Specialization Overview

Education Policy & Leadership Conceptual Framework

The department of Education Policy and Leadership is designed to prepare educators for leadership positions in all educational settings. Through study and research in the areas of organizational behavior and leadership, academic leadership, and informational leadership, graduates of the program will be well prepared to develop and support effective teachers; select and implement effective curricula and instructional programs; implement and evaluate evidence based educational policies; and identify, implement, and sustain effective organizational practices.

Our conceptual framework is operationalized through four interconnected threads of content. Organizational, academic, and information leadership as well as teacher effectiveness extend across the program offerings in Education Policy and Leadership

1. Organizational Leadership - Our students know and understand the organizational conditions that are necessary to implement and sustain programs that will result in improved student achievement. Students exhibit knowledge of effective resource management, communication systems and involvement of external stakeholders in the process of educational improvement. Students understand the roles and responsibilities of all professional and non-certified staff in promoting safe and orderly educational environments conducive to learning. Our students understand the ethical and legal issues surrounding the education of learners.
2. Academic Leadership - Our students understand how to evaluate and interpret research that supports the selection of effective curricula for their schools. Students can describe and practice the processes of involved in using valid and reliable assessment data to determine student needs. Students can retrieve information about the national, state and local standards in all relevant content areas and understand evidence-based practices for implementing and assessing standards. students understand the legal and ethical requirements for equity and access to quality curriculum for all students. Our courses emphasize the importance of involving families in the learning process.
3. Information Leadership - Our students understand the importance of selecting and retaining high quality educators. Students apply principles of research design to consume and produce research as it relates to the decisions they intend to make. Students interpret research results and discern generalizable findings given the context of the study.
4. Teacher Effectiveness - Our students understand the importance of selecting and retaining high quality educators. Students know and can implement effective strategies to recruit, retain and develop effective educators. Students evaluate the effectiveness of educators and develop procedures and policies for improving educator effectiveness for implementing, sustaining, and scaling evidence based practices.

Figure 1.

Figure 1. This figure illustrates the interconnection between the Master's Programs and the Ph.D. specialization in relation to the operationalized content threads.

Three areas of emphasis that replicate trajectory of implementation changes in educational practices:

• K-12 Learning Organizations: Best practices to support student learning through academic leadership in content area disciplines
• Higher education learning organizations: Best practices to support students' learning through effective pre-service teacher preparation and leadership preparation
• Policy implementation and analysis: Best practices to support students' learning through implementation of effective policies and procedures.