Article #1
The Insubstantial Academic Training of Federal and
Minnesota State Department of Education Officials
Inadequate academic preparation is a consistent reality among education administrators, from the United States Department of Education on through state-level administrators, such as those at the Minnesota Department of Education.
The current head of the United States Department of Education is an intellectual lightweight, lacking any training in a key academic field:
Miguel Cardona
(United States Secretary of Education)
Ed. D. (Doctor of Education)
Central Connecticut State University
M. S.
Central Connecticut State University
Bilingual and Cultural Education
B. S. (Bachelor of Science)
Central Connecticut State University
Education
This lack of in any training in a major subject area is witnessed, too, in those who occupy positions of leadership at the state level. Consider the cases of these figures who have occupied key roles at the Minnesota Department of Education:
Heather Mueller
(Minnesota State Commissioner of Education through December 2022)
Ed. D. (Doctor of Education)
St. Mary’s University of Minnesota
Educational Leadership with Emphasis on Organizational Analysis and Change
M. Ed. (Master of Education )
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Educational Leadership
Specialist Degree
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Educational Leadership and Administration, General
B. Ed.
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Associate Arts Degree
Arizona Western College
General Studies
Brenda Cassellius
(former Minnesota State Commissioner of Education)
Doctor of Education – EdD
Organizational Leadership
2004- 2007
Specialist
Educational Leadership and Administration, General
1993 – 1995
Master's degree
Secondary Education and Teaching
1990- 1991
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
Bachelor's degree
Psychology
1985 - 1989
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Stephanie Burrage
(former Minnesota Deputy Commissioner of Education; currently educational equity officer for the Minnesota Department of Education)
Ed.D. (Educational Policy and Administration)
University of Minnesota/Twin Cities
M.Ed. (Elementary Education)
University of Wisconsin/Madison
M.Ed.
St. Mary’s University
B.A. (Secondary Education)
Western Michigan University
Brenda Cassellius’s undergraduate degree in psychology is the only credential given above that pertains to a major academic field; otherwise the college or university degrees held by these figures operating at the state level have all been conferred by departments, schools, or colleges of education.
Such a situation contrasts greatly with the circumstance abiding among leaders of colleges and universities:
Presidents and deans at post-secondary institutions typically have been professors in major academic fields such as mathematics, physics, history, economics, or English. College and university presidents are scholars who have learned any skills necessary on the job after being tapped as associate deans, deans, and other administrative positions; they rarely have matriculated in programs comprised of the academically light courses leading to administrative certification in public education.
Programs that provide courses leading to public school teacher and administrative licensure are cash cows for colleges and universities but a regrettable component of a system that devalues, and sends forth leaders who lack, academic knowledge.
Such a situation, reviewed in the next article, is the result of an approach to curriculum and teacher training that began at Teachers College, Columbia University in the 1920s and took hold in public education from the 1970s forward.
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