DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP & POLICY
Master’s of Education Program Emphasis: PreK-12 Teacher Leadership
1. Introduction to the ELP Department
The Department of Educational Leadership and Policy, a division of the College of Education, emphasizes the application of theory and research to educational leadership practices and policies in schools and other educational organizations. The Department has a strong national reputation (consistently ranked among the top twenty Educational Leadership Departments in the country) and has a faculty prominent in their respective areas of leadership expertise. More than half of the department faculty are experienced as PreK-12 school administrators. Faculty members are also prominent and active leaders in national organizations such as the University Council for Educational Administration, the American Educational Research Association, and the Association for the Study of Higher Education. The Department is the home of the Utah Education Policy Center and the Educational Administration Quarterly, the premier scholarly journal in the field of educational leadership.
2. Introduction to the Teacher Leadership Program
The Teacher Leadership program emphasis in the ELP M.Ed. degree program is a two-year professional program (36 credit hours) starting annually each summer, with program completion intended for the Spring semester two years later. Teacher leadership candidates take core coursework with an instructional leadership emphasis in the ELP Department (18 credit hours), coupled with an allied concentration area related to their teaching professional development or credentialing needs (12 credit hours) and electives (6 credit hours). Upon successful completion of the program, candidates earn a masters degree (M.Ed.) in Educational Leadership and Policy and may also qualify for a Utah State Office of Education approved endorsement in their area of allied concentration, depending on their selected allied field coursework.
The ELP instructional leadership core coursework is taken as a cohort, with ELP coursework offered in the evening to accommodate working professionals. Scheduling of allied concentration coursework and/or elective coursework varies depending on the host department. (See SAMPLE schedule at the end of this document).
Further, teacher leadership students may opt to continue their graduate coursework to earn a Utah PreK-12 Administrative License by enrolling in additional required ELP coursework (12 credit hours) and an administrative internship experience (15 credit hours). In order to qualify for the PreK-12 administrative license a student must have 1) completed a masters degree, and 2) hold a valid Utah Level 2 teacher, counselor, psychologist, or social worker license.
3. Program Mission and Conceptual Framework
The mission of the PreK-12 master’s degree with teacher leadership emphasis is to develop teacher leaders who have the appropriate knowledge and skills to raise student achievement, to close the achievement gap, and to create democratic and just school communities. The program is designed to help potential teacher leaders to favorably enhance instruction and learning in PreK-12 schools. As a professional program, course work and embedded application experiences develop both conceptual understandings and related clinical skills.
The content and processes of the core coursework in the PreK-12 M.Ed.-Teacher Leadership program are founded on a knowledge base thoroughly developed and cited in the educational leadership preparation literature. The knowledge, skills, and dispositions promoted in the program lead to the fundamental goal of improving learning for all students. To accomplish this goal, the conceptual framework of the program is two-dimensional. The first dimension reflects the thematic organization of the program around two major themes: Instructional Leadership and Informed Decision Making. The second dimension of the program reflects the valued outcomes of schooling: School Effectiveness and Efficiency (emphasizing improved teaching & learning processes & outcomes); Equity and Social Justice (addressing the understanding of school inequity in terms of educational access and outcomes for children); and Democratic Community (using democratic processes and building democratic professional & school communities).
4. Core ELP Program Coursework Requirements – 18 credit hours (by domain and valued outcomes):
Instructional Leadership for Effective, Equitable, & Democratic Schools
ELP 6210 (3) – Leading Schools
ELP 6110 (3) – Understanding & Leading Organizational Change in Schools
ELP 6310 (3) – Instructional Leadership I: Organizing Learning in Schools
ELP 6330 (3) – Instructional Leadership II: Organizing Teaching in Schools
Informed Decision-Making for Effective, Equitable, & Democratic Schools
ELP 6010 (3) – Decision-making Theories, Processes, & Issues in Ed Leadership
ELP 6050 (3) – Program Planning & Evaluation
5. Allied Concentration Coursework - 12 credit hours
Teacher leader candidates may select an allied concentration area related to their area of professional development or teacher credentialing needs. For example, students may opt for allied concentrations in an area such as:
a. Reading – Level I endorsement program
b. English as a Second Language endorsement program
c. Special Education
d. Diversity and Multicultural Education
e. Content coursework to meet “highly qualified teacher” status
f. Other appropriate area of concentration as approved by the ELP Department
6. Elective Coursework - 6 credit hours
Teacher leader candidates may take up to 6 credit hours of elective coursework OR they may take an additional 6 credit hours of coursework in their allied concentration area.
7. Application Procedures and Requirements See Admission Procedures and Requirements document &/or consult the ELP website, www.elp.ed.utah.edu. Please Note: Program Admission is in the Spring semester each year, with program enrollment beginning in the Summer semester (mid-May).
8. M.Ed. Comprehensive Exam
A comprehensive examination is administered in the last semester of the masters program. All course work up to that point, including incompletes, must be finished prior to taking the examination. Successful completion of the examination is required before approval will be granted for graduation and recommendation for a master’s degree. The M.Ed. Comprehensive Exam, or any part of the exam, may be repeated only once.
9. Performance Expectations
All students are expected to have necessary computer word processing skills and writing skills for graduate study. Students without these skills are required to obtain them before they begin their formal course work. By Graduate School policy, all work for the master’s degree must be completed within four consecutive calendar years. Candidates are required to maintain a 3.0 or higher GPA in course work. No graded work of C- (minus) or lower is acceptable toward the degree or an endorsement credential.
Academic Probation – Effective August 14, 2003, a student earning less than a 3.00 cumulative GPA in the ELP graduate program in which they are enrolled will be put on academic probation for the next two consecutive semesters of enrollment and must maintain a 3.00 average during that time. If at the end of this probationary period the student does not have a cumulative 3.00 GPA in his/her program of study (i.e., courses associated with the completion/fulfillment of the degree), the student will be dismissed from the academic program.
SAMPLE Program Schedule – Course Sequence can vary somewhat from sequence outlined below.
Summer Yr 1 |
Fall Yr 1 |
Spring Yr 1 |
|
Approximate Time Only |
|||
4:35-7:05 pm Same day |
ELP 6210 Leadership (3) |
ELP 6310 Instructional Leadership I: Learning (3) |
ELP 6330 Instructional Leadership II: Teaching (3) |
7:15-9:45 pm Same day |
ELP 6110 Org Change (3) |
ELP 6010 Decision-Making (3) |
ELP 6050 Program Evaluation (3) |
Summer Yr 2 |
Fall Yr 2 |
Spring Yr 2 |
|
Allied Concentration Course (3) |
Allied Concentration Course (3) |
Allied Concentration Course (3) |
|
Allied Concentration Course (3) |
Elective (3) |
Elective (3) |
Additional Notes:
* PreK-12 Administrative License Option: Candidates who have successfully completed the Teacher Leadership M.Ed. program may also wish to earn a PreK-12 administrative license. If, within a 5-year period of completing the Master’s Degree, these students wish to earn a PreK-12 administrative license, they have the option to reapply to the department to enroll in the remaining required administrative licensure coursework (12 credit hours) as well as complete a PreK-12 Leadership Internship & Seminar (Summer, Fall, & Spring Semesters - 15 credit hours), successfully log the required 450 hours of supervised internship, complete all Internship and Seminar requirements, and earn eligibility for recommendation to the State Office of Education for Utah Administrative/Supervisory Licensure.
Students should consult the General Catalog of the University of Utah for other rules and regulations pertaining to admission, enrollment, program, graduation requirements, etc. www.utah.edu
The University of Utah provides reasonable accommodation to the known disabilities of applicants. Students with disabilities should notify the faculty member in writing by the 2nd week of class and contact the University’s Center for Disabilities if accommodations are needed (voice/TDD: 801-581-5020 or FAX 801-581-5487). www.disability.utah.edu
The Department of Educational Leadership and Policy will expect all admitted students to follow the Ethical Standards of the American Educational Research Association www.aera.net/about/policy/ethics.htm and the Standards of Ethical Conduct for Utah Educators of the Utah Professional Practices Advisory Commission. www.rules.state.ut.us/publicat/code/r686/r686.htm
PreK-12 MED Teacher Leadership Core Curriculum
Leadership for Effective, Equitable, and Democratic Schools
ELP 6210 (3): Leading Schools
This course introduces aspiring educational leaders to the multiple and complex components of leadership necessary to lead effective, equitable, and democratic organizations. The content of the course includes leadership theories, vision and culture, conflict and power as well as the skills of using data to lead change and reflective practice. Inherent in the coursework is the development of leadership dispositions that promote school effectiveness, equity and social justice, and democratic community.
ELP 6110 (3): Understanding and Leading Organizational Change in Schools
This course focuses on understanding and developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to promote change in educational organizations, particularly changes that will increase educational equity in access and outcomes for all children. The content of the course includes theories and perspectives that inform how practitioners can lead organizational change, overcome resistance to change, and build organizational capacity. The course also assists aspiring educational leaders to evaluate existing beliefs and assumptions and in developing skills and dispositions to promote effective, equitable, and democratic change. Consider: “Leading Schools” as prerequisite for this course.
ELP 6310 (3): Instructional Leadership I: Organizing Learning in Schools
This course introduces aspiring educational leaders to critical concepts about student learning and development that are essential in providing instructional leadership that is effective, equitable, and democratic. The content of the course includes knowledge about and the application of learning and cognition theories, motivation theories, leadership for diverse learners, and best practices in literacy and numeracy. The course also assists students in developing skills and dispositions for building instructional capacity in the school and creating instructional environments that enable all students to learn. An emphasis is placed on developing a collaborative school culture that supports the learning of all students, with specific attention to students who have traditionally been marginalized in public schools.
ELP 6330 (3): Instructional Leadership II: Organizing Teaching in Schools
This courses uses knowledge about how students learn to focus on how educational leaders organize and support teaching to promote effective, equitable, and democratic instruction. Course content includes principles of adult learning, the nature of teaching, organizational supports for teaching, and curriculum mapping and alignment. The course also assists students in developing skills and dispositions for instructional supervision, professional development, motivation of teachers, and the use of assessment to improve instruction. An emphasis is placed on developing a collaborative culture that supports the learning of all students, with specific attention to students who have traditionally been marginalized in public schools.
Informed Decision-Making Domain for Effective, Equitable, & Democratic Schools
ELP 6010 (3): Decision Making Theories, Processes, and Issues in Educational Leadership. This course examines theories, issues, challenges, processes, and tools of decision making for educational leaders. The assumptions and weaknesses of classical decision theory are examined and alternative explanations explored, including examination of both formal (scientific) and informal (intuitive) methods of decision-making. Special attention is given to the sources of bias affecting inferential decisions as well as analytic methods on which such inferences are based. Analytic tools emphasized include descriptive statistics – frequency distributions, measures of central tendency, and measures of dispersion. The role of decision making in providing for quality and equitable educational outcomes is examined. This formal study of decision-making addresses the most fundamental of skills and responsibilities to which school leaders are held accountable: making decisions that affect the quality of educational opportunities and outcomes of children.
ELP 6050 (3): Program Planning & Evaluation--This course examines the program evaluation cycle—the process of planning educational programs; monitoring/evaluating how well programs are working relative to targeted outcomes; and making empirical decisions with respect to continuation, revision, or termination of these programs—as part of school improvement efforts to increase equity, democracy, and effectiveness. In the course, emphasis is placed on the role and responsibilities of the school leader in program evaluation and school improvement efforts.