Educational Administration, MEd
The MEd Program in Educational Administration is housed in the College of Education and Human Development’s Department of Leadership in Education. The program is designed for applicants who are seeking Massachusetts licensure as a principal, supervisor/director, or administrator of special education and want to pursue a variety of leadership roles in schools or related institutions. For those who plan to prepare for top-level positions in educational administration, the program serves as a foundation for further graduate study.
All students in the program enroll in core courses providing a comprehensive view of educational leadership and in a practicum involving supervised work in the field. Within this common framework, students specialize through their pre-practicum and practicum experiences in preparing for roles as principal, assistant principal, supervisor/director, or administrator of special education. The core includes classes in leadership, organizations and change, as well as a two-course sequence in curriculum, courses in personnel supervision, school law, budgeting, multicultural perspectives in education, and how to use data for school improvement.
The program uses a cohort model and accepts students once a year, in the spring, to begin their studies in the summer term. Courses are generally offered to accommodate the educational practitioner—in the late afternoon and evening and during the summer months.
To meet its goal of developing leaders who can be effective in improving schools, the program focuses on eight interrelated tenets of leadership:
1. Instructional leaders connect curriculum, instruction and assessment to improve learning for all students.
2. Anti-racist leaders use knowledge and skills about race, gender, and culture to build school environments characterized by social justice and equity.
3. Organizational and cultural leaders use solid understandings of organizational dynamics and of culture to move successfully toward a shared vision for a school.
4. Managerial leaders marshal the “nuts and bolts” of management and operations—human, financial, technological, and legal resources—to attain goals and serve a broader vision.
5. Leaders of other leaders use their understanding of the best principles and practices of professional development to support the growth of staff members and colleagues.
6. Data-oriented leaders use (data and enhance their organization’s capacity to use data) for assessment, continuous improvement, and decision-making.
7. Communication leaders use interpersonal oral and written skills to work effectively with a variety of audiences, including parents and community members.
8. Reflective leaders demonstrate the ability to integrate these tenets in context, to learn from practice, to assess strengths and weaknesses, and to plan for personal learning.
Thirty-six graduate credits are required to complete this program, as follows:
ADM G 601 - Organizational Analysis (Fall I)
ADM G 610 - Research Design (Spring I)
ADM G 613 - Personnel: Administration, Supervision, and Evaluation (Spring I)
ADM G 621 - Curriculum: Theories, Development, and Evaluation (Summer I)
ADM G 622 - Curriculum: Status, Issues, and Trends (Spring II)
ADM G 627 - The Law of Public Education (Summer II)
ADM G 632 - Facility Design and Fiscal Management (Summer II)
ADM G 646 - Leadership Development (Summer I)
ADM G 655 - Advanced Seminar in Supervision (Fall II)
EDC G 606 - Sociocultural Perspectives on Education (Fall I)
Courses include a fieldwork component (most of which participants may complete in their own schools), providing hands-on opportunities to shadow administrators, analyze organizational dynamics, and evaluate curriculum. A year-long practicum or internship in educational administration is required of all students and is normally taken in Fall
II and Spring II.
As their capstone experience, all students must pass a comprehensive portfolio
examination synthesizing a significant portion of their course work. The portfolio offers students an opportunity to collect and reflect systematically upon the various components of their own learning, drawing on readings, coursework, and pre-practicum and practicum experiences.
Applicants seeking licensure as principal, supervisor/director, or administrator of special education must pass the communication and literacy portion of the Massachusetts Test for Educator Licensure to be recommended for licensure.
Application information can be found at:
http://www.umb.edu/academics/cehd/leadership/how_to_apply/educational_administration_program/
John (Jack) E Leonard, Ed.D.
Educational Administration Program Manager
Office: Wheatley Hall, Second Floor, Room 142-6
617-287-4026 (UMB Office)
