EDL - Educational Leadership

Educational Leadership provides an examination of the foundational theoretical principles of leadership and the knowledge, proficiencies, and dispositions required for effective leadership in P-12 settings. Problem-solving and decision-making models are explored as tools to maximize educational benefit to stakeholders. Discussions will include teacher and principal roles in leadership, foundational leadership and organization theory, leading change, building a culture conducive to a learning community, site-based management, supervision, evaluation, effective policy decisions, and implementation of school improvement reforms.

This course explores multiple theories on curriculum development at the district level and focuses on assessing curriculum for vertical articulation and alignment with a district's vision based on community input and goals provided by the school board. Students document the elements of a well-aligned and rigorous curriculum that can meet the needs of all students in the community. The course reviews and explains the Superintendent's role in working with the school board to create policy on curriculum development, protection of instructional time, and implementing state mandated topics, while documenting needed resources.

The course reviews the methods used by leaders to be culturally responsive in all settings. The course will examine strategies for successfully working in areas of diversity for urban, suburban and rural settings. The prospective leader will be exposed to and apply theory in various areas to ensure they are prepared for a district leader position. Candidates - future district leaders - will build knowledge and skills in developing the school board's understanding of their district's cultural competency.

This course is designed to prepare district leaders to address the human resources and contract needs of the school corporations they may serve. The prospective district leader will be exposed to all areas with an emphasis on how the human resource aspects of a school corporation affect student achievement.

This course will require candidates to develop an educational philosophy built on collaborative leadership attributes. Candidates will also examine strategies to implement and monitor effective change within the school environment. Candidates will learn the value of soliciting feedback from all key stakeholders, and identify strategies to cultivate new relationships in the community. Prerequisite: EDL-618 or EDL-618OH

This course is the first half of the Principal Internship where the candidates will experience clinical application of the leadership principles learned in this program. This is also where the candidates will demonstrate competency in the School of Educational Leadership dispositions: communication, critical thinking, human interaction, leadership, and professionalism. Candidates will model principles of self-awareness, reflective practice, transparency, and ethical behavior and demonstrate competency in the teacher evaluation process. This course requires field experiences. Prerequisite: EDL-657, EDL-618, or EDL-618OH, EDL-610

This course provides the candidate a ten-week opportunity to complete and present the Applied Principal's Portfolio begun in EDL-612 and EDL-625. This course must be taken immediately following the completion of EDL-625 if the candidate chooses to continue to pursue licensure. Candidates who do not complete the portfolio process in EDL-625 and who do not register and complete this course will not be eligible for licensure. The candidate continues school-based activities that demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and proficiencies identified in the IPSB/ISLLC/ELCC Standards, builds appropriate portfolio exhibits under the direction of the University Supervisor, and formally presents the portfolio in a professional setting. This course may be repeated once for a maximum of two ten-week continuations. Graded on a CR/NC basis. Prerequisite: EDL-625.

This course will include an examination of strategic planning for the basic requirements and development of school facilities, and the inclusion of stakeholders from the greater school community when making decisions about the facilities' needs. Candidates will investigate shared processes and procedures from facility needs and assessments through actual renovation and new construction. Renovation strategic planning processes, ADA requirements, and energy savings, along with preventative maintenance planning will also be included.

This course will require candidates to use data to assess organizational effectiveness and identify goals that promote student learning. Candidates will also explore best practices for creating and maintaining a safe school, creating a master schedule and school calendar, and creating new teacher induction and professional development plans. Finally, candidates will investigate and evaluate models to efficiently utilize human, fiscal, and technological resources within the building to maximize achievement. Prerequisite: EDL-657

This course is designed to prepare principals for the complex area of school finance. The course will focus on the knowledge base necessary for both school building and district business administration including budgeting and accounting. The principal is faced with wearing many hats. These hats range from curriculum and instruction to financial responsibility with many hats in between. The principal will promote the success of all students, staff, parents, and community by having a working knowledge of school finance.

School building leaders must model the highest levels of professional, ethical, and personal behavior that set the tone for all student and adult relationships in the school. Understanding federal and state laws, rules, and regulations and framing all decisions and actions within those legal parameters are also essential to providing appropriate building leadership. District and school policy manuals and handbooks, contracts, and special education laws and procedures will be examined through the lens of professional, ethical, and legally sound leadership. Prerequisite: EDL-616

The course is designed to prepare aspiring district level administrators with integral knowledge and enhanced skills for district and building level budgets and accounting practice. Candidates will utilize practical, "hands-on" experiences to gain a working understanding of current school budgets through major projects that simulate actual school corporation budget activities. The roles of state agencies, professional organizations, and other resources will be explored to guide students in the efficient and effective use of available funds and how to incorporate ethical and moral behavior in all aspects of decision-making.

This course is the second half of the Principal Internship where the candidates will complete all clinical application of the leadership principles learned in this program. Candidates will demonstrate competency in the School of Educational Leadership dispositions: communication, critical thinking, human interaction, leadership, and professionalism. Candidates will model principles of self-awareness, reflective practice, transparency, and ethical behavior and demonstrate competency in goal-setting and evaluation processes. This course requires field experiences. Prerequisite: EDL-612

This course examines the superintendent's role in collaborating with various stakeholders in designing, supervising, and revising a school-wide measurement system that validates student progress towards district goals and performance expectations and their place in staff evaluation. The characteristics and requirements for valid and reliable standardized assessments will be studied and documented as will the process of writing high level assessments.

This course examines basic skills necessary to develop effective referendum plans, strategies for building successful partnerships for passage of community referendums and knowledge of legal requirements of General Fund and Facilities referendums in the State of Indiana. Internet research, website utilization for teams, and community engagement are a major focus of this course. One of the concurrent themes running throughout the course is that schools/government organizations belong to the community and therefore decisions must be made with a political awareness of the community culture.

This course examines the role of the P-12 building leader in establishing a culture of school improvement. This course exposes potential building leaders to various leadership theories and practices, and requires them to evaluate their own leadership style. Candidates will develop a plan for building a collaborative vision. This course requires field experiences.

School building leaders must model the highest levels of professional, ethical, and personal behavior that set the tone for all student and adult relationships in the school. Understanding federal and state laws, rules, and regulations and framing all decisions and actions within those legal parameters are also essential to providing appropriate building leadership. District and school policy manuals and handbooks, contracts, and special education laws and procedures will be examined through the lens of professional, ethical, and legally sound leadership. This is for students seeking Ohio licensure only. Students seeking Indiana licensure should take EDL-618. Prerequisite: EDL-616

The six-month long internship involves supervised transformational learning practices supervised by a sitting school superintendent in a school setting along with coursework and projects to maximize an intern's knowledge, performance, and dispositions as aligned with ELCC Professional Standards for District-Level Administrators. Candidates and superintendent mentors will be expected to participate in scheduled video conferences with the course instructor during the clinical experience.

This course analyzes theories on collaborative curriculum development at the district level and focuses on assessing curriculum for vertical articulation and alignment with a district's vision based on community input and goals provided by the school board. Students document the process for creating curriculum that meets the needs of all students. The course reviews and explains the Superintendent's role in working with the school board to create policy on curriculum development, best instructional processes, and implementing best practices and processes, while documenting needed resources.

This course explores multiple theories on curriculum development at the district level and focuses on assessing curriculum for vertical articulation and alignment with a district's vision based on community input and goals provided by the community and faculty. Students document the elements of a well-aligned and rigorous curriculum that can meet the needs of all students in, and implementing state mandated topics, while documenting needed resources.

This course examines the superintendent's role in collaborating with various stakeholders in designing, supervising, and revising a school wide measurement system that validates student progress towards district goals and performance expectations and their place in staff evaluation. The characteristics and requirements for valid and reliable standardized assessments will be studied and documented as will the process of writing high-level assessments. Prerequisite: EDL-702

The course reviews the methods used by leaders to be culturally responsive in all settings. The course will cover other areas of diversity for Urban, Suburban, and Rural settings. The prospective leader will use an evaluation tool called the school district Taxonomy of Cultural Responsiveness evaluation. Future district leaders will build recognition of how to develop the board's understanding of what diversity looks like in the candidate's district. Future leaders will create a plan to assess the needs of their school district community and use this data to develop a plan for healthy school and community relations.

This course prepares students for a doctoral degree in educational leadership. Students learn about the strengths and limitations of various research strategies. They apply this understanding by analyzing current problems of specific interest to district administrators, with the goal of proposing several potential solutions that take a studied approach, including generating and analyzing data to inform decisions. The process includes concepts such as problem definition, evaluation of appropriate methodologies, research design, reliability, and ethical considerations. The course research project will present the family of proposed solutions. The course will be offered concurrently with EDL-700.

This course is designed to prepare district leaders to address the human resources and labor contract law that school corporations must follow. The prospective district leader will be exposed to multiple areas with an emphasis on legal pitfalls related to benefits administration, unemployment, and insurance risk management. The legal labor contract negotiations process and its very detailed timelines are also studied.

This course is intended to help students grow as scholars through the planning, writing, and revising of written documents. Students will review standard English writing conventions and synthesize academic sources within the contexts of their specific areas of interest. A focus will be placed on writing and preparing manuscripts according to APA formatting guidelines.

This course will include an examination of strategic planning for the basic requirements and development of school facilities, and the inclusion of stakeholders from the greater school community when making decisions about facilities' needs. Candidates will investigate shared processes and procedures from facility needs and assessments through actual renovation and new construction. Renovation strategic planning processes, ADA requirements, and energy savings, along with preventative maintenance planning will also be included. The class requires a major assessment where candidates assess district facilities and processes for cost savings analysis.

In this course, students will examine contemporary theories, models, concepts, and practices of leadership within an educational organization. Students will study how to effectively apply these concepts to educational settings. Students will examine the influence of leadership on organization culture and consider how data can inform leadership decisions. Prerequisite: EDL-707

This course is designed to prepare aspiring district level administrators with integral knowledge of budgets, revenue projections, budget calendars, and skills for district and building level budgets and accounting. Candidates will utilize practical real world understanding of current school budgets based on the use of required state budget forms for local property taxes. The course includes major projects that simulate actual school corporation capital project planning. The course requires students to complete budget cut simulations planning for times when overall revenue does not support expenditures.

The course reviews the strategies used by leaders to be culturally responsive in educational settings. The course will examine strategies for successfully working in areas of diversity for urban, suburban, and rural settings. The student will be exposed to and apply theory in various areas to ensure they are prepared for a leadership position in a variety of educational settings. Prerequisite: EDL-707

This course examines the source of all education policy and frameworks to address emerging local, state, and national issues and trends in district administration and supervision that have the potential to significantly influence the future direction of education in the candidate's state. It describes how the educational leader can influence the larger political, social, and economic issues and trends. The candidates build necessary leadership competencies to create stakeholder coalitions to respond to current issues. Concepts studied include running a referendum and building a coalition group to support the advocacy of school district's vision and mission.

This course examines multiple ethical frameworks, principles, and theories as they apply to the study and practice of leadership. Students will examine ethical decision-making, effective leadership, perspectives of moral reasoning, and their application to various personal, business, and civic responsibilities. Prerequisite: EDL-707

This course is designed to develop understandings and skills associated with creating an ethical school culture that is responsive to improvement needs. Students will research, discuss, and plan for the use of theories of organizational change and explore various strategies to bring these theories into practice by developing a collaborative vision that involves the success for all students based on collaborative input from diverse stakeholders. Students will create action plans that use community and stakeholder resources to assist in the implementation of the vision. Students will create a process for communicating the plan and suggest how to use technology to monitor systems to help manage the proposed improvement and change.

This course is designed to develop understandings and skills associated with creating a culture that is responsive to change. Students will learn practical contexts and approaches of change management that leaders can use to build innovative organizations. Students will research, discuss, and plan for the use of theories of organizational change and explore various strategies to bring these theories into practice. Prerequisite: EDL-707

This course prepares students for a doctoral degree in educational leadership. Students learn about the strengths and limitations of various research strategies. Candidates study the methods others have used to generate valid research on topics of interest. The process includes the study of the concepts such as problem definition, evaluation of appropriate methodologies, research design, reliability, and ethical considerations. The course research project will present the family of proposed solutions based on an in-depth literature review of the topic.

The purpose of this course is to develop interpersonal skills by analyzing group or team behavior and leadership effectiveness. The course equips students to lead with self-awareness, awareness of others, effective interpersonal communication, and to build a culture of trust relationships as a basis for effective leadership. Topics will include: Team formation and development, building, leading, organizing, and motivating teams, collaboration among cross-functional teams, and interpersonal relationship dynamics in small groups. Prerequisite: EDL-707

The six month-long internship involves supervised learning practices based on the application of the NELP standards and skills supervised by a sitting school superintendent in a school setting. Seven large projects are implemented throughout the course. Candidates must collect data, train staff, create policy recommendations, and solve real world problems aligned with program standards and assigned by the school-based mentor to exhibit the required district level leadership skills. Candidates and superintendent mentors will be expected to participate in scheduled video conferences with the course instructor during clinical experiences to evaluate progress and completion. Prerequisite: EDL-716

This course focuses on the critical skills associated with handling difficult people and situations. Students will gain skills in managing interpreting conflict and identifying options that result in a favorable outcome for all stakeholders. Theory, self-reflection and enhancement of conflict management skills, cultural understanding, structure, and practice of collaborative and mediated negotiations are emphasized. Prerequisite: EDL-707

This course examines the source of all education policy and frameworks to address the emerging local, state, and national issues and trends in district administration and supervision that have the potential to significantly influence the future direction of education in the candidate's state. It describes how the educational leader can address emerging issues and trends, build the necessary leadership competence and local stakeholder coalitions to respond to these issues, and develop into a leader who can deal effectively with the pace of change and influence resolutions on current issues. Prerequisite: EDL-620

This course examines the current and emerging leadership issues and trends faced by educational organizations. Students will learn through engaging environmental scanning, discussion, and reviewing of literature (scholarly and other mediums) related to their area of interest. Prerequisite: EDL-707

This capstone course provides students the opportunity to apply skills related to their professional interests and goals in the Education field. Students will work with the instructor to develop a project appropriate to their goals. Projects can include working with an organization to develop a strategic plan, developing research projects or interning with an organization. Field partnership required. Prerequisite: EDL-716

This course is designed to develop understandings and skills associated with creating a school culture that is responsive to change/reform and embodies the philosophical underpinnings of systemic change and improvement. Students will research, discuss, and plan for the use of theories of organizational change and explore various strategies to bring these theories into practice by developing a collaborative vision that involves the success for all students based on collaborative input from all stakeholders. Students will create action plans to implement the vision and a communication plan and monitoring systems to help manage the proposed improvement and change.

This course explores the impact of the school leader's character and competence on the organization. Students will be challenged to strengthen their level of moral leadership as they confront ethical and legal issues. Strategies for personal and spiritual development will be considered.

This course explores the theoretical foundations related to organizational theory and adult learning and its impact on the organization and the school's leader. Students will build a collaborative learning community that engages school leaders in knowledge management and continuous improvement strategies aimed at transforming people, units, and the organization.

This course explores the school leader's relationship to the change process and practices of international and intercultural leadership in organizations and the individuals that make up these organizations. Students will examine the change processes, innovation, entrepreneurship, barriers to change, and successful structures and strategies aimed at improving the total organization, groups, and individual. Special emphasis will be placed on understanding multicultural globalization and its impact on how leadership is exercised in today's world.

The Indiana Wesleyan University Educational Leadership (EDL) Orientation course is designed to provide students with the opportunity to get to know the members of their cohort, to gain understanding of the university structures and policies as they relate to the program, to become acquainted with Indiana Wesleyan University's learning management system, and to gain an understanding of the policies and procedures of both the IWU School of Educational Leadership and the Principal Leadership or Education Specialist program.