History and Firsts

From its earliest beginnings Iowa’s state leaders highly valued education, making teacher training a first priority. The University was founded on February 25, 1847; just 59 days after Iowa became a state. Always a leader in education, the University was the first in the nation to create a college-level department of education. The College continues this tradition of placing education first—exemplified through its innovative teaching methods, cutting-edge research, and wide-reaching community service.

1858
Five of the University’s first six degrees conferred are granted to teacher education graduates.

1872
The University creates the nation’s first permanent college-level department of education.

1907
School of Education establishes the first chair of pedagogy at a U.S. university.

1929
E. F. Lindquist, educational leader, scholar, inventor, and teacher, creates the Iowa Academic Meet, the impetus for the development of the world-renowned Iowa Testing Programs.

1935
Iowa Testing Programs authors the first Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (renamed Iowa Assessments).

1942
Iowa Testing Programs authors the first Iowa Tests of Educational Development.

1952-55
Lindquist revolutionizes test scoring by inventing the first optical scanner, allowing tests to be accurately scored by high-speed equipment rather than by hand—becoming Iowa’s largest technology transfer.

1959
Iowa Testing Programs spins off America’s most widely accepted college entrance exam to American College Testing Program, Inc., now known as ACT.

1968
Iowa Testing Programs spins off its test scoring operation and equipment to what is now Pearson Education, the largest test scoring and processing corporation in the world.

1988
The Connie Belin and Jacqueline N. Blank International Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development is established as Iowa’s first center for gifted education.
The Center inspires and serves the worldwide gifted community of students, educators, and families through exemplary leadership in advocacy, programming, and research.

1996
ePortfolio™ concept established as a meaningful way to teach relevant instructional technology, for use as an electronic assessment and job-seeking tool, and as a mechanism for building a functional, flexible toolbox of professional skills that easily transfers from the campus setting to the world of work.

1998
The Belin-Blank Center establishes the National Academy of Arts, Sciences and Engineering—the first program of its kind at a major state research institution to admit outstanding high school seniors as full-time students prior to high school graduation.

2004
The Belin-Blank Center for Gifted Education and Talent Development becomes the most comprehensive center of its kind by offering programs, services, and support for academically gifted and talented students and their teachers from pre-K through college, all under one roof in the Blank Honors Center.

2006
The Educational Administration program becomes the University’s first to offer its entire program “live” online through real-time, web-based technology. Students have the option of completing coursework on campus or “live” on their own desktop computers.

2008
The Office of Graduate Teaching Excellence becomes the first center of its kind to offer doctoral students a Graduate Certificate in College Teaching.