Webster University: Advanced Graduate Certificate in Assessment of Learning and Cognitive Development

Advanced Graduate Certificate: Assessment of Learning and Cognitive Development Program Description

The advanced graduate certificate (AGC) in assessment of learning and cognitive development emphasizes understanding the individual learner and his/her learning and cognitive growth. Students enrolled in this program acquire skills in the assessment of learning, cognitive abilities, and academic performance.

This AGC is for educators who already have a master’s degree and some experience with assessment and applying psychology to education and schooling. This AGC is not designed for Missouri educator certification, but the AGC in Assessment of Learning and Cognitive Development is especially helpful for those who wish to work as assessment coordinators, educational diagnosticians, or psychoeducational testers.

This eighteen credit hour advanced certificate is for those who wish to make an even greater contribution at their workplace. Graduate students are encouraged to assume advocacy roles, to participate in professional organizations, and to contribute to professional conferences and publications.

See also:

Requirements

1. Any Webster University graduate courses taken that are not applied toward a graduate or undergraduate degree, may be counted toward the completion of an Advanced Graduate Certificate (AGC) program provided that the courses are appropriate and relevant to that specific Advanced Graduate Certificate.

2. All AGC coursework must have a grade of B- or better.

3. Any graduate coursework completed may not be counted to two different certificate programs.

4. Courses may not be transferred from another university into any Webster University Advanced Graduate Certificate (AGC) program.

Choose at least one course (3 hours) from Cluster One-Child and Adolescent Development and Learning:

EPSY 5160 Advanced Child Development (3 hours)

EPSY 5540 Psychology of Early Adolescence (3 hours)

EPSY 5810 Advanced Adolescent Psychology (3 hours)

EPSY 5880 Psychology of Memory, Learning, and Problem–Solving (3 hours)

EPSY 5970 The Gifted Learner (3 hours)

Choose at least two courses (6 hours) from Cluster Two- Assessment of Learning and Cognitive Development:

SPED 5240 Psychoeducational Assessment I (3 hours)

EPSY 5060 Assessment and Evaluation of Academic Performance (3 hours)

SPED 5413 Assessment of Learning and Learning Problems (3 hours)

EPSY 5990 Identifying Giftedness in Underserved Populations (3 hours)

EPSY 5991 Issues in Assessment: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity (3 hours)

EPSY 5930 Screening, Assessing, and Evaluating Gifted Students (3 hours)

SPED 5830 Evaluation (3 hours)

MTHC 5390 Statistics (3 hours)

EDTC 6240 Education Statistics (2-3 hours)

Required course: EPSY 6000 Advanced Graduate Certificate Project (3 hours)

To complete the 18-hour Advanced Graduate Certificate, choose two electives from EPSY and/or SPED (6 hours).

Admission

Students who are interested in applying to this program should see the Admission Section of this catalog for general requirements.

Admission Requirements

Master’s degree in educational psychology, special education, or related area
Satisfactory completion of admissions essay; Overall GPA of 3.0
An essay is required as part of the application. Please see the School of Education Essay Requirements page for information regarding this requirement.

Send all required admission materials to

Webster University
Office of Admission
470 East Lockwood Ave.
St. Louis, MO 63119

Course Descriptions

EDTC 6240 Educational Statistics (3)

Educational Statistics is an introductory graduate course in using quantitative methods for inquiry in education. Students will be exposed to the fundamental concepts and procedures of descriptive and inferential statistics. Students will develop competence in reading and understanding statistics topics from various sources. The course includes an introduction to the use and interpretation of SPSS.

EPSY 5160 Advanced Child Development (2-3)

Child development is the scientific study of the physical, cognitive, social, and personality changes that occur throughout the childhood years. This course is based on recent research in education, psychology, and child development that aids the teacher in guiding learning activities of children of preschool age through early adolescence. Students enrolled in this class will learn how to modify instruction to meet the developmental needs of all children. Issues of diversity in child development, including multicultural perspectives and inclusion strategies, are also examined.

EPSY 5540 Psychology of Early Adolescence (3)

This course focuses on the psychological growth and development of the young adolescent (ages 9 -15). Participants examine the stage of early adolescence from the perspective of physical, intellectual, and social-emotional development; they also study the importance of the peer group and peer pressure concerns. The course explores multicultural and international perspectives on the psychology of early adolescence. Participants learn how to create instructional environments that will maximize the learning opportunities for all young adolescents.

EPSY 5810 Advanced Adolescent Psychology (3)

This course involves the theoretical and empirical study of adolescence. Topics addressed include physical development, intellectual development, values and moral development, social problems, sexuality, and discipline. Intracultural and intercultural variations in development are explored. Students examine the educational applications for each topic and learn how to adapt instructional practices to meet the interests and learning needs of adolescents.

EPSY 5880 Psychology of Memory, Learning and Problem-solving (3)

Students examine current research concerning cognitive psychology, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, and learning systems. Emphasis is placed on studying metacognitive strategies and the development of expertise.

EPSY 5930 Screening, Assessing, and Evaluating Gifted Students (3)

This course is for graduate students who are pursuing certification in gifted education. Theory of testing, analysis of standardized tests, development of testing procedures, and analysis of test data for the gifted are covered. Emphasis is on intelligence testing, assessment of creativity, and interpretation and integration of test data. Prerequisite: Permission of instructor.

EPSY 5970 The Gifted Learner (3)

Participants in this course examine current issues in the field of education for the gifted. Programs, teaching methods, and curriculum for the gifted are presented in the course. Multicultural and international perspectives on giftedness are stressed.

EPSY 5990 Identifying Giftedness in Underserved Populations (3)

In this course students will gain knowledge and improve personal skill levels in the areas of multicultural assessment in order to serve gifted and talented learners from diverse linguistic, geographic, economic, and cultural backgrounds. Structured as a seminar, discussions include professional issues in psychoeducational examination, reviews of past discriminatory practices that have unfairly influenced the assessment of learning, recommendations for modifying traditional assessment procedures, and ways to stress children’s cultural strengths rather than their cultural deficits.

EPSY 5991 Issues in Assessment: Cultural and Linguistic Diversity (3)

Students examine theory, research, and skills related to assessment and cultural diversity. Structured as a seminar, discussions include professional issues in psychoeducational examination, testing and assessment issues, techniques with regard to multiculturalism, reviews of past discriminatory practices that have unfairly influenced the assessment of learning, recommendations for modifying traditional assessment procedures, and ways to stress children’s cultural strengths rather than their cultural deficits.

EPSY 6000 Advanced Graduate Certificate Project (3)

The advanced graduate certificate (AGC) project is the culminating experience in the AGC program. These projects are based on applied field research at the student’s own workplace or practicum placement. Projects may be professional presentations or professional papers. Examples of final projects include a professional presentation or demonstration for other graduates students, a school district, a local board of education, a community group, a professional organization, or a professional conference; or a paper or research project that might be published or distributed within appropriate schools, community groups, professional organizations or professional journals.

MTHC 5390 Statistics (3)

This course covers the basic concepts (including applications) of the binomial and normal distributions, the chi-square test, analysis of variance, and nonparametric statistics. Emphasis is placed on educational applications as well as the abuses and misuses of statistical ideas. Computers and/or graphing calculators are used to investigate ideas.

SPED 5240 Psychoeducational Assessment I (3)

This course examines assessment of students with learning difficulties. A review of the statistical properties of standardized instruments and the social and legal issues in testing is presented to provide a framework from which students examine instruments of intelligence, language, perception, motor skills, academics, and behavior. The information derived from these instruments is used to determine specific strengths and weaknesses in individual students using a case-study approach.

SPED 5413 Assessment of Learning Problems (3)

Students explore a variety of academic and psychoeducational assessment techniques that are relevant to the evaluation of children and youth with suspected academic disorders. Functional behavior assessment and analysis of academics, task analysis, and ecobehavioral assessment will be examined in depth. Students are expected to work intensively. Interpretation of assessment findings is presented in a written evaluation report including a diagnostic formulation and recommendations for intervention. Students are expected to plan and conduct a functional assessment of cognitive and academic skills across the academic areas, integrated with formal assessment data.

SPED 5830 Evaluation (3)

This course is designed for all educators who wish to explore the importance of formal and informal evaluation procedures as related to the instructor in the classroom. Evaluation will “review” the concepts of assessment and measurement, study curriculum-based evaluation, teaching and decision making, and explore issues such as national standards, functional curriculum and behavior assessments, and social/cultural transformations in education as related to the ethics of evaluations.