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About Us

Northwest Missouri State University has deep roots in the preparation of teachers and leaders. It began as a normal school to prepare teachers, and for more than 100 years, Northwest has taken pride in preparing excellent educators who reach and inspire excellence from the students they teach and lead. 

Northwest takes pride in preparing excellent educators

Northwest takes pride in preparing excellent educators

As only the third institution in the nation to receive the Christa McAuliffe Excellence in Teacher Education Award twice (2006 and 2018), Northwest offers an exemplary program built upon a Culture of Quality.

The School of Education serves 629 undergraduate students and 1224 graduate students. Additionally, faculty provide instruction for 432 students in secondary education programs such as social studies, K-12 art, K-12 vocal and instrumental music, physical education, social studies and mathematics. In the 2021-2022 academic year, 877 students earned a degree in education at the undergraduate or graduate level.

The mission of the School of Education is to prepare caring teachers who possess the highest level of professional knowledge, skills and dispositions necessary to help all students learn in a diverse and ever-changing world. This principle serves as the guiding framework for the developmental learning opportunities afforded to teachers in training in the various programs offered through the department. Programs are fully nationally accredited (since 1954), most recently through the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) and the state of Missouri through the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Office of Educator Quality. In 2016, Northwest was selected by the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) as a Case Study and on-campus visit to chronicle the best uses of data and assessment systems to continually improve teacher education.

For questions, comments or concerns, contact Dr. Tim Wall, Northwest School of Education dean and director of teacher education at timwall@nwmissouri.edu or 660.853.9039.

Student Spotlight

That’s when I could totally see myself here. I remember the professors really pushing and being like ‘We really care about our students and want to support you.’ I thought that was a great concept and learned that it was definitely true.

Faith Earley '22
Early Childhood Education