University of Albany's School of Education Garners Three National Top 10 Rankings

Courtesy: University at Albany

ALBANY, N.Y. (November 28, 2007) -- Doctoral programs in reading, curriculum and instruction, and educational psychology at the University at Albany's School of Education are among the top 10 nationally, according to Academic Analytics, a company that conducts data collection and reporting for the field of higher education.

The rankings were based on the Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index -- launched by Academic Analytics in 2005 -- which evaluates more than 7,400 doctoral programs in 172 disciplines in 375 institutions. The index also ranks institutions in broader categories, such as humanities and biological sciences, as well as institutions as a whole.

"These national rankings reflect the outstanding quality of the faculty. I applaud their work and I'm delighted to see their accomplishments recognized in such a significant forum," said Susan D. Phillips, dean of the School of Education.

The index measures the scholarly productivity of faculty using their publications, citations and financial and honorary awards. The FSP analysis creates, by academic field of study, a ranking based on the cumulative scoring of a program's faculty using these measures compared against national standards within the particular discipline. Individual program scores can then be combined to demonstrate the quality of the scholarly work of the entire university.

The UAlbany School of Education is one of the oldest public schools of education in New York State. It is the second largest school at the University and consistently ranks among the best graduate schools of education in the nation. The School comprises four academic departments, where students pursue doctoral, masters, and graduate certificate programs in areas of study such as educational leadership and policy, educational technology, literacy, elementary, secondary, and special education, and counseling, school, and educational psychology.

The School of Education is one of the leaders of literacy research and instruction in the nation and houses several large-scale nationally funded research projects on literacy, including the Center on English Learning & Achievement, the Child Research Study Center, and the Capital District Chapter of the National Writing Project. The School is also a leader in mathematics and science education, including the National Science Foundation studies of equity in mathematics education, and leadership on the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) international panels and the New York State Math Education panel. It recently joined IBM's Transition to Teaching initiative to help fill the nationwide need for qualified math and science teachers.