Wikipedia:Eastern Michigan University College of Education

The Eastern Michigan University College of Education was established in 1959. Eastern Michigan University has had a long history of developing educators since its founding in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School. Eastern Michigan is the largest producer of educational personnel in the country since 1991. The College of Education is divided into 3 departments and offers over 85 majors and minors and over 30 graduate degrees. The college has one of the oldest special education programs in the United States.

History
Eastern Michigan University College of Education was one of the first colleges established at the newly named Eastern Michigan University. Even though the college was established in 1959, Eastern Michigan University has had a long history of training future educators since its inception in 1849. Eastern Michigan University was originally established as Michigan State Normal School. Michigan State Normal School was the first in Michigan and the first normal school created outside the original 13 colonies. A normal school was a school created to train high school graduates to be teachers. Its purpose was to establish teaching standards or norms, hence its name. The normal schools were to train teachers for common schools, which were being established rapidly in new towns in the state of Michigan. In 1849, when Michigan State Normal School was established, Michigan had only been a state for 12 years.

In 1899, the school became the Michigan State Normal College when it created the first four-year curriculum for a normal college in the nation. Normal began the 20th century as Michigan's premier teacher-preparatory school and became the first teacher-training school in the United States to have a four-year degree program. In 1915, the school was the first program in the nation to train teachers to serve the disabled. In 1923 the Eastern Michigan University's Department of Special Education was established making it one of the oldest in the nation. In 1959, the College of Education was established. At the same time, Eastern became a university gaining the title Eastern Michigan University. The Porter College of Education is named after John W. Porter, former EMU President from 1979 to 1988.

Facility
The Porter College of Education building was built in 1967. The facility was originally built to serve as the university's library. As the university grew in size, a new library was needed. In 1998, Halle Library was built moving the library to its new location. The Porter College of Education then occupied the University Library's old location. The facility is 133,500 square feet. During the renovations in 1998 and 1999, the building was updated to provide state-of-the-art computer networks and an up-to-date multimedia systems.

Departments
The College of Education is divided into 3 departments: Leadership and Counseling, Special Education, and Teacher Education and offers over 85 majors and minors and over 30 graduate degrees.

Programs
The college itself has only been established since 1959 but the school has always been known for its education programs. The special needs program is one of the school's oldest. In 2008, with a joint program with the College of Health and Human Services, the COE began to offer a Ph.D. in Nursing education. The university declares the program as "the first of its kind in the midwest". The program is aimed to prepare nursing faculty to assist in the nursing shortage.

Education
Eastern declares that one of every four teachers in Michigan holds a degree from EMU. In the past the school also declared that at one time 1% of all the teachers in the United States received their degree from EMU. According to U.S. News the program is ranked #140 in the United States and #4 in the state of Michigan.

Special Education
In 1915, the school was one of the first in the nation to train teachers to serve people with disabilities. Today Eastern Michigan University's Department of Special Education is among the oldest and largest special education program in the United States.

Awards and recognitions

 * 2007 - Eastern Michigan University, the No. 1 producer of educators in the nation, received an "Exemplary" grade from the Michigan Department of Education.
 * 2004 - The Michigan State Board of Education recognized Eastern Michigan University for its extensive inclusion in the U.S. News & World Report book Becoming a Teacher.
 * 1991 - Distinguished Program in Teacher Education (CITE), Association of Teacher Educators. Silver Award, Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
 * 1989 - EMU was cited for ten innovative teacher education programs in Those Who Can (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, 1989).
 * 1987 - Distinguished Achievement Award in Teacher Education, American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
 * 1986 - Distinguished Program in Teacher Education, Association of Teacher Educators.
 * Exemplary Staff Development Program Which Serves as a Model for the Nation's Schools, American Association of School Administrators.
 * 1985 - Showcase for Excellence (Pre-service Elementary Teacher Education Program in Science), American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
 * Showcase for Excellence (Staff Development for School Improvement Program), American Association of State Colleges and Universities.
 * Exemplary Science Program, National Science Teachers Association.