This team-taught elective course focuses on policy, programs, practices, and problems in the four core curricular areas of reading/English language arts, math, science, and social studies curricula; the critical connection between staff development programs and instructional leadership; and methods for engaging parents and the community in support of instructional improvements.

Through a multi-disciplinary approach, explores perspectives for transforming education. Topics include educational dilemmas; how schools recreate society; multiple influences on schooling; previous and current curriculum reform efforts.

The central objective of this course is to provide students with a general understanding of the college student development and learning theory, with a particular focus on research and practical applications. Students will be challenged to analyze the underlying philosophical assumptions of a diverse body of literature and to develop a more advanced understanding of theory building. Although many of the developmental theories pertaining to college students have been based on fairly traditional views of the college-going population, more recent research has focused on the diversity of contemporary students and the multiplicity of today's collegiate experience. Thus, an essential component of this course is to offer an exploration of traditional views complemented with extensive exposure to emerging theoretical understandings.

Faculty, administrative, and student cultures will be examined in terms of values, behavioral norms, impact, and influences. Using studies of these cultures students will apply research methods for the study of campus cultures. Discussion will address implications of these findings for higher education policies and practices.

The course is designed to give students knowledge and skills in social and behavioral research methods applied to issues facing urban school administrators. The focus is on applications for educational and administrative decision-making. The course includes application of various types of research methods to examining educational ideas such as teaching, curriculum, and programs. Students will show that they know major research terms, approaches and designs, and will show they can apply educational measurement concepts to educational issues in urban settings, use computer and data analysis, apply principles of scientific inquiry, interpret and critique published research reports and carry out a small project using techniques for investigating educational problems.

This course is designed to provide candidates with an opportunity to experience an educational research conference thereby exposing students to the most current research and leading researchers on a particular topic or in a field. The course will explore such topics such as the presentation/publication process and how to critically analyze research literature to position their own research or dissertation topic.

A combination of lectures, hands-on experiences, guest speakers, discussions, and projects are utilized to help students understand how emerging technologies can empower educational reform, mastery of complex content, and the use of sophisticated pedagogies. Course content focuses on virtual places for learning in respect to technology use, explores the research on the emerging technologies and its implications on the design of learning environments, and considers strategies for creating and supporting learning environments beyond the traditional classrooms.

This Special Topics course deals with the multiple dimensions of educational technology integration. The complex issue of education technology integration transcends all meaningful work associated with the improvement of education with technology. Therefore, this course aims to help students develop a solid understanding of the core issues and effects of achieving full education technology integration in learning, teaching and school management so that as change agents, they are equipped with the skills and knowledge to move technology integration efforts forward.