School of Education
John L. Watzke, Ph.D., dean
Bruce N. Weitzel, Ph.D., associate dean
Faculty: Anctil, Arwood, Carroll, Christen, Egby, Eifler, Greene, Hood, Ilosvay, Kalnin, Merk, Morrell, Thacker, Waggoner, Watzke, Weitzel
The School of Education is accredited through the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission. In addition, School of Education programs are approved by the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC). The school receives further recognition by the University of Portland’s accreditation from the Northwest Schools and Colleges. The School of Education is a member of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, the Association of Teacher Educators, and the Association of Independent Liberal Arts Colleges of Teacher Education and several other professional organizations.
Federal law requires that all schools of education report required teacher licensure exams and the percentage of graduates from their programs passing those exams. All candidates within our initial teacher preparation programs must achieve passing scores on the TSPC approved test(s) required for licensure. Any School of Education program which includes field work in schools and/or with minors requires a fingerprint clearance. Courses outside the designated program of study may be taken only with written permission of the associate dean.
Mission
Affirming an ethos that each individual is a learner, that dignity and justice are achieved through education, and that education is a community responsibility, the School of Education continues a Holy Cross mission begun two centuries ago to prepare teachers and leaders to “educate the whole child: the heart, the mind, the hands” (Moreau, 1856). Through programs of professional preparation, service, and community building, the School engages society both in the present, and in the future, through generations of alumni in the pursuit of the common good.
“Education is the art of helping young people to completeness.”
Rev. Basil Moreau,
Founder of the Congregation of Holy Cross
Guided by the University commitment to be a premier comprehensive Catholic university, the School of Education prepares individuals at all stages of their careers to become exceptional professional educators, who teach and lead. Such educators, the School of Education believes, demonstrate an array of knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions. They are life-long learners who are empathetic and respectful of others. They are exceptional communicators and can work effectively with others. Knowledgeable of both theory and practice, they have a broad and deep knowledge about students, the curriculum, and learning, and the concomitant skills to organize classrooms and employ instructional strategies to meet the diverse needs of learners.
Program Objectives
The objective of all programs in the School of Education stem from the mission statement to create teachers and administrators who exhibit the characteristics mentioned in the following principles of the conceptual framework and allow these principles to guide their practice.
- Exceptional professional educators are lifelong learners.
- Exceptional professional educators are empathetic and respectful.
- Exceptional professional educators communicate and work effectively with others.
- Exceptional professional educators have a broad knowledge about the diversity of individuals and world around them.
- Exceptional professional educators have deep knowledge about content.
- Exceptional professional educators have deep knowledge about how people learn.
- Exceptional professional educators have deep knowledge and skills necessary to use instruction and the organization of classrooms, schools, and school systems to assist all learners to succeed.
- Exceptional professional educators fuse theory and practice.