An Analysis of Teacher Education Mission Statements in the United States

Abstract

This study analyzed all available teacher preparation program mission statements in the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (n = 475) using exploratory sequential mixed methods, intersecting theory with qualitative and quantitative analysis. First, we inductively constructed a five-tiered framework for categorizing mission statements and identified patterns of orientation with varying degrees of commitment to social justice. We then examined specific characteristics (religious affiliation, region, degree of urbanization, public versus private, nonprofit versus for-profit) of each institution using Pearson chi-square statistical tests of homogeneity, Monte-Carlo simulations, and pairwise comparisons using Fisher exact tests. We found that those programs located in urban areas, the Mid East, and Far West regions have a higher frequency of mission statements with justice characteristics when compared to those in rural areas and the Southeast region. However, analysis of religiously-affiliated and secular programs, as well as private and public teacher education institutions, revealed no meaningful frequency differences.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

Notes

1 Includes mission statements of the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and School of Education and the University of Arizona’s College of Education and Department of Teaching, Learning and Sociocultural Studies. Table is based on 2019 data. Data separated using IPEDS designations, which define “City” as a “territory inside an urbanized area and inside a principal city” and “Suburb” as a “territory outside of a principal city and inside an urbanized area.” IPEDS does further distinguish between Large, Midsize, and Small cities and suburbs based on populations, but these were merged in the above table. Further, the table combines the IPEDS categories of “Town” (defined as a “territory inside an urban cluster”) and “Rural” (defined as a “census-defined rural territory”) in the Rural column above. Additionally, IPEDS distinguishes between Fringe, Distant, and Remote Towns and Rural areas based on distance from an urbanized area or area cluster, which is not represented in the above table.

2 The regions are designated by IPEDS and identified as follows:  New England includes Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont; Mid East includes Delaware, Washington, D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania; Great Lakes includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin; Southeast includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia; Plains includes Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, and South Dakota; Southwest includes Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas; Rocky Mountains includes Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, and Wyoming; and Far West includes Alaska, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.