A timeline of signficant events in the history of programs associated with the College of Professional Education at Texas Woman's University.

1. COPE Through the Years
Significant events in the history of the
College of Professional Education

2. Almost from its very
beginning in 1901
TWU, known as the
College of Industrial
Arts, was preparing
and providing
educators and human
service professionals to
the schools and
communities of Texas.

3. In the 1906-07 session,
the State Legislature
voted to allow TWU
(CIA) to issue teaching
certificates to
graduates who
completed an
approved program of
study. It was a first for
the State of Texas.

4. In 1908, a separate
Department of
Education was created
at the CIA. And, in
1911, it was expanded
to become the
Department of
Education, Psychology
and Ethics.

5. By 1915-16, the
Department of
Philosophy and
Education was one of
eighteen departments
in the CIA and
supervised student
teaching was being
provided to
prospective teachers.

6. 1915-16: It was
reported that the CIA
had furnished “more
teachers of household
arts to the high schools
and colleges of Texas
than all other
institutions of higher
learning combined.”

7. 1915-20: Summer
School (Summer
Normals) offered over
300 courses to
practicing teachers,
including playground
supervision, library
methods, public school
music, and home
economics education.
Teachers from across
the state participated.

8. In 1916, the State
Department of
Education recognized
the CIA as “a college of
the first class,” and
declared that it had the
same right as the
University of Texas to
issue teacher
certificates based on
college courses.

9. 1916-17: The College
of Industrial Arts
offered its first two-hour
course in
library methods. In
1920-21 two such
courses were offered.
Both were elective
and continued until
1927-28.

10. In 1917, TWU became
the first Texas college to
add a kindergarten
teacher training class to
its Department of
Education. In 1924 it
was expanded to include
a B.S. degree in
kindergarten teaching.

11. 1917: The CIA was
the first college in
Texas to offer home
economics
instruction. In 1919
all but one of the
vocational home
economics teachers
in Texas had been
trained by the CIA.

12. 1920: The Willard
School, recognized as
one of the finest
nursery schools in the
country, was built and
the CIA became the
first state college in
Texas to begin a
nursery training
program with a fully
equipped nursery.

13. By 1924, the College of
Industrial Arts (TWU)
had become one of
eleven Texas colleges in
which education was
the largest department
as colleges tried to meet
the demand for ten
thousand new school
teachers each year.

14. During the 1924-25
school year, four-year
sequences (BS
degrees) were
implemented in
public school music
and kindergarten-primary
education. It
was the first
kindergarten
program in Texas.

15. In 1925, the College of
Industrial Arts was
organized into five
schools: Liberal Arts,
Industrial Arts and
Sciences, Home
Economics, Fine Arts,
and Education.

16. In 1925-26, the College
started a demonstration
school where students
could do supervised
teaching in physical
education, public school
music and art, manual
training and home
economics, and other
high school courses.

17. 1929: The College of
Industrial Arts
expanded courses in
library science that
would lead to the B.S.
degree in response to a
SACS requirement
that all accredited high
schools in Texas must
have librarians.

18. 1930: The first
graduate work
leading to a Master
of Arts degree in
Education was added
at the College and, in
1934, the name was
changed to Texas
State College for
Women (TSCW).

19. 1930’s: TSCW was first
to develop degrees in
physical education,
home demonstration,
vocational home
economics, and library
science. Graduates
were in leadership
positions throughout
the state, particularly
in the public schools.

20. 1935-1936: Degrees were
added in intermediate
and secondary education.
The State Department of
Education designated
TSCW as a center for
excellence in the
development of curricula
for art and music in the
public schools of Texas.

21. 1937: TSCW began
offering popular
correspondence
courses in a number of
departments, including
Education. These
departments offered
109 correspondence
courses for individuals
wanting to earn
college credit.

22. In 1938, the TSCW
School of Library
Science was the first
in the southwest to
be accredited by the
American Library
Association and has
been accredited
continuously since.

23. 1938-39: Library
Science added a
fifth-year B.S. and
began a master’s
program in 1941.
For many years it
was the only
library science
program in Texas
to offer an
advanced degree.

24. 1941-43: A “modern,
well-equipped”
Demonstration School
was completed to
provide supervised
teaching experience
for education students,
and the Department of
Education, Philosophy
and Psychology was
established.

25. By 1944, TSCW was
offering a twelve-course
major in child
development and
nursery education,
the first major of its
kind in Texas. A new
nursery school
provided a laboratory
where students could
gain experience.

26. In 1951, what was
then known as the
Department of Home
Economics moved to a
new four-story
building and became
the College of
Household Arts
and Sciences.

27. 1952: The College of
Household Arts and
Sciences became a
leading research
center and began the
first TSCW doctoral
degrees with both the
Ph.D. and the Ed.D.

28. 1954-55: The
College of
Education was
formed and
included divisions
in education,
psychology, special
education, teacher
education office,
demonstration
school, curriculum
library, and testing
and guidance.

29. 1955: The College of
Education became a
member of the
American Association
of Colleges of Teacher
Education and in
1963-64 received
accreditation by the
National Council for
Accreditation of
Teacher Education.

30. In 1956, the Library
Science Building was
completed. It was
connected to Brailey
Memorial Library by
a breezeway and it
was the first building
in the nation built
primarily for
teaching library
science courses.

31. 1959: The new
Demonstration School
at the University
(renamed TWU in 1957)
was completed and had
a number of features
unique for the time,
including a design that
eliminated the need for
stairs, and specific areas
adapted for children
with intellectual and
orthopedic disabilities.

32. 1966: The Fall Forum in
Reading began in order to
bring outstanding scholars
in reading to TWU and to
benefit students and teachers
in the DFW area. In 1997, it
was renamed the Rose F.
Spicola Forum in Reading to
honor the co-founder of the
forum and a leader in the
development of the reading
program at TWU.

33. 1968: New degree
programs included a
new six-year program
in library science and a
doctoral program in
special education where
students could earn the
Ph.D. or Ed.D. in
mental retardation,
speech pathology,
learning & language
disorders, or the
mentally disturbed.

34. In 1969, the Center for the
Study of Learning opened
on the first floor of the
new CFO building. It
assisted TWU students in
the study of learning
problems and helped
students and others in the
community with reading
and communication
problems.

35. 1969:The Center for the
Study of Learning had a
curriculum library and a
variety of audio-visual
materials to use in
teaching. Twelve small
study rooms were
available for education
majors to learn how to
teach. Students could
videotape their teaching
for evaluation afterwards.

36. In 1969, the new
Bilingual Education
Action (BECA)
program was started.
TWU students worked
as teacher aides in
bilingual classrooms in
the Fort Worth
Independent School
District and attended
classes at TWU on
alternate weeks.

37. Also in 1969, the
teacher corps was in
operation in which
TWU education
students with 60 or
more hours worked in
seven different
elementary schools to
receive on-the-job
training in teaching.

38. 1969: The College of
Education was
reorganized into five
departments;
Psychology and
Philosophy, Curriculum
and Instruction,
Educational
Foundations, Counselor
Education and
Personnel Services, and
Special Education.

39. In 1972, there were a
number of concentrations
for doctoral studies in the
College of Household Arts
and Sciences. Students
earned an Ed.D. or Ph.D.
in child development,
home demonstration,
home and family life, and
institution administration.

40. In 1975, the second
through fifth floors of the
new MCL Building had
classrooms, offices and a
curriculum materials
center for Education. The
Institute for Mental and
Physical Development was
located on the ninth floor.

41. In 1978-79, doctoral
degrees were added
in the areas of
reading, vocational-technical
education,
and adult and
continuing education.

42. 1986: The Child
Development and
Family Living
Department and the
Consumer Science
Department merged
to become the Family
and Consumer
Studies Department.

43. 1989: TWU became
a teacher leader
training center for
Reading Recovery,
the only one in
Texas, with over
9,000 students
served annually
through TWU’s
network of schools.

44. 1989: A joint Teacher
Interview Day with
TWU and UNT was
held with 61 school
districts represented
from across Texas and
other states. It allowed
teacher education
students to meet and
connect with school
district administrators.

45. Later renamed
Education Career Day,
the event rotates each
semester between the
TWU and UNT
campuses and
continues for decades
to provide education
students at TWU an
opportunity to meet
prospective employers.

46. 1989-1990: The College
of Education and Human
Ecology was formed with
Early Childhood and
Special Education,
Educational Leadership,
Family Sciences, Reading
and Bilingual Education,
the School of Library and
Information Studies, and
Mass Communication.

47. 1992: A Meadows
Foundation grant funded
major renovations to the
Child Development
Center, which served as a
practicum site for students
in various majors. The
renovations enhanced
existing classrooms and
added rooms for research
and testing.

48. 1993: Project START, a
program designed to give
bilingual and ESL
teachers background
information in math,
science and computers,
was implemented with a
grant from the U.S.
Department of Education.

49. 2000: The College of
Education and Human
Ecology was changed to
the College of
Professional Education
and included the
Departments of
Teacher Education,
Reading, Family
Sciences, and the
School of Library and
Information Studies.

50. In the 2002-03 school year,
the Master of Arts in
Teaching (MAT), an
interdisciplinary degree
program to prepare
individuals for initial
teacher certification and
involving departments
from across the university,
was implemented.

51. 2004: The Reading
Recovery/Early Literacy
Institute, drawing
thousands of reading and
literacy specialists,
educators and parents,
was renamed the Billie J.
Askew Reading
Recovery/Early Literacy
Institute for the educator
who founded and led the
institute for 14 years.

52. 2005: SLIS was
awarded a $905,030
grant for the 21st
Century Librarians
Program to improve
the accessibility and
quality of library
services for a diverse
student population in
the Dallas Independent
School District.

53. 2006: The Texas
Woman’s University
online Master of
Library Science
degree was the fourth
largest graduate
program in the field,
according to U.S.
News & World Report
magazine’s 2006 E-Learning
Guide.

54. 2006: Texas Woman’s
University and the
Fort Worth
Independent School
District partnered to
address critical
teacher shortages
using a $1.65 million
Transition to
Teaching grant from
the U.S. Department
of Education.

55. 2007: The Child
Development and
Family Studies
programs were
recognized by the
National Council on
Family Relations for
having the second
highest ratio of students
to receive their CFLE
(Certified Family Life
Educator) certification.

56. 2008: the Department
of Family Sciences
began its bachelor’s
level Child Life
certification program.
The program was
approved as meeting
the standards of the
International Child
Life Council.

57. 2010: The Department
of Reading received a
$3.7 million federal
grant for Reading
Recovery®, an early
literacy intervention
program. TWU is the
only Texas institution
to receive the funding.

58. 2010: TWU’s Chapter of
the Association of Texas
Professional Educators
(ATPE) began a summer
reading project in
partnership with Barnes
& Noble. Sessions
included a story along
with activities and crafts
developed and provided
by TWU preservice
teaching students.

59. 2010: The Partnering for
Teachers program with
the Dallas School District,
a partnership to close the
gap in student success by
increasing math, science
and bilingual education
teachers, won the
prestigious STAR award
from the Texas Higher
Education Coordinating
Board (THECB).

60. 2012: A $1.6 million
federal grant to
improve the ability of
educators in rural
North Texas schools to
teach students
learning the English
language is awarded
to the Bilingual
Education program in
the Department of
Teacher Education.

61. 2012: The School of
Library and Information
Studies partnered with
the Texas Library
Association (TLA) and
the Dallas Public Library
for a $743,036 project to
establish the Literacy
Matters: Educating
Librarians to Serve
Families with Young
Children project.

62. 2013: TWU’s
Department of
Teacher Education
became the first
program in Texas to
implement
TeachLivETM, a mixed
reality approach to
help preservice
teachers develop and
practice instructional
and behavioral
management skills.
*Photo courtesy of the Denton Record-Chronicle and David Minton

63. 2013: The TExES PREP
Center (Preparation and
Review for Educator
Proficiencies) which
provides resources,
support and services to
TWU students and
graduates in preparing
for and passing state
required certification
exams, is established in
Stoddard Hall.

64. 2014: The first New
Teacher Academy is held.
Its purpose is to bring
together graduates of
TWU’s educator
preparation program who
are in their first three
years of teaching for
enhanced professional
development in effective
and innovative
instructional practices,
technologies and resources.

65. Pictures, text and information were taken from past issues
of the TWU Yearbook (the Daedalian), Marking the Trail: A
History of the Texas Woman’s University by Joyce
Thompson, Marking New Trails: An Informal History of the
Texas Woman’s University by Phyllis Bridges, various issues
of the Lasso (TWU’s student newspaper), and the TWU
Office of Marketing & Communication. Appreciation is
given to the University Archives at the TWU Libraries.
For more pictures on the history of the College of
Professional Education at Texas Woman’s University go to
https://share.twu.edu/sites/COPE/pictures.