STRATEGIC

PLAN2009-2014
LOOKING
BACK
 The College of Education began over
100 years ago when the first professor
of education was hired. The mission then
was to prepare teachers with rich content
knowledge and strong instructive skills.
Over the years that mission has expanded.
We are now the hub of teacher education at
Purdue University. Undergraduate teacher
education majors are dispersed across six
colleges—we coordinate the clinical experiences
of each student while our colleagues coordinate
content knowledge. This collaboration ensures
that all Purdue teacher education graduates
receive the absolute best training.
Interwoven with our commitment to teacher
preparation is our commitment to meaningful
research and engagement. Our faculty and
staff are discovering new ways to enhance
learning and are implementing these
pioneering methods in schools.
Through outstanding teacher preparation,
scientific discovery in the field of education
and partnerships—locally and beyond—we are
launching the future.
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THE
DIRECTION
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 Launching the future
through the discovery
and development of
human potential

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THE
ROUTE

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 To prepare exceptional teachers
and intellectual leaders

To improve educational outcomes through

inspired teaching, research and public service

To advance scientific discovery related to

learning and human development

• Creating a culture of innovation

• Delivering revolutionary and
responsive curriculum
• Empowering faculty, staff and students
to effect positive change
• Tackling critical educational challenges
through cross-disciplinary collaboration
• Influencing educational policies
and governance
• Attracting and retaining stellar, diverse faculty,
staff and students 6
THE
GUIDES

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Integrity fuels every step on our path.

Values that are particularly important

for our journey include:
• Excellence in discovery, learning
and engagement
• Respect for both research and
professional practice
• Multiculturalism
• Competence to enter diverse and
dynamic professional environments
• Creativity and the entrepreneurial spirit
• Collaboration
• Social responsibility

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GETTING
THERE

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We will increase knowledge about what works
in education in order to transform learning and
enhance human development.

Selected strategies:
• Increase externally funded research
and faculty scholarship
• Develop strong infrastructure support
for faculty research and scholarship
• Increase the research productivity
and global impact of our centers
• Secure competitive funding packages
for doctoral applicants
• Provide exemplary foundational
coursework and individualized mentoring
for doctoral students, the next generation
of educational researchers

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GETTING
THERE

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We will create and deliver outstanding
educational programs, preparing professionals
who will be intellectual leaders.

Selected strategies:
• Recruit high-caliber students
• Collaborate with P-12 schools and
P-12 teachers to create outstanding
learning experiences
• Design and deliver alternative and
online certification and master’s
programs for teachers
• Create systems to measure the effectiveness
of each of our programs
• Collaborate with P-12 schools and P-12 teachers
to create experiences where high school
students can explore teaching as a career
• Update programs to include relevant faculty
research about how students learn

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GETTING
THERE

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We will forge partnerships to anticipate
and respond to the real needs of the
global community.

Selected strategies:
• Develop engagement activities that are
substantially beneficial to all parties
• Emphasize the research outcomes of
engagement activities
• Increase and diversify external sources of
funding for engagement activities
• Develop and deliver meaningful
professional development programs
for the continual improvement of
education professionals
• Evaluate and enhance the impact
of our centers’ engagement efforts
with our P-12 partners

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GETTING
THERE

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We will celebrate cultural and intellectual diversity.

Selected strategies:
• Prepare P-12 students to live and work
in a multicultural, global society
• Identify and enact strategies for
closing achievement gaps
• Recruit, support and retain undergraduate
and graduate students who reflect diversity
of cultures to enhance the global experience
of all students
• Incorporate the international experiences
of faculty and students participating in
our classrooms
• Secure private funding to support study
abroad experience for students

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GETTING
THERE

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We will sustain a positive work environment
where outstanding faculty and staff can excel.

Selected strategies:
• Recruit talented faculty and staff whose
records of scholarship and productivity
advance our mission
• Create more endowed professorships
• Provide competitive startup
packages for newly hired faculty
• Establish a system of incentives and
awards for faculty who apply for
and receive high-impact grants
• Establish a system of incentives
and awards for outstanding staff
• Increase the diversity of faculty and staff

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ARE WE
THERE YET?

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Throughout our journey we will check our
progress by comparing our efforts to our peers.

Comparable Peers
• University of Florida
• George Mason University
• University of Kentucky

Aspirational Peers
• Indiana University – Bloomington
• University of Iowa
• University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign
• University of Connecticut
• University of Kansas
• University of Maryland – College Park
• University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill

Criteria for both sets of peers included: public institution with undergraduate and
graduate professional preparation programs, similar in faculty size (45-95) and
university size (>25,000), with a preference for land grant institutions. Comparable
peers were ranked + or – 10 from Purdue University (78-58) with external funding per
faculty full-time equivalent (FTE) comparable to Purdue University College of Education.
Aspirational peers were ranked 20-40 (28-48 places higher than Purdue) with external
funding/faculty FTE higher than that of Purdue University College of Education.

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COME ALONG
FOR THE RIDE!

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Read the complete 2009-2014 strategic plan here:
www.education.purdue.edu/strategic_plan
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© 2010 Purdue University, all rights reserved.
An equal access/equal opportunity university.