Concepts of ethical philosophy (e.g., self-interest, free will, social responsibility, duty) are explored as the basis for legal standards (protection of individual rights, fair treatment, equality of opportunity, duty of care, public trust) through study of education case law that deals with instructional leadership.

Students investigate theories and methods that promote accurate forecasting of the long-term impact of social, economic, political, cultural, academic, and demographic as they affect curriculum and instruction. Emphasis is also placed on how these indicators can be used to engage effective planning.

Students will become proficient in understanding the major funding streams that support public education, the policy vehicles that drive its refinement and determine related accountability measures while variously driving and restraining student access. The multiple forms of financial support (student vs. institutional, state vs. federal or private) will all be delineated as students learn to untangle the complexities of financial structures from a theoretical and practical perspective. Overt and covert strategies for using financial policy to shape institutions will also be examined, and the forced choices that institutional leaders and policy makers must wrestle with will be engaged as policy dilemmas are highlighted as part of each seminar.

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.

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.

Building on the K-12 culturally responsive pedagogy corpse of literature that primarily focuses on student/teacher interactions, the purpose of this course is to enable students to participate in an emerging discourse concerning culturally responsive institutions. Much of the existing culturally responsive literature is situated in African American K-12 schooling experiences. Thus, it is our task to stretch the body of work to connect it with related educational paradigms and other communities and to construct a theoretical and practical culturally responsive model for preK-16 institutional practices and structures. The course is built on the premise that in order to become or grow as a culturally relevant institutional leader, candidates must be willing to contemporaneously examine the historical, social, political, economic, and cultural influences that both impact and construct schooling as well as their own actions and beliefs concerning power relations, race, and societal structures and their relationship to the dominate hegemony that maintains society and institutions.

As technology leaders in education, students evaluate new technologies for their potential for adding value to learning environments. Students consider a number of factors that come into play as individuals and organizations complete the process of adopting new technologies to support learning,-including the technology's design and usability; the fit with local culture and practices; the associated costs; and the expected benefits of adoption. Some factors will be about the technology, others about the prospective user, still others about the local context of use. Students will explore the stages and repeating patterns that shape the adoption process and identify strategies to encourage the adoption of these technologies by faculty.

Forthcoming