Advanced Principal Graduate Credit Certificate Program

The program will build the capacity of students to achieve more equitable access and outcomes for students who become school leaders and who can be responsible for developing and sustaining a learning-centered school culture targeting excellence, equity, and efficiency. The courses will address the four major areas of competence outlined in the Pennsylvania Department of Education's Guidelines for school leaders:

Admission Requirements

Applicants apply for admission to the program via the Graduate School application for admission. Requirements listed here are in addition to Graduate Council policies listed under GCAC-300 Admissions Policies. International applicants may be required to satisfy an English proficiency requirement; see GCAC-305 Admission Requirements for International Students for more information.

Master's degree in education or education-related field; Level I and Level II certificates (including but not limited to regular and special education, school psychologist, principal, school counselor, speech and language clinician, occupational and physical therapist, reading specialist, and home and school visitor); three years experience in a school leadership role.

Certificate Requirements 

Requirements listed here are in addition to requirements listed in Graduate Council policy GCAC-212 Postbaccalaureate Credit Certificate Programs.

Courses

Graduate courses carry numbers from 500 to 699 and 800 to 899. Advanced undergraduate courses numbered between 400 and 499 may be used to meet some graduate degree requirements when taken by graduate students. Courses below the 400 level may not. A graduate student may register for or audit these courses in order to make up deficiencies or to fill in gaps in previous education but not to meet requirements for an advanced degree.

Learning Outcomes

1. Understand and apply multiple sources of qualitative and quantitative data to identify and act upon problems of practice within an educational setting using data informed strategies.
2. Develop leadership skills for building communities of practice toward the improvement of academic excellence, equity and, student well-being.
3. Develop and apply a set of coaching strategies to support team based action learning.
4. Document action learning through the development of case studies which reflect a contextual analysis of their school, informed by multiple sources of data and describe the ways in which system level change was conceived and implemented.

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