College of Teacher Ed to lead ASU teacher prep programs

With the recent announcement by Arizona State University that a second academic reorganization in the last six months is driven primarily by opportunities for intellectual synergy, the university’s renowned College of Teacher Education and Leadership (CTEL) has moved to the front lines of teacher preparation programs.

The reorganization proposal is pending receipt of a recommendation by the University Senate and approval by the Arizona Board of Regents.  Included in the plan is the consolidation of all teacher prep and undergraduate programs university-wide into CTEL, and the offering of the college’s programs on all four ASU campuses.

“There are many exciting ideas which people from each campus are bringing forward,” says CTEL Dean Mari Koerner, who is also the director of ASU’s teacher preparation programs.  “We can use the expertise from the education programs at Poly and in Tempe to continually offer more in our traditional programs.

“There are programs similar to ours on every campus, and there is also lots of variety.  For example, ASU’s Polytechnic campus offers physical education curriculum that we hope to expand to other campuses.  The Tempe campus has art education coursework that we hope to expand to other campuses.”

The merger of all teacher preparation programs under the auspices of CTEL reflects the university’s commitment to strengthen opportunities for students wishing to become teachers across all ASU campuses – Tempe, West, Polytechnic and Downtown Phoenix.

“There is now greater access for students to all of the education resources at this university,” says Koerner, adding, “This includes human resources as well as material resources.  We anticipate more availability of classes on all campuses, while program improvement will remain our focus within all education programs.

“With the added resources, we will be able to move faculty and offer more courses face to face and online.”

Koerner also notes the state of Arizona and its young students will benefit from the reorganization.

“Our focus is on the accountability for our students and for the community.  We believe that quality of our programs must continue to increase so that this state’s children will continue to benefit from excellent instruction and the application of effective methods.”

Students from ASU’s School of Educational Innovation and Teacher Preparation and the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education who wish more information about CTEL programs, curriculum and degree opportunities should contact the college at 602-543-6300 or visit http://ctel.asu.edu.