MSED in Educational Leadership

State Certification for School Building Leader - School District Leader
TAKE THE CHALLENGE: IMPROVE EDUCATION
Imagine being the principal at a New York City public school in today’s climate reading about the failure of public education in the morning newspaper, then returning home to receive another dose of criticism from the nightly news. Be sure that a day would not pass without a reminder of your shortcomings and a disregard for many of your positive accomplishments. In this very rough climate of little support and lots of scrutiny, there is a great need for exceptional educational leaders. These individuals must possess the fortitude and passion to lead our schools, and, even more importantly, they must be prepared to weather this climate and to continue to lead effectively in spite of it. Our rigorous program, coupled with our supportive faculty, can help you meet that challenge.

The Program
Our program in Educational Leadership is based upon the notion that the greatest predictor of student achievement is the quality of the teaching, and the greatest predictor of the quality of the teaching is the quality of principal leadership.

Course Content
Program coherence across content areas is achieved through a common set of beliefs about organizational learning and principal leadership. These Guiding Principles are made explicit throughout the curriculum and provide students with a framework within which to make sense of what they are learning as well as respond to unanticipated situations and circumstances once they are on the job.

Teaching Approach
Our approach is based upon the belief that adults learn best when that learning is directly linked to relevant real-world challenges. The program organizes learning around authentic problems, conditions and events reflective of an urban school environment. These challenges are presented to students both as hypothetical simulations and in the form of in-depth case studies of real schools. Students move through the curriculum as a cohort. The cohort is broken down into cooperative learning groups. The work for which students are responsible is organized around collaboratively developed responses to assigned challenges. The program makes limited use of traditional evaluation tools such as quizzes, final exams and term papers. The evaluation of student performance relies more heavily on indicators that are directly linked to the work that students will be doing when they become principals.

The Challenge
When students enter our program they are often surprised by the academic challenge, even if they have previously completed a graduate degree. Students use classroom time as well as time outside of the classroom to work on projects. Students write and re-write assignments to produce written work that meets the standards set forth in their courses. We strongly encourage you attend an Open House to learn about the program and workload directly from our current students or recent graduates.

Program Requirements
Students seeking New York State School Building Leadership certification complete the 24-credit cohort program. The program is delivered as two prescribed courses per semester for two years, including a six-credit internship in the last year (see "Internship Requirement" below). Students who decide they want the flexibility of the Master’s, take three elective courses inconjunction with an Academic Advisor to complete the 33 credits required for the Master of Science in Educational Leadership.

Internship Requirement
Internship

Guiding Principles for Instructional Leaders
Leaders:

• lead by explicitly modeling the values and behaviors they want the school community to reflect
• attend to the gap between espoused beliefs and actions in practice
• understand that people have diverse competencies and distribute responsibility and authority in accordance with that understanding
• know that instructional improvement is about adults learning to improve their practice, as evidenced in student work - they organize for it, include everyone in it, ensure that it is focused and purposeful and reflective of shared understandings about how adults learn best
• acknowledge the reciprocal relationship between accountability and investment in adult learning
• maintain a narrow focus over time
• stay focused on their purpose amid the day-to-day distractions
• connect the parts through a common framework to ensure a cohesive whole
• align each and all organizational structures, processes, decisions and actions with their purpose
• are mindful of constructing a bridge linking past, present and future
• are aware of the larger community context in which the school exists
• are accountable