Educational Leadership Master's

Leadership Foundations and Ethics presents candidates with a variety of leadership theories and strategies used by PK–12 educational leaders to develop, sustain, and evaluate a coherent system of academic and social supports that meet the full range of students' needs. Foundational knowledge addresses the importance of developing mission, vision, and core values in collaboration with faculty, staff, and the school community to advocate for student success. The course also covers communication strategies, interpersonal skills, and using data to build community, influence school culture, and manage change for continuous improvement. In addition, candidates are introduced to the significance of following professional ethical codes and the importance of modeling and advocating ethical behavior with all stakeholders.

School Law prepares candidates to understand the appropriate application of laws, rights, policies, and regulations to promote student success. The course emphasizes the importance of understanding the history of and relationship between federal and state laws, legal decisions, local education policies, and practices at the local school level to ensure compliance. The course further focuses on understanding the legal rights and protections provided for all students, including those with disabilities, as well as school staff. It also addresses curriculum and instruction that help stakeholders understand the possible effects these rights may have on administrative decisions. Candidates are also provided the opportunity to demonstrate their capability to evaluate legal consequences of administrative decisions.

Leadership of Curriculum Design and Instruction prepares candidates to evaluate and implement curricular programs and instructional methods observed at the school level. Candidates focus on the knowledge and skills needed to develop, align, and implement cohesive systems of curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Importance is placed on responding to student needs, embodying high expectations for student learning, aligning with academic standards within and across grade levels, and promoting students' academic success and social and emotional well-being. This course also covers the selection and use of appropriate technologies to monitor student progress and improve instruction support for assessment, data collection, management, and analysis. Candidates are prepared to build a professional culture of trust and collaboration to ensure they are able to work with school personnel in creating curricular programs and instructional methods that are engaging and challenging and relevant to student needs, experiences, and interests. This course is designed to be taken after successful completion of D017: School Law.

People and Talent in Educational Leadership prepares candidates to understand and implement practices used to recruit, hire, and prepare school personnel to provide students with an optimal learning environment. Various school professional development practices, such as professional learning communities, collaborative learning communities, beginning teacher induction, and mentor programs, will be covered. Additionally the course covers methods to evaluate school personnel appropriately based on data-driven decisions; providing realistic and actionable feedback to school personnel to continuously drive improvement; engaging all school personnel in the use and evaluation of competing school-wide initiatives; creating and sustaining a professional culture of engagement and commitment by developing workplace conditions that promote employee development, well-being, and professional growth; and continuously supporting school personnel to improve their instructional practices through ongoing professional development. The candidate will also reflect on leadership standards in order to develop a personal professional growth plan. A prerequisite for this course is D017: School Law.

School Financial Leadership focuses on financial policies, practices, and issues connected to PK–12 school operations. The course describes various sources of school funding, the impact these sources can have on managing school budgets, and the challenges connected to finances that are often encountered by school leaders to ensure equitable financial support for all students. Candidates learn how to analyze different types of school budgets and understand the principal's role in the budgetary process to ensure alignment to the school's mission, vision, and values. This course also identifies and explains various types of commonly used accounting regulations, rules, and professional ethical principles used to create, maintain, and evaluate school budgets to ensure the equitable and ethical use of financial resources. This course is designed to be taken after successful completion of D017: School Law.

Practicum in Educational Leadership - Focus on Professional Practices provides candidates with an authentic, real-world work experience as an educational leader in a K–12 school environment. This is the first of a two-part experience designed to take place under the leadership and supervision of a practicing school principal or assistant principal at an approved practicum school site (K–12). This course includes an emphasis on the application of knowledge and skills to areas directly or indirectly affecting students. Collaboration within the school and local community is a focal point for this course. The course also includes the completion of assigned administrative duties in a K–12 setting, as defined by the candidate's state of residence, under the supervision of the cooperating administrator of the candidate's approved practicum site. Prior to enrolling in this practicum course, the candidate must complete a minimum of 18 CUs.

Practicum in Educational Leadership - Focus on Instruction and Operations provides candidates with an authentic, real-world work experience as an educational leader in a K–12 school environment. This is the second of a two-part experience designed to take place under the leadership and supervision of a practicing school principal or assistant principal at an approved practicum school site (K–12). This course includes an emphasis on the application of knowledge and skills to areas affecting school operations and school personnel. The course also includes the completion of assigned administrative duties in a K–12 setting, as defined by the candidate's state of residence, under the supervision of the cooperating administrator of the candidate's approved practicum site. Prior to enrolling in this practicum course, the candidate must complete a minimum of 18 CUs.

Educational Leadership Capstone serves as the culminating experience of this degree program, uniting content area knowledge with the execution of a problem-based learning project. Under the guidance of program faculty, candidates will apply their data literacy and research skills authentically and to topics appropriate to the candidate's degree program and future career goals. Projects will include action research or program evaluation and the qualitative or quantitative research methods necessitated by the project's purpose. Prerequisites include Data Literacy and Educational Inquiry, as well as all content area courses and field experiences prescribed in one's area of study. This course is designed to be taken after successful completion of all courses with the exception of Educational Inquiry, which may be taken concurrently.

Systems management and school operations instruct candidates on the operational aspects of school leadership that are essential to developing, monitoring, and evaluating school management, school systems, and services that address and support the needs of students and school personnel. Topics presented in this course include systems thinking; development, implementation, and evaluation of data-based strategic planning; and school improvement processes. Candidates will evaluate the use of appropriate operational technology and the development of communications systems that provide actionable information to internal and external stakeholders for use in classroom and school improvement and community engagement. Each of these topics emphasizes the importance of efficiently and effectively managing school resources to build, maintain, and evaluate a cohesive system of academic and organizational supports, services, extracurricular activities, and accommodations to meet the full range of needs for each student. Prerequisites for this course: Leadership Foundations and Ethics and School Law.

Leading Inclusive Schools covers a variety of topics that directly affect students who have been assessed and determined to need additional support or services to ensure their academic success and well-being. The course prepares candidates to understand and comply with applicable laws, rights, policies, and regulations as appropriate to address matters of equity, fairness, and student marginalization based on culture and language, disability, or giftedness. These include types of special education classifications and their significance, working with English learners (ELs), working with gifted and talented students, and using Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) frameworks to ensure optimum learning environments for diverse learners. This course will guide candidates in building a strong repertoire of skills and knowledge related to exceptional students. It will help them ensure that each student has equitable access to effective teachers; learning opportunities; academic, social, and behavioral support; and other resources necessary for success. This course is designed to be taken after successful completion of the School Law course.

Data Literacy and Evidence-Based Practices focuses on the development of data literacy skills educators need to improve the learning and development opportunities of K–12 students. Candidates will practice identifying educational problems and data types, generating data, analyzing data, making inferences and drawing conclusions, and creating action plans within their educational settings. Candidates will also learn best practices for data literacy, including continuous improvement planning, approaches to professional learning communities, and instructional decision-making processes. This course has no prerequisites.

Cultural Competency and Social-Emotional Learning focuses on fostering cultural competence among professional educators by increasing knowledge of diverse learner populations, implementing culturally responsive pedagogy, and ensuring social justice and equity in the educational setting. Candidates also will participate in learning experiences designed to ensure they can lead efforts to meet the social and emotional learning needs of all learners, contributing to a school environment that builds learners' personal agency and academic success. Advocacy strategies are learned in this course, ensuring candidates possess the tools to positively impact school environments both locally and globally. This course has no prerequisites and candidates are strongly encouraged to take this early in their program.

Educational Inquiry focuses on practical problem solving. This course teaches candidates to use scholarly literature to inform their own practice. It also teaches candidates to engage in their own action research processes, which empowers educators to recognize opportunities for improvement and to systematically implement and evaluate changes. This course prepares candidates to conduct research for the capstone. Prerequisites for this course: Data Literacy and Evidence-Based Practices.