The ECU faculty will be offering online degrees in elementary education, special education-general curriculum and middle grades education. The course is being made available in collaboration with Wachovia Partnership East. "Data from the N.C. State Department of Public Instruction shows that 10,000 new teachers are needed per year, and N.C. colleges/universities graduate about 3,500 of which about 2,500 go into teaching in N.C.," said Dr. Vivian Martin Covington, director of the office of teacher education at ECU.
ECU is hoping to develop bench strength of teachers who can teach students in areas that are not being served at present. This should hopefully lead to the development of teacher assistants who will help with public school education in their communities.