Message from the Dean
September 17, 2024
There is so much good news to share from the College of Education at Mary Washington! For starters, 14 COE last year were named New Teacher of the Year in their schools. No doubt, this is a reflection of our bright students and top-notch faculty and staff.
Perhaps equally critical to the success of our work is our strong connection to practice.
Teaching, learning, and the needs of students have changed dramatically in the past five years. Without highly contextualized partnerships, it is impossible to be relevant and effective in teacher preparation. We work hand in hand with our K-12 colleagues in many mutually beneficial ways.
Perhaps equally critical to the success of our work is our strong connection to practice. Teaching, learning, and the needs of students have changed dramatically in the past five years. Without highly contextualized partnerships, it is impossible to be relevant and effective in teacher preparation. We work hand in hand with our K-12 colleagues in many mutually beneficial ways.
The Academy of Technology and Innovation at UMW (ATI-UMW), our STEM-focused lab school, welcomed its first class of 84 high school ninth-graders on August 12. As a model demonstration site for innovative, hands-on, problem-based learning, ATI-UMW is providing an important option for families in five local school divisions. Using a school-university partnership model akin to a teaching hospital, ATI-UMW will provide foundational research and practice opportunities for students, faculty, and staff in the COE. Through this effort and others, we aim to improve teaching and learning in our partner schools, while also improving the quality of our teacher preparation.
Faculty and staff in the COE work hard to meet the professional development needs of under-prepared teachers in partner schools. We conduct new teacher bootcamps and provide classroom-based coaching for inexperienced teachers. In the past year, we provided professional development support to more than 500 teachers! Our efforts make a positive difference in schools, and the experience informs our work in teacher preparation.
We continue to work on a number of fronts to help address the critical teacher shortage. We are in year two of our significant Noyce/NSF grant focused on recruiting more STEM teachers and also in year two of our Teacher Apprenticeship program. The success of each of these programs is contingent upon the strong partnerships with our K-12 colleagues.
Dr. Pete Kelly
Professor & Dean
College of Education
University of Mary Washington
