US News ranks UK graduate education program among the nation's best

The Elementary Education Graduate Program at UK was ranked 22nd among the nation’s 187 graduate education programs, according to a report on the U.S. News and World Report Web site, www.usnews.com. The UK program was in a tie with several universities, including the University of California – Berkeley, University of California -Santa Barbara, and the University of Arizona.

According to Shirley Raines, dean of the UK College of Education, the national ranking of 22nd among 187 graduate education programs in elementary education is due to three factors: reputations of faculty members, national interest in KERA (Kentucky Education Reform Act), and faculty collaboration with colleagues in public schools.

“Faculty members in the Elementary Education Graduate Program have excellent reputations among their peers in social studies, language arts, science, mathematics, reading, and the arts. With the attention given to KERA, the graduate program’s faculty are in demand to present their research and program changes in teacher education to a national audience,” Dean Raines said.

Graduate students in elementary education are often teaching while simultaneously enrolled in courses. They are most interested in learning how to improve their teaching. For example, the professional development school at Squires Elementary, as well as other partnership schools, are “living laboratories” for university and public school teachers. Their collaboration improves the quality of public school teaching and also gives college professors ideas to improve the preparation of those who will become teachers.

U.S. News publishes its national graduate school rankings annually in hard copy and on the Web in U.S. News and World Report’s America’s Best Graduate Schools. Complete rankings of specialty programs can be found on the news magazine’s Web site.