Chasity Montes, a professional development specialist for Southwest Regional Education Cooperative, gave a workshop at New Mexico State University's College of Education for future teachers on how to improve teaching for second-language learners. The college recently merged the departments of Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership and Administration, and Special Education into a single School of Teacher Preparation, Administration and Leadership, which will better prepare master educators, administrators and leaders for public, private and governmental institutions.
(NMSU photo by Adriana M. Chávez)WRITER: Adriana M. Chavez, 575-646-1957, adchavez@nmsu.edu

New Mexico State University's College of Education has recently merged the departments of Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership and Administration, and Special Education into a single School of Teacher Preparation, Administration and Leadership, which will better prepare master educators, administrators and leaders for public, private and governmental institutions.

In 2016, the College of Education received a $252,000 planning grant from the Kellogg Foundation to begin the process of transforming the college. The mission of the School of Teacher Preparation, Administration and Leadership, or TPAL, is to support and advocate for equitable education for all, especially historically marginalized and multicultural/multilingual communities and students with exceptionalities. This is accomplished through teaching, scholarship, public service, the preparation of teachers and leaders, and collaborations across the disciplines and with constituents.

"We received the Kellogg Foundation grant and hosted guest speakers and discussed how we should best restructure the college, and that evolved into one result: one large department made up of Curriculum and Instruction, Educational Leadership and Administration, and Special Education," said Betsy Cahill, interim associate dean of academic affairs and TPAL co-director. "It absolutely made sense because we should all be in this together. It's a natural fit."

Cahill, who is co-director of TPAL along with associate professor and Stan Fulton Endowed Chair in Education Azadeh Osanloo, said there are plans to begin a search for a school director sometime next year. For more information on TPAL, visit https://tpal.nmsu.edu/.

The Kellogg Foundation, founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal pioneer Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, the Kellogg Foundation works with communities to create better conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.

The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. The Kellogg Foundation priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.