Conceptual Framework



COE Purpose and Projected Learning Outcomes

The purpose of the College of Education is to prepare candidates to be educators who possess the knowledge and skills of their profession and the values to use that knowledge in a way that will positively impact schools and the larger community. Faculty in the College of Education are guided in this purpose by the mission and core values of Lewis University and the College of Education, the general education requirements of the University and the content, teaching, administrative and counseling standards of the State of Illinois and the national professional organizations.

The resulting educational programs of the College of Education are based on two important foundations: knowledge and values. We believe that in order for our candidates to be successful educators, they must not only possess content and pedagogical knowledge, but they must also embrace the moral values represented by the Catholic and Lasallian traditions. Professional preparation needs to be enhanced by the values of wisdom, justice and fidelity. We believe that this occurs best in a spirit of association which we in the College of Education enact through our overriding mission which focuses on the development of an ethic of community.

At the completion of education programs in the College of Education, candidates need to have demonstrated competence in the following outcomes as evidence of meeting the three Institutional Standards of the Lewis University College of Education which stem directly from the Lewis University mission values and work of John Baptist de la Salle. The three institutional standards are aligned with the University mission, the COE mission, the COE vision, the COE proficiencies, the COE dispositions, unit assessments, National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), the Illinois Professional Teaching Standards (IPTS)—including the Illinois Technology Standards for All Teachers and the Illinois Language Arts Standards for All teachers—and the Illinois Professional School Leader Standards (IPSLS), in addition to other program-specific standards or key assessments. Following are the COE unit standards:

  1. Candidates and Faculty are Knowledgeable Critical Transformative Educators
  2. Candidates and Faculty are Multicultural Educators
  3. Candidates and Faculty are Social Justice Advocates