There is no deficit of news about Arizona’s teacher shortage and the crisis our schools are facing. And if you think about specific needs school districts have, that talent pool becomes even smaller. This is especially true when it comes to teachers trained in STEM. Science, technology, engineering and math subjects are vital for our elementary, middle school and high school students to learn and understand as they prepare for 21st-century jobs and careers

“Nothing prepared me for the Legislature more than teaching middle school,” alumna Heather Carter (MEd '02) says. Carter, who is a clinical associate professor at Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College and assistant dean for ASU’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation, is also a Republican member of the Arizona House of Representatives, serving Legislative District 15. Many of us struggle with finding enough hours in the day — Carter doesn’t seem to experience that same struggle.

Advocating from the inside

The American Education Research Association, the leading organization for advancing knowledge about education and promoting the application of educational research, is holding its 2018 Annual Meeting April 13-17 in New York City.

Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College is proud to have more than 90 of our scholars presenting or speaking this year. See all the sessions below.

In 2014, the leadership of every school district in America received a letter sent jointly by the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. More than 10,000 words long and available in seven languages, it was titled “Nondiscriminatory Administration of School Discipline.” It was sent to offer “... guidance to assist public elementary and secondary schools in meeting their obligations under federal law to administer student discipline without discriminating on the basis of race, color or national origin.”

Niraj Javia graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in engineering and quickly found work as a sales engineer at an electric company. Javia traveled to manufacturing plants all over the Southeast U.S., selling equipment to help the plants become more efficient. “I met with thousands of engineering teams and there was no diversity whatsoever,” he said.

The ASU Prep Poly STEM Academy in Mesa tied for the top spot in Arizona school ratings for 2017, based on the final letter grades and scores recently released by the state Department of Education.

The K-4 charter school, located on ASU’s Polytechnic campus, and Ocotillo Ridge Elementary School in Pinal County tied for the highest percentage in scoring based on a formula that weighs proficiency in the AzMERIT standardized tests, as well as improvement in scores of some subgroups of students, and other factors, such as absenteeism.

Subscribe to