The College of Education at Minnesota State Mankato views lifelong learning as a collaborative effort. To that end, we have established partnerships that span P-12 education and benefit children, families and communities across south-central Minnesota and the Twin Cities. For example, our Center for School-University Partnerships, the Center for Mentoring and Induction and the Office of Field and International Experiences connect school districts with our college in an intentional and fully integrated professional development program.
We have also partnered with the Archibald Bush Foundation to develop the Network for Excellence in Teaching, also known as NExT. The ultimate goal of this collaborative network of higher education institutions is to guarantee the effectiveness of up to 25,000 new teachers over the next 10 years.
Research has demonstrated that the No.1 indicator of student success is the effectiveness of his or her teacher. Ensuring that our schools have the best teachers in the country is critical to meeting the region's employment needs. In order to be competitive in the global economy, students need to graduate from high school prepared for some form of post-secondary education.
With this in mind, the College of Education, in partnership with P-12 school districts, is implementing the nation's first P-12/post-secondary Advancement via Individual Determination Alliance program. This program uses research-based strategies to heighten P-12 students' preparation for college and will not only improve the ability of our P-12 students to be college-ready, but will also better prepare our teacher candidates to meet student needs.
Our teacher candidates don't stop learning at graduation. Continuous professional development is crucial to ensure teacher effectiveness, which is why we also provide ongoing mentoring and professional development well beyond graduation.
We are positively affecting P-12 education. Won't you partner with us as we transform teaching for the next generation of children?
Imagine students majoring in Education doing their student teaching in Mexico, Australia or even United Arab Emirates. Imagine the transformational impact such an experience will have on their teaching career. Imagine how a teacher with this experience might bring a social studies unit alive in a Minnesota classroom.
Not only is all of that possible, it's already happening at Minnesota State Mankato.
When our students study abroad, their education grows exponentially faster than if they stay at home. They live and learn in a host culture; every interaction is an opportunity to learn and to share their culture with others. Their experiences translate into tangible benefits throughout their life as they witness historic monuments and famous art first-hand, participate in the academic system of another country and experience the complexity of another culture.
College of Education students have the opportunity to student teach in Mexico, Australia and United Arab Emirates. Students return saying the experience not only changed their lives but also how they approach education. They learn what it is like to experience another culture and another language. They gain a real understanding of what it's like to be in the minority.
Our goal is to offer international student teaching experiences to all students wishing to take advantage of this opportunity and to expand the options to include additional countries.
The biggest barrier to having more students take advantage of this opportunity is money. For most, the additional cost, which ranges from $1,000 to $6,000, is well beyond what they can afford. Offering competitive scholarships will allow more students to take advantage of this opportunity. Won't you consider helping to enrich our students' cultural experience and enhance their career opportunities today?
Few career choices offer the gratification found in teaching. Few offer a better opportunity to have a profound, positive impact on children. Few offer the chance to make an important contribution to one's community. And few will offer as many job opportunities in the future: The job market for teachers in the next decade will be unusually strong.
Experts estimate that 50 percent of America's P-12 teachers will retire in the next 10 years, driving the need for 2 million new teachers. The U.S. Department of Labor projects that jobs in education will account for 16 percent of all job openings in 2018. There will be roughly two openings for every qualified candidate in education. The demand for math, science and world language teachers will be even greater.
In addition, there is a growing need for teachers from diverse backgrounds. The current proportion of diverse teachers in public schools (about 15 percent) continues to be far less than that of diverse students (about 33 percent) and far less than most school districts would like to hire. While diverse students do not necessarily need a diverse teacher to be successful in school, diverse teachers provide positive images and varied perspectives to their students.
Our goal is to attract academically strong and diverse teacher candidates. Specifically, we intend to attract more than 500 diverse teacher candidates in the next 10 years. In order to reach this goal and to be competitive with other institutions, we need to offer scholarships ranging from $2,000 to $4,000 per student.
Recruiting teacher candidates into our program, especially candidates of color, is a top priority for us. Please consider helping us do that successfully.
Minnesota State Mankato has a long and rich tradition of graduate education. We currently offer four doctoral programs on campus, two of which are in the College of Education–a Doctorate of Counseling and Student Personnel and a Doctorate of Educational Leadership.
Quality instruction and research have been at the heart of our graduate and doctorate programs. Our Doctorate of Counseling and Student Personnel recently received national accreditation from the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. Having a nationally accredited program enhances our ability to attract and retain high-quality students. More importantly, having a high-quality program allows us to produce high-quality professionals who have an impact on children, families and communities throughout Minnesota and beyond for decades to come.
The opportunity to be actively engaged in an academic, research-oriented environment is also appealing to students. Such an immersion strengthens the level of knowledge and understanding of the content and increases the depth of research. For many, personal and professional obligations make it difficult to engage fully in graduate study. Fellowships are one means of attracting top students committed to engaging in research and learning at a level that immerses them in scholarly activity.
In order to attract and retain the best and brightest students, we must remain competitive in our fellowship offerings. A competitive graduate level fellowship is about $18,000; a competitive doctoral fellowship is about $30,000 per student. Our goal is to offer 10 graduate fellowships and five doctoral fellowships per year within five years. You can help us attract and retain the best and brightest students.
Minnesota State Mankato has a proud history of applied research and scholarship. That tradition is embraced by the College of Education, whose faculty members actively generate new knowledge to directly benefit educators and students. The College of Education is fortunate to have talented and dedicated faculty with diverse backgrounds and experiences who provide a wealth of expertise. They consistently inspire and challenge students.
Our faculty and students thrive in a community where knowledge is combined with the passion to achieve great things. Within this setting, faculty and students work together as they apply their knowledge to solve critical educational issues. Research plays a key role in this environment, and support for both faculty and student research directly affects not only the advancement of the profession but also the well-being of children, families and communities.
Faculty and student research grants allow individuals and teams (faculty teams, faculty-student teams, student teams) to engage in research in a more in-depth, on-going manner. Research grants allow faculty and students to purchase resources, secure time for collaboration and share research results. They also heighten the ability of faculty and students to complete and distribute research for real-world application—and you have the opportunity to directly support faculty and student research in Education.
Minnesota State
University, Mankato
Mankato, MN 56001
1-800-722-0544
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Minnesota State Colleges & Universities system and an affirmative action/equal opportunity university.
