar reputation in teacher education, The College of Education also has numerous other educational programs of study such as adult education, counselor education, educational leadership, library science, and instructional technology. There are many notable accomplishments to share in each of our six departments from the previous school year. Below are a few of the many highlights:
The Department of Business and Information Technologies Education (BITE) developed and implemented three professional development modules for Career and Technical Education Teachers in North Carolina. These modules are designed using state of the art technology including artificial intelligence.
The adult education program in the Department of Counselor and Adult Education (COAD) established successful partnerships with the U.S. Department of Defense (Army) through an interdisciplinary collaboration with the Instructional Technology faculty in the college. The counselor education program, also in COAD, made their first study abroad trip to Florence, Italy, studying the establishment of educational and professional standards for school counselors.
The Department of Curriculum and Instruction introduced two new graduate program offerings in special education, the Autism Certificate and the Deaf-Blindness Certificate. The Autism Certificate addresses the need for teachers who are prepared to educate the increasing number of children identified with Autism Spectrum Disorders. The Deaf-Blindness Certificate is the first on-line, interdisciplinary program of its kind in the country. The competencies of the ECU Deaf-Blind program are in the process of being adopted as national standards for teachers of students with deaf-blindness by the International Council for Exceptional Children.
The Department of Educational Leadership (LEED) received confirmation of the Educational Leadership Constituent Council’s (ELCC) National Recognition in spring 2008. The ELCC conducts rigorous peer reviews of departments of educational administration to determine which programs are deserving of “National Recognition.” Currently, the College of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership is the only program in North Carolina to receive and maintain ELCC National Recognition.
In 2008, the North Carolina Distance Learning Association presented the Department of Library Science and Instructional Technology (LSIT) with the Excellence in Distance Learning Teaching award. Eleven LSIT faculty members were recognized for their outstanding accomplishments in the field of distance learning. Additionally, the Library Science program in the College of Education, also offered completely online, was ranked in the Nation’s Top 10 by U.S. News and World Report.
A faculty member in the Department of Mathematics and Science Education (MSED) was named as a University Teacher/Scholar. This prestigious award highlighted the work of Dr. Sid Rachlin, who used a research model to develop courses for the undergraduate mathematics concentration and for graduate courses for teacher leaders. Additionally, the department collaborated with the Provost Council and the Department of Mathematics and held an intensive summer mathematics “camp” for middle grades mathematics teachers from northeastern North Carolina. The focus of this effort was a course in numbers and algebra with attention paid to student thinking and ways to engage students in mathematics.
In addition to our many department highlights, the College of Education has also been recognized nationally. In 2007, the College of Education was the recipient of the “Best Practice Award for Collaboration with Community Colleges” from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE). The award recognizes the College of Education’s collaboration with community colleges to respond to the demand for more rural teachers. ECU’s collaboration effort is known as Wachovia Partnership East (WPE). WPE prepares individuals to become teachers where they live and work. This fall, eight new cohorts, with a total of 147 students enrolled in Elementary Education, Special Education or Middle Grades Education, will join the Wachovia Partnership East.
Finally, the College of Education has various sources of support available to outstanding students seeking a career in education. For example, high school students can apply for the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program at ECU, a $26,000 scholarship awarded to 45 outstanding seniors interested in teaching. Another scholarship opportunity available to high school students living in North Carolina is the Maynard Scholars program at ECU. The Maynard Scholarship is given to ten high school seniors who reside in eastern North Carolina. The North Carolina Principal Fellows program is also another competitive program providing financial support to aspiring school leaders for full-time study in a master of school administration program. In total, the College of Education offers more than 50 different scholarships and awards to undergraduate and graduate students in all areas of study. For more information on all of our education scholarships and awards offered through the College of Education, please visit www.ecu.edu/cs-educ/Scholarships.cfm.
As Dean, I am extremely proud of our college and feel very honored to serve as its instructional leader. I personally invite you to visit our campus or contact us to learn more about our programs, services, faculty, scholarships or awards. If you have questions or need additional information, please contact us at 252-328-4260 or email contactcoe@ecu.edu. I hope that you will join our ECU family and invest your talents and energies in the field of education.
Sincerely,
Linda A. Patriarca, Ph. D.
Dean, College of Education
154 Speight Building
patriarcal@ecu.edu
252-328-1000
