Program Overview

Educational Leadership (EDLE) Program

The Educational Leadership (EDLE) program offers a comprehensive range of courses designed to prepare educational leaders for various roles in the field. The program focuses on developing the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for effective leadership in educational settings.

Courses

• EDLE 50003: Schools and Society: An introduction to the social, structural, political, and historical forces that have created the American school system. (Typically offered: Summer Even Years)
• EDLE 50103: School Organization and Administration: Analysis of the structure and organization of American public education; fundamental principles of school management and administration. (Typically offered: Fall; Summer Odd Years)
• EDLE 50203: The School Principalship: Duties and responsibilities of the public school building administrator; examination and analysis of problems, issues, and current trends in the theory and practice of the principalship. (Typically offered: Spring and Summer)
• EDLE 50303: Psychology of Learning: Prepares educational leaders to create and sustain a learning-centered environment in school settings. Students study learning theory across the lifespan and apply it to the practice of instructional leadership, curriculum design, and staff development. (Typically offered: Spring; Summer Odd Years)
• EDLE 50403: Leadership Ethics: An experiential-based course grounded in ethical decision-making theory that uses case study and practice to study school-based ethical dilemmas. (Typically offered: Fall; Summer Odd Years)
• EDLE 50503: School Law: Legal aspects of public and private schooling: federal and state legislative statues and judicial decisions, with emphasis upon Arkansas public education. (Typically offered: Fall; Summer Odd Years)
• EDLE 50603: Instructional Leadership, Planning, and Supervision: Designed to prepare practitioners to seize the role of educational leader at the school site level through the development of a vision that will be used to drive a data-driven instructional school plan. (Typically offered: Fall; Summer Odd Years)
• EDLE 50703: Research for Leaders: Introduces research methodology that will support school leaders as consumers of educational research and supervisors of action research within their schools. Practical application of research for school leaders is emphasized. (Typically offered: Spring; Summer Odd Years)
• EDLE 50803: Analytical Decision-Making: A performance-based examination of the principles and practices related to the building administrator's role in the development, administration, and evaluation of curricular programs in public schools. (Typically offered: Spring Even years; Summer)
• EDLE 50903: Effective Leadership for School Improvement: A performance-based examination of strategic planning, group facilitation and decision-making, organizational behavior and development, professional ethics and standards, student services administration, and principles of effective leadership. (Typically offered: Spring and Summer)
• EDLE 51003: School Building-Level Finance: Provides an introduction to the leading theories and practices associated with budgeting and finance at the school-building level. (Typically offered: Summer)
• EDLE 5740V: Internship: Supervised in-school/district experiences individually designed to afford opportunities to apply previously-acquired knowledge and skills in administrative workplace settings. (Typically offered: Fall, Spring, and Summer) May be repeated for up to 3 hours of degree credit.
• EDLE 5990V: Seminar: Important foundational topics in educational leadership that are current and critical will be taught in this Master's-level seminar. (Typically offered: Fall, Spring, and Summer) May be repeated for up to 6 hours of degree credit.
• EDLE 6000V: Master's Thesis: Master's Thesis. (Typically offered: Fall, Spring, and Summer) May be repeated for degree credit.
• EDLE 60103: Problems of Practice for Educational Leaders: Designed to extend and refine students' thinking, experience, and knowledge about the Education Doctorate (EdD), as well as selecting a Problem of Practice that can contribute to the following program goals: advanced analytical reasoning skills; positive impact on professional practice; and the refinement of the scholar-practitioner. (Typically offered: Summer)
• EDLE 60203: School Facilities Planning and Management: School facilities planning, management, cost analysis, operations, and maintenance of the school plant. (Typically offered: Fall Odd Years)
• EDLE 60503: School-Community Relations: Community analysis, politics and education; power groups and influences; school issues and public responses; local policy development and implementation; effective communication and public relations strategies. (Typically offered: Spring Even Years)
• EDLE 6050V: Independent Study: Independent study. (Typically offered: Fall, Spring, and Summer) May be repeated for up to 6 hours of degree credit.
• EDLE 60903: School District Governance: The Superintendency: Analysis of the organizational and governance structures of American public education at national, state, and local levels. (Typically offered: Fall Even Years)
• EDLE 61003: School Finance: Principles, issues, and problems of school funding formulae and fiscal allocations to school districts. (Typically offered: Spring Odd Years)
• EDLE 61203: Advanced Fiscal Issues: An advanced course at the graduate level in the Graduate Educational Leadership Program. The Scholar Practitioner model at this level will pursue an in-depth study of knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed for the successful undertaking of analyzing budgeting and finance issues arising at the school and district-level. (Typically offered: Irregular)
• EDLE 61703: School Business Management: Fiscal and resource management in public schools: budgeting, insurance, purchasing, and accounting. (Typically offered: Summer Odd Years)
• EDLE 63303: Advanced Legal Issues in Education: The examination and discussion of advanced legal issues affecting public school education. (Typically offered: Fall Even Years)
• EDLE 64303: Legal Aspects of Special Education: A study of litigation and legislation in special education, federal and state laws and court cases, and due process hearings. (Typically offered: Irregular) This course is cross-listed with SPED 64303.
• EDLE 65003: Topics in Educational Research for School Administration: Application of educational research in the school setting by educational administrators. Emphasis placed on the use of state and local school or district data, data analysis, interpretation and reporting, hands-on experience with SPSS, and the formal process of writing a research report. (Typically offered: Fall Odd Years)
• EDLE 65103: Program Evaluation in Education: Designed to introduce students to concepts and methods of policy and program evaluation. Emphasis will be placed on preparing educational leadership students to conduct a program evaluation specialist project of dissertation. (Typically offered: Summer)
• EDLE 65303: Educational Policy: Examination of the research and theory related to the evolution of local, state, and federal governance and educational policy. (Typically offered: Spring Odd Years)
• EDLE 65403: Introduction to Qualitative Research: Offers an introduction to the qualitative approach to research in the Social Sciences. (Typically offered: Fall)
• EDLE 65503: Advanced Qualitative Methods in Educational Research: Designed to provide graduate students with a more in-depth understanding of qualitative research methods. (Typically offered: Spring)
• EDLE 65803: Statistical Literacy for Educational Leaders: Designed to extend and refine students' thinking, experiences, and knowledge about planning and executing research in an educational setting. (Typically offered: Spring)
• EDLE 6740V: Internship: Internship. (Typically offered: Fall, Spring, and Summer) May be repeated for up to 6 hours of degree credit.
• EDLE 6800V: Educational Specialist Project: An original project, research project, or report required of all Ed.S. Degree candidates. (Typically offered: Fall, Spring, and Summer)
• EDLE 6990V: Advanced Seminar: Seminar. (Typically offered: Fall, Spring, and Summer) May be repeated for up to 6 hours of degree credit.
• EDLE 7000V: Doctoral Dissertation: Doctoral Dissertation. (Typically offered: Fall, Spring, and Summer) May be repeated for degree credit.
• EDLE 74103: Problem of Practice Dissertation Methods and Implementation: Guides students through all phases of the capstone experience in educational leadership from program design to completion and dissemination of the final product to scholarly and practitioner audiences. (Typically offered: Irregular) May be repeated for up to 18 hours of degree credit.