The Education and Darden schools announced Tuesday a new joint dual-degree program which aims to stimulate education reform. The program, which will admit 15 students next fall, will implement the Darden School's case-based learning style within the framework of the Education School's curriculum.
The plan will include a residency program to provide students with "real-world settings" in which to learn, according to a University press release. Upon completing the program, students will earn a master's degree in business administration and education.
The major's creation is a response to the flaws of the nation's current K-12 education system. Thirty-thousand schools in the United States have failed to meet the standards of learning established by federal tests, and Darden Dean Robert Bruner said the number is expected to increase to 80,000 schools by next year.
"We wanted to see what we as the University could do to create leaders in innovation for education to respond to the glaring social needs in the United States," Bruner said. He added that the program's creation reflects the rising importance of interdisciplinary programs in the changing global marketplace.
"The appearance and proliferation of joint degree programs are a recognition that the world has needs that don't conform easily to the traditional styles that the University have traditionally operated within," Bruner said.
Education Dean Robert Pianta said the new program takes such a change into account. The connection between the Darden graduate program with a leadership focus in education will allow students in the program to work in the sector of public education and promote interdisciplinary study, he said.
"These ideas exist in some form in other schools, but there is no other place where the top tier business and top tier education school [collaborate]," Pianta said.
The program will set up summer internship opportunities for students with education reform organizations, large public schools and Teach for America.
Pianta hopes students graduating from the new program will be able to respond to the increasing need for improvements in education.
"Students who graduate from this program will be right in line with what the United States needs, which are bright minds that really are dedicated to regenerating programs in the United States," he said.
Admitted students will have to complete 82.5 credit hours, with 52.5 Darden School credit hours and 30 Education School credit hours spread out across five modules.
Ultimately, administrators hope the program will encourage graduates to facilitate change in the nation's education program, which ranks 14th in literacy and 25th in mathematics worldwide, according to a study conducted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
"This is a national crisis and demands leadership of an extraordinary nature to respond," Bruner said, "not just an alter or tweaking of the situation. This requires a new mindset and our program will help create those leaders"
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