John H. Lounsbury College of Education a Finalist for
Christa McAuliffe Excellence in Teaching Award

The John H. Lounsbury College of Education has been selected as a finalist for the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Christa McAuliffe Excellence in Teacher Education Award.  This national award is presented annually by AASCU and is named to honor Christa McAuliffe, the teacher who died when the space shuttle Challenger exploded in 1986.  Winners will be decided later in the year.

According to the AASCU, the McAuliffe Award "honors innovative teacher education programs that can document the success of their graduates in improving P-12 pupil learning outcomes."  The focus is on programs that "demonstrate learning in both teacher candidates and the P-12 students they teach;" the award also honors programs that are "innovative or distinctive."

"In this age of accountability, teacher preparation programs must be able to document their effectiveness in preparing teachers who can produce learning gains in their students.  The Christa McAuliffe Award will recognize programs that not only exemplify superior learning outcomes but also programs that provide models for other AASCU member institutions seeking to improve their programs."

The AASCU schools have more than 3 million teacher candidates which represents 56% of the teacher candidate enrollments in all public four-year institutions.  The qualities of AASCU schools are commitments to access and opportunity, student-centeredness, and “stewards of place” (engaging faculty, staff, and students within the regions served.)

Christ McAuliffe is often quoted with her motto, “I touch the future.  I teach.” The philosophy of the John H. Lounsbury College of Education reflects that idea.  Our conceptual framework “Architects of Change” demonstrates our continuing efforts to prepare excellent teacher candidates who make a difference in the lives of P-12 students, schools, and communities.  We prepare teacher candidates as they enter into the pre-education program, then nurture them as they are members of our undergraduate cohort programs.  We assist them in their next professional steps as teacher candidates become novice teachers, and finally GCSU helps them as they seek professional development opportunities as mature professionals. 

The John H. Lounsbury College of Education works continually to develop collaborations and partnerships.  Our host teachers provide experiences for our teacher candidates in real P-12 schools.  College faculty work with P-12 faculty to help teacher candidates use the theory they learn with the practice they do in field settings.  Teacher candidates, host teachers and faculty members work collaboratively on research projects and often present together at conferences.

Being selected as a McAuliffe finalist is the second national honor the John H. Lounsbury College of Education has earned in the last two years. The College was awarded the 2008 Wisniewski Award by the Society of Professors of Education at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Conference.  The purpose of the award is to recognize an institution that has made “singularly significant contributions to the theory and practice of teacher education.”

For more information about the John H. Lounsbury College of Education, see http://www.gcsu.edu/education/index.htm

Former Christa McAuliffe Excellence in Teaching Award Winner

.American Association of State Colleges and Universities. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from http://www.aascu.org/programs/teacher/index.htm  .