UWs Reutzel Selected for National Education Deans Organization

University of Wyoming College of Education Dean Ray Reutzel has joined a select group dedicated to transforming educator preparation.

Reutzel recently was chosen as a member of Deans for Impact, a group composed of 30 leaders of educator-preparation programs around the country.

“We believe a small, tightly knit group of leaders committed to our guiding principles can be the critical force that drives change within our education system,” Deans for Impact Executive Director Benjamin Riley wrote in a letter to Reutzel. “We believe that you are one of these special leaders, and we are thrilled -- and grateful -- you have accepted our invitation of membership.”

Founded in 2015, Deans for Impact aims to improve student-learning outcomes by changing the way teachers are prepared in the United States. Members are united behind a shared vision for a transformed educator-preparation system that graduates teachers prepared to measurably improve student learning.

“Our work at Deans for Impact is grounded in our guiding principles, namely, that educator preparation should be outcomes focused, data informed, empirically tested, and transparent and accountable,” Riley wrote. “The members of Deans for Impact collectively work together to advance these principles across the field.”

Other members include deans of colleges of education at Temple University, Arizona State University, the University of Southern California, Southern Methodist University, the University of Virginia and Texas Tech University.

Reutzel came to UW as dean of the College of Education in 2015 from Utah State University, where he was a distinguished professor of elementary and early childhood education and director of the Emma Eccles Jones Early Childhood Education Center. He received his bachelor’s degree in early childhood and elementary education from UW in 1977; a master’s degree in reading and elementary education from Utah State in 1980; and his Ph.D. in reading, language arts and elementary education from UW in 1982.