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Department of Educational Leadership
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Specialist in Education (Ed.S.) degree in Educational Leadership

Overview

The Ed.S. in Educational Leadership is designed to prepare students for leadership and administration at the district office level of a K-12 school system and leads to North Carolina Level II administrator licensure (advanced principal).

This program is a 33-60 semester hour program of advanced study beyond the master's degree. It typically leads to either North Carolina Level I (Entry-level Principal) or North Carolina Level II (Advanced Principal) licensure and includes a Superintendent Concentration.

Program Information/Requirements

The program consists of coursework in four areas: Administration and Leadership (18-39 hours), Curricular and Instructional Leadership (3-12 hours), Social and Cultural Foundations (3-6 hours), and Research (6 hours). Courses are offered during the summer, as well as in the evenings during the Fall and Spring terms. Some courses are offered off campus or as online courses. Most of our students are part-time students who typically take two courses per term. We try to schedule classes so that many students take two classes in one evening (e.g., on Thursday night, a class from 4 to 6:50 p.m. and another class from 7 to 9:50 p.m.).

All coursework for the Ed.S. degree may count towards the Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree as well, although individual plans of study must be completed for each program. Applicants who are interested in pursuing both the Ed.S. degree and the Ed.D. degree should complete a single application, applying for admission to both programs at the same time. Alternately, Ed.S. students may decide at a later date that they would like to continue on with doctoral studies and may request that the Department admit them into the Ed.D. program. If the Department approves this request, pending successful completion of Ed.S. coursework and evidence of potential success in the doctoral program, students will be admitted to the Ed.D. program and will not have to submit a second formal application or pay another application fee to The Graduate School. However, this process must be completed before the student has graduated from the Ed.S. program. If the student breaks continuous enrollment, a new application and payment of the application fee will be required.

Capstone Information

Check out the capstone guidelines

Specialist in Education Program in Educational Leadership (Ed.S.)

I. Ed.S. - Advanced Principal & Superintendent Concentration (33 semester hours; for students who already have North Carolina entry level Principal License)

Major Area: Administration and Leadership (18 - 21 semester hours)

ELC 700: Critical Perspectives in Education, Leadership, & Culture (3 hours)
ELC 701: The Superintendency (3 hours)
ELC 751: Concepts & Cases in Educational Administration (3 hours)

9 semester hours from the following or from other courses in administration & leadership:

ELC 659: Educational Finance (3 hours)
ELC 683: Engaging the Public in Education (3 hours)
ELC 750: Advanced Seminar in School Law Research (3 hours)
ELC 752: Theories in Educational Administration (3 hours)
ELC 754: Personal Leadership Assessment & Development (3 hours)

Minimum of 9 semester hours from the next 2 areas:

Social & Cultural Foundation (3-6 semester hours)
- ELC 679: History of Education in the U.S. (3 hours) OR
- ELC 696: Philosophies in Education (3 hours)
Curriculum & Instructional Leadership

Research (6 semester hours)
- ERM 517 Statistical Methods in Education (or another course in quantitative methods) (3 hours)
- ELC 665 Approaches to Qualitative Inquiry or
- ELC 664 Foundations of Interpretive Inquiry

II. Ed.S. - Entry Level Principal & Superintendent Concentration (60 semester hours; for students who do not have a North Carolina administrative license)

Major Area: Administration and Leadership (39 semester hours)

4 core principal licensure courses (check with advisor for eligible courses)
ELC 700: Critical Perspectives in Education, Leadership, & Culture (3 hours)
ELC 701: The Superintendency (3 hours)+
ELC 751: Concepts & Cases in Educational Administration (3 hours)
ELC 690: Practicum (6 hours)
ELC 790: Internship (6 hours)++

6 hours from the following or other courses in administration & leadership:

ELC 659: Educational Finance (3 hours)
ELC 683: Engaging the Public in Education (3 hours)
ELC 750: Advanced Seminar in School Law Research (3 hours)
ELC 752: Theories in Educational Administration (3 hours)
ELC 754: Personal Leadership Assessment & Development (3 hours)

Minimum of 15 semester hours from the next 2 areas:

Curricular & Instructional Leadership (9-12 semester hours)
- ELC 615: Foundations of Curriculum (3 hours)
- ELC 670: Leadership for Teaching & Learning (3 hours)
Social & Cultural Foundation (3-6 semester hours)
- ELC 679: History of Education in the U.S. (3 hours) OR
- ELC 696: Philosophies in Education (3 hours)
Research (6 semester hours)
- ERM 517: Statistical Methods in Education (or another course in quantitative methods) (3 hours)
- ELC 675: Schools as Centers of Inquiry (3 hours)

+ To be taken during Spring Semester in conjunction with the second semester of ELC 790 Internship

++ The first 3 semester hours of ELC 790 should be taken during the Fall semester; the second 3 hours should be taken during the Spring semester in conjunction with ELC 701

Application Criteria & Procedures

Check out the application procedures

Financial Information

Check out the financial aid information

Contact Information

For application forms for fellowships and assistantships, or for other basic information:

Dr. Silvia Bettez
Coordinator, Student Funds & Fellowships Committee
scbettez@uncg.edu
336-334-3492
336-334-4737 (fax)
Curry Building
University of North Carolina at Greensboro
P.O. Box 26170
Greensboro, NC 27402-6170

Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Foundations