Education Specialist in Curriculum and Instructional Leadership

This 3-credit hour (six week) capstone course is designed to provide the student with application and reflective opportunities using those attitudes, skills, and behaviors learned in previous Ed.S program curricular design and instructional leadership skills necessary for success at the central school district and administrative office and building levels. All written work will be developed individually, although required textbooks for this course. Rather, all the textbooks and references (i.e. APA Manual, 5th edition) used earlier in the other Ed.S. program courses will be referred to, as needed to complete to assignments in EDU 696. During the practicum, while the student completes the required assignments, they will simultaneously be completing activities (estimated to total about fifteen hours) that can be counted toward completion of the 40 total experience hours required for the Ed.S. program. The students will be in the ”field” observing, interviewing and gathering information from instructional staff in a school building and from the administrative staff at the central office of a school district. With the guidance of the university facilitator for EDU696, the student will be exposed to, and produce, assignments involving concepts of administrative management of instructional programs and the development and moitoring of a school or district written curricula with student assessment. The final curriculum project (which will be developed during this course via several sub-assignments) will be submitted at the end of this six-week course. This final project is a requirement for graduation and will apply previous learning and skills developed throughout this Ed.S. program for Instructional Leadership. The final product will be archived by the University (for accreditation review) for a period of seven years.

This course is designed to expose the student to the many specialized state and federal programs currently in place to assist public schools. The history and purpose of each program will be examined. Specific program requirements will be detailed for each of the major differentiated programs. Programs reviewed will include the Federal Title programs, special education/at-risk; professional development; technology integration and grant-based initiatives. Upon completion of this course, students should possess the knowledge to effectively evaluate, select, and administer differentiated and supplemental programs common to school districts.

The course is designed to provide advanced and complex information, perspective, and knowledge to educational administrators (including experienced principals and aspiring superintendents of schools) with necessary legal and administrative knowledge that will enable them to effectively conduct school business within legal frames. In addition, they will be able to operate school organizations and related environments within the constraints of state and federal law, including constitutional, statutory, administrative, civil, criminal, juvenile, and interpretive case law. Also, an understanding the policy and political frameworks of their district, state, and federal environment will be developed.

This course will help school leaders create change in a world dominated by volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA). Students will examine structural barriers to equity, study how the achievement gap, poverty and other urban educational issues impact student achievement, community perceptions and school reform. This course utilizes a critical lens to examine how social dynamics, cultural differences, pedagogy, physical/social environments, and student resiliency play a part in making achievement gaps a lingering issue for educators.

An instructional coach acts as a mentor, working with teachers to improve their effectiveness so they can raise the achievement level of their students. They leverage their classroom experience along with their textbook knowledge to pass on guidance to the next generation of teachers in schools or other organizational settings.  This course will build teacher leaders’ and teacher trainers’ understandings of the fundamentals of instructional coaching.  It will introduce the vital skills, methods, and strategies required of an effective coach including developing coaching relationships, setting goals and planning, developing awareness, asking powerful questions, communication and language, action and accountability and facilitating learning and results. It presents an in-depth coverage of the knowledge, strategies, skills, and processes needed to successfully guide classroom teachers as they work to create quality learning experiences for diverse learners within the classroom. Students will examine various coaching models and gain knowledge of the ethical considerations associated with coaching relationships. This training prepares participants to coach individuals, groups, and teams for performance, development, skills and personal/professional growth.

The online classroom is a potentially powerful teaching and learning arena in which new practices and new relationships can make significant contributions to learning. Educators must be trained not only to use technology but also to shift the ways in which they organize and deliver material. Making this shift can increase the potential for learners to take charge of their own learning process and facilitate the development of a sense of community among them.  In this course, students will learn how to personalize education for all students by combining the best of traditional learning with the power of online learning. Students will research and evaluate the various blended and online learning models and learn how each model changes instructional methodologies and pedagogy from a traditional teacher-led classroom to an innovative teacher facilitated, student-centered learning environment. The following concepts will all be explored in detail throughout the course:  learner-centered education, collaborative and interactive learning, metacognitive awareness, increased flexibility, immediate feedback, and multimodal content. 

Technology Leadership careers in educational settings and other organizations have shared roles and responsibilities.  This course introduces students to the leadership concepts necessary to build successful information technology infrastructures in a variety of educational and organizational contexts. Through this course, students will develop an understanding of innovative and entrepreneurial technology development in fast-paced environments. Students will develop the ability to identify key leadership competencies and resources to understanding emerging technology trends. The course challenges students to engage in active planning of their careers through the development of leadership vision statements and personal action plans. 

The goal of technology integration is inherently unreachable: technologies change and develop, students and teachers come and practices and processes change. The process of technology integration is one of continuous change, learning, and improvement. This course focuses on the skills required to develop a learning culture that embraces technology, the ways to successfully implement technology, and that fosters a culture that accepts technology as ”natural” to everyday work.  This course synthesizes educational technology leadership, professional development, and instructional management. This course explores how to leverage universal design to create flexible, engaging, and effective eLearning solutions.  Students will explore and evaluate in-depth eLearning technology from the perspective of diverse learners and educators.

Schools and organizations often launch new technology without a plan for supporting and coaching teachers through the process of using the devices and software in their classrooms. This course will focus on ways to support educators to successfully launch and continuing the marriage of educational technology, curriculum, and instruction. Technology integration specialists need to differentiate instruction and support to meet the needs of the teachers and adult learners. This collaborative cycle of support that consists of setting goals with the teacher, co-planning lessons, observing the teacher in action and then debriefing after the lesson is also a key component of this course. This course also focuses on how learners’ needs vary based on the extent in which they grew up in the digital learning age. Current and future instructional technology coaches will engage in experiences designed to help them support teachers and schools in transforming their instructional behaviors, routines, curriculum implementations, and beliefs as they relate to technology integration.

This is a class in curriculum mapping and auditing (evaluation). It is designed to provide the learner with knowledge of the connection of mapping and auditing to improve student achievement. During the course students will learn the necessary steps to follow to successfully implement change in curriculum writing. Students will also map a subject/course using the studied method.

The most effective leaders within organizations are not necessarily leaders by title.  All successfully schools and learning organizations have leaders who are not designated by role.  This course provides a study of leadership skills and trends in collaborating to improve teaching and learning in schools and organizational settings.  The course content will focus on building skills to become effective teacher leaders and identifying potential roles within a school to impact change. This course is designed for teacher leadership serving or who have a goal of serving as a department/grade-level chair, team leader, literary coach, dean of instructor, content facilitators, or other specialists. 

This course presents a dual focus on the philosophical and practical aspects of curriculum construction. Students will develop instruction that delivers understanding of content through varied processes in several context and conceptual frameworks. Understanding of course content is developed through a variety of readings, presentations, projects, and class discussion. Key topics include developing curriculum aligned to Missouri’s Show-Me Standards, the historical bases for traditional subject-area curricula, alternative curriculum standards, philosophical bases of curriculum development, social and cultural issues, and future trends.

Using foundations of instructional theory and the essentials of K-12 curriculum design, the student will apply learning framework models to result ina connected, active and aligned curriculum that can be applied to instructional delivery. Frameworks of inquiry, problem solving, differentiation, and core curriculum are examined for application to future design and implementation.

Leadership skills needed to promote an active, accessible, relevant and rigorous K-12 curriculum are introduced. Students will build the capacity to transform existing curricula into one that is multicultural, diversified and inquiry-based.

The concepts of adult learning and development are highly complex propositions, influenced by a myriad of factors that have been studied for at least a century.  This course focuses on identifying, analyzing, and implementing high-quality professional development at the school, district, or organizational level.  High-quality professional development must be built on a foundation of relevant content and strong instruction informed by principles of adult learning theory.  The dramatic shift to more online learning opportunities for professional development will also be considered as it relates to designing and leading adult professional development. 

This course will focus on the knowledge, skills, and techniques necessary to effectively collect and interpret data related to school improvement issues. The course will include a discussion of basic statistical concepts that form the foundation for interpreting and analyzing the results of standardized tests and in using the results of this analysis for school improvement purposes. The course will also include procedures and skills necessary for critical review of educational research. Finally, the course will address specific assessment and research data relevant to the state of Missouri and provide the student the opportunity to implement knowledge and skills through case-based practice.

Philosophical foundations of K-12 curriculum, and its design, implementation and evaluation are examined. Basic principles of curricular theory are introduced and applied to an examination of current curriculum issues and trends.