Ed Policy Planning Leadership (EPPL)

This course is an introduction to general organizational theories and their application in educational settings. Attention is given to developing the leadership competencies needed for entry-level administrative positions. Influences of local, state, and federal levels of government on school administration are examined.

An application of administrative skills and organizational characteristics in educational settings. Attention is given to building and extending leadership concepts, and applying leadership competencies in school seetings. The course is an extension of EPPL 501.

This course is an introduction to the administration, organization, and contexts of higher education institutions in the United States. Students gain exposure to a broad survey of content areas and organizational perspectives within higher education administration to introduce them to the field of higher education.

Students will explore Universal Design for Learning principles and how they are implemented at different levels of education. Students will learn how to apply these principles to assess the degree to which learner diversity is supported in learning materials, enabling them to make appropriate recommendations for making learning more accessible.

A variety of teaching strategies will be reviewed in this course, including, but not limited to: active learning techniques, small and large group discussion formats, collaborative learning, flipped classrooms, and problem based learning approaches.

This is a hands-on, theory-to-practice course where students will apply higher education theories and concepts through experiential learning. Students will learn how to make connections between their work, volunteer, or assistantship experiences and higher education content. They will also learn career preparation skills.

This course explores the foundations of assessment and evaluation of undergraduate student learning across various institutional and programmatic contexts. It develops a historical and theoretical foundation for college student learning outcomes, focusing on how assessment and evaluation can be employed to promote equitable student learning in higher education.

This seminar explores the Minority-serving Institutions (MSIs) within the American higher education system. This includes Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Tribal Colleges and Universities. This seminar takes a historical look at these diverse institutions’ role in expanding access to higher education.

A course designed to provide appropriate experiences for the student who wishes to seek employment in the areas of admissions, student affairs, housing, and food service in institutions of higher education. The course consists of a study of (1) the nature, development, and current status of student person­nel services in higher education, (2) major problem areas in the field, and (3) policies and procedures for effective management.

A course for school principals and supervisors that focuses on leading and managing the school instructional program. Topics studied revolve around decision making regarding the school curriculum and instructional program.

A course designed to provide individuals with the knowledge and skills required for assessing and evaluating educational programs. Emphasis is placed on the principles of classroom-level assessment practices and program-level evaluation methods.

This course examines the critical relationship between instructional supervision, targeted professional development, and performance evaluation as a collective means to improve school culture and climate, teacher pedagogy and professional practice, and ultimately, student learning. This course examines the essential roles of school and district leaders, who must create and sustain a school/organizational culture that promotes positive change, innovation, and excellence in teaching; promote a school culture of high-quality, collegial feedback to teachers; and understand and develop the organizational capacity of schools to foster teacher professional growth and enhance student learning.

This course is designed to provide students with opportunities to study and apply effective leadership skills in the change process, design thinking, action research and data-based decision making to promote deeper learning in school-based settings. Students will explore strategies for identifying instructional needs, designing a plan of action, and leading through change. Each student will be expected to successfully engage in making practical applications regarding site-based decision making, and manage finance, facilities, and technology, which support student learning and school success.

This course is designed to present leadership, administrative and cultural knowledge, skills, and strategies in relation to improving the operation of educational institutions. A major focus of the course is to investigate and experience the concept of cultural competence as applied to leadership in educational organizational settings.

An internship is required of all master’s students in the higher education emphasis. The internship experience intends to provide experiences to apply academic knowledge into practice and to reflect on a personal worldview. Individual arrangements are made by the student, internship supervisor and faculty. 

The Master’s and Post Graduate programs in Educational Leadership blends elements of well-grounded theoretical perspectives with innovative practices in the preparation of leaders for entry-level positions in educational administration. The Leadership Residency offers intensive field-based experiences that reflect the day-to-day challenges school leaders encounter in various educational settings.

This course provides a foundation for students to conduct their own research based on a problem of practice in higher education.  Students will learn how to be critical consumers of educational research, and how to identify a problem of practice, and develop proficient skills in research design. 

The master’s project is a capstone course that represents a culmination and synthesis of student learning over the entirety of their master’s program.  Students will conduct independent research, build programs or resources for higher education practitioners, or produce a scholarly proposal. 

This course provides the opportunity for students to have a clear understanding of how policy works in education, how to analyze and formulate educational policies, and who the key interest groups and players are in the making of policy.

--This course is designed to present knowledge, skills, strategies, and applications of planning for educational organizations. Major foci of the course include methodologies for educational planning to include determining present status, determining future direction, charting a course of action, and assessing progress toward and achievement of desired outcomes.

EPPL 603 provides the opportunity to examine theoretical and practical applications of leadership in order to develop knowledge, skills, and attributes required of an effective leader in contemporary educational settings.

This course explores the structure of knowledge, focusing in particular on the social sciences and humanities, and engages students in the process of conceptualizing educational research problems that are based in social science and humanities theory and models. Considering basic conventions and principles from anthropology, sociology, social psychology, political science, and the humanities, students explore and apply various theoretical perspectives to potential research topics in education.

This course involves the study of differentiated curriculum and instruction for gifted learners. The course will focus on key content, process, product, concept and implementation issues in working with the gifted in various domains of inquiry.

Collegiate curriculum and faculty are intimately intertwined. This course explores how the essential considerations of academic planning and teaching and learning environments in colleges and universities. Career issues and the institutional roles of the faculty and curricular forms, functions, processes, content and contexts are examined.

This course explores the practical application of organizational operations and legal principles to human resource management and supervision in higher education. Students will examine common and current issues in human resources, supervision, and institutional legal compliance through the use of case studies.

Institutional Advancement is a large part of the higher education enterprise. It encompasses all aspects of fund raising, alumni relations, and public relations. Participants will learn to think and plan critically using data based decision making as they view campus issues, problems and relationships through the lens of institutional advancement.

This course focuses on leadership and change theory broadly, with critical applications to higher education. Through this course students will examine personal and professional motivations for creating equitable change in higher education, as well as understand the role of leadership learning in undergraduate curricular and co-curricular settings. 

This course focuses on adult learning in a variety of formal and informal learning contexts with special reference to higher education. Practical projects that draw on relevant literature will provide students opportunities translate theory and research to practice, with the goal to obtain a solid understanding of the complexity of adult learning facilitation.

College students lead complex lives and learn from numerous sources both in and out of the traditional classroom. In this course, we study how people integrate learning and examine educational practices and conditions that promote integration of learning among college students.

This course focuses on the distinct and interrelated roles of curriculum, instruction, and assessment in leading educational programs in K-12 schools. Accentuating the perspective of district-level leadership, the course draws upon theory, research, and applied practice to support teaching, learning, and accountability in schools.

An advanced exploration of distinctions and interrelationships among instructional supervision, professional development, and ongoing improvement of school and system-wide teaching and learning. Students examine roles of educational leaders in creating cultures of change that promote personal and professional growth for all members of the school community and foster organizational success.

Current Issues in Higher Education will provide a study of contemporary higher education in the United States as a specialized field of inquiry and as a professional area in which to work. Attention is centered on current issues emphasizing organization and administration, curriculum, college students, faculty, non-teaching professionals, and finance.

This course presents critical analysis and interpretation of historical developments in higher education from the medieval to modern periods. Emphasis is on key historical events, and social trends which illustrate the continuities, complexities, and changes in colleges and universities. Events are viewed using a social justice lens.

The focus of this course is on the development and structure of the community college: its history, purpose, characteristics, social function, organization and administration, curriculum, faculty, and students. This course introduces students to a comparative lens for examining community colleges, which focuses attention on global community college counterparts, such as technical and vocational education and training institutions.

A study of the historical development, design, and management of school facilities and systems of financing education. Topics include forecasting need, potential sources of revenue, state and local systems of finance, financial management, budget development, and construction management. Selected state models for funding education and facilities will be examined.(This course replaces EPPL 631 and EPPL 675.)

This course provides an advanced study of organizational theory and governance in PK-12 schools and higher education. Attention is given to understanding how organizational theory supports leadership and operational decision making, as well as how institutional characteristics, settings, and internal and external influences, both domestically and internationally, influence outcomes.

This course examines the college student experience from a range of human development theories focused on learning, growth, and development. The course purpose is to understand student development concepts, as well as process the interactional nature of students, contexts, and how larger structures of inequality influence development in college.

This course is designed to increase students’ knowledge of social justice issues and acquire skills necessary to work effectively with people from diverse backgrounds through critical reflection, dialogue, and self-exploration in relation to the world around us. We will translate knowledge into sound professional practice to create equitable learning environments. 

This course explores the role of internationalization of higher education in different contexts and from varied perspectives, with a focus on internationalization policy, leadership in international education, institutional internationalization strategy and outcomes, internationalization of teaching and learning, internationalization of research and partnerships, and the impact of internationalization on local communities. Attention is paid to the process of internationalization across the globe.

This course involves a study of the roles and responsibilities of administrators of special education programs; including general education administrators. The goal is to prepare educational leaders for inclusive education in unified school systems. Emphasis is placed on planning, implementation, and assessment of programs in rural, urban, and suburban settings.

This course focuses on family and community engagement as a conduit to improved student learning outcomes. In addition to effective engagement and shared practices, this course will explore the necessary community relations aspects of engagement including communication theory and practice, social ecology of organizations and conflict management and resolution.

A study of personnel services for educational and public agency administrators. Selected personnel functions including planning, recruitment, selection, induction, compensation and evaluation are discussed.

This course provides the opportunity for students to understand, apply and synthesize theories, functions and responsibilities of executive-level leadership within the context of dynamic educational organizations. Emphasis will be placed on leading organizational improvement; systems change and organizational reform.

This course focuses on the issues associated with the development of gifted individuals over the lifespan from a cognitive, psychosocial, and physiological perspective. Emphasis will be placed on exploring positive deviance in early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. The role of institutions, individuals, and intrapersonal influences on the developmental process of talented learners will be explored and implications for the program development and administration stresses.

Students examine and critically evaluate the philosophical, socio-historical, and pedagogical foundations of K-12 curriculum to understand assumptions and axioms of educational programs. Students investigate applied theories and models of curriculum design and development, synthesizing perspectives from educational, policy, planning, and leadership in order to effectively engage in curriculum leadership.

Students will explore and critique theories of motivation, engagement, student voice, and Universal Design for Learning. They will also investigate how they are implemented in K-12 classroom practice. Students will then apply the principles to the revision or design of curriculum materials, making them maximally engaging and inclusive for students.

This course helps students to explore, analyze, apply, and critique multiple frameworks for and approaches to learning design that are used in K-12 educational contexts. Students will compare, contrast and evaluate differing ways to conceptualize and effect learner-focused, curriculum-based design processes and products according to relevant educational research and theory.

In this course, students will apply systems theory to an advanced-level examination of the foundations and assumptions undergirding research, policy, planning, and leadership for K-12 assessment and evaluation of learning. In addition, students will develop skills in designing, developing, and critiquing assessments at all levels of the K-12 education system.

Using bioecological systems theory to help students to identify, explore and comprehend overlapping, interdependent micro-, meso-, exo-, macro-, and chrono-level influences upon learning, this course will address the nature of K-12 teaching within multileveled, simultaneous, diverse, and competing social, cultural, historical, political, economic and psychological contexts.

This course will familiarize students with multiple models of effective K-12 curriculum-based technology integration. The processes and outcomes of technology integration will be explored through analysis of research and review of authentic curriculum-based examples. Students will create their own technology integration learning designs in a curriculum area of their choosing.

Students examine and critically evaluate the theoretical foundations of and approaches to the evaluation of K-12 curricula. With a focus on school-based curricular and co-curricular programs, students identify effective practices while synthesizing perspectives and skills from educational, policy, planning, and leadership in order to effectively engage in curriculum evaluation.

An examination of principles of school law by use, in part, of the case study approach. Legal foundations of public and non-public schools are studied with consideration given to the Virginia School Code. Basic legal principles and guidelines for assisting teachers, administrators, and professional support personnel are developed.

A course for graduate students that examines constitutional, statutory, and case law relevant to higher education and the implications of this body of law for policies and practices affecting students, faculty, administrators, and staff. Students will learn basic legal concepts and become familiar with relevant legal terminology.

The course will analyze issues central to the study of higher education through frameworks that consider social and cultural processes at work in higher education, structural and contextual factors that impact practice and participation, and implications for educational policy rising out of sociological approaches to higher education.

This doctoral seminar for first-year Ph.D. students in the Higher Education Program will explore the topical, theoretical, and methodological foundations in the contemporary study of higher education. Students will begin to identify possible dissertation topics within established traditions and emerging foci in the field.

This course focuses on the fundamental principles of program design and development for gifted learners. Role functions and reference groups are emphasized as well as general educational administration and supervision theories. Program evaluation models are also stressed.

This course provides the opportunity for students to explore the purpose, theories and empirical logics of international and cross-national educational policy issues. Students will examine the forces of globalization, policy influences on aspects of equality and equity, and the role of education in diverse environments. Students will explore the interconnectedness of individuals and societies as well as the complex role of school leadership on the world stage.

This course provides the opportunity to examine the nature and scope of global leadership in contemporary educational settings, with a focus on international schools. Students will explore the theoretical and practical applications of leadership, specifically core traits, behaviors and dispositions that make for effective leadership in global contexts. The course will focus on the human aspects of leadership, specifically cross-cultural and intercultural leadership knowledge, skills, and attributes. Students will explore how successful leaders shape effective organizations when faced with a variety of social, ethical and diversity issues.

This course examines intercultural competence within the international education context with a focus on the understanding and synthesis of intercultural competence models, application of intercultural competence best practices within the international education context, and reflection and growth in the development of intercultural competence as an international educator.

Students will obtain an overview of the financing of higher education, both nationally and internationally. Students will review the main issues in finance, develop the ability to examine and analyze financial statements, assess the budget as an instrument of control, and relate the budget to the educational program. Cross-listed with (PUBP 644)

Increased competition for students and dwindling budgets require colleges and universities to assess their institutional identity and, in turn, develop a distinctive brand position within a competitive marketplace. This course will examine the necessary steps institutions of higher learning must take to inform, embrace, and execute a compelling brand identity.

This course helps students to explore multiple ways to use online tools and resources to support learning in K-12 and postsecondary educational contexts. Students will investigate, experience and consider many methods of structuring, facilitating, and evaluating learning with networked media, leading to designing effective and inclusive online and hybrid learning.

This course helps students investigate a range of models for professional development for K-12 and postsecondary faculty in education. Students will explore, synthesize, and apply educational research and theory concerning the diffusion of innovations, adult education, and teacher learning, culminating in the design of a professional learning experience for educators.

Students deeply read, critically examine, evaluate, and synthesize seminal historical and influential contemporary texts on curriculum. Through a seminar format, critical reading, and scholarly writing, students identify, question, refine, articulate, and defend their assumptions, beliefs, principles, and positions relative to K-12 curriculum theory, design, development, implementation, evaluation, policy, and leadership.

In this research seminar, students will explore the relationships among a variety of school-level constructs in order to understand the central importance of social processes to the functioning of K-12 schools and districts. Students will frame hypotheses, conduct a research study, and report their results guided by the specifications of a scholarly journal.

This doctoral-level course for EPPL Ph.D. and Ed.D. students in the Gifted Education Administration program will explore the theoretical and methodological traditions associated with the development, implementation, and evaluation of curriculum for gifted learners.

This course will focus on the in-depth study of issues and competencies related to administration and policy in gifted education at local, state, regional, and national levels. Research and development concerns and practical applications of the state-of-the-art knowledge-base in the education of the gifted are emphasized.

A seminar for advanced graduate students in which the general topic of the relationship between the government and higher education is developed. Major attention is given to developments since World War II. Cross-listed with (PUBP 645)

In this course students will learn contemporary neuropsychological theory and assessment techniques. Emphasis will be placed on the application of this knowledge to assessment practices in the schools. The relationships between neuropsychology and disabilities will be highlighted, and students will learn about evidence-based interventions related to neuropsychological functioning.

In this course students will apply evidence-based theory and practice to the development of advanced skills in psychoeducational assessment of children and adolescents. Emphasis will be placed on current theory and approaches to interpretation and integration of assessment data for diagnostic and intervention purposes.

An advanced seminar on school law designed to explore legal issues of interest to graduate students.

A seminar in the study of human resource leadership with a particular focus on school improvement. The intersection among, theory, research, and practice relative to the issues of educational change, quality-based recruitment and selection, innovative compensation packages, performance evaluation, and legal policy will be featured. The framework for review, discussion, debate, and development of these issues is decision-making relative to teacher quality.

This course for advanced doctoral students draws upon a range of paradigms, theories, disciplines, sources, and methods to identify and critically examine current and perennial issues in K-12 schools related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment. In a seminar format, students apply and further develop scholarly research, presentation, and writing skills.

This seminar addresses effective teaching and leading within the context of quality K-12 schooling. Intersections among theory, research, and practice relative to issues of educational change, school improvement, and the roles and impact of effective teachers and leaders within schools will be discussed, debated, and developed using a decision-making framework.

This course description is developed each time the course is offered to describe the areas to be investigated.

This course is designed to examine educational policies, practices, and programs necessary to eliminate barriers to learning and achievement based on gender, race/ethnicity, national origin, disability, socio-economic status, language, faith and sexual orientation. Emphasis is placed on leadership responses to issues related to various dimensions of diversity reflected in contemporary school settings.

This course provides the opportunity for an advanced graduate student to pursue a topic of personal interest or need with the guidance and supervision of a member of the faculty.

EPPL 765 is designed to provide advanced graduate students with opportunities to apply their research knowledge to a research study in there are of interest. Emphasis is given to the process of conducting research in collaboration with a faculty member or a group of graduate students.

A full-time supervised clinical experience in administration of educational programs. The internship focuses on the development of an understanding of administration in various educational settings depending on the selected concentration area and provides the opportunity for field-based problem solving and the demonstration of emerging leadership skills.

The doctoral internship provides supervised experiences in teaching, supervision, and service to the profession and public. Each student develops the internship program according to areas identified by the student and advisor that are necessary to preparation as a university instructor and supervisor and that are relevant to the specific career goals of each student.

This course is designed to provide advanced graduate students in the Executive Ed D Program with opportunities to progress in the application of research knowledge in an area of interest in educational administration. Participants will explore and engage in elements of action research and program evaluation, including theoretical concepts, research design, and methodological tools. Emphasis is given to the process of conducting research in collaboration with their committee chair, groups and/or individuals within their school of context and a collaborative group of graduate students within the cohort.

This course is designed to provide advanced graduate students in the Executive Ed D Program with opportunities to progress in their research proposal in an area of interest in educational administration. Emphasis is given to the development of the dissertation research proposal in collaboration with their committee chair, groups and/or individuals within their school of context and a collaborative group of graduate students within the cohort.

This seminar provides advanced doctoral students an opportunity to prepare to conduct their dissertation research by creating sections of a draft proposal that reflects an understanding of problem identification, research design, literature review, and technical writing associated with conducting original research in areas related to Educational Policy, Planning, and Leadership.