Mission and Goals Statement
The University of Michigan School of Education
The School of Education is a national leader in its field. Its programs of teaching, research, and service advance knowledge about education and improve educational practice domestically and internationally.
The school addresses important educational problems in society and is deeply involved in the reform and betterment of American education. The enlightened self-interest of the university requires such involvement, not only because K-12 schools provide the university with its diverse and high-achieving student body, but also because the university's key constituencies demand such leadership in return for public support.
To guide our work and to meet the ever-changing demands of educational reform, the School of Education Executive Committee uses an on-going planning process. This statement summarizes the current results of our planning efforts in terms of mission and goals, societal and university challenges, recent improvements, and planned developments.
Mission
The School of Education's mission focuses on the improvement of learning and teaching in educational settings. We value the importance of teaching and research within a major research university and we seek to balance these activities with our obligations to serve the education professions. Striking such a balance depends on three key ideas--centering our research squarely on the improvement of educational practice, offering high quality programs of instruction for present and future educational practitioners, and collaborating directly with other educators to improve practice. The idea of this balance is incorporated in our mission.
The mission of the School of Education is to improve teaching and learning at all levels of education through the development of leading programs of teaching, research, and service.
Goals
To pursue this mission, four goals guide our decisions and actions. These goals call for the school to focus its scholarship on issues of learning and teaching, offer exemplary programs of instruction, apply knowledge to improve educational practice, and increase diversity in staffing and curricula.
- Goal 1: Using diverse intellectual perspectives, the School of Education will focus its scholarship on issues of learning and teaching in educational settings.
- Goal 2: The School of Education will create and maintain programs of instruction that are intellectually powerful, coherently organized, effectively taught, and valued by students.
- Goal 3: The School of Education will create and apply knowledge to improve professional practice.
- Goal 4: Reaffirm and revitalize the School of Education’s commitment to diversity.
