Education Specialist in Instructional Leadership

This field experience is conducted during the first semester of the EdS program. Specifically, candidates are expected to clearly demonstrate an understanding of leadership styles and facilitation skills for meeting the needs of all student groups, and be able to advocate, nurture, and sustain a school culture and instructional program conductive to student learning and staff professional growth. They will master skills and attributes that can be used to develop the kinds of relationships that must exist between and among individuals functioning in a social system. Candidates will develop a plan to involve a diverse population of parents and community members in the education of Pre K-12 children. The analysis of case studies will inform approaches which can be used to set high expectations for all students and lead to school improvement/effectiveness. Candidates will analyze a set of data provided to them at the elementary, middle, or high school level and build a school improvement plan from this analysis of data. Candidates will begin their research for their major school project while developing a knowledge concerning both qualitative and quantitative research designs.

Candidates will be provided the tools necessary to analyze and build upon the influences and influencers that make a difference for students and their learning. The focus will identify ways to build school culture focusing on using data collaboratively to drive decisions, to implement strategic plans, to monitor progress, and to faculitate and sustain change.

This second field experience is conducted during the second semester of the EdS program. Candidates will develop and exhibit the skills, structures, and leadership strategies needed to create and sustain effective leadership environments and enhance instructional excellence. Furthermore, candidates are expected to identify ways to build school cultures focused on using data collaboratively to drive decisions, to implement strategic plans, to monitor progress and to facilitate and sustain change. Skills will be taught to enable candidates to analyze data from all aspects of the school (i.e. culture, climate, instructional practices, learning strategies, demographics, test scores).

Instructional strategies for closing achievement gaps prepare turnaround specialists to provide training for all teachers in models for teaching and learning, formative assessment tools and data process to determine remediation and accelerated learning strategies for all learners. Candidates insure that instructional strategies are fully aligned both vertically and horizontally with Common Core standards. Candidates communicate a compelling case and a sense of urgency to address chronic achievement deficits. This course will focus on research to increase instructional time in core areas, quick and intensive support for struggling students, and instructional strategy choices appropriate to the students being served.

Effective use of human capital is designed to introduce educators to the processes and procedures necessary to recruit, hire, and retain professionals dedicated to increasing student outcomes and changing school culture and learning environments. One aspect of the course is an analysis of performance problems and recommendations needed to assist the employee and organization to achieve organizational goals and to manage change. An integral part of building human capital is to ensure all stakeholders have a positive, highly functional self efficacy.

This field experience is conducted during the third semester of the program. Specifically, candidates are expected to develop a thorough understanding of the change process, analysis of data, implications from data analysis, instuctional improvement and the involvement of all stakeholders in the school improvement planning process. Furthermore, the course includes responding to diversity for the improvement of instruction, for increased student learning, and for a positive school climate, specifically in these areas: ethnicity/race, socioeconomic, gender exceptionalities, language, and religion, in urban/suburban/rural settings. Effective use of human resources is examined in the areas of recruitment, hiring, induction, and retention. Individualized, well-executed professional development is viewed as a necessary component of retention and growth for exceptional teachers.

The candidates combine the tenets of transformational leadership, situational and servant leadership, and capacity building within an organization with a focus on program sustainability. Research has shown that any sustainable change must be implemented in an organization's culture and must be owned by members of that organization in order to be maintained after the funds are depleted and the change agent has left the building. Therefore this course will explore in detail the three Cs: Communication, Collaboration, and Change with effective methods for implementation. Case studies with essential tools for potential turnaround specialists in organizations will be a focal point of this course. Strategic planning, policy development, understanding of existing policies, procedures, and legal requirements are competenacies essential for any turnaround specialist. Knowledge of existing governing bodies with political implication and an ability to quickly assess situations in failing organizations will also be examined in this course.

Field Experience IV is conducted during the fourth and final semester of the program. Distributed leadership will be studied as a necessary component of building a strong culture of shared decision making and accountability for the academic, social and emotional development of all children. Candidates will focus on the principles, strategies, and techniques utilized to enhance student learning and close achievement gaps through in depth data analysis and interpretation for all aspects of the school organization. Professinal Learning Communities(PLCs) will be explored as a tool to encourage teacher leaders and for the advancement of academic achievement for all students. Parental involvement in the decision making process will be encouraged. Areas of interest will include: student learning, effective teaching, connecting students and community resources, and analyzing problems other than academic related. Observaion of and interaction with school leader(s) are required. The Capstone Colloquium featuring each candidate's action research project conducted over the preceding three semesters will be presented to a juried panel. This project involves material learned and assignments experienced throughout the coursework and the guided action research completed in LEA schools.