Why We Exist
ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College creates knowledge, mobilizes people and takes action to improve education.
What We Do
Our faculty create knowledge by drawing from a wide range of academic disciplines such as cognitive science, sociology and psychology to gain insight into important questions about student experience and outcomes. How do children learn? How do different pedagogical approaches function with students of different learning styles and in varying socio-cultural contexts? How do specific educational policies affect student outcomes and teacher performance? What do we know about effective teaching and how can we apply that knowledge at scale in K-12 education?
Through our bachelor's, master's and doctoral programs we prepare and mobilize people to improve student experience and outcomes. In addition to preparing teachers who will thrive and remain in the teaching profession, our academic programs prepare and support leaders, including school principals, policymakers and executive decision makers. Our PhD graduates join the faculties of elite research institutions, where their work adds to the global knowledge base about education. We also mobilize people globally by innovating new ways to exchange knowledge and best practices with an international community of scholars, educators, administrators and policymakers.
We take action by integrating use-inspired research and experiential learning, and by engaging faculty and students in effective programs that combine clinical training of educators with data gathering from the field. Our teacher and leadership preparation programs combine rigor with robust field experience and, crucially, maintain a large ecosystem of institutional relationships that provides meaningful environments for us to test, refine and scale best practices for improving education.
How We Do It
Consistent with the charter and goals of ASU, and in line with the design principals of the New American University, we hold to four core values in pursuit of our mission. We:
- Pursue excellence at scale to achieve impact
- Exercise leadership through innovation
- Champion diversity of people and ideas
- Share responsibility for the strength of communities