Educational Leadership Program (EDLDR)

Managing and coping with disruptive student behavior in instructional settings so that they support the teaching/learning process. EDLDR 405 / CI 405 Strategies in Classroom Management (3)This course has been designed to engage students in in-depth examination of the process of creating and sustaining a classroom learning community that fosters and enables success for all children. Emphasis is placed on understanding a variety of theoretical models of classroom management as well as observing and studying individual children to develop a better understanding of their needs. The result should be the development of a coherent set of beliefs concerning the creation of classroom learning environments that support learners and meet their individual needs.

In-depth analysis of leadership dynamics revealed in popular film. Focus on cinematic depictions of theory and practical application of leadership. EDLDR 409 Leadership Studies in Popular Film (3)Leadership Studies in Popular Film aims at enhancing students' understanding and application of leadership in three primary ways. First, using the films as case studies, students will critically analyze, evaluate, and discuss the moral, ethical, and administrative challenges, decisions, and behaviors portrayed in the films. Second, these challenges, decisions, and behaviors will serve to highlight and illustrate important leadership concepts and how they might be applied to authentic situations in schools and other organizational settings. Finally, the films will challenge and spark students' imagination and inspire them to consider new possibilities for practice and research. During the course, students will view 10-12 classic popular films, each revealing a set of key leadership concepts and problems. Students are expected to rigorously participate in whole class and on-line discussions about the meanings expressed in the films. These discussions will be coupled with and enhanced by the instructor's presentation of relevant concepts of leadership and organizational theory. Students are also expected to maintain a continuing reflective log of each film's plots and characters, the practical and theoretical problems presented, and their own reactions to and ideas about each film. Using these logs as a starting point, students will be expected to write three short (3-4 pp.) essays and one more substantial final essay (10-12 pp.). Rather than simple plot narratives, it is expected that these essays will thoughtfully analyze and synthesize actions and concepts from the films, and attempt to apply them to school or other organizational settings. Students' grades will be based on the completeness of their logs, the analytic quality of their papers, and the frequency and quality of their contribution to on-line and in-class discussions. The course is intended for graduate, undergraduate, and certification students. Indeed, the course has benefited in the past from having students with diverse backgrounds and levels of professional experience. The course effectively complements and reinforces other EDLDR courses, such as Introduction to Educational Leadership (EDLDR 480), The Principalship (EDLDR 568), Leadership in Today's Schools (EDLDR 597), and Schools as Organizations (EDLDR 580).

The United States is in the midst of a demographic transformation and by the middle of the 21st century, demographic projections suggest no one racial group will constitute a majority in the U.S. More than half of children under 5 are children of color, and the nation's K-12 public schools are also serving a majority of minoritized children. At the beginning of the 21st century, economic inequality grew, as well. Policies and laws that had been implemented to expand access to educational opportunity during the civil rights movement have been curtailed as a result of legal and political pushback. Yet, communities, educators, advocates and leaders continue to push for new strategies to fully realize protecting the civil rights of all students in the U.S. This course will help students examine the history of efforts to adopt policies and laws to advance civil rights in education as well as resistance to them.

An introduction to education law as it affects the teacher. EDLDR 476 The Teacher and The Law (3) This course will provide an overview of major issues in law related to teachers. The course will focus primarily on case law including U.S. Supreme Court decisions as well as relevant state and federal lower court opinions. State legislation and administrative laws will also be considered. Topics to be covered include an introduction to education law as it affects teachers, including teachers' privacy rights, school safety, special education, sexual harassment, discrimination, student assessment, slander/libel, tenure and constitutional issues as related to education. The class will be a combination of lectures and discussions on particular legal topics related directly to the training of teachers and based on the text and selected handouts. From time to time, the class will break up into small groups to work on in-class dilemmas.

Development of educational leadership. Relationships among local, state, and federal agencies. Introduction to current concepts and theories. EDLDR 480 Introduction to Educational Leadership (3) Through lectures, readings, case study, film, and discussion, this course examines basic topics in organizational theory, school administration, and educational policy. In addition, the course presents a historical perspective, suggesting how understandings about education have varied and changed throughout American history. The primary aim of the course is to help students begin to perceive, understand, and apply the important connections between educational theory, research, and practice in a critical and thoughtful fashion.

Creative projects, including research and design, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

Formal courses given infrequently to explore, in depth, a comparatively narrow subject which may be topical or of special interest.