Department Updates
Counseling and Special Education
- Welcomed new B.S.Ed. in Special Education and Teaching students in a partnership with RTR Teacher Residency
- Infused more than 31,000 clinical hours into the local community through practicum and internship experiences, equivalent to more than $600,000 worth of mental health services delivered, including school counseling, college counseling and student affairs, and couples and family counseling
- Developed and received $1.2 million in funding from the Office of Special Education Programs in the U.S. Department of Education for Project REAL, under the leadership of Yaoying Xu, Ph.D., to train doctoral students in research, teaching, and policy implementation
- Developed and received approval for a new minor in Mental Health, Wellness and Counseling, an 18-credit offering to focus on training undergraduate students in mental health and counseling topics
Educational Leadership
- Continued to lead the school with robust enrollment and as VCU’s only Ed.D.
- Launched the Leadership Coaching Lab
- Launched the Leadership Hub to provide wrap-around, life-long learning and development for community members
- Launched the Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series
- Offered School Leader Residency program in partnership with RTR Teacher Residency, with support from a VCU grant to support six registered principal apprentices.
- Collaborated with faculty across the VCU campus, with input from Jon Becker, Ph.D., on the creation of an interdisciplinary AI curriculum
- Supported the N.J. State Policy Lab and Montclair and Rutgers universities on policy work on teacher performance assessment through a partnership with Emily Hodge, Ph.D. After New Jersey reduced its strong control over teacher licensing, the researchers looked at how local schools responded to see how educational institutions changed or maintained their practices. Moving assessment practices to teacher preparation institutions offered a unique case study opportunity.
Foundations of Education
- Launched new graduate certifications in Preparing Future Faculty and Advanced Educational Statistics
- Continued to sponsor the Critical Quantitative Methodologies Series, through the The Research, Assessment and Evaluation concentration, and and hosted Mario Suarez, Ph.D., Utah State University, and Darnell Leatherwood, Ph.D., St. Louis University
- Offered “Brazil: Understanding Biodiversity in Coastal Ecosystems in Sao Paulo,” developed and led by John Fife, Ph.D., as study abroad in summer 2024
Teaching and Learning
- Continued large enrollment trends in elementary education, with 232 students in fall 2025
- Launched the history and English B.S.Ed. majors
- Extended RTR/apprenticeship across Virginia
- Welcomed largest cohort in ever-growing Masters in Curriculum and Instruction program
- Streamlined processes for university-based supervisors of student teaching interns, working more closely with university-based supervisors as partner with Savanna Love, Ph.D, new director of licensure and accreditation
- Provided professional learning sessions during new teacher orientation week as part of our New Teacher Support Program partnership with Richmond Public Schools, in addition to beginning discussions about professional development modules for teachers in years 4-6
- Awarded six classroom grants to RPS-NTSP teachers for projects ranging from creating classroom libraries to establishing a rooftop garden
- Trained 20 new clinical faculty to be supporting pre-service teachers across partner districts
- Hillary Parkhouse, Ph.D., and Tom Farmer, Ph.D. also served as interim chairs in FY25. The new chair, Ashley S. Boyd, Ph.D., joined in March.