In a year that saw the addition of new majors for undergraduates and the expansion of space for graduate students and research faculty, the University of Miami School of Education has remained active in improving the quality of its education. Now, its efforts inside and outside the classroom are being rewarded.
In an annual report released by Academic Analytics, a company dedicated to collecting data about faculty productivity, the School of Education had two programs ranked in the top five in the country: the Teaching and Learning Program, ranked second in the Curriculum and Instruction category, and Counseling Psychology, ranked fifth.
In a press release sent out by the School of Education, Dean Isaac Prilleltensky said, “This is wonderful news for our school and the university at large. It focuses on our faculty’s achievements and highlights that it is among the most productive in generating significant work and ideas that are then translated into the classroom and community.”
Associate Dean Etiony Aldarondo agreed.
“This particular recognition is important because it is made on the basis of our productivity and it is not a popularity contest,” Aldarondo said. “They look at indicators that are somewhat more objective than others and it allows for a more fair comparison with other schools.”
Academic Analytics, which has been ranking schools since 2005, developed a formula with objective factors to make the rankings relative to size of the school. Such factors include the number of publications per faculty member, the amount of funding obtained for grant and research support, and the number of articles per faculty member that are cited in peer-reviewed journals.
Last year, the School of Education had three programs ranked: Teaching and Learning, Mathematics and Science Education, and Research, Measurement, and Evaluation.