cope through the years

COPE Through the Years

Significant events in the history of the College of Professional Education

Almost from its very beginning in 1901 TWU, known as the College of Industrial Arts, was preparing and providing educators and human service professionals to the schools and communities of Texas.

In the 1906-07 session, the State Legislature voted to allow TWU (CIA) to issue teaching certificates to graduates who completed an approved program of study. It was a first for the State of Texas.

In 1908, a separate Department of Education was created at the CIA. And, in 1911, it was expanded to become the Department of Education, Psychology and Ethics.

By 1915-16, the Department of Philosophy and Education was one of eighteen departments in the CIA and supervised student teaching was being provided to prospective teachers.

1915-16: It was reported that the CIA had furnished “more teachers of household arts to the high schools and colleges of Texas than all other institutions of higher learning combined.”

1915-20: Summer School (Summer Normals) offered over 300 courses to practicing teachers, including playground supervision, library methods, public school music, and home economics education. Teachers from across the state participated.

In 1916, the State Department of Education recognized the CIA as “a college of the first class,” and declared that it had the same right as the University of Texas to issue teacher certificates based on college courses.

1916-17: The College of Industrial Arts offered its first two-hour course in library methods. In 1920-21 two such courses were offered. Both were elective and continued until 1927-28.

In 1917, TWU became the first Texas college to add a kindergarten teacher training class to its Department of Education. In 1924 it was expanded to include a B.S. degree in kindergarten teaching.

1917: The CIA was the first college in Texas to offer home economics instruction. In 1919 all but one of the vocational home economics teachers in Texas had been trained by the CIA.

1920: The Willard School, recognized as one of the finest nursery schools in the country, was built and the CIA became the first state college in Texas to begin a nursery training program with a fully equipped nursery.

By 1924, the College of Industrial Arts (TWU) had become one of eleven Texas colleges in which education was the largest department as colleges tried to meet the demand for ten thousand new school teachers each year.

During the 1924-25 school year, four-year sequences (BS degrees) were implemented in public school music and kindergarten-primary education. It was the first kindergarten program in Texas.

In 1925, the College of Industrial Arts was organized into five schools: Liberal Arts, Industrial Arts and Sciences, Home Economics, Fine Arts, and Education.

In 1925-26, the College started a demonstration school where students could do supervised teaching in physical education, public school music and art, manual training and home economics, and other high school courses.

1929: The College of Industrial Arts expanded courses in library science that would lead to the B.S. degree in response to a SACS requirement that all accredited high schools in Texas must have librarians.

1930: The first graduate work leading to a Master of Arts degree in Education was added at the College and, in 1934, the name was changed to Texas State College for Women (TSCW).

1930’s: TSCW was first to develop degrees in physical education, home demonstration, vocational home economics, and library science. Graduates were in leadership positions throughout the state, particularly in the public schools.

1935-1936: Degrees were added in intermediate and secondary education. The State Department of Education designated TSCW as a center for excellence in the development of curricula for art and music in the public schools of Texas.

1937: TSCW began offering popular correspondence courses in a number of departments, including Education. These departments offered 109 correspondence courses for individuals wanting to earn college credit.

In 1938, the TSCW School of Library Science was the first in the southwest to be accredited by the American Library Association and has been accredited continuously since.

1938-39: Library Science added a fifth-year B.S. and began a master’s program in 1941. For many years it was the only library science program in Texas to offer an advanced degree.

1941-43: A “modern, well-equipped” Demonstration School was completed to provide supervised teaching experience for education students, and the Department of Education, Philosophy and Psychology was established.

By 1944, TSCW was offering a twelve-course major in child development and nursery education, the first major of its kind in Texas. A new nursery school provided a laboratory where students could gain experience.

In 1951, what was then known as the Department of Home Economics moved to a new four-story building and became the College of Household Arts and Sciences.

1952: The College of Household Arts and Sciences became a leading research center and began the first TSCW doctoral degrees with both the Ph.D. and the Ed.D.

1954-55: The College of Education was formed and included divisions in education, psychology, special education, teacher education office, demonstration school, curriculum library, and testing and guidance.

1955: The College of Education became a member of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education and in 1963-64 received accreditation by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.

In 1956, the Library Science Building was completed. It was connected to Brailey Memorial Library by a breezeway and it was the first building in the nation built primarily for teaching library science courses.

1959: The new Demonstration School at the University (renamed TWU in 1957) was completed and had a number of features unique for the time, including a design that eliminated the need for stairs, and specific areas adapted for children with intellectual and orthopedic disabilities.

1966: The Fall Forum in Reading began in order to bring outstanding scholars in reading to TWU and to benefit students and teachers in the DFW area. In 1997, it was renamed the Rose F. Spicola Forum in Reading to honor the co-founder of the forum and a leader in the development of the reading program at TWU.

1968: New degree programs included a new six-year program in library science and a doctoral program in special education where students could earn the Ph.D. or Ed.D. in mental retardation, speech pathology, learning & language disorders, or the mentally disturbed.

In 1969, the Center for the Study of Learning opened on the first floor of the new CFO building. It assisted TWU students in the study of learning problems and helped students and others in the community with reading and communication problems.

1969:The Center for the Study of Learning had a curriculum library and a variety of audio-visual materials to use in teaching. Twelve small study rooms were available for education majors to learn how to teach. Students could videotape their teaching for evaluation afterwards.

In 1969, the new Bilingual Education Action (BECA) program was started. TWU students worked as teacher aides in bilingual classrooms in the Fort Worth Independent School District and attended classes at TWU on alternate weeks.

Also in 1969, the teacher corps was in operation in which TWU education students with 60 or more hours worked in seven different elementary schools to receive on-the-job training in teaching.

1969: The College of Education was reorganized into five departments; Psychology and Philosophy, Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Foundations, Counselor Education and Personnel Services, and Special Education.

In 1972, there were a number of concentrations for doctoral studies in the College of Household Arts and Sciences. Students earned an Ed.D. or Ph.D. in child development, home demonstration, home and family life, and institution administration.

In 1975, the second through fifth floors of the new MCL Building had classrooms, offices and a curriculum materials center for Education. The Institute for Mental and Physical Development was located on the ninth floor.

In 1978-79, doctoral degrees were added in the areas of reading, vocational-technical education, and adult and continuing education.

1986: The Child Development and Family Living Department and the Consumer Science Department merged to become the Family and Consumer Studies Department.

1989: TWU became a teacher leader training center for Reading Recovery, the only one in Texas, with over 9,000 students served annually through TWU’s network of schools.

1989: A joint Teacher Interview Day with TWU and UNT was held with 61 school districts represented from across Texas and other states. It allowed teacher education students to meet and connect with school district administrators.

Later renamed Education Career Day, the event rotates each semester between the TWU and UNT campuses and continues for decades to provide education students at TWU an opportunity to meet prospective employers.

1989-1990: The College of Education and Human Ecology was formed with Early Childhood and Special Education, Educational Leadership, Family Sciences, Reading and Bilingual Education, the School of Library and Information Studies, and Mass Communication.

1992: A Meadows Foundation grant funded major renovations to the Child Development Center, which served as a practicum site for students in various majors. The renovations enhanced existing classrooms and added rooms for research and testing.

1993: Project START, a program designed to give bilingual and ESL teachers background information in math, science and computers, was implemented with a grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

2000: The College of Education and Human Ecology was changed to the College of Professional Education and included the Departments of Teacher Education, Reading, Family Sciences, and the School of Library and Information Studies.

In the 2002-03 school year, the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT), an interdisciplinary degree program to prepare individuals for initial teacher certification and involving departments from across the university, was implemented.

2004: The Reading Recovery/Early Literacy Institute, drawing thousands of reading and literacy specialists, educators and parents, was renamed the Billie J. Askew Reading Recovery/Early Literacy Institute for the educator who founded and led the institute for 14 years.

2005: SLIS was awarded a $905,030 grant for the 21st Century Librarians Program to improve the accessibility and quality of library services for a diverse student population in the Dallas Independent School District.

2006: The Texas Woman’s University online Master of Library Science degree was the fourth largest graduate program in the field, according to U.S. News & World Report magazine’s 2006 E-Learning Guide.  

2006: Texas Woman’s University and the Fort Worth Independent School District partnered to address critical teacher shortages using a $1.65 million Transition to Teaching grant from the U.S. Department of Education.

2007: The Child Development and Family Studies programs were recognized by the National Council on Family Relations for having the second highest ratio of students to receive their CFLE (Certified Family Life Educator) certification.

2008: the Department of Family Sciences began its bachelor’s level Child Life certification program. The program was approved as meeting the standards of the International Child Life Council.

2010: The Department of Reading received a $3.7 million federal grant for Reading Recovery®, an early literacy intervention program. TWU is the only Texas institution to receive the funding.

2010: TWU’s Chapter of the Association of Texas Professional Educators (ATPE) began a summer reading project in partnership with Barnes & Noble. Sessions included a story along with activities and crafts developed and provided by TWU preservice teaching students.

2010: The Partnering for Teachers program with the Dallas School District, a partnership to close the gap in student success by increasing math, science and bilingual education teachers, won the prestigious STAR award from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB).

2012: A $1.6 million federal grant to improve the ability of educators in rural North Texas schools to teach students learning the English language is awarded to the Bilingual Education program in the Department of Teacher Education.

2012: The School of Library and Information Studies partnered with the Texas Library Association (TLA) and the Dallas Public Library for a $743,036 project to establish the Literacy Matters: Educating Librarians to Serve Families with Young Children project.

2013: TWU’s Department of Teacher Education became the first program in Texas to implement

TeachLivETM,

a mixed reality approach to help preservice teachers develop and practice instructional and behavioral management skills.

*Photo courtesy of the Denton Record-Chronicle and David Minton

2013: The TExES PREP Center (Preparation and Review for Educator Proficiencies) which provides resources, support and services to TWU students and graduates in preparing for and passing state required certification exams, is established in Stoddard Hall.

2014: The first New Teacher Academy is held. Its purpose is to bring together graduates of TWU’s educator preparation program who are in their first three years of teaching for enhanced professional development in effective and innovative instructional practices, technologies and resources.

Pictures, text and information were taken from past issues of the TWU Yearbook (the Daedalian), Marking the Trail: A History of the Texas Woman’s University by Joyce Thompson, Marking New Trails: An Informal History of the Texas Woman’s University by Phyllis Bridges, various issues of the Lasso (TWU’s student newspaper), and the TWU Office of Marketing & Communication. Appreciation is given to the University Archives at the TWU Libraries.

For more pictures on the history of the College of Professional Education at Texas Woman’s University go to https://share.twu.edu/sites/COPE/pictures.