Educational Leadership, CAS

Contact:

Diane Canino-Rispoli, Program Coordinator, 150 Huntington Hall, 315-443-2685, dcaninor@syr.edu

Faculty:

Diane Canino-Rispoli, George Theoharis, Joseph Shedd, Renae James

Program Description:

The Certificate of Advanced Study program in educational leadership is registered with New York State to lead to dual certification of its graduates as School Building Leaders and School District Leaders, qualifying candidates to serve in any school leadership position in New York State (except school district business leader, see School District Business Leadership (Professional Certification), CAS for more information).

The program prepares school leaders who have the deep knowledge, practical skills, and passionate commitment to ensure that every student has full and equal access to a high quality education and attains exemplary levels of learning and personal development.

Accreditation:

The program is accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Education Programs and the Educational Leadership Constituent Council.

Admission:

School leadership applicants must submit:
Competitive scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), Miller Analogy Test (MAT), or other acceptable, nationally normed admissions examination.
Cumulative undergraduate grade point average of at least 3.0.

Personal essay demonstrating with concrete examples their beliefs about student learning, commitment to diversity, enthusiasm for learning, willingness to foster collaboration, and ethics.
A completed master’s degree and a minimum of three years teaching or other professional school experience to be eligible for the C.A.S. program.
Letters of reference from at least three persons who can speak to the applicant’s professional, leadership, and academic qualifications and who are willing to be contacted for a phone interview. Include email and phone contact information. (Two should have supervised the applicant at some point in time).
Resume
Applicants with strong applications will be contacted for an admissions interview.

Financial Support:

Applicants are invited to apply for scholarship support from the School of Education.

Facilities:

All CAS program classes are conducted in area school systems. Faculty offices are located in Huntington Hall on the Syracuse University campus.

Total Credits Required:

30 credits in educational leadership, and thirty credits from a prior master’s degree

Transfer Credit:

With prior approval, candidates with a master’s degree from Syracuse University may transfer some leadership courses from other institutions, provided they cover substantially the same content as those required by the program. No more than thirty credits of the total sixty credits required for program completion may be transferred from another institution, which precludes those whose master’s degrees are from another institution from applying any outside leadership coursework toward the program.

Part-time Study:

Although full-time study is possible, most candidates pursue the CAS program as part-time students, typically taking one course each fall, one course each spring, and one or two each summer.

Satisfactory Progress:

The faculty reviews each candidate’s progress and dispositions on an annual basis, and notifies the candidate if it has any concerns that require attention. Candidates’ progress is assessed using the standards of the Educational Leadership Constituent Council. Candidates are discouraged from beginning their administrative internship until they have completed all other required coursework, and may not commence the internship until they have completed at least 15 credits of coursework. Candidates must also successfully complete a Group Leadership Exercise before commencing their internship. Besides completing all required coursework and the internship, candidates must present and defend a professional portfolio and pass a state-administered examination in School District Leadership in order to graduate.

Student Learning Outcomes

ELCC Standard 1.0. An education leader applies knowledge that promotes the success of every student by collaboratively facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a shared school vision of learning through the collection and use of data to identify school goals, assess organizational effectiveness, and implement school plans to achieve school goals; promotion of continual and sustainable school improvement; and evaluation of school progress and revision of school plans supported by school-based stakeholders.

ELCC Standard 2.0: An education leader applies knowledge that promotes the success of every student by sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning through collaboration, trust, and a personalized learning environment with high expectations for students; creating and evaluating a comprehensive, rigorous and coherent curricular and instructional school program; developing and supervising the instructional and leadership capacity of school staff; and promoting the most effective and appropriate technologies to support teaching and learning within a school environment.

ELCC Standard 3.0: An education leader applies knowledge that promotes the success of every student by ensuring the management of the school organization, operation, and resources through monitoring and evaluating the school management and operational systems; efficiently using human, fiscal, and technological resources in a school environment; promoting and protecting the welfare and safety of school students and staff; developing school capacity for distributed leadership; and ensuring that teacher and organizational time is focused to support high-quality instruction and student learning.

ELCC Standard 4.0: An education leader applies knowledge that promotes the success of every student by collaborating with faculty and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources on behalf of the school by collecting and analyzing information pertinent to improvement of the school’s educational environment; promoting an understanding, appreciation, and use of the diverse cultural, social, and intellectual resources within the school community; building and sustaining positive school relationships with families and caregivers; and cultivating productive school relationships with community partners.

ELCC Standard 5.0: An education leader applies knowledge that promotes the success of every student by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner to ensure a school system of accountability for every student’s academic and social success by modeling school principles of self-awareness, reflective practice, transparency, and ethical behavior as related to their roles within the school; safeguarding the values of democracy, equity, and diversity within the school; evaluating the potential moral and legal consequences of decision making in the school; and promoting social justice within the school to ensure that individual student needs inform all aspects of schooling.

ELCC Standard 6.0: An education leader applies knowledge that promotes the success of every student by understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context through advocating for school students, families, and caregivers; acting to influence local, district, state, and national decisions affecting student learning in a school environment; and anticipating and assessing emerging trends and initiatives in order to adapt school-based leadership strategies.

Certificate Requirements

The Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Leadership requires completion of eight three-credit courses in educational leadership and an intensive six-credit internship extending over two or three semesters.

Candidates must also have completed a master’s degree of at least thirty credits in a subject other than educational leadership, submit and defend a professional portfolio, and pass a state-administered examination in School District Leadership. (Completion of a second examination, in School Building Leadership, is required for certification but not for program graduation.)

EDA 712 - Leadership for Diverse Learners and Communities 3 credit(s)
EDA 722 - Curriculum and instructional leadership for Equity and Excellence 3 credit(s)
EDA 732 - Ldrshp for Adult Develop 3 credit(s)
EDA 752 - Leadership for Organizational and Institutional Development 3 credit(s)
EDA 762 - Leadership for Inclusive Schooling 3 credit(s)
EDA 772 - Issues and Practices in Building Leadership 3 credit(s)
EDA 782 - Issues and Practices in District Leadership 3 credit(s)
EDA 792 - Legal Basis of Education 3 credit(s)
EDA 899 - Internship in School District and Building Leadership 1-4 credit(s)
*In addition, 30 credits from a previous master’s degree program are transferred in to the 60 credit CAS program.