Greetings from the Chair
Welcome to the Department of Education Studies (EDS) at the University of California, San Diego!
The Department of Education Studies is guided by a mission that includes:
- Engaging in rigorous research to address intractable challenges in our education system;
- Preparing educators to implement evidence-based, justice-oriented pedagogy;
- Supporting transformative change in educational institutions;
- Providing excellent teaching and mentorship to our students.
Our students, staff, and faculty work toward transforming education in a diverse society where all students, particularly in marginalized communities, will thrive and reach their fullest potential.
In 1972, several faculty started the Teacher Education Program (later renamed Department of Education Studies) with the mission to provide state-of-the-art teacher preparation, recognizing the pivotal role of teachers as levers in educational settings. Over time, they established close ties with San Diego County school districts, and these partnerships supported innovative research-practice endeavors to improve educational excellence, opportunity, and access.
Our Department has since grown both in size and in reputation, yet our commitment to educational equity, diversity, and inclusion remain unchanged. We now have 30+ faculty and affiliated researchers examining a broad array of educational issues, plus annual enrollments of 130+ undergraduate education majors, 150+ graduate students and 250+ undergraduate students minoring in Education.
We thrive on collaborative research and practices in multiple areas with local, national, and global reach, including innovative learning strategies for diverse student populations, early childhood education, STEM/world languages/bilingual teaching and learning, special education, social networks and social capital, organizational and systemic reform, school-university-community partnerships, strengthening educational pipelines, and much more.
EDS students and alumni inform and strengthen our Department’s work, and include:
- 200+ P-16 educational leaders and 400+ teacher leaders throughout Southern California and beyond
- 10+ current and former superintendents in area districts
- 75+ pre-service teachers who are committed to providing equitable learning opportunities to minoritized children and youth
- 500+ undergraduate students volunteering 20,000 hours annually in marginalized communities throughout San Diego and the world, through our Partners at Learning (PAL) program, the largest service-learning program at UC San Diego
The Education Studies Department maintains close partnerships with numerous entities at UC San Diego, including the Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment, and Teaching Excellence (CREATE), CalTeach, OASIS, CASP, Center on Gender Equity and Health, and numerous academic departments.
Please join us! Whether you are a prospective or current student, colleague, or alumni, or an educator interested in our work, we look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Megan Hopkins
Chair, Department of Education Studies
