The School of Education at the University of Delaware seeks a dynamic and innovative leader to serve as its next Director (https://www.education.udel.edu/). The new Director for the School will join the senior leadership team within the College of Education and Human Development, which is forging new partnerships with educators and policymakers to address inequities, issues of social justice, and systemic racism to strengthen the College and the many communities served by the College. The School features an elementary education (K-8) program where students become outstanding teachers often certified in multiple areas.The School also provides a wide array of Ph.D., Ed.D., and Master’s programs that allow students to pursue research, improve practice, and earn professional credentials and certificates. Building on our long history of providing professional development and support to teachers and leaders within the state, the College recently launched the School Success Center to undertake new ways of partnering with schools and educators. The College also introduced new teacher pipeline programs to grow and diversify its teacher preparation programs as well as to strengthen student teaching experiences and teacher residency programs. Innovations in preparing educational leaders, including the Governor’s Institute for School Leadership, and others on the immediate horizon, will add to the exciting and forward-looking environment within which to lead the School.
Successful candidates should have a scholarly specialization in education, education policy, teacher education, foundations of education, learning sciences, educational leadership, special education, or a related field. Successful candidates will also have the credentials to be appointed as a tenured full professor in the School and to an initial five-year term as Director of the School of Education, which is renewable for an additional five-year term. For an appropriately accomplished and credentialed individual, an appointment as a distinguished professor or endowed chair is possible. The start date of the position is September 1, 2023.
The successful candidate will exhibit a strong record of scholarship, teaching, and service in education, evidence of academic leadership at the department, college, or university level, evidence of nurturing faculty growth and development and creating a collegial environment, and the desire to assume a senior leadership role in the College of Education and Human Development. A record of productive scholarship is essential, including obtaining sponsored research funding and publications contributing to the field; previous experience with innovation in academic programs, scholarship, outreach and engagement is preferred. The successful candidate will bring visionary leadership to the School, leverage the School’s current strengths while developing new collaborations, support the growth of existing programs and development of new degree programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and lead the School in its efforts to continue to enhance the quality of its research, instruction, and partnerships with education practitioners and policymakers. The School is particularly interested in candidates who have a demonstrated record of addressing systemic racism and advancing equity in education, and co-constructing a climate of inclusion and sense of belonging among students, faculty, and staff. Scholars who identify with minoritized groups that are underrepresented in education are especially encouraged to apply.
In the past three years, the School of Education has hired 15 new faculty members, developed three new graduate programs (Ph.D. in Education and Social Policy with the Biden School of Public Policy and Administration; an M.S. in Evaluation Science with six colleges; and an M.S. in Environmental Education offered jointly with the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources) and is in the process of establishing additional undergraduate teacher preparation majors. The School currently houses 63 full-time faculty, and houses nearly 600 undergraduate majors and minors and 370 graduate students. Graduate programs in the School of Education include a Ph.D. program in education with specializations in learning sciences, literacy, mathematics education, sociocultural and community based approaches, educational statistics and research methods, and an interdisciplinary PhD in education and social policy; an Ed.D. in educational leadership; an Education Specialist in school psychology, and a range of Master’s programs delivered in face-to-face and online formats. Faculty in the School of Education are highly productive researchers in areas spanning language and literacy, mathematics education, the science of learning, foundations of education, special education and disability studies, teacher education, education policy, and educational leadership and administration. Faculty research is externally supported from numerous foundations and from federal agencies such as the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. In the last five years, faculty have garnered external funding in excess of $20 million and the college ranks among the top nationally in obtaining federal support for education research. Faculty in the School of Education are recognized for their contributions to national conversations about critical educational issues, lead organizations working to address those issues, and provide a range of supports to the agencies striving for equitable educational opportunities and outcomes. The faculty are a methodologically diverse and collegial group of nationally and internationally known scholars.
Learn more—and find application instructions—at the full announcement.