Curriculum Checklist

Make sure you have it all! Follow your curriculum checklist to make sure you have all of your bases covered.

These are all of the courses you'll need to earn your Masters.

EDLD 500: Vision, Leadership, and Culture

As one of the foundation courses for the Master in Educational Leadership, it is one of the first two a series of interrelated and sequential educational leadership courses where each subsequent course builds and expands upon the knowledge and skills acquired in preceding courses. EDLD 500 and 501 are also offered in a separate cohort to interested teachers wishing to earn the 6 graduate credit hours in educational leadership required for LADOE endorsement as teacher leaders. Teachers with this endorsement typically serve on the School Improvement Planning teams at their home schools.

In conjunction with EDLD 501-Using Data to Affect Change, EDLD 500 facilitates:

1. The development and refinement of educational leadership content knowledge and skills involved in the creation, the monitoring, and the modification of a school building level vision statement.
2. The development of knowledge, understanding, and application of a wide range of leadership skills and strategies.

EDLD 501: Using Data to Affect Change

This course in conjunction with EDLD 500 School Vision serves two purposes:

1. As foundation courses for the Master in Educational Leadership, they are the first in a series of interrelated and sequential educational leadership courses where each subsequent course builds and expands upon the knowledge and skills acquired in preceding courses.
2. EDLD 500 and 501 are also offered in a separate cohort to interested teachers wishing to earn the 6 graduate credit hours in educational leadership required for LADOE endorsement as teacher leaders. Teachers with this endorsement typically serve on the School Improvement Planning teams at their home schools.

EDLD 502: Legal, Regulatory, and Ethical Issues

Course Objectives and Corresponding Unit Outcomes:

1. Candidates will acquire the following knowledge (K), skills (S) and dispositions (D) through this course.
2. The objective of this course is to teach students the fundamental concepts of American school law and how to apply them to real school settings.  The course will emphasize and focus on legal and ethical issues that teachers and administrators confront in their work; (K2, K6, K8, K9; D1, D5; P3, P4, P6; Disp 1, Disp. 6, Disp. 7)
3. Students will be able to research, identify, and analyze the critical components of case law as follows: identify parties, discuss legal history of case, identify legal issues, discuss court’s reasoning, discuss court’s decision, identify legal precedence and discuss dissenting opinions (K9; D5; P4, P6; Disp. 8).
4. Students will be able to review real life situations and resolve the problems based on applicable laws and regulations (K2, K6, K9; D5; R1; P4, P6, Disp. 3, Disp.7, Disp. 8).
5. Understand and evaluate legal issues faced by administrators and where to find resources to resolve those issues (K2, K9; D5; P3, P4; Disp. 1, Disp. 7.
6. Students will reflect on the impact of laws and regulations on the school environment and how they affect student achievement (K9; D5; R1; Disp. 2, Disp. 4, Disp. 7).
7. Students in this course will read topics and cases that relate to school law and ethics.  In each class, the topics and cases will be discussed, new hypothetical situations will be reviewed through class discussions and analyzed using real world scenarios.

EDLD 504: Using Research to Lead Change

Educational leadership candidates develop an understanding of the role of research in guiding school improvement, develop skills in locating and critically examining research literature, and acquire necessary understanding and skills to carry out research and evaluation projects in their schools.

1. The primary goals of this course are to assist candidates in developing a skill set sufficient to allow them:
2. To evaluate evidence based research findings as they relate to educational leadership and change
3. To carry out literature reviews in order to build a knowledge base sufficient to better understand the dynamics and issues associated with effective school leadership and change
4. To interpret the results of analyses
5. To become sufficiently proficient in various research design principles and demonstrate an understanding of how to use appropriate research strategies to promote an environment for improved student achievement.
6. To demonstrate the ability to understand data-based research strategies that focus on student learning

EDLD 505: Curriculum for Education Leaders

This is a graduate course that deals with various elements of curriculum design and evaluation. Different models of curriculum development are examined. Multiple approaches to learning style are presented along with how learning style may impact the selection and inclusion of instructional strategies in curricula documents. Aspects of the Southern Regional Education Board’s approach to curriculum are included as well as material from the University of Kansas curriculum and instruction project.

EDLD 506: Assessment and Instruction for Educational Leaders

This course is a continuation of the work begun in EDLD 501. The purpose of this course is to help the students to develop a firm understanding of the concepts of teacher generated assessments, effective classroom instructional strategies, and how to observe teachers as they go about their daily tasks of planning, presenting lessons, and assessing students. In this course they begin to develop and refine the necessary skills for teacher evaluation, student assessment, and subject matter content alignment with state learning standards and assessments.

EDLD 507: Internship

This course provides candidates with real life experiences to prepare them to become educational leaders.  These experiences will be guided by experienced administrators and supervised by university mentors.  Activity requirements for this course are interrelated with other courses throughout the Master in Educational Leadership program.

EDLD 508:  Systems Alignment

This is a graduate course on system dynamics and systems thinking as related to education. A practitioner-oriented definition of systems, including the importance of observer dependence and context, ideas of meta-systems and subsystems, philosophical foundations, human dimensions, value systems, inquiring systems, key aspects of human learning organizations, and systems modeling are defined and discussed. Graduate students will develop a solid understanding of the concepts linking educational leadership to the role of policy analysis as a critical connection between educational leadership and systems.

EDLD 509: Transition, Evaluation, and Change

The focus of this graduate course is the critical analysis of the new, evolving, and emerging Louisiana Department of Education policies, laws, and mandates that impact learning and instruction at both the district and school building levels. The goal of this course is to provide aspiring educational leaders with the background knowledge and skills that are associated with and will be needed to address education policy changes.

EDLD 510: Organizing the Learning Environment

Organizing the learning environment (and the policies and practices upon which it is based) is the engine that drives all teaching and learning. Further, the resources available (time, space, personnel and finances) to a given school district provide for support services and the facilities in which the total educational enterprise operates. This course contributes to the knowledge base of educational leaders through instruction along with quality field experiences designed for practitioners.

EDLD 511: Community Engagement

This course provides a study of school public relation theories and practical applications of the knowledge, skill and abilities to promote the success of all students by collaborating with families and other community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources.

EDLD 512: Capstone Project

This course is the final required course in the program. The goal of this course is to provide an aspiring educational leader with the opportunity to apply the knowledge and skills that are acquired throughout the program by creating a school improvement plan based on actual school, performance, process, demographic, and perception data.