Leadership Programs

ASGE 5112. Administration, Management, and Budgeting. (3 Credits)

This course focuses on how school leaders apply the knowledge, skills, and commitments necessary to improve management, communication, technology, human resources, school-level governance, and operation systems for school operations. The course also focuses on how to develop and improve data-informed and equitable school resource plans and to apply laws, policies, and regulations for effective school functions.

ASGE 5119. Fundamentals of Educational Supervision and Professional Learning. (3 Credits)

This course emphasizes effective means of observation, supervision, support, and professional learning to improve instruction and student achievement and create dynamic and democratic communities of learners. Through this course, students consider the human, technical, educational, and moral aspects of supervision and professional learning and review effective practices while practicing standards-based observation, feedback, and improvement planning.

ASGE 5902. Management of Continuing and Adult Education Programs. (3 Credits)

This course is designed to provide an understanding of current behavior concepts, theories, and processes of management and supervision as applied to adult-education organizations and agencies.

ASGE 6130. Instructional Leadership. (3 Credits)

Development of leadership in optimal staff performance and emphasis on factors that facilitate learning. Students will develop understand their role as instructional leaders using formal and informal observation protocols and practice assessing lessons using a variety of rubrics.

ASGE 6132. Organizational Behavior. (3 Credits)

Focuses on social/psychological forces influencing the behavior of the individual. Topics include communication, perception, motivation, attitudes, values, adult development, leadership, power, and influence.

ASGE 6145. Leading for Equity and Social Justice. (3 Credits)

This course provides understanding and knowledge to promote the success and well-being of each student by developing a supportive, equitable, culturally responsive, and inclusive school culture. The course addresses concepts, issues, and dilemmas related to a multicultural, diverse society from both a historical and contemporary perspective and students learn to apply culturally-responsive and equitable leadership standards as integral to school operations and effectiveness.

ASGE 6150. Partnering with Families and Communities. (3 Credits)

This course recognizes the centrality of working with families and communities to strengthen schools and ensures that social justice leadership and culturally responsive school leadership principles are present in our leadership preparation program. It also envisions families as partners in supporting and facilitating student learning and educational success.

ASGE 6224. The Superintendency. (3 Credits)

Consideration of the chief roles of the superintendent of schools, such as school board relationships; personnel; finance and budgeting; program planning; community relationships; local, state, and federal relationships; and evaluation.

ASGE 6225. Boards of Education. (3 Credits)

The study of the role, responsibilities, power, and legal aspects of dealing with boards of education. Course is designed for board members, and practicing and prospective school administrators.

ASGE 6227. Cases and Simulations in Administration and Supervision. (3 Credits)

This course uses a variety of cases and simulations to provide “situational data” for analysis of issues, problem solving, and leadership development.

ASGE 6322. School Finance. (3 Credits)

Theory and practice of property taxation, tax and educational equity issues, understanding state school aid, and alternatives to existing funding patterns. It also considers the management of financial resources at the district and site level.

ASGE 6325. Education Law, Policy & Advocacy. (3 Credits)

Education policy is examined in the context of historical, philosophical, economic, sociocultural, political, and legal perspectives. The legal status of the pupil, teacher, superintendent, and the role of school boards are examined.

ASGE 6331. Shaping Educational Policy. (3 Credits)

A study of educational management as affected by public policies. Focus on political environments, decision-making processes, and legislation influencing education, as well as strategies and techniques for managing their impact on educational institutions.

ASGE 6338. Ethics of School Administration. (3 Credits)

Using case studies and theoretical analyses, this course examines the ethical issues that school administrators commonly face.

ASGE 6361. Leading Learning in Teams and Organizations. (3 Credits)

This course examines theory, research, and practice on effective team and organizational learning to support planning and change. The course provides opportunities for students to integrate theory, research, and practice by engaging a team in innovative planning for using data and budget information and improving curriculum, instructional, or assessment practices.

ASGE 6362. Understanding and Managing Change. (3 to 4 Credits)

Students learn to scan the internal and external environments to identify challenges and constraints, to understand stakeholders’ investments in maintaining or challenging the status quo, to understand and manage change in the context of various change models, and to align business strategies with organizational systems and structures.

ASGE 6371. Hist & Descrip Research. (3 Credits)

Techniques in the use of archival materials, primary sources, and secondary publications will be taught in the framework of educational policy research.

ASGE 6461. Critical Issues in Educational Leadership. (0 to 3 Credits)

This course synthesizes research on enduring and emerging issues in administration and supervision, including retrenchment, special education, finance, and desegregation.

ASGE 6520. Internship I. (3 Credits)

Systematic observation and planned participation in the administrative and supervisory activities of an urban or suburban school. Application must be submitted to the division chairperson by the end of the second month of the semester preceding internship.

ASGE 6521. Internship II. (3 Credits)

Systematic observation and planned participation in the administrative and supervisory activities of an urban or suburban school. Application must be submitted to the division chairperson by the end of the second month of the semester preceding internship.

ASGE 6532. Seminar for Nonpublic School Administrators. (1 to 3 Credits)

This is an individualized, project-centered course in which participants will bring together multiple understandings and competencies developed in earlier courses and focus them in a synthetic way on a major problem or issue.

ASGE 6541. Perspectives on Leadership. (3 Credits)

This course is designed to expose participants to various theories of leadership, to have them examine their own experience in working with a leader, to have them probe their own sources of motivation in seeking to exercise leadership, and to have them develop specific leadership skills and approaches in becoming accountable school leaders.

ASGE 6620. Advanced Statistics in Administration and Supervision. (3 Credits)

Covers statistical inference and prediction in research in educational leadership, administration, and policy, including parametric and nonparametric methods, and concepts of measurement and probability.

ASGE 6720. Research for Educational Change. (3 Credits)

This course is designed to develop school leaders as effective consumers of research and to use inquiry to drive improvement. Students explore how to integrate theory and research on inquiry and organizational change. As part of the course, students plan and carry out a short-cycle, equity-focused school improvement project.

ASGE 7320. Data Analysis & Accountability. (3 Credits)

School administrators are challenged to mangage and analyze data to inform instruction and improve student performance. This course teaches the use of data for setting goals, monitoring progress and using data warehousing-thus holding educators accountable for results. Students will analyze and share data in "data cycle" format to inform educators and the public regarding what they receive from the district and/or read in the print and electronic media.

ASGE 7322. Economics and Finance of Education. (3 Credits)

In this course, students study the efficiency, equity, and adequacy of the funding of education—including sources, budgets, uses, and effects—at the federal, state, and local levels. Key concerns are the equity of spending, the efficiency of resource utilization, the productivity of schools in relating fiscal resources to learning opportunities and student achievement, and the privatization of education (e.g., charter schools, vouchers, and school choice).

ASGE 7333. Data Inquiry and Analysis. (3 Credits)

This course is designed to develop students' skills in investigating various sources of quantitative and qualitative data (including large-scale data sets) to explore the complexity of problems of practices, investigate variations in performance within and among groups, and apply data analysis for school accountability, improvement, and reform.

ASGE 7428. Seminar in Leadership. (3 Credits)

Students in this advanced seminar investigate topics and issues in leadership. This course involves the exploration of theoretical frameworks as a means of interpreting problems from the field and suggesting leadership responses to these problems.

ASGE 7429. Social Theories and Educational Institutions. (3 Credits)

This is an in-depth analysis of social theories and their implications for the restructuring of educational and other social institutions. The course focuses on structural-functional theory and other theories and their contemporary critics.

ASGE 7430. Leadership in Educational Policy and Reform. (3 Credits)

In this course, students will deepen their understanding of educational policy and their skills in analyzing and responding to policy challenges as educational leaders and scholars. To gain an understanding of how education policies evolve, students will examine and analyze the political, economic, social, and philosophical processes that contribute to its development, implementation, analysis, and evaluation.

ASGE 7431. Administration and Supervision Seminar. (3 Credits)

An advanced seminar in administration and supervision; exploration and study of comprehensive professional concerns.

ASGE 7432. Seminar in Organizational Theory. (3 Credits)

Focuses on application of organizational theory to school administration. Theories of Weber, Argyris, McGregor, Etzioni, and others will be examined.

ASGE 7435. Strategic Thinking, Planning, and Implementation. (3 Credits)

Every organization needs to grow, and today’s organizations need to do so in a competitive and ever-changing environment. The heart of the change process is in the strategy the organization selects to move forward. In this course, students learn to understand their industry, the competition, and their organization’s core competencies and values. They learn strategic models, including those of Michael Porter, Treacy and Wiersma, Hamel and Prahalad, Kim and Mauborgne, and Richard D’Aveni. Using Nadler and Tushman’s model for Congruence, they learn to align their organizations with the chosen strategy.

ASGE 7436. Transforming Schools, Districts, and Communities. (3 Credits)

Through this course, students explore theory, research, and professional practice in engaging and transforming schools, districts, and communities, particularly to support school improvement and student learning. The course will also explore resource acquisition, management, and use in support of student learning and related political and systems issues.

ASGE 7439. Advanced Seminar for Nonpublic School Administration. (1 or 3 Credits)

This course provides advanced study of administration in nonpublic schools. Issues of finance, curriculum, personnel, physical plant, instruction, and community relations are covered.

ASGE 7440. Seminar in Organizational Behavior. (1 to 3 Credits)

This course focuses on individuals and groups in the organization and on both the micro and macro perspectives of their behavior. The perspective, historical background, methodology, and theoretical framework for the field of organizational behavior will be presented. The emphasis will be on developing leaders with a vision that reflects an understanding of the social and psychological forces influencing the behavior of the individual in organizations and the dynamics, processes, and structures of organizational behavior.

ASGE 7442. Leading Organizational Change. (3 Credits)

This course focuses on the nature of discontinuous change and on managing the paradoxes of change including chaos and order. Several current theories of change will be presented and applied to students’ organizational settings. The emphasis will be on developing leadership skills for crafting a vision, mission, and strategic plan for change, as well as for aligning the organization behind the vision.

ASGE 7444. Leading a Learning Organization. (3 Credits)

This course examines the principles of leadership in a learning organization by exploring theory, research, and practice as related to schools and districts. The course provides opportunities for students to integrate theory and research with practice through simulated experiences, group discussions, reading, observations, interviews, action research, and case studies.

ASGE 7445. Leading Instructional Improvement. (3 Credits)

This course focuses on the practice of instructional improvement in schools and school systems, where “improvement” is defined as increasing the equity and quality of instructional practice and student learning over time. The course equips students with skills in observing, analyzing, and understanding teaching and learning that can be coupled with decisions about how to manage and support learning in the PK–12 sector.

ASGE 7446. Seminar in Organizational Culture, Learning, and Change. (3 Credits)

This course focuses on the nature of organizational culture: how it comes into being, how to shape a culture, and how to change a culture. Students explore the role of leadership and use of a systems perspective in creating, shaping, and changing organizational culture.

ASGE 7448. Seminar in Ethics and Social Justice. (3 Credits)

Through this course, students develop an ability to discuss and clarify ethical and social justice perspectives to gain an understanding of these same issues within organizations. The course helps students develop policies and strategies to address social justice and ethical issues within their schools, districts, and communities.

ASGE 7449. Introduction to Inquiry and Improvement Science. (3 Credits)

This course provides an overview to scholarly inquiry and practice, and develops foundational knowledge about research design and methods, reviewing research studies and reading peer reviewed research, research ethics and basic concepts in designed-based research and improvement science.

ASGE 7450. Seminar in the Spirituality of Leadership. (3 Credits)

This course focuses on the nature of spirituality and on leading the building of community within organizations. The course will explore spirituality as it basically relates to education. Throughout the course, spirituality will be differentiated from formal religion. The spiritual dimension of educational practice will be presented as it pertains to building community with educators, families, organizations, and cultures.

ASGE 7460. Community of Inquiry 1: Framing Problems of Practice. (1 Credit)

In this initial course, students begin to identify a problem of practice for their dissertation, learn attributes of universal problems, investigate how to differentiate the problem for various groups, and how to collaborate with others to define and investigate their problem.

ASGE 7461. Community of Inquiry 2: Innovative Solutions. (1 Credit)

Community of Inquiry 2 aims to extend the dissertation work students developed in Community of Inquiry 1. This is a workshop-styled seminar in which students explore solutions for their proposed problem of practice, seeking input and feedback. Specifically, students will learn how to (1) explicate their theory of action, (2) consult the professional knowledge base, (3) develop a theory of action that rests on critical and systematic analysis of the knowledge base, and (4) graphically present the theory of action using a driver diagram.

Prerequisites: ASGE 7449 and ASGE 7731 and ASGE 7721 and ASGE 7460.

ASGE 7470. Design-Based Methods and Improvement Science in Education. (3 Credits)

This course moves students from exploring problems of practice to identifying, designing, and planning for the implementation of promising solutions to address these problems. Specifically, students will investigate and apply design-based and improvement-science methods to address a significant educational problem. Students will develop a design-based research prototype, seek implementation support, develop readiness for change and buy-in, and start their innovation.

ASGE 7471. Implementation Research and Program Evaluation. (3 Credits)

This course provides preparation and guidance on implementation research and program evaluation. Students learn how to monitor implementation and conduct program evaluation, particularly for their dissertation of practice. The course addresses theoretical, organizational change and practical issues, and prepares students to conduct an implementation study and program evaluation and communicate the results.

ASGE 7530. Clinical Practice in Administration and Supervision. (3 Credits)

This course provides students with applied field experiences designed to work out solutions to particular problems of practice.

ASGE 7531. Advanced Qualitative Research. (3 Credits)

This course offers students the opportunity to engage in field research activities that focus on initial research design, data collection, and analysis.

ASGE 7721. Applied Quantitative Research Methods. (3 Credits)

This course provides an overview of quantitative methods and research design, and related statistical techniques. Students can explore how to use these skills to investigate problems of practice.

ASGE 7731. Applied Qualitative Research Methods II. (3 Credits)

This course provides an overview of qualitative research perspectives and methods and their use in investigating applied problems of practice, particularly in observing and interviewing students and staff in school and district settings.

ASGE 8001. Research Apprenticeship. (0 Credits)

Research Apprenticeship.

ASGE 8505. Directed Research in Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy. (1 to 3 Credits)

Designed for students who are developing research problems or projects for their doctoral studies.

ASGE 8750. Dissertation in Practice Seminar. (3 Credits)

This seminar is for advanced Doctor of Education candidates in the Division of Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy who have completed all of their coursework. The purpose of the seminar is to assist students in developing an approved dissertation proposal.

ASGE 8751. Dissertation Seminar: Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy, PhD. (3 Credits)

Seminar for advanced Doctor of Philosophy candidates in the Division of Educational Leadership, Administration, and Policy who have completed all of their coursework. The purpose of the seminar is to assist students in developing an approved dissertation proposal.

ASGE 9990. Independent Study. (1 to 4 Credits)

Designed to enable students to study selected topics in depth and to conduct research. For matriculated students only. An outline of the proposed work must be approved by the adviser. Registration requires approval of the professor directing the study, the division chair, and the director of graduate studies.