History

From its start, the IU School of Education has worked to advance education in Indiana, the United States, and around the world. While the roots of the institution are in teacher education, the institution has grown to produce not just some of the finest K–12 classroom teachers but outstanding educational leaders, researchers, and innovators in all fields of education.

Historically, the IU School of Education is one of the country’s most prolific institutions for creating higher education leaders. More than a hundred alumni have become presidents or chancellors. The highly ranked higher education graduate program is one of several individually ranked by U.S. News & World Report, which has consistently placed the IU School of Education program in the nation’s top 20 over more than a decade.

Today, the excellence of the IU School of Education is evidenced through our teacher workforce, educational leadership of alums, faculty research, and an outstanding reputation as a leader in education.

Notable Milestones in the School’s History

1852 Indiana legislature directs IU trustees to establish a “normal department” for instruction in the theory of teaching. The department is disbanded and reorganized several times over the next 56 years.
1886 Normal Department at IU reinstated as the Department of Pedagogy, later renamed the Department of Education, as part of the College of Arts and Sciences
1907 Indiana General Assembly passes an act establishing the state teachers training board and authorizes it to “arrange for a regular system of normal school instruction throughout the state” and “to designate what schools and what professional departments in schools shall be accredited in the state system of normal instruction.”
1908 The IU Department of Education becomes the School of Education. IU President William Lowe Bryan serves as acting dean. The first classes that fall were taught by four faculty serving 189 students.
1914 Education classes are offered in Indianapolis through the Extension division of Indiana University.
1916 Henry Lester Smith becomes dean. He serves until 1946.
1923 School becomes fully independent of the College of Arts and Sciences and can award its own degrees.
1925 School of Education awards the first B.S. in Education in 1925.
1929 School of Education awards the first M.S. in Education.
1932 School of Education awards the first Doctor of Education.
1938 University School, the education K–12 laboratory school, opens on the IU campus.
1946 Wendell W. Wright becomes dean, a post he will hold until 1959. Under his leadership, the school becomes internationally prominent.
1951 School moves into a new building on the corner of Third Street and Jordan Avenue. The building contains faculty offices and classrooms as well as the University School. In the 25 years from 1925 to 1950, undergraduate enrollment grew from 257 to over 1,000. A graduate program, installed in 1929, enrolled 500 students by 1950. In the meantime, the faculty had grown from 10 to 75.
1964 University School moves to facility at Tenth and the Bypass in Bloomington.
1969 School offers first bachelor's degree program in Indianapolis.
1970 University School is transferred from the IU School of Education to the Monroe County Community School Corporation.
1972 The IUPUI division of Education is formally established.
1975 The Indianapolis and Bloomington units merge into a single “core campus” School of Education.
1981 Howard D. Mehlinger becomes dean.
1982 IU School of Education at IUPUI moves into the new Education/Social Work Building at 902 W. New York Street in Indianapolis.
1990 Donald W. Warren becomes dean.
1992 The new Wendell W. Wright Education building is completed at a cost of $22 million, featuring the latest in instructional technology equipment and housing the Education Library.
2000 Gerardo M. González becomes dean.
2006 Center for P-16 Research and Collaboration is established, coordinating partnerships between Indiana schools and School of Education faculty and staff.
2008 School celebrates 100th anniversary.