W&M School of Education Team Advocates for Education Priorities
Members of the William & Mary School of Education leadership team traveled to Washington, D.C., last month to meet with legislators from both sides of the aisle about a range of education priorities. The team included Elizabeth Talbott, Associate Dean for Research & Faculty Development, James P. Barber, Senior Associate Dean for Academic Programs and Professor of Education, and Dean Robert C. Knoeppel. The trip provided an opportunity to share faculty expertise in educational policy and practice and highlight several initiatives that speak directly to the School of Education’s mission to create programs that serve the Commonweath and the profession. Specifically, they outlined current programs designed to build the teacher pipeline and inform education research, and they sought reauthorization of the Education Sciences Reform Act (ESRA).
“ESRA is the federal education law that established the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) in 2002,” said Talbott. “Research funded by IES is critically important to advancing the needs of children and youth, particularly given the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The W&M School of Education team met with lead staffers from the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee who are working on the law, after staffers collected more than 500 comments from education leaders, including Talbott, on behalf of the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Research.
Young Americans have experienced urgent academic and mental health needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Results from the Nation’s Report Card show the largest declines in reading scores since 1990 and the first ever drop in mathematics scores from 2020-2022. According to the National Center for Education Statistics 2023 report, school leaders cite substantial increases in student mental health needs, even as they also recognize their inability to meet those needs. This is due to the United States experiencing a record number of educator shortages, including teachers, school leaders and school mental health providers. Special education is consistently among the top teacher shortage areas, both nationally and in Virginia.
According to Education Week, students with disabilities experienced sharper declines in reading and math than their peers without disabilities, as schools struggled to meet Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requirements during remote learning. Schools also reported substantial challenges delivering related services such as speech therapy and mental health care for students with disabilities.
The School of Education’s signature programs currently address these needs. These include the Teacher Apprenticeship Program, a partnership between the School of Education, Virginia Department of Education, and two local school divisions on the peninsula, and Troops to Teachers a collaboration between the U.S. departments of Defense and Education that helps veterans obtain their teaching licenses. Both programs were designed to help build the teacher pipeline, a state and national priority. In addition, National Science Foundation (NSF) STEM Research Grants have funded innovative programs related to the pursuit of STEM careers, and federal funding for centers and projects has bolstered support from the Virginia Department of Education. These include the William & Mary Training & Technical Assistance Center (T/TAC), a resource for the region’s special education teachers, Project HOPE, to advance education for homeless youth in the region, and Bridging the Gap, which addresses learning loss in 25 Virginia school divisions.
In addition to meeting with members of the Senate HELP committee, the W&M School of Education team met with congressional staff members who work for the following representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives, all from Virginia: Bobby Scott (D-03), Abigail Spanberger (D-07), and Rob Wittman (R-01). They also met with congressional staff members who work for Virginia Senators Tim Kaine (D) and Mark Warner (D) and staff members from the House Education and the Workforce Development Committee and the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), and they ended the trip with a meet-and-greet with Congressman Brandon Williams (R-NY), member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
