Educational Leadership and Policy Studies

Leadership matters. Recent research from several national studies has shown the influence of leadership on student learning. These studies have concluded that leadership is second only to teaching among the school-related factors impacting student learning, especially in schools where learning needs of students are greatest.

In school environments where greater accountability and higher demands are placed on teachers, educational leaders face challenges as never before. In fact, the educational leaders of tomorrow will require more innovative and non-traditional graduate programs to help them succeed. To meet this demand, we've developed two new graduate programs in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, a Graduate Certificate and a Master of Education. Both combine coursework with a practicum component and an extended reflective leadership field experience.

Reflective Leadership and Practicum

Developing effective school leaders requires combining teaching of leadership theory with practical application through real world experiences. All of our core classes are complimented by a relevant practicum. This allows candidates the opportunity to apply theoretical and field-based experiences in a school setting.

All candidates in both the graduate certificate and master's degree must complete 320 hours of practicum outside of the classroom to qualify for the endorsement. Each of the five core courses has a requirement of 30 hours of practicum for a total of 150 hours. The additional 170 hours is done in a residency-like program titled Reflective Leadership.

In Reflective Leadership, students integrate professional experience with purposeful reflection. Students will apply knowledge gained from coursework to modern education settings and reflect on where and how the lessons and theory are relevant to working and leading in today's schools. This includes assessing how and where strategies and ideas explored in previous coursework can be infused into school leadership. Students will work with the program director to find or develop a practicum experience that best meets their professional goals.

Options

We offer a Graduate Certificate for those seeking an administration/supervision endorsement for leading a public school in Virginia and have already earned a master's degree. For those who have not earned a master's degree, we offer the Master of Education option.