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The School of Education is committed to furthering the mission of Dominican University by providing candidates with a course of study that emphasize the acquisition of professional knowledge, the expansion of personal insight and scholarship, and an appreciation of diversity. In each course, you will experience how the School of Education accepts and witnesses to the Dominican Catholic tradition while encouraging respect for other traditions. With internationally recognized School of Education faculty, you will prepare to be an educational leader. You will explore the latest educational research, integrate instructional technologies into curricula, and develop the knowledge and skills to address the learning and social-emotional needs of the cultural diversity and educational exceptionalities of students in today’s classrooms.

Our graduate education programs are built on a solid academic foundation and integrate the core values of rigorous scholarship, collaborative leadership and a commitment to service. Every program includes both a theoretical base and an intensive practicum experience, which provides our candidates with broad exposure to the responsibilities of the teaching and administrative positions they aspire to attain. In this catalog you will learn about the mission and history of the university and the conceptual framework of the School of Education.You will find descriptions of the master’s degree programs with certification and graduate endorsement and approval programs. In addition, you will find information about the graduate degree programs and coursework you can pursue to further your professional development and capacity to contribute to education in grades P-12 in metropolitan Chicago and the nation.

History and Accreditation

Dominican University traces its origins to the charter granted in 1848 by the State of Wisconsin to St. Clara Academy, a frontier school for young women founded by the Very Reverend Samuel Mazzuchelli, OP, founder of the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa, WI. The Italian-born Dominican educator drew upon the centuries-old intellectual traditions of his Order in planning what was considered in those days to be a “revolutionary curriculum.”

The Sisters continued the innovative educational legacy of Father Mazzuchelli in 1901 when they founded St. Clara College. In 1922, under the leadership of Mother Samuel Coughlin, OP, the Sisters moved the institution to its current location in River Forest, Illinois, where it was renamed Rosary College. The college began immediately instituting new programs and expanding its curriculum. In May 1997, Rosary College changed its name to Dominican University to acknowledge its status as a university with an undergraduate liberal arts college and five graduate schools. Through yearly mission integration activities, the university affirms its commitment to preserving the legacy of the Sinsinawa Dominican sisters and to its Catholic Dominican mission.