Ashleigh Pankratz

Ashleigh Pankratz is a seasoned educator and instructional designer with nearly two decades of experience spanning both K-12 and higher education. She currently serves as an Instructional Designer at Arizona State University’s W. P. Carey School of Business, where she leads the creation of engaging, scalable learning experiences across online, immersion, and hybrid platforms. Her expertise lies in curriculum design, instructional coaching, and instructor training, with a focus on implementing strategic, pedagogically sound learning solutions.

Ashleigh’s journey into curriculum development began in 2012 as the founding Arts Director at Phoenix Collegiate Academy. In this role, she designed the scope and sequence for the Visual Arts program, cultivated partnerships with local arts organizations, and collaborated with instructors and administrators to integrate the arts into the broader curriculum.

In 2015, she joined BASIS Charter Schools, where she quickly became a leader in world history curriculum development, supporting educators across a network of nearly 30 international schools. By 2018, Ashleigh was leading a major redesign of the history curriculum for grades 4 through 12 in collaboration with BASIS corporate partners. Her work standardized course expectations, curricular materials, and assessments across the network, including at schools in China and Thailand, where students were exclusively English language learners. In 2020, she was appointed as the network’s first formal Instructional Coach, where she developed teacher mentorship programs, created a system for feedback cycles, and led professional development workshops on topics such as learning outcomes, classroom management strategies, and culturally responsive teaching in history.

Since joining ASU in 2022, Ashleigh has led a variety of high-impact instructional design initiatives, including collaborations with the U.S. Navy on Supply Chain courses, the development of professional courses for ASU’s Learning Enterprise, and the redesign of several graduate programs. Her contributions extend beyond course design; she brings a collaborative spirit and a passion for enhancing faculty pedagogical approaches.

Ashleigh is a strong advocate for the transformative power of immersive learning and is deeply committed to driving innovation in instructional design. Her expertise in creating emotionally engaging, experiential learning environments positions her as a leader in the field, capable of delivering cutting-edge educational experiences that meet the needs of diverse learners.