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College of Education & Human Development

The College of Education and Human Development
104 Burton Hall - 178 Pillsbury Dr. SE - Minneapolis MN 55455
Tel: 612-625-6806 - Fax: 612-626-7496

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1980s

Events include: AIDS epidemic is identified, popularization of personal computers, accident at Chernobyl nuclear reactor, Reaganomics, Dow Jones Industrial Average passes 2,000 point, Minnesota Twins win the World Series, Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (among the crew was Christa McAuliffe, scheduled to be the first teacher in space), Chinese students are killed in Tiananmen Square, fall of the Berlin Wall

Painting on the Berlin Wall
Art on the Berlin Wall commemorating its fall

U.S. presidents

George H.W. Bush (1989–1993)

Ronald Reagan (1981–1989)

Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) 

1987 | E. D. Hirsch, Jr. publishes Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know.

1983 | The National Commission on Excellence in Education releases A Nation at Risk.

Walter Karp publishes “Why Johnny Can’t Think: The Politics of Bad Schooling” in Harper's Magazine.

Timeline

1989

Curman Gaines earns a Ph.D. from the College. A long-time teacher and administrator for schools in Louisiana and Minnesota, as well as holding positions in the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and Minnesota Department of Education, Gaines becomes the superintendent of the St. Paul Public Schools in 1991. He serves there for seven years before moving to the private sector with Sylvan Learning Systems.

The National Career Development Guidelines (NCDG) debut, following the model of the counseling and student personnel psychology's (CSPP) Career Development Curriculum (Tennyson, Hansen, K. Laurens, & Antholz, 1980). The NCDG framework describes a continuum of personal, education, and career skills young people and adults should master to get the most from education, life, and work. The CSPP model is still evident in the 2005 online revision being used by schools in the U.S. and Canada.

1987

Teacher and student at a computer.As part of the University’s Commitment to Focus, the College begins shifting most teacher training programs to the graduate level, requiring participants to already have a bachelor’s degree. As a result, entering students arrive with richer backgrounds in the sciences or liberal arts.

1986

Geraldene Hodelin earns a master’s degree in home economics education from the College. In 1999, she receives a Ph.D. in education. Her career carries her to the home economics faculty of the University of Technology-Jamaica, and in 1999 she becomes that institution’s dean of the faculty of education of liberal studies.

1985

University President Ken Keller’s Commitment to Focus plan calls for an increased emphasis on research that “should be stimulated by the needs of society and the results should be transmitted to society through active teaching programs, through outreach and service activities, through technological transfer.” The college responds by building closer relationships with K–12 schools throughout the state.

Margaret Sughrue Carlson (Ph.D. 83) becomes executive director of the University of Minnesota Alumni Association and associate vice president of institutional relations.

1980

2001 Link cover featuring Carol JohnsonCarol Johnson receives a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction from the College. Seventeen years later, she earns a Ph.D. in educational administration and is named superintendent of the Minneapolis schools. She is currently superintendent of the Memphis, Tenn., city schools. Johnson’s many honors include Minnesota Superintendent of the Year and Outstanding Achievement Award (OAA).

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Photos courtesy of University of Minnesota Archives, College of Education and Human Development, Minnesota Historical Society, and Library of Congress.

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Last modified on May 14, 2008