Mission Statement

The general mission of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction is to advance knowledge of, and professional practice in, teaching and learning. The mission is discharged through faculty activities in teaching, public service, and scholarship. These functions should not be seen as separate, but interdependent in the sense that excellence in any one area depends upon excellence in the other two.

Teaching

The Department offers programs of undergraduate preparation for students to enter educational careers in schools and other agencies; master's level work to enhance professional skills and pursue scholarship in greater depth; and doctoral level work to develop competence as a research scholar. Departmental graduate programs include:

• Art Education
• Bilingual Education
• Curriculum Theory and Research
• Early Childhood Education
• Educational Communications and Technology (ECT)
• Elementary Education
• English as a Second Language (ESL)
• English Education (Literacy Studies)
• English/Language Arts Education (Literacy Studies)
• Foreign Language Education
• Health Education
• International Studies in Curriculum, Pedagogy & Teacher Education
• Literacy Studies
• Mathematics Education
• Multicultural Education
• Music Education
• Reading Education (Literacy Studies)
• Science Education
• Social Studies Education
• Teacher Education

Public Service

Faculty members participate in public service at the local, state and national level. This includes in-service programs for teachers; consulting with schools and other agencies on matters of curriculum development; assisting teachers with supervisory work; coordinating state-wide professional activities; assisting in cooperative research and evaluation; consulting with state, national, and international agencies; serving in professional organization; and teaching special off-campus courses for university credit. Often these activities are undertaken in response to specific requests from school districts, professional organizations, public agencies, or individual teachers.

Scholarship

Faculty scholarship examines problems of curriculum and instruction and issues in the preparation of educational personnel for schools and other agencies. Scholarship includes historical, analytic, and conceptual studies to clarify issues; empirical research examining effects of educational practice; and normative studies that recommend policy and practice in the field.

Purposes of Master's Study

Graduate study in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction is distinguished from undergraduate study in its depth of subject matter and its more intense consideration of professional problems and issues. At the master's degree level, graduate study focuses upon the student's more immediate goals of professional growth and development and may lead to advanced certification in certain areas.

Purposes of Doctoral Study

Graduate study beyond the master's degree level in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction is primarily research-oriented. The Ph.D. degree is the highest degree conferred by the University of Wisconsin-Madison and, because it is a research degree, it is never awarded solely as a result of any prescribed period of study or the completion of a prescribed program of course work. Minimum periods of residence and other requirements are listed elsewhere, but the degree is granted only upon evidence of general proficiency, distinctive attainment in a special field, and a demonstrated ability for independent investigation as reflected in a thesis presenting original research or creative scholarship with a high degree of literary skill.

Doctoral study in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction pursues the following major goals:

• helping students acquire greater competence in curriculum development and better understanding of the teaching-learning process
• helping students develop abilities for research in the field of curriculum and instruction
• helping students gain depth and breadth of knowledge in related academic fields
• helping students evolve a broadened professional background in areas related to curriculum and instruction such as administration, counseling, educational psychology, supervision, and the history, philosophy, and sociology of education.