Webster University: EdS Certificate in Teacher Leadership

EdS Certificate in Teacher Leadership

Program Description

The Teacher Leadership Certificate is for teachers who have a masters degree and wish to remain in the classroom while becoming more effective leaders in their school and district.

This program consists of 21 hours of post graduate credit that provides you with the skills, knowledge and dispositions for:

Growing your professional understanding of curriculum
Managing projects that touch on:
- Curriculum,
- Instruction
- Assessment
Collaborating with multiple stakeholders
Serving multiple community audiences.
Promoting parental involvement
Addressing and managing human behavior in the presence of conflict.
Making sense of legal institutions and how they impact schools and school social dynamics

• Making sense of legal institutions and how they impact schools and school social dynamics

The courses in this certificate program were developed for teacher leadership and are based on the Standards developed by the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO).

This certificate does not lead to teacher certification or principal preparation and licensure.

Requirements

TELD 6020 Coaching, Mentoring, Evaluating (3)
SSSL 6032 or LEAD 6132 Politics of Schools (2)
SSSL 6029 or LEAD 6129 Curriculum & Instruction (2)
TELD 6000 Equitable Learning: Accessibility, Adaptation & Accommodation (Embedded Internship) (3)
TELD 6040 School Improvement (3)
TELD 6060 Culture & Diversity of Schools (Embedded Internship) (3)
SSSL 6024 or LEAD 6124 School Law (2)
SSSL 6123 or LEAD 6123 Action Research I (2)
SSSL 6133 or LEAD 6133 Action Research II (2)

Total Hours: 22

Admission

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

Send all required admission materials to

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

Course Descriptions

LEAD 6123 Action Research Internship Step One (2)

Action Research Internship Step One is the first semester internship. It is Step One in the Action Research sequence. In this course the student focuses on understanding action research, developing the action research design and beginning the action research project. Students must fill out an IRB to conduct research. Content of the internship must follow the guidelines stipulated for all internships as delineated in the Education Specialist Student Handbook. This course is 16 weeks for 1 credit (67.5 contact hours).

Prerequisites: Acceptance into the EdS program, appropriate technology expertise as would be expected of a building leader, a working knowledge of statistics, and a demonstrated ability to communicate orally and through written materials. Any deficits must be addressed through courses that are not part of this program.

LEAD 6124 Schools and Leadership Law (2)

This course is designed to provide intense opportunities for both theoretical and practical learning in the following areas:

Knowledge of structure/function of the United States Court System
How statutory/case law impact public schools
Litigation in regard to FERPA and NCLB
Gender based decision making
Student rights
First and fourth amendments
High stakes testing

LEAD 6129 Curriculum (2)

This course is designed to increase theoretical and practical knowledge about curriculum assessment, evaluation, and revision cycle across a school. The goals of curriculum inquiries should always be to improve teaching/learning and increase student performance. During this course, students will create a comprehensive curriculum plan for a building that includes but is not limited to the following: narrative description of demographics of attendance area, building assessment plan, curriculum plan, evaluation cycle and revision plan. The final project will be to develop a school improvement plan. Students will:

Understand broad application/impact and results of curriculum across a school district.
Assess and analyze core data in relation to schools and district goals, performance, and learner outcomes.
Connect learner outcomes to professional development, teacher training and performance.

LEAD 6132 Seminar in Principalship: Issues and Politics (2)

The role of the principal is analyzed with reference to job responsibilities of the position, knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to successfully serve the school district. This course examines the role of principals in emerging social, economic and political contexts that are changing the nature of schooling, how schools are viewed and are transforming as well as how a principal provides leadership. This course is designed for aspiring principals and focuses on understanding a broad range of issues that are critical to the success of new principals. These issues can affect relationships and impact the future. The seminar examines major management and leadership responsibilities of principals to provide a framework for identifying and analyzing problems and discriminating among alternative courses of action.

LEAD 6133 Action Research Internship Step Two (2)

The second semester internship experience is Step Two. It focuses on continuation and completion of the action research internship project. However, students cannot begin research until they have the approval of the IRB. Content of the internship must follow the guidelines stipulated for all internships as delineated in the Education Specialist Student Handbook. This course is 16 weeks for 1 credit (67.5 contact hours of work).

Prerequisites: Acceptance into the EdS program, appropriate technology expertise as would be expected of a building leader, a working knowledge of statistics, and a demonstrated ability to communicate orally and through written materials. Also, Lead 6123 must be taken prior to enrollment in LEAD 6133. Any deficits must be addressed through courses that are not part of this program.

SSSL 6024 School Systems, Superintendency and Leadership: Law (2)

This course is designed to provide intense opportunities for both theoretical and practical learning in the following areas:

Knowledge of structure/function of the American court system
How statutory/case law impact the public school
Litigation in regard to FERPA and NCLB
Gender based decision making
Student rights
First and fourth amendments
High stakes testing

Prerequisites: acceptance into the EdS program, appropriate technology expertise as would be expected of a superintendent, a working knowledge of statistics, and a demonstrated ability to communicate orally and through written materials. Any deficits must be addressed through courses that are not part of this program.

SSSL 6029 School Systems, Superintendency and Leadership: Curriculum (2)

This course is designed to increase theoretical and practical knowledge about district curriculum assessment, evaluation, and revision cycle across a school system/district, from K-12. The goals of curriculum inquiries should always be to improve teaching/learning and increase student performance. The culminating project for this course is to create a comprehensive district curriculum plan that includes but is not limited to the following: narrative description of district and curriculum, assessment plan, evaluation cycle, and revision plan. Students will:

Understand broad application/impact and results of curriculum across a school district.
Assess and analyze core data in relation to schools and district goals, performance, and learner outcomes
Connect learner outcomes to professional development, teacher training, and performance

SSSL 6032: Seminar in School Systems, Superintendency and Leadership: Issues/Politics (2)

The role of the school district superintendent is analyzed with reference to job responsibilities of the position, knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to successfully serve the school district. This course examines the role of superintendents in emerging social, economic and political contexts that are changing the nature of schooling, how schools are viewed, and are transforming how a superintendent provides leadership. This course is designed for aspiring superintendents and focuses on understanding a broad range of issues that are critical to the success of new superintendents. These issues can affect relationships and impact the future. The seminar examines major management and leadership responsibilities of superintendents to provide a framework identifying and analyzing problems and discriminating among alternative courses of action.

SSSL 6123 Action Research Internship Step One (2)

Action Research Internship Step One is the first semester internship. It is also Step One in the Action Research sequence. In this course the student focuses on understanding action research, developing the action research design and beginning the action research project. Content of the internship must follow the guidelines stipulated for all internships as delineated in the Education Specialist Student Handbook. This course is 16 weeks for 1 credit (67.5 contact hours of work).

SSSL 6133 Action Research Internship Step Two (2)

The second semester of the Action Research Internship experience is Step Two. It focuses on continuation and completion of the action research internship project. Content of the internship must follow the guidelines stipulated for all internships as delineated in the Education Specialist Student Handbook. This course is 16 weeks for 1 credit (67.5 contact hours of work).

TELD 6000 Equitable Learning: Accessibility, Adaptation, and Accommodation (3)

This course is designed to study the skills and responsibilities of the Teacher Leader in promoting change in the pursuit of social justice for all learners in communities, schools and classrooms. This course examines of the role and responsibilities of the teacher leader in regard to providing access and quality instruction through adaptations and accommodations in the school and classroom. A brief foundational perspective to Federal and State law concerning individuals with disabilities will be provided, including the following: organizational structures, relationship to general school curriculum, instruction and related services. Current issues in the field of education will also be explored. Participants will apply the context readings, class discussions, field observations, and group experiences in reflecting on their role as an educator and leader. Students will examine issues such as teacher leadership, parent communications and advocacy for all children. An internship/field experience is also embedded in this course. Prerequisites: A master’s degree and a demonstrated ability to communicate orally and through written materials. Any deficits must be addressed through courses that are not part of this program.

TELD 6020 Coaching, Mentoring, & Evaluating (3)

This course prepares teacher-leaders to do their personal best, to be of service to others, and to be knowledgeable, informed, responsible and reflective life-long learners. The course is designed to encourage teacher-leaders to take ownership and accept accountability for serving as effective coaches and mentors to educators in their school systems and to create a culture of partnership. A goal in the course is that teacher-leaders are able to motivate, utilize, and retain talent in their system and can to explain and perform their roles, their accountability, and their expected outcomes, based on ISLLC (Interstate Leaders Licensure Consortium) standards. Teacher-leaders will learn the importance of coaching individuals, capable of professional responsibilities, who have the knowledge, information, and responses required to incorporate differentiated instruction and reflective dispositions necessary for serving their communities. Understanding how to use and apply formative and summative assessments to achieve a cohesive community where student outcomes can be measured and where student responses in the classroom are valued will be stressed. Teacher-leaders will also be required to apply their knowledge of the requirements their roles by completing a case study. Prerequisites: A master’s degree and a demonstrated ability to communicate orally and through written materials. Any deficits must be addressed through courses that are not part of this certificate.

TELD 6040 School Improvement (3)

This course is for future leaders to understand the school improvement process: to use and analyze data and demographics of the school community for school improvement and goal setting; to understand models for educational program planning and evaluation; to understand research based school improvement strategies, and to involve community members and stakeholders in the school improvement process. Students will also gain an understanding of how the relationships among the development of learning communities, teacher leadership, school effectiveness, and site-based accountability can positively improve schools. Activities may include site-based visits, including participant-observer studies, shadow studies, problem-based learning activities, case studies, and research studies. Students will demonstrate an understanding of data collection and analysis issues, evaluate school improvement models, and develop a product representing their growth in understanding of teacher leadership and school improvement. Prerequisites: A master’s degree and a demonstrated ability to communicate orally and through written materials. Any deficits must be addressed through courses that are not part of this program.

TELD 6060 Culture and Diversity of Schools (3)

Due to the significant technological progress and to the accelerated increase in population relocation numbers, contact between cultures has become an everyday occurrence. Given their classroom roles, teachers are always exposed to a full array of cross cultural interactions. This course combines theory with practical projects that allow learners to improve their understanding and knowledge of various aspects of cross-cultural contact involving “traditional” and “nontraditional” families and diverse populations. Teachers will learn how culture and language influence one’s behavior, actions and judgment. Using this knowledge, learners will be asked to explore and discuss how families and cultures are represented in a school structure and curriculum. Prerequisites: A master’s degree and a demonstrated ability to communicate orally and through written materials. Any deficits must be addressed through courses that are not part of this certificate.