Concentration in Charter School Leadership Curriculum
Semester 1 | Semester 2 | Semester 3 | Semester 4

Semester 1 (9 units) [back to top]

EDU 553 - Community, Shared Values and Learning (3 units)
This course emphasizes: understanding the stages of community and the processes involved in the development of community; identifying concepts built around the affects of social settings on learning; building communities to support research and learning; developing shared values to support successful learning and accountability; recognizing the implications of ways of knowing and diversity within the community as elements for educational and social change; creating various community learning settings where learning and the personal creation of knowledge will be the norm; applying and analyzing multiple community strategies in work setting, and discussing and sharing the data and hypothesis.

EDU 558 - Empowerment: Learning and Assessment (3 units)
This course emphasizes: defining learning, assessment, and education; identifying the elements of learning and assessment; discussing and identifying when, how, and why humans learn; researching and identifying the ideal connections between education, culture, and learning; designing and implementing an optimum education setting that honors continuous learning; defining and understanding the notion of authentic assessment; identifying the role/s of the student, the teacher, the principal, the parent/caregiver, and the community in learning; understanding the equation of life = needs, issues, and understandings + learning and application + assessment; exploring, discovering, and applying the connections between learning, multiple assessment strategies, personal control of learning, empowerment, and transformation; identifying the implications of the equation for tomorrow's citizenship.

EDU 559 A - Guided Practice/Internship (3 units)
This course emphasizes: connecting learning and work; field experiences during the school day; improving practice and enhancing pre-K16 student learning; continuous research, hypothesis/theory, application, reflection, modification cycle; collaborative learning; implementation and documentation of major projects.

Semester 2 (9 units) [back to top]

EDU 545 - Charter School Program and Petition Design (3 units)
This course emphasizes: utilization of the learning community process; understanding the charter school movement; definition and clarification of commitments to the charter school model; analysis of the systems approach to creating an interconnected organization focused on student achievement; conceptualization of Powerful Teaching and Learning as a foundation for a successful school; evaluation of different types of governance; determination of appropriate constituency and decision making process to achieve the school's vision; school facility elements; internal and external community relations; school and community interactions.

EDU 552 - Collaborative Instructional Leadership (3 units)
This course emphasizes: concepts of educational leadership; identification of leadership roles needed in schools, classrooms, the profession, and the community; strategies for energizing and sustaining leadership innovations; rationale, indicators, and strategies for collaborative instructional leadership to support expanded academic student outcomes and preparation for future academic, economic, political, cultural, and social change; human relations and professional ethics; understanding the collaborative nature of inclusion and special education, and the implications for community learning; the understanding and organization of strategies for supporting and engaging with others as they lead; team building; school and classroom culture; school decision making; group processes; conflict resolution; cultural understandings; communications; interpersonal relations.

EDU 600A - Capstone Project Design (1 unit)
This course emphasizes: the research and design of the capstone project that supports the development of the Charter School Petition (if applicable) to include:

• extensive action research within the project designer's school, district, and community
• evidence of a significant impact on pre-K-16 student learning: the creation of new knowledge
• evidence of linking to the standards of the community that will appear in the portfolio as evidence of learning
• passion of the project designer for this learning and application
• writing a journal article to inform the profession and indications of a life after the degree
• draft of the charter school petition (if applicable)

Semester 3 (9 units) [back to top]

EDU 546 - Organizational Budgeting, Finance, and Resource Allocation (3 units)
This course emphasizes: development of business plans, development of fiscal accountability and reporting systems; key components of successful grant writing; fundraising, community assets, community partners and their relationship to the school's mission and vision; implications of long term planning as they relate to facilities acquisition; internal human resource development; external support through consultation.

EDU 554 - Understanding Differences: Valuing, Honoring, Supporting, and Celebrating Diversity (3 units)
This course emphasizes: understanding the implication for conflict between the basic assumption that a democratic society is built on the premise of equal opportunity for all and the historical control of one-leader(s)-many followers; defining and creating proactive and appropriate reactive strategies to support the heterogeneity of the U.S. population; an awareness and understanding of the impact of language and culture in learning; the development and support of culturally responsive learning environments; exploring the impact of diversity on education; offering many rich, varied, and potentially volatile learning/learner opportunities; understanding the growth in educational and human services manifested in the changing demographics of our society; taking into consideration, supporting, and adapting to the implications of changing family patterns, as well as the expanded need for social connections and belonging to groups and/or gangs; the broadening ethical issues and needs of our population; being grounded in special education procedures and services; supporting and applying the expanding increase in the body of knowledge focused on brain research, multiple intelligences, ways of knowing, and culture; projecting and valuing future need as positive tools for expanded and more diverse learning experiences for all citizens rather than threats to our historical past; celebrating, adapting to, expanding upon, and applying multiple strategies to support diverse thinking, learning, knowledge creation, and application; creating and implementing a diversity challenge project in the pre-K-16 work setting.

EDU 559 C- Guided Practice/PASC Fieldwork (3 units)
This course emphasizes: connecting learning and work; field experiences; improving practice and enhancing pre-K-16 student learning, continuous research, hypothesis/theory, application, reflection, modification cycle; collaborative learning; implementation and documentation of project development.

Semester 4 (9 units) [back to top]

EDU 547 - Data Driven Decision-Making (3 units)
This course emphasizes: functions and varieties of data; state and district expectations and school-wide goals; data collection that defines growth for measurable pupil outcomes; data analysis; software applications for data analysis; effective allocation of resources based on data; professional development and resource allocation as it relates to measurable pupil outcomes; communication of successes and opportunities to stakeholder audiences, including the sponsoring district, parents, and the charter community.

EDU 548 - Utilizing Technology to Enhance Learner-Centered Instruction (3 units)
This course emphasizes: National Technology Standards for Teachers; National Technology Standards for Students: analysis of National standards and their role in support of Powerful Teaching and Learning; analysis of how technology supports best practices in alignment with current brain research; multiple roles of technology; personal communication and the internet; internet and guided inquiry; distance learning and student achievement; analysis of technology tools for classroom, school, and community applications and presentations.

EDU 600B Capstone Project Specialization (2 units)
This knowledge area emphasizes: The capstone project will be identified by the student in cooperation (with) his or her accountability support groups. This project will include:

• extensive action research in an area of concern/understanding within the project designer's classroom, school, or district;
• evidence of a significant impact on pre-K-16 student learning; the creation of new knowledge;
• evidence of linking to the standards of the community that will appear in the portfolio as evidence of learning;
• the passion of the project designer for this learning and application;
• the writing of a journal article to inform the profession; and indications of a life after the degree.

The capstone may be an independent or collaborative study experience. An expert in the field should be part of the support structure for this learning.

EDU 559 D - Guided Practice/Internship (1 unit)
This course emphasizes: connecting learning and work; field experiences; improving practice and enhancing pre-K-16 student learning, continuous research, hypothesis/theory, application, reflection, modification cycle; collaborative learning; implementation and documentation of project development.

(11-04)