When the Maryland State Normal School (MSNS) opened its doors in January of 1866, it had one mission: to educate the future teachers of Maryland. One or two instructors would teach a variety of subjects with the sole purpose of training students in the fundamentals of Elementary Education. The only degree conferred was a diploma and a certificate allowing graduates to teach in the state. Students would have the opportunity to work with children through the Model or Demonstration School, as well as training centers in Baltimore City and County. While specific departments were established by the turn of the 20th century, it was not until 1906 after the arrival of George Washington Ward as Principal at MSNS, that the Department of Pedagogy was created. This department would become the Department of Education in 1918, under Principal Henry S. West.

By 1923, under the leadership of Dr. Lida Lee Tall first as Principal, and then President starting in 1935, teachers could specialize in three different areas: Rural School Curriculum – this program would offer support for those who wanted to work in small schools where many grades would be taught by one teacher; Curriculum for Kindergarten and Primary Grades; and Curriculum for the Intermediate Grades. 1923 is also the first year the course catalog lists descriptions for all the classes offered at MSNS. Besides offering classes about how to teach and manage classrooms, students took classes in “Educational Measurements”, “Educational Psychology”, and “Educational Sociology”.

The next year, MSNS’ faculty and student enrollment ballooned with the absorption of the now defunct Baltimore Teacher’s Training School. The program continued to change and progress and by 1934, when the State of Maryland mandated that teachers would need to obtain baccalaureate degrees, the school was up to the challenge with classes like “The Modern Elementary School”, “Modern Trends in Education and Their Historic Origins”, and “The History, Administration, Interpretation, and Construction of Tests”. The change also meant a new name, the State Teachers College at Towson (STC).

Dr. M. Theresa Wiedefeld, President of the school during World War II, met the challenge of a war-time loss in enrollment and staff and a continued demand from the state for new teachers by creating an accelerated program of training to reduce the amount of time students would be in class before receiving their degrees.

After the end of the war, STC, now under the helm of President Earle T. Hawkins, continued to grow and professionalize its programs. Under Hawkins, the school began to offer specializations in Junior High education in 1948, Kindergarten in 1949, and a Graduate program in 1958. 1960 saw not only the emergence of a program for senior high school teachers, but also the opening of the Lida Lee Tall Learning Resources Center. This building was actually the second constructed for this purpose on campus.

In 1962, anticipating the change that would come as all the state teachers colleges became liberal arts schools the following year, the course offerings underwent a major revision, while still continuing to spotlight kindergarten-primary education, elementary, and secondary. By this time, about 20 faculty members each year worked in the department. And enough advances had been made in technology that by 1968 a department called Instructional Technology was established on campus. In 1983, Towson State University divided its departments into various colleges, and so the College of Education and Instructional Technology was created. It would retain this name until 1987 when it became known simply as the College of Education.

The challenges of supporting a college unit with multiple departments as well as an elementary school on campus became too much for Towson State University to maintain and in 1986, the Lida Lee Tall Learning Resources Center closed. The building would still house a child care center until its demolition in 2006 when a new Child Care Center was erected on campus.

In 1996 the Department of Reading, Special Education, and Instruction was created. 10 years later the work in this department was split between Educational Technology and Literacy, Special Education, and Instructional Leadership programs. In 2013 a Middle School Education program was begun under the Department of Secondary Education. Also in 2013, mystery author James Patterson established a scholarship for incoming freshman students.

Today the College of Education oversees the departments of Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Special Education, Educational Technology and Literacy, and Instructional Leadership and Professional Development.