School of Education Mission Statement and Learning Outcomes

Mission Statement

The mission of professional education at Drury University is to:

  1. Develop liberally educated professionals who are highly effective teachers and instructional leaders within their respective disciplines and who are knowledgeable and skilled in the areas of child and adolescent development.
  2. Prepare educators who are proficient in the use of data collection and analysis techniques to ensure that all students, regardless of ability, diversity of background, or other individual differences, will reach their learning potential.
  3. Add value to the lives of children of all ages and their families in rural and urban communities throughout the Ozarks’ region and beyond.

Updated April 14, 2010

Learning Outcomes

These belief statements reflect the five propositions of the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, Goodlad’s postulates for reform of teacher education (1990), the standards of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, Comer’s model for School Development, and current research and best practices for teacher education. They represent the fundamental convictions and values of the faculty of the Drury University School of Education and Child Development. They set the foundation for the development of program purposes, procedures, and assessments of standards related to the teacher education program.

1. Teacher education programs must nurture professional dispositions which call for teachers who are committed to students and their learning. Teachers must:

  • recognize individual student differences and adjust their instruction accordingly,
  • understand how students develop and learn,
  • treat students equitably,
  • and see their mission extending beyond understanding the cognitive capacity of their students. Teachers must nurture the whole student through the developmental pathways: language, physical, social, psychological, ethical, and cognitive.

2. Teachers know the subjects they teach and how to teach those subjects to students. Teachers must:

  • know their academic disciplines,
  • how knowledge in their subject is created and linked to other disciplines, and
  • how to teach those subjects to students through multiple pathways.

3. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning. Teachers must:

  • call on multiple methods to meet their goals,
  • orchestrate learning in group settings,
  • stimulate student engagement,
  • regularly assess student progress, and
  • maintain focus on their principle objectives.

4. Teachers think systematically about their practice and learn from experience. Teacher education programs should prepare teachers to:

  • make difficult choices that test their judgment, and
  • seek the advice of others and draw on educational research and scholarship to improve their practice.

5. Teachers are members of learning communities. Teacher education programs must prepare teachers who:

  • contribute to school effectiveness by collaborating with other professionals,
  • work collaboratively with parents, and
  • take advantage of community resources.

6. The mission and goals of Drury University, the liberal arts and specialty studies curricula, and the strong support to personalized education are congruous with the conditions which support an excellent teacher education program.

7. The best preparation for the development of dispositions which transcend the ordinary and characterize effective teachers include the abilities to:

  • think critically,
  • communicate effectively,
  • empathize,
  • make mature value judgments,
  • exhibit personal and social responsibility, and
  • chart a healthy course for life.

8. The use of guidelines from the learned societies, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), the Missouri Standards for Teacher Education Programs (MoSTEP), and the standards of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) help to ensure teachers are professional prepared. Standardized tests such as the College Basic Academic Skills Evaluation (C-BASE) and the Educational Testing Service Praxis Series, and state and national program approval/accreditation provide valid sources of evidence regarding the effectiveness of the teacher education program.

9. The School Development Program (James Comer, Yale University) provides a systematic model for P-12 and teacher education reform which is fully compatible with MoSTEP, NBPTS, and NCATE standards.

10. The advanced use of technology in the teaching-learning process must be an integral part of the teacher education curricula.

11. The teacher education program must establish and maintain linkages with graduates for purposes of evaluating and revising the program as well as to ease the critical early years of transition into teaching.

12. The central purpose of the teacher education program is to prepare teachers who are committed to nurture and support P-12 students through the Developmental Pathways: language. Physical, social, psychological, ethical, and cognitive.