FIRST YEAR:

Contemporary Leadership - In this first one-week intensive seminar, students explore the history and emergent relationships among leadership theories/practice and their application to current educational settings. Students will reflect on and refine their personal theory of leadership.

Research Design and Application for Educational Leaders - Educational leaders are introduced to qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods educational research methods and learn to frame research questions, identify data/data sources, use descriptive statistics, critically examine research studies, make sense of educational research/policy, and conduct independent studies.

Qualitative Research for Educational Leaders - Prepares students to understand the nature/assumptions/logic of qualitative methodology as applied to educational settings, focusing on issues of design, conceptualization, interpretation, application of qualitative research procedures.  Students will use these methods in conducting studies in their educational settings.

Quantitative Research for Educational Leaders - Field-based and general quantitative research methods in education will focus this course. Students acquire skills and knowledge to collect, organize, analyze, and interpret univariate and multivariate quantitative data in educational research, dissertation projects, and field-based projects.

Leadership and Change Across Communities - Students examine the theory/practice/process of leadership in community-building and collaboration in/across communities, while addressing the utilization of human and material resources and the creation of partnerships, community linkages, and collaborative efforts.

Diversity Issues for Educational Leaders - The diversity of stakeholders and community issues in California schools and colleges will be explored. Emphasis will be placed on the interaction between underrepresented segments of society and educational institutions. “Best Practices” in leading diverse schools will be explored.

History and Theory of Educational Policy - Students learn/analyze the history/theory of educational policy. They see how education leaders have/can positively influence the process and implement effective policies in their local institutions. Policy issues covered: educational opportunity, equity, access, regulation, testing, tenure, accountability.

Influencing Policy - Students will conduct critical analyses of policy at the federal, judicial, state, regional and local levels. Specific California and federal policy environment structures, processes and people will be examined for intended consequences, ethical dilemmas, social justice and equity issues.

Ethical Leadership and Dilemmas in Complex Organizations - Ethical leadership will be explored through examination of philosophical, social, moral standards, codes, and values; and understanding the relationship between an individual’s values, decision-making, and their impact on the organization and its members.

SECOND YEAR:

Data Driven Designs- Students use and examine multiple sources of information and data and trends found in making quality decisions to improve P-12/community college settings and addressing problems at sites. Students learn limitations of these data sources.

Problem Based and Community Building (4 courses total) - Part 1: Students identify problems from their educational settings, engage in data collection/analysis, write-up the process/results, and present to class. Work may become a dissertation proposal, if the problem or its extension is of sufficient interest and value.  Community applications of problem based issues.Problem-based - Part 2: Continuation of Part 1Problem-based - Part 3: Continuation of Part 2

Legal & Human Resources Issues in Education – Focus on human resource and legal concepts and activities governing decisions of school leaders in public education. Attention to theory, application, and practice of personnel and risk management, curriculum, student services, teacher rights, torts, student rights.

Curriculum & Instruction Issues in Education - This course addresses the historical development of various curriculum and instructional methodologies found in public and private schools and colleges, and their impact on current curriculum development and reform efforts at the national, state and local level.

Finance and Budget - Emphasis and overview on how schools/colleges acquire and allocate resources. Topic include: education finance theory, contemporary finance policy issues, intergovernmental relations, effective resource management, budget analysis and preparation.

Leadership and Student Services - Provides students with both the practical and theoretical perspectives for building a sense of vision to lead the profession of student affairs and to meet the needs of the “whole student.”

THIRD YEAR:

Dissertation Seminar - Third year Seminars encourage students to complete dissertations within the year. In addition to meeting with faculty, Cohort members are expected to meet extensively with their Dissertation Chairs and Dissertation Committees to share their writing, data collection, analysis, discussion of results, development of conclusions/implications.

31 May 2007