Educational Leadership Portfolio

Shared Governance in Schools 1 hour.
This course informs school leaders of political and practical issues in shared decision-making in schools. Roles of school-based councils will be explored in light of recent educational policy.

Basic Theories of Educational Administration 1 hour.
Understanding theory and theory construction precedes the systematic study of classical administration theorists, including Plato, Aristotle, Machiavelli, Adam Smith, and John Stuart Mill. Theoretical developments in educational administration include organizational theorists, human relations theorists, behavioral science theorists, and systems theorists. Theories are historically linked with practical applications emphasized.

EDUL 6012. The Law and School Personnel 1 hour.
Significant federal and state laws that impact human resource functions of schools are presented and analyzed.

EDUL 6011. Special Education Law for Administrators 1 hour.
Essential special education law concepts found in the United States and Georgia constitutions, statutes, regulations, and judicial decisions, with emphasis on mastering essential legal knowledge and on applying the law in educational settings.

EDUL 6010. School Law for Administrators 1 hour.
Essential legal concepts found in the United States and Georgia constitutions, statutes, regulations, and judicial decisions, with emphasis on mastering essential legal knowledge and on applying the law in educational settings.

Techniques for Teacher Observation 1 hour.
This course is designed to acquaint students with the techniques (tools) of teacher observation in order to ensure more successful supervisory classroom visitations. The observation techniques and tools can be adapted to fit more collegial forms of supervision (e.g., peer coaching).

School Staff Development 1 hour.
This course is designed to familiarize school leaders with the activities involved in designing a comprehensive staff development program in K-12 schools. The knowledge base, standards, and theory base of staff development are explored.

School Personnel Selection and Evaluation 1 hour.
The concepts of staff recruitment, selection, induction, and evaluation are presented and analyzed through readings, paper assignments and other student products.

Total Quality Management in Schools 1 hour.
Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management theory designed to create consistency of purpose, continuous improvement, and customer satisfaction. Merging many of the traditional management theories, TQM is an effective and practical approach to school restructuring through the use of empowered teams, customer-oriented leadership, and data-driven decision-making.

Student Discipline in Schools 1 hour.
This course provides essential knowledge and skills regarding the development and implementation of building based/classroom discipline plans in schools.

Managing Special Education Programs in Schools 1 hour.
This course provides essential knowledge and skills regarding due process, individualized education programs, and evaluation and assessment of exceptional students.

EDUL 6025. Maintaining and Operating Educational Facilities 1 hour.
This course provides methods and procedures for dealing with problems of maintaining and operating the physical learning environments in schools.

EDUL 6022 Budgeting and Managing School Accounts 1 hour.
This course provides instruction in the knowledge and skills necessary to develop and monitor a school-level budget which links school goals to resources.

Principles of Curriculum Evaluation 1 hour.
This course is an examination of the fundamental principles of curriculum evaluation for K-12 school settings. Focus is on evaluation.

Principles of Curriculum Design 1 hour.
This course is an examination of the fundamental principles of curriculum development for K-12 school settings. Focus is on objectives and learning experiences.

EOCS 7450. Practicum in Educational Leadership (1 hour for each of three semesters)
The practicum occurs simultaneously with program course offerings and provides an immediate opportunity to consider, evaluate, and implement theories of leadership and program operation in an ongoing, operational environment. Students apply concepts learned in educational leadership courses to school and central office leadership activities.

Educational Ethics for Administrators 1 hour.
This course provides an introduction to the ethical obligations of educational administrators in the state of Georgia. The purpose is to familiarize students with their ethical obligations as professional educators in the state of Georgia, and to provide a forum for discussion and critical analysis of practical ethical issues that are likely to arise during an educator's tenure. Topics covered in the course include Georgia laws concerning ethical obligations for government employees generally, and educators specifically. (This course required a group project. I had the pleasure of working with two very bright and cooperative individuals.)

EDUL 6027. Managing Student Activity Funds 1 hour.
This course provides instruction in the technical and legal aspects of managing student and other activity funds.

Planning for School Improvement1 hour.
Based on current models followed in the school improvement process, this course is acquaints students with developing a plan for improvement that includes analysis of mission statements, gap analysis, and a specific improvement plan to be implemented in a school setting.