ISU Laboratory Schools

The Laboratory Schools have a very long and proud history at Illinois State University. On February 18, 1857 Governor William H. Bissell signed the bill creating Illinois State University. Less than three months later, Charles Hovey directed a committee that visited other normal and high schools. The committee reported that one of the tasks of the normal school was to: Give students practical skill by actual service under instruction in the school of practice, or model school. They should here be taught that there can be no real success in practice without a rational theory to which such practice can, at every step, be referred. They should be made to see and feel that there must be a reason for every process in education as well as in medicine, or engineering, or mechanics. Today, the Laboratory Schools, Metcalf and University High School, at Illinois State University continue to serve as clinical experience and practice sites for pre-service teachers and experimental teaching activities. The schools provide a "living laboratory" for research and applied practices to improve teaching and other educational practice. This tradition is reflected in the four-part mission of the Illinois State University Laboratory Schools, which states: • Provide a school in which excellence in education theory and practice can be observed, studied, and practiced by teacher candidates and other pre-service school professionals. • Provide an environment in which research and development activities may be conducted. • Provide a comprehensive, high-quality academic program for Metcalf and University High School students. • Promote effective, high-quality education throughout the teaching profession and to aid other educators in the process of improving the quality of education in their schools. Both laboratory schools at Illinois State University, Metcalf and University High School, engage in multiple activities that support all parts of the stated mission.