Skip to main content

School of Education

Prepare for a Career in Education

Trinity’s education students and graduates impact local communities and bring about positive change for young people and their families. Your professors bring topics to life by drawing on their own experiences as current practitioners creating change in education: locally, regionally, and nationally. Our coursework and practicum experiences provide a competency-based education with school-based support.

  • Convenient catalog of classes that fit your personal and professional schedule
  • Our programs include specific attention to trauma-informed care and inclusive practices.
  • Trinity programs are among the most affordable in the region, and customized financial aid packages are available.
  • We also offer Continuing Education classes for professional development.

Making Your Education Affordable

Your education at Trinity is a great investment in your future success!  Thousands of Trinity graduates report high levels of satisfaction and strong earnings thanks to their Trinity degrees.

Trinity makes your investment affordable by keeping tuition low and providing generous grants, scholarships and other forms of financial aid.

  • Trinity’s tuition is the lowest among private universities in the Washington region;
  • 100% of Trinity’s full-time undergraduates receive financial aid, with many receiving grants and scholarships that cover almost all tuition and even some living expenses;
  • Professional undergraduates and graduate students may be eligible for grants and other forms of financial aid; many employers have tuition support programs as well.

Learn more about how Trinity helps you to get a great return on your investment.

Tuition & Fees

Explore Academic ProgramsConnect with a Recruiter

News & Events

Academic Programs

Quality

The track record of Trinity’s School of Education speaks for itself. Many of the region’s educational administrators and award-winning teachers earned their degrees at Trinity. Let your success story join theirs.

Location in DC

The Washington DC region is a national leader in education, having incubated many innovative educational firsts. Be part of the cutting edge of your field with boundless opportunities.

Convenient Schedule

Earning your degree in Trinity’s School of Education can fit almost any schedule with course formats including daytime, evening, weekend, online and face-to-face classes.

Meet the Dean

Dr. Christine Gorowara has extensive leadership experience in the accreditation of teacher education programs.  She served as vice president of the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC), and then subsequently as vice president of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).  She also participated in the founding of the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP).  Dr. Gorowara has recently been elected to the board of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) and has been president of the Delaware Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.  She has been an active leader and participant in many other educational organizations.  She has participated in numerous initiatives addressing diversifying the teacher pipeline, ensuring culturally responsive competence in Delaware educator preparation graduates, and incorporating anti-racist curriculum in PK-12 schools.  She co-led the founding of a Montessori charter school to serve low income families in Delaware.

Dr. Gorowara earned her B.A. in Mathematics at the University of Akron, M.S. in Mathematics at Ohio State, and Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction with a Concentration in Mathematics Education at the University of Delaware.  She also holds a certificate in Regulatory Analysis and Decision Making from the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law.

Meet the Faculty

Our faculty and staff reflect our student body; more than 60%  are women and men of color. The talented faculty have developed extensive expertise in the practice of inclusive excellence pedagogy to ensure that you are engaged and supported in your academic program.

Profiles of Success

Eugene Pinkard ’01

Eugene Pinkard is an experienced educator and policy leader who currently serves as director of practice and leadership, at the Aspen Institute’s Education and Society program. The Aspen Institute is an influential, global nonprofit organization...

Dr. Karen Archambault ’03

Dr. Karen Archambault ’03 is vice president of enrollment management and student success at Rowan College at Burlington County. She earned her master of arts in counseling from Trinity in 2003. She received her bachelor’s degree...

Carl Patton ’04

Carl Patton, who has more than 30 years of experience in education, is the principal and chief academic officer of The John Carroll School, a co-educational Catholic high school in Bel Air, Maryland. He previously...

Apply Today!

Applying to Trinity’s School of Education is easy and free!

Apply Now

Your Recruiters

Questions about applying to Trinity? We’re here to help!

Accreditation

The teacher education preparation program at Trinity Washington University is nationally accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).

The District of Columbia Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) has examined the quality of Trinity’s programs preparing teachers, service providers and administrators for District of Columbia P-12 schools, and has determined that the programs meet state standards for preparing candidates to enter the profession. State approval is required for programs in the District of Columbia offering professional preparation programs that lead to state teacher, service provider and school administrator licensure.

Teacher Licensure and Certification

Trinity’s licensure-track programs prepare you to pursue initial teacher licensure in the District of Columbia and most states. Some states have additional requirements: contact the appropriate state licensing board for more information, and to determine if Trinity’s program meets your need.

CAEP Accreditation

Annual measures reported here reflect data collected between 9/1/2020 – 8/31/2021. Data is reported for both initial certification programs (BA and MAT) and advanced programs (MSA). Data is not disaggregated by licensure area or program in order to protect the confidentiality of our candidates and completers.

[vc_tta_accordion active_section=”-1″ collapsible_all=”true”][vc_tta_section title=”Measure 1: Completer Impact and Effectiveness” tab_id=”1651254243945-e2f2cf55-1ac8″]

Trinity Washington University completers have a positive impact on P-12 learning and development, and are effective in their employment settings. Trinity triangulates data from five sources to determine the impact and effectiveness of its completers: The EPP Report provided by the District of Columbia Office of State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), Alumni and Employer Evaluations, Teacher Formal Evaluations, Classroom Observations and Principal Interviews.

OSSE Data: Percent of Effective Teachers by Ward

The table below was provided by OSSE on Trinity’s Educator Preparation Provider impact on the District of Columbia School System (DCPS). The table shows the percentage of program completers employed as first-year teachers in DC LEAs during school year 2019-20, who earned ratings of effective or higher for 2020-2021. The evidence shows our completers are 100% effective in Wards 6, 7, and 8 as compared to all EPP completers who scored 70-78.9% effectiveness in those same wards. 

Alumni and Employer Surveys

On both the alumni and employer surveys, respondents are asked to assess impact on student learning (Question 11 on the Alumni Survey; Question 15 on the Employer Survey) and to include evidence to support their rating. 

For the alumni survey, the overall mean response was 4.71, which is between “very satisfied” (71% of responses) and “satisfied” (29% of responses).  The means by licensure area were: ECE = 4.60; ELEM = 5.00; Secondary = 5.00; Special Ed = 5.00.

For the employer survey, the overall mean response was 4.67, which is between “very satisfied” (67% of responses) and “satisfied” (33% of responses). 

The alumni survey also asks respondents to rate the degree to which the program prepared them with a variety of knowledge/skills tagged to the InTASC standards and related to their ability to impact P-12 learners. Ratings for each area were between 4.3 and 4.8 on a five point scale suggesting alumni feel prepared with the knowledge and skills needed to be effective classroom teachers. 

Teacher Formal Evaluations

Trinity invites completers to share their year-end teaching evaluations. Five of our 16 completers submitted their formal evaluations to us (response rate = 31%). Because these five completers work for three different school systems (using different rating scales), we cannot aggregate their ratings. Instead, we include their individual ratings (along with the scales) here.

Classroom Observations 

Each spring, Trinity faculty conduct observations of its completers where completers are assessed in line with the InTASC teaching standards. Five observations of alumni teachers were conducted (22% of completers across programs). Results of these observations indicate 100% of completers observed met or exceeded all teaching standards. Click here for data on particular indicators.

Principal Interviews

Three principal interviews were conducted alongside Classroom Observations. Ratings and excerpts are included below.

  • Student 4: Highly Effective: “xxxxx’s students have grown immensely (3 points in growth) using in-house assessments to measure student learning.”
  • Student 5: Effective: “xxxxx has been absolutely amazing this year. Every time I go into her virtual room I leave thinking to myself “I can’t believe she is a first year teacher”! Her students love her, her colleagues love her, and I have heard from many parents how much they adore and appreciate xxxxx.”
  • Student 2: Highly Effective: “xxxx is a team player and collaborates well with her teammates. She is an advocate for students and holds them to high standards. She is organized and well planned.”

Initial Programs (BA, MAT) 

Ratings of graduates by their employers suggest that they are demonstrating the knowledge, skills, and behaviors expected of effective teachers and are rated as effective by their Principals. A number of questions ask Principals about their level of satisfaction and for all the average response is well above 4.0 on a scale of 1-5. For a look at the compiled data, click here.

Advanced Program (MSA)

Ratings of graduates by their employers suggest that they are demonstrating the knowledge, skills, and behaviors expected of effective administrators and are rated as effective. A number of questions ask employers about their level of satisfaction and for all the average response is well above 4.0 on a scale of 1-5. For a look at the compiled data, click here.

Stakeholder Involvement

Trinity Washington University Education Programs have established MOUs with the District of Columbia and with Prince George’s County Public Schools. Students in our initial certification programs and advanced programs are placed in these districts.

The Council met once in 2020-2021, in the spring semester, on March 16, 2021. Agenda items included:

      • Discussion of Ongoing and Potential Recruiting Efforts
      • Validity Discussion of 4 Key Assessment Instruments in Initial Programs – Clarity of Language and Rating Scales
        • Action Research Assignment & Rubric
        • InTASC Portfolio Assignment & Rubric
        • Lesson/Unit Plan Assignment & Rubric
        • Webpage Assignment & Rubric
      • Suggestions for Continuous Improvement: 
        1. Reviewing language with respect for bias
        2. Aligning language across documents with strong preference towards language used in Unit Plan. In particular, the phrase “concepts, processes, knowledge, and/or academic language”
        3. Noting toward beginning of teacher preparation courses that assignments have purpose when completing the inTasc portfolio.
        4. Suggesting to students to record their lessons (with permission from appropriate parties) to use as artifacts
        5. Support students in using rubrics to self-assess their work on assignments over time
        6. The Council decided to meet twice a year going forward (rather than once a year) in order to have more sustained conversation about programming and partnerships.

In 2020-2021, Trinity’s Education Council consisted of 24 members, who represented the interests of Trinity’s school and district partners, faculty, staff, and alumni. We are proud to have had so many committed partners serve on our Council of Education in 2020-2021. Click here for a complete list of Council members in 2020-2021.

Initial Programs (BA, MAT) 

Candidate competency at completion of our Initial Certification Programs (BA and MAT) is evaluated by triangulating data collected on four EPP-created content and skills assessments, one EPP-created dispositions assessment, and the EPP’s Praxis II pass rates.

EPP-Created Content and Skills Assessments: In 2020-2021, we were still working on validating our instruments with stakeholders and establishing inter-rater reliability among faculty. Thus, our data was preliminary – meaning that we need to keep an eye on potential areas for growth across data collected in future semesters. 

In 2020-2021, we had 16 students exiting our initial certification programs (12 in the fall, 4 in the spring). All students met or exceeded expectations on the Clinical Student Teaching Evaluation, the InTASC Portfolio, and the Action Research Project. The Content Portfolio assessment revealed some areas of development. Across all four instruments, the lowest scores (developing and meets expectations) were in the following three areas: technology, assessment, and accommodating for learning differences. The following suggestions for continuous improvement grew out of our faculty conversations:

  • The Integration of Technology – Faculty created a technology-specific key assessment that is now incorporated into our Technology course to more intentionally develop and assess skills related to technology integration.
  • Assessment – Faculty agreed that we need to more intentionally address assessment throughout our initial certification program courses. We decided that in 2021-2022 we would take time during our faculty meetings to plan and reflect on this effort.
  • Learning Differences – Faculty agreed that despite our emphasis on differentiation and accommodating for learning differences across our coursework, student teachers often struggle to implement differentiated instruction in their clinical placements. We decided to bring this concern to our Council of Education at our next meeting and to discuss this concern with our cooperating teachers in the next academic year. 

Click here to review data collected on EPP-created content and skills assessments.

 

Completer Professional Dispositions Assessment Scores:

 

100% of Fall 2020 graduates met all expectations across the eight dispositions (3 on a scale of 0-3) as evaluated by their university supervisors and cooperating teachers. In the Spring of 2021, all graduates met expectations on seven of the eight dispositions. One student was developing in “Responsibility.” See the chart below.

 

Disposition Fall 2020 (N=12) Spring 2021 (N=4)
Commitment to the Profession & Equity 3.0 3.0
Responsibility 3.0 2.75
Integrity & Ethical Conduct 3.0 3.0
Maturity & Professional Demeanor 3.0 3.0
Interpersonal Skills/Cultural Sensitivity 3.0 3.0
Professionalism & Judgment 3.0 3.0
Collaboration 3.0 3.0
Reflective & Scholarly Practice 3.0 3.0

 

Completer Praxis II Pass Rates (2020-2021):

 

Subject Area Number of Students Testing Area Pass Rate
Early Childhood Education 8 Early Childhood Education (5025)-156 100%
Special Education (Non-Categorical) Special Ed: Non-Categorical (5354)-151 100%

*Pass rates for our Elementary completers (N=2) and our Secondary completers (N=1) are not reported in order to protect student confidentiality.

 

Advanced Programs (MSA)

Candidate competency at completion of the MSA program is assessed through two key assessments: The Vision Project in EDAD 608 and the Case Study in EDAD 634. In both Fall 2020 and Spring 2021, all candidates scored “3” on a scale of 1-3 (3 = Exceeds Standard). For compiled data, please click here.

In addition, the competency of our MSA candidates is demonstrated by their pass rate on the Educational Administration Praxis Exam (#6990). In 2020-2021, 24 MSA students attempted the exam. 22 passed. Thus, our institution pass rate was 91.67%.

Initial Programs (BA, MAT)

100% of Trinity’s completers in 2019-2020 were hired in the areas for which they were prepared in AY 2020-2021. Data provided by OSSE shows that 65% of Trinity’s completers were employed as teachers in the District of Columbia. This is significantly higher than the average number of completers employed in the District of Columbia by other EPPs in DC. 

 

Of that 65% (15 out of 23 completers), 26.7% were employed in the District’s Public Charter Schools. 73.3% were employed by the Districts Public Schools (see chart below, provided by OSSE).

 

A complete record of where Trinity’s graduates were hired in 2020-2021 (having graduated the year before) is below. 

 

Program Completion N DC/DCPS MCPS PGCPS Other Unknown
Fall 2020 12 59% 8%   8% 25%
Spring 2020 8 75%       25%
Fall 2019 5 60%   20%   20%
Spring 2019 7 71%   14.5% 14.5%  

 

Advanced Program (MSA)

100% of Trinity’s MSA completers in 2019-2020 were hired in the areas for which they were prepared in AY 2020-2021. All four are working in the District of Columbia.

All of Trinity’s initial-license and advanced-level Education programs underwent review by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and were given the following accreditation status during the last review:

  • Initial-licensing level programs: Accredited
    • BA in Early Childhood Education
    • BA in Elementary Education
    • MAT in Early Childhood Education
    • MAT in Elementary Education
    • MAT in Secondary Education
    • MAT in Special Education
  • Advanced-level programs: Accredited
    • Educational Administration

Two of Trinity’s Education programs hold recognition from Specialized Professional Associations until February 1, 2026:

  • Educational Administration:  National Educational Leadership Preparation (NELP)
  • Special Education: Council for Exceptional Children (CEC)

All other teacher preparation programs underwent review by the Office of the State Superintendent of Education at the time of CAEP review, and are approved.