The Dean's Take - The Way Forward

As we move into a new era in public education, a number of things are becoming clear. Colleges of education will be called upon to produce the knowledge that will guide our schools and determine leadership, curricular, and support models within a system that is clearly ready to implement the reforms that are necessary in an age of accountability. 

The Obama administration has challenged our schools to provide instruction that is empirically derived, socially valid, and responsive to all children. That policy, entitled Race to the Top, contains four major areas of emphasis: early intervention and universal preschool, prevention, math and science, and an emphasis on high school standards that allow access to higher education for all children.

The College of Education at Lehigh University has, for years, reflected many of the goals of the current administration. As a research-intensive graduate college of education, we have consistently produced both the knowledge base and the commitment to a direct dissemination of research-based practice in the schools. As the college moves forward, we will focus our efforts on a number of the “big” issues facing education such as initiatives that result in effective, replicable, and sustainable programs in urban settings; prevention and early intervention; and school-wide systems of curricular and behavioral instruction that result in exemplary education for all students.

This is the first issue of the Lehigh University College of Education research review. It has been designed to reflect both the changing nature of education and our emphasis on cutting-edge research, which results in measurable changes within schools, clinics, and policy. Our feature article, titled, “The Economics of Educational Reform,” addresses many of the major issues that are confronting our schools today. As we move forward toward a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the overriding current issue is how funding streams will change to reflect current research, policy, and political variables.

We welcome you to this review of our current efforts, to many of the most pressing issues in the field today, and to the Lehigh University College of Education. 

Gary Sasso 

Dean of the College of Education Lehigh University