In this course, students will explore major concepts related to developing partnerships and communities of learners. Course topics include the change process, forms of school and community governance, school culture, the concept of collaboration, and agencies and organizations involved in community programs and initiatives. Special attention is focused on planning and implementing system-wide and building-level networks. Students will develop and evaluate a framework for collaboration and demonstrate systems thinking. Typically the first course completed in the CAGS program.
The purpose of this course is to develop effective collaborative planners. This course presents the major stages in the process of developing a strategic plan, including forming a mission statement, crafting and implementing the plan, and evaluating plan performance. It provides a theoretical and practical overview of the skills, strategies, and resources required through each stage of the systemic planning process. (Prerequisite: EP 7020).
This course addresses qualitative research methodologies with a particular emphasis on constructing grounded theory. Candidates will engage in the process, design, and critique of qualitative inquiry and research. Organizational and community issues will be explored and discovered through the analysis of patterns of beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors within interpersonal and intercultural contexts. The course includes theory and practice related to initiating an inquiry; gathering, recording and analyzing data; and evaluating a study. (Prerequisites: Eligibility for CAGS level coursework, and a graduate level course in research design).
Contemporary social, economical, political, and educational issues are the core of the course. They are identified in a forum that provides opportunities for the students to research current methodology together to address problems that relate to the specific roles of the course participants in their work inside or outside of the educational field. Working collaboratively, course candidates explore short-range and long range problem-solving strategies directed toward increasing their awareness of community perception and expectations, techniques for facilitating institutional change, and responding to the nature and culture of internal and external political systems and environments as they apply to their work sites.
Focus on policies and procedures affecting personnel management in the schools. Discussion of staffing, program and personnel evaluations, office procedures and record keeping, decision making, and negotiations. Emphasis on collective bargaining statutes, case law, grievance processing, mediation, employee relations boards, union security provisions, scope of bargaining, and the administration of the negotiated contract.
This course is designed to provide candidates with the arts leadership skills necessary for designing, implementing, assessing, and sustaining arts integration models in diverse school settings. The course will focus on the multiple roles of the arts as mediation tools offering languages for learning and methods for instructions. This course will provide candidates with theoretical and applied knowledge of comprehensive interdisciplinary multi-arts integration supporting learning in, with, and through the arts. Candidates will be introduced to the research based Integrated Instructional Model, which incorporates the components of community, problem-based learning and arts integration. Candidates will explore the use of the arts and artistic methods through hands-on activities modeling arts-infused learning and instruction. Candidates will apply individual and group understandings to considerations of site-specific school change and sustained systemic professional development.
This is a residential course packaged with an additional meals and room fee of $280.00. Students must register by 10/4/13. Mandatory pre-reading assignments are available online upon registration, which is accessible through the myPlymouth portal.
This course is designed to provide candidates with the arts leadership skills necessary for designing, implementing, assessing, and sustaining arts integration models in diverse school settings. The course will focus on the multiple roles of the arts as mediation tools offering languages for learning and methods for instructions. This course will provide candidates with theoretical and applied knowledge of comprehensive interdisciplinary multi-arts integration supporting learning in, with, and through the arts. Candidates will be introduced to the research based Integrated Instructional Model, which incorporates the components of community, problem-based learning and arts integration. Candidates will explore the use of the arts and artistic methods through hands-on activities modeling arts-infused learning and instruction. Candidates will apply individual and group understandings to considerations of site-specific school change and sustained systemic professional development.
This is a commuter course packaged with an additional meals only fee of $125.00. Students must register by 10/4/13. Mandatory pre-reading assignments are available online upon registration, which is accessible through the myPlymouth portal
In-depth studies of essential knowledge bases and best practice skills required to effectively execute the responsibilities of the district level administration, including the roles of the public school superintendent and assistant superintendent. Attention will be given to balancing three sometimes conflicting roles: instructional, managerial, and political, in an era of standards-based accountability. Prerequisites: Six credits of CAGS core courses.
Please contact instructor (llcarrier@plymouth.edu) to arrange meeting dates and times.
A collaborative supervised field experience in one of several cooperating institutions or agencies. The purpose is to gain meaningful work experience as an administrator through applying knowledge learned in coursework to on-the-job situations. It is recommended that this course be taken near the end of the candidate's program.
Please contact instructor (pgmccormack@plymouth.edu) to arrange meeting dates and times.
Leaders often find themselves making decisions, facilitating programs, and mediating conflicts that emanate from the many ways in which humans differ, including ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, and cultural beliefs. In this course, attention will be given to central topics and critical issues that address global leadership competencies in working with diverse populations. Students will critically examine the complexity of culture, the building of community, and the promotion of social justice from individual, community, and global perspectives. Furthermore, students will consider and evaluate both reactive and proactive roles for leaders in educational, social, and political settings. (Prerequisites: Completion of EP 8000 and 8010 and member of the PSU EdD cohort).
This course is restricted to students admitted in the year-round cohort 3 of the doctoral program.