Sources: Gail Shroyer, 785-532-6737, gshroyer@k-state.edu;
and Michael Holen, 785-532-5525, mholen@k-state.edu

Thursday, Aug. 12, 2010

GAIL SHROYER CHAIR OF NEW DEPARTMENT AT K-STATE'S COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

MANHATTAN -- An award-winning professor who specializes in improving teacher preparation will lead a newly merged department in Kansas State University's College of Education.

M. Gail Shroyer has been appointed chair of the college's new department of curriculum and instruction, which combines the former departments of elementary education and secondary education.

The new department enrolls 1,500 undergraduate students preparing to become teachers. It also has more than 750 graduate students working toward master's and doctoral degrees or teaching endorsements, with focal areas in elementary/middle or middle/secondary curriculum and instruction; reading/language arts; reading specialist; educational computing, design and online learning; digital teaching and learning; English as a second language; learning skills/school improvement; and community/junior colleges.

"Gail Shroyer has been dedicated to quality teacher preparation through effective teaching, scholarly activity and service to the profession," said Michael Holen, dean of the College of Education. "During her K-State career she has acquired more than $20 million in nationally competitive grants focused on the simultaneous renewal and improvement of schooling and teacher preparation."

"Gail's leadership will help focus additional national attention on the high-quality teacher education programs at Kansas State University," Holen said.

The bachelor's degree program in elementary education, which is offered through the new department of curriculum and instruction, is among the college's programs earning national recognition. It earned the 2010 Distinguished Program in Teacher Education Award from the Association of Teacher Education.

In addition, Shroyer is one of the founders and ongoing leaders of the nationally recognized clinical instruction and professional development school models developed at K-State.

"Dr. Shroyer is the perfect person at the right time to lead our teacher preparation programs as the college contributes to the recognition of K-State as a top 50 public research university," Holen said.

Shroyer joined K-State in 1988 and was promoted to professor in 2003. She earned the college's Faculty Excellence in Research/Creative Activities Award in 2009 and its Faculty Excellence in Service Award in 2007. She has a bachelor's in biology from the University of California at Santa Cruz and a master's and a doctorate in curriculum and instruction from K-State.