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Mission & History

College of Education’s Mission

The mission of the College of Education is to prepare exemplary practitioners and scholars; to generate, use and disseminate knowledge about teaching, learning and human development; and to collaborate with others to solve critical educational and human problems in a diverse global community.

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College of Education History Highlights

• Founded in 1905, the College of Education, originally established as a Normal Department for male teacher education in Florida, is now located in Norman Hall, formerly P. K. Yonge Laboratory School, on the southeast corner of the University of Florida campus.
• James W. Norman, dean of the college from 1920 to 1941 began working toward the establishment of a laboratory school which would house a K-12 school as well as College of Education faculty and students. In 1934, P.K. Yonge Laboratory School opened with 470 students. During its early years, demonstration and practice teaching in the secondary school were the focus of male teacher education at UF with P.K. Yonge teachers directing junior and senior university students as they developed and taught their lesson units.
• In 1946 the college received approval to offer the doctor of education degree which would help to satisfy the demands of Florida public school leaders for advanced graduate facilities.
• The year 1947 was a major year of change for the University and the college. The state legislature made both state universities co-educational. The admission of women to the University of Florida necessitated a broader program of teacher education.
• In 1948 the college granted its first doctoral degree to a candidate in Educational Administration.
• The challenge of the late 1940s was to accommodate the rise in enrollment numbers of majors at both the undergraduate and graduate levels that accompanied co-education and the influx of young men taking advantage of the G.I. Bill. Because of the rising enrollment the college and P.K. Yonge needed more space.
• A new laboratory school was built on a 37 acre plot near the University, and in 1957, the old P.K. Yonge School was renamed Norman Hall in honor of former Dean James W. Norman and became the College of Education.
• The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accredited UF’s program for teacher education in 1958.
• During the 1960s the college created the Institute for the Development of Human Resources headed by Ira J. Gordon, the Institute for Curriculum Development headed by William M. Alexander, and the Educational Leadership Institute, headed by Ralph Kimbrough. A new concept of school organization, the middle school concept was fostered and advanced during the 1960s by William M. Alexander and others, along with the design, development, and leadership of community colleges, through the work of the Institute of Higher Education, headed by James L. Wattenbarger.
• Graduate programs in Educational Administration and Supervision, Foundations of Education, and Counselor Education, along with graduate programs in Curriculum and Instruction and Special Education gained prominence at state, regional, and national levels.
• Pioneering the establishment of a five/fifth year teacher education program, college faculty created the PROTEACH (PROfessional TEACHer) in the early 1980s.
• After 13 years of successful implementation of elementary, secondary, and special education PROTEACH programs, a movement to revise the teacher education programs in elementary and special education to be a Unified Elementary Program began in 1995. Focused on the changing demographics in public schools and the movement to include students with disabilities in general education classes, the program would produce graduates eligible for elementary certification with an endorsement in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) with expertise in special education or graduates with dual certification in special education and elementary education and the ESOL endorsement.
• Reorganization into five academic departments, Counselor Education, Educational Leadership, Policy and Foundations, Educational Psychology, Special Education, and the School of Teaching and Learning occurred in the 2000 fall semester.
• Legislative establishment of the Florida Fund for Minority Teachers, housed in the College of Education aided minority and underrepresented groups to gain teaching credentials.
• In 1998, a gift providing funding for the Irving and Rose Fien Endowed Professorship in Elementary and Special Education was made to the College.
• In 1999, Allen and Delores Lastinger, Gator alumni, endowed the Lastinger Center for Learning, which would develop projects to help children in grades K-5.