History
Our story starts more than 200 years ago…
In 1806, Fr. Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP established the community of Dominican sisters of Sinsinawa, WI. With the sisters, he founded St. Clara Academy, Dominican University's predecessor.
From the very beginning, education played a major role in Fr. Mazzuchelli's life. During his first years of service in the United States, he tended to the spiritual care of the four native tribes in his region -- the Chippewas, Ottawas, Menominees and Winnebagos. As part of his work on behalf of the Native Americans, he acted as superintendent for the Indian School of Green Bay.
Fr. Mazzuchelli later helped establish Sinsinawa Mound College – 10 miles north of Galena, IL, in southwestern Wisconsin. He took up residence in Benton, WI offering pastoral care to the local residents and within two years, the Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters had joined him to open a successful district school. They later opened St. Clara Academy in 1901, a frontier academy for young women. There, he served the school as architect, contractor, superintendent and astronomy teacher.
In 1922, under the leadership of Mother Samuel Coughlin, the sisters relocated the institution to its current location in River Forest, IL, where it was renamed Rosary College.
The college began immediately instituting programs and strengthening its curriculum, establishing one of the first study abroad programs in the country in 1925 and offering courses in library science leading to the university's first master's degree in 1949.
Recognizing its responsibility to all students, Rosary College became coeducational in 1970. In May 1997, the school name changed to Dominican University, communicating the increasingly comprehensive nature of the university's programs and, at the same time, its continued commitment to its Catholic Dominican mission.
In 2007, the Center for Teaching and Learning Excellence was opened in Dominican's newest and largest building, Parmer Hall. This state-of-the-art facility provides premium academic and laboratory facilities and areas for faculty, students and academic support services as well as spaces for research, study and interaction.
Today, the School of Education continues to play a major role in the dynamics of Dominican University. While we remain firmly rooted in a rich past, we continue to lead the way in producing educators who are leading pioneers to a better future.
The History of the School of Education
The mission of preparing teachers and administrators for schools has been a part of Dominican University since its beginnings as St. Clara Academy in Sinsinawa, WI in 1848. The Dominican sisters received a charter from the State of Wisconsin to open a female academy to educate its sisters and to prepare women for teaching in the schools of the region. In 1901 the Academy became St. Clara College. To serve a larger public, and at the invitation of George Cardinal Mundelein, the College moved to River Forest, IL in 1922 and took the name Rosary College.
Throughout the 1930s, undergraduate teacher preparation focused on preparing candidates for secondary certification. In 1938, 39 graduates completed the education curriculum and received a teaching certificate for the public schools. During those years, a Bachelor of Science in Education degree was awarded to young women already in the teaching field. In September 1949, a program to prepare undergraduate elementary teacher education candidates was initiated. A letter, received in 1958, from the State Board of Education attests to the quality of the teacher education programs on both elementary and secondary levels.
In 1930 the Department of Library Science was established to award the baccalaureate degree in library science for school librarians. The undergraduate library science degree was accredited by the American Library Association in 1938. The undergraduate program was discontinued later. The first Master of Arts in Library Science was offered in 1949. Subsequently, the degree was redesigned to include preparation in information science and renamed the Master of Arts in Library and Information Science. The school media specialist certification program is a part of this degree.
Teacher education continued to grow as a core program of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. A program to prepare undergraduate special education teachers began in 1972 and continued until 1981 when it was discontinued to prepare for the graduate special education degree program. An interdisciplinary early childhood/sociology undergraduate certification program began in 1998. Prior to 2004, all undergraduate teacher preparation candidates completed a liberal arts or science major as well as a teacher education minor in a program of courses for early childhood, elementary or secondary certification. Beginning in 2004, students earning an undergraduate certificate in early childhood major in early childhood. This is the first undergraduate major to be offered in education.
The first education program offered on the graduate level was a Master of Science degree in Learning Disabilities in 1978. Two years later a second program in behavior disorders was inaugurated. In 1981 the Graduate School of Special Education was formed, with Illinois State Board of Education approval to offer the Master of Science degree in Special Education with certification in Learning Disabilities and Social/Emotional Disorders. At this same time the program of study in gifted education was incorporated into the Special Education program. These programs were incorporated into what became the Graduate School of Education in 1987.
In succeeding years, new degree programs were added to the Graduate School's offerings: Master of Arts in Early Childhood Education (1990), a combined program in Bachelor of Arts/Master of Science in Special Education for undergraduate candidates (1990), Master of Arts in Educational Administration (1991) and Master of Arts in Teaching (1994). In 1994 the undergraduate teacher certification programs and the graduate programs were incorporated into the School of Education. In 1996 the Teaching Certificate for College Graduates program, a non-degree graduate program, was established to prepare college graduates for certification in elementary and secondary education. At the same time, an ESL/Bilingual Program was initiated to prepare candidates to teach students who are English Language Learners. In 2000 the Master of Arts in Education received approval from the Illinois State Board of Education. The first online master's degree program with a focus on literacy was approved in 2003. Students enrolled in this program earn a Master of Science in Education degree. A new reading specialist certification and master's degree program received Illinois State Board of Education approval in 2004.