Resources For
Find Your Program
Meet our Faculty
Course Descriptions
- 3991 Independent Study (1 to 10 credits)
- 3992 Directed Study (1 to 10 credits)
- 4150 Professional Development (3 or 4 credits)
- 4151 Outreach College Counseling Wk (4 credits)
- 4700 Special Topics in K-12 Admin (1 to 5 credits)
- 4701 Special Topics in K-12 Admin (1 to 5 credits)
- 4702 Special Topics in K-12 Admin (1 to 5 credits)
- 4703 Special Topics in K-12 Admin (1 to 5 credits)
- 4704 Special Topics in K-12 Admin (1 to 5 credits)
- 4801 Fndtns of Educationl Leadershp (2 credits)
- Students examine educational leadership from perspectives of historical development,
theory, research and current practice in modern school systems. Students are introduced
to the roles of administrators within the system. An introduction to board development
and relations, community outreach and marketing, and interpersonal skills/conflict
resolution are included.
- 4803 Implement Reform-Driven Change (3 credits)
- An overview of the historic origins and impacts of key education policy in America,
and changes over the years in policy power and control and how these shifts have led
us to many of today's educational challenges. From the inception of the public school
idea to standards, standardized assessments and NCLB, to the current "P20" trends,
the interplay of local, state, and national politics and policies and their impact
on teaching and learning are examined.
- 4804 Community and School Relations (2 credits)
- Analysis of principles and practices for facilitating interpretation of schools to
their various publics; developing responsive public educational organizations and
conducting public relations as a significant function of key administrative positions.
- 4805 Personnel Management (2 or 3 credits)
- An examination of organizational dimensions, non-power planning, recruitment, selection,
placement and induction, staff development, appraisal, rewards, collective bargaining,
and practice of negotiation skills.
- 4806 Legal Aspects of School Admin (2 credits)
- This course is designed to provide educators with the basic information that will
be helpful in dealing with the legal aspects they will encounter in public schools.
Basic foundations of the American legal system will be studied as well as practical
applications of law, which must be understood by educators. Information from this
course will help educators practice "preventive law" by focusing on educational issues
in an attempt to reduce litigious situations.
- 4807 Research for School Reform (2 credits)
- This course is designed to assist prospective administrators in the development and
application of skills and knowledge associated with research-based, research validated
promising practices, and to bring these to day-to-day leadership. This course examines
current leadership theories and how to apply research on leadership skills and behavior
to the principalship. Students analyze their own leadership styles and apply their
learning to leadership scenarios in order to refine their skills as school leaders.
- 4810 School Admin: Case Studies (2 or 3 credits)
- Focus on current critical aspects of work of effective superintendents and other administrators
in key decision- making roles; includes reading, discussions and guest presenters
who are practicing administrators; problem scenarios presented for resolution.
- 4811 School Admin: Principalship (3 credits)
- Bringing responsibilities of a principal into an operational unity. Prerequisite:
partial completion of a principal's preparation program or school administrator experience.
- 4812 Perspectives-District Admin (3 to 4 credits)
- Responsibilities of central office administrators as they work with schools and local
board of education. Prerequisite: partial completion of a principal's preparation
program or school administration experience.
- 4813 School Admin: Conflict Resoln (3 credits)
- Exploration of collaborative leadership, change, mediation, group conflict resolution
and skills necessary to build consensus from diversity.
- 4814 School Admin: Problem Solving (3 or 4 credits)
- Administrative problem solving as opportunity for practicing administrators and administrators-in-training
to explore variety of problem-solving strategies at the heart of decision making,
communication, consensus building and other organizational processes; emphasis on
how effective administrators think.
- 4815 Elementary Internship (1 to 2 credits)
- Opportunity to be supervised in on-the-jopb experience to better prepare school administration
students for administration careers. Elementary level.
- 4816 Secondary Internship (1 to 2 credits)
- Opportunity to be supervised in on-the-job experience to better prepare school administration
students for administration careers. Secondary level.
- 4817 Superintendency Internship (1 to 6 credits)
- Opportunity to be supervised in on-the-job experience to better prepare school administration
students for administration careers. Superintendent's office placement.
- 4818 Central Office Internship (1 to 6 credits)
- Opportunity to be supervised in on-the-job experience to better prepare school administration
students for administration careers. Central office placement.
- 4819 Organization Theory & Behavior (3 to 4 credits)
- The purpose of this course is to examine the nation's schools in terms of the complex
milieu in which they are embedded, and the variables affecting the schools. The roles
and responsibilities of various members of the organizations will be examined as well
as the governance and control issues surrounding education.
- 4820 School Admin: Prog & Eval (3 credits)
- The purpose of this course is to review theories of program evaluation, evaluation
designs and analysis, and current trends in evaluation. Program evaluation aims to
determine whether a program, regulation, or policy is achieving its objectives by
ascertaining whether it had the desired effect on intended outcomes. The evaluation
process may include evaluation of programs, products, personnel, policy, performance,
proposals, technology, research, theory, and even of evaluation itself. The course
equips students with basic evaluation tools and understandings necessary to be thoughtful
consumers and effective users of program evaluations in improving policy outcomes
and designing more effective programs and policies. It is designed to provide students
with the meaning and methods of program and policy instrument evaluation in education
with the intent to contribute to informed decision making and enlightened change.
Students analyze evaluations of the effectiveness of a variety of programs through
discussion, field work, and case studies.
- 4821 School Reform & Current Ed Iss (2 or 3 credits)
- An introduction to contemporary issues and theories of educational administration.
Overview of major educational administrative and organization trends currently unfolding.
These trends are analyzed for validity, education soundness, and leadership implications.
Students will also take a closer look at the concept of school reform and the various
efforts towards this endeavor.
- 4822 Leadership in Complex Systems (3 to 4 credits)
- Roles, responsibilities and behaviors of successful leaders in complex systems; development
of understanding and skills that can be used in dealing with many complex issues that
face school administrators of the 21st century; functioning effectively in a complex
environement where leadership is an interaction between leader, followers and situation
and where power and influence affect leader-follower relationships.
- 4823 Educational Policy Making-U.S. (3 to 4 credits)
- Shifts in focus of decision making over last 50 years; growth of state and federal
powers and policy making from the 1960's to the 1990's; variations between states
with respect to power of control, role of state board, governor's significance, part
played by power of associations and impact of the AFT/NEA in decision-making, changing
nature of local boards of education; "art" of law making and setting of educational
policies using Colorado and legislative process for field study.
- 4824 Education & Youth Policies (3 credits)
- Demographic changes and characteristics of American youth and their families; youth
and education as seen by other professionals, such as political scientists, anthropologists,
sociologists, psychologists, social workers, theologians and health administrators,
with resulting discussions relative to policy-making implications of recent data,
findings, trends and "expert" projections; response of school leaders and policy makers
to these analyses by the specialists.
- 4825 Current Trends: School Admin (3 credits)
- Overview of major educational administrative and organization trends unfolding in
current year; trends analyzed for validity and educational soundness; leadership implications.
- 4826 Reform of American Education (3 credits)
- Central themes of various recommendations for educational reform in America; critical
analysis of reform proposals affecting schools, higher education and teacher and administrative
preparation programs; progress and frustrations of reform in last five years.
- 4827 Foundns of Ed. Hist. & Phil. (3 to 4 credits)
- A foundational course which will examine the various theoretical, ethical, historical
and philosophical perspectives that will inform educational leaders as policy and
change strategies are formulated.
- 4828 Leadership-Standards-Based Ed (3 credits)
- Designed to assist leaders, at the building level, in the implementation of standards-based
education to improve student learning and achievement. Primary emphasis will be given
to developing practical strategies for addressing critical issues in facilitating
the change from the traditional models of education to a standards-based model.
- 4829 Instructional Leadership (2 credits)
- Serves prospective principals in the development and application of skills and knowledge
associated with curriculum planning, development, assessment and program evaluation.
Curriculum issues are examined from various contexts to enable students to understand
how external demands influence curriculum decisions. Participants are assisted in
developing an understanding of issues of diversity and multiculturalism and their
influence on the development and supervision of the curriculum. Although the major
focus is on local aspects of standards-based education, some attention is given to
the national role in this area.
- 4830 Student Supports and Services (2 or 3 credits)
- Considerable attention will be given to the examination of the needs of the individual
student in the learning environment as well as research on child development, learning
styles, brain-based learning theories and models of teaching. Primary focus areas
are supports for special education students, English language learners, gifted students,
and students in poverty.
- 4831 Instructional Sprvsn & Eval (2 or 3 credits)
- Study and application of a variety of approaches for supervising and evaluating instruction,
including approaches to classroom observation; adapting, adopting, and designing various
evaluation systems; advantages and problems of various student achievement and engagement
indicators; induction, mentoring, and peer support systems; and leading professional
development for self and staff.
- 4832 School Improvement Process (2 credits)
- Rationale, reserch and expert opinion surrounding concept of school improvement as
a practical process for improving local schools and the individual school; includes
rational theory for school improvement, suggested processes for implementation at
local level and implications for district personnel, building principals, teachers,
community members and curriculum and staff development.
- 4833 Strategic Resource Management (2 or 3 credits)
- School-site budgeting and accounting practices; resourcing the new school; how schools
are funded; relationship of other resource decisions (such as scheduling) to the school
operation; grant writing and fundraising.
- 4834 Sem: Multicultural Issues (3 to 4 credits)
- Extends understanding of complex systems' operations and responses by examining multicultural
issues in the historical and social context and complexity of schools and school districts.
Opportunities will be provided for students to develop an understanding of issues
of diversity and the relationship of these issues to the roles and work of school/district
administrators. The exploration of multicultural issues will occur through the examination
of various themes relative to school/district administration such as curriculum, administration,
human resources, policy and reform. Particular emphasis will be given to the exploration
of the historical and future purposes of schooling in a democratic/pluralistic society
in an effort to help students to develop critical knowledge and skills essential for
providing leadership in 21st century schools.
- 4835 Curr/Inst & Studnt Achievement (1 to 4 credits)
- This course will examine educational practices that are meeting success as schools
and districts attempt to learn, grow, and reinvent themselves using the principles
of organizational learning. Participants will understand basic systems theory and
gain practical and theoretical tools to improve curriculum development, instruction,
and student achievement.
- 4836 Improving School Culture (3 credits)
- School culture is a complex and challenging issue for most school leaders to shape
and manage. The culture of school means many things that will be addressed in this
class including school climate, parent engagement, teacher engagement, student connectedness,
culturally competent practices, positive youth development, and the quality of human
relationships in the school environment. This course will enable school leaders to
look in depth at their schools in order to assess its culture, develop specific plans
to create a climate of authentic relationships among students, parents, staff, and
community.
- 4837 Charter School Leadership (3 credits)
- This class has been developed to support people in, and committed tom, charter school
education. It will help create awareness and expertise for present or future charter
school leaders in the areas of business and management, people and leadership, and
education and curriculum.
- 4838 Ed Leadership in Digital Age (3 credits)
- This course is based upon the National Technology Standards for administrators. Students
will develop their own personal technology skills and be exposed to the latest technological
resources for school administrators. Participants will explore the latest efforts
related to data-driven decision making for enhancing student performance and the integration
of technology into the curriculum.
- 4839 Entrepreneurial Leadership (3 credits)
- Students explore and develop entrepreneurial skills that will enhance existing educational
organizations and create new educational settings. This course examines strategies
of visioning, mission building and branding; defining and assessing value and quality;
developing competitive strategy; building networks and partnerships; assessing risk
and gauging opportunity; building systems and sustainability; recruiting and developing
staff, boards, and stakeholders; engaging communities; and acquiring sources of funding.
- 4840 Instructional Planning (3 credits)
- 4841 Internship in Sp Ed Director (1 to 10 credits)
- 4842 Assessment Mod Needs (5 credits)
- 4843 Behavior Intervention (4 credits)
- 4846 Practicum: State Policy Making (1 to 3 credits)
- Direct experience with state legislative process and/or policy work of state agencies;
work of regional and national organizations in Denver area.
- 4847 Ethics in Education (3 credits)
- Applied ethics, starting from the theoretical constructs and abstract principles defining
ethical behavior and then quickly moving into a consideration of how ethics applies
to education. Issues of ethical decision-making will be probed in relation to equity
for students, parent-school relationships, staffing, and district policy, among other
areas. This course is both grounded in ethical theory and designed to provide students
with practical approaches for making decisions that have an ethical component.
- 4848 Bus Admin for School Leaders (3 or 4 credits)
- Schools are a large and complex business. This course will equip students with the
knowledge and skills needed to lead a school or school district. Key topics will
include school management, human resources, organizational change, entrepreneurship,
and bargaining.
- 4849 Action Rsrch for School Ldrs (4 credits)
- This course emphasizes the use of research methods which are linked to research needed
in schools. Students will learn to identify, analyze and solve problems. Some of
the action research methods include focus groups, interviews, observations, school
records and surveys. Capstone project will relate directly to the improvement of
school policy and practice.
- 4850 Admin Ldrship-Ed Organization (1 to 9 credits)
- 4851 Admin-Envimnt of Public School (1 to 9 credits)
- 4852 Supervision-Curr & Instr Prog (1 to 9 credits)
- 4853 Grappling with Accountability (3 credits)
- This course will provide resouce tools for organizing and assessing technology for
student results.
- 4854 Staff Developmnt in Technology (3 credits)
- As technology becomes more and more pervasive, staff development needs to shift its
focus from using technology productively to fully integrating technology into the
curriculum. This course is geared for technology directors, specialists, coordinators,
principals and others who have responsibility for providing leadership to integrate
technology into the curriculum.
- 4855 Strategies to Integrate Tech (3 credits)
- 4856 Tech Instructional Leadership (3 credits)
- 4857 Online Education (3 credits)
- 4859 Action Research Capstone (1 credits)
- Provides support for students as they develop their action research project (ADMN
4849) into the Capstone for the Masters in Educational Administration.
- 4870 Education-Int'l Setting (1 to 5 credits)
- Global perspectives and world awareness in school settings drawing cross-cultural
comparisons for American schools.
- 4930 Leadership & Ethics in ECE (3 credits)
- Leadership in early care and education is the exercise of meaningful and responsible
influences. This course covers theories and models of leadership in early care and
education. Students will learn to articulate a vision, clarify and affirm values,
and create a culture built on norms of continuous improvement and ethical conduct.
Professional codes of ethics will be reviewed. Restricted to students enrolled in
the Leading Learning in ECE graduate certificate program.
- 4931 Pedagogical Leadership in ECE (5 credits)
- This course covers early childhood curriculum models and evidence-based interventions
applicable within community, preschool, and home environments. Students review empirically
validated early interventions and curriculum for young children, including children
with special needs. An overview of theoretical research and practice issues in the
field of child development is covered. Attention is given to the typical developmental
milestones of the early childhood years including growth and development in sensorimotor,
cognitive, language, and social emotional domains. The course focuses on the synthesis
of past research into current findings and accepted theories and allow the leader
to broaden understanding of the impact of neuroscience and relevant research on current
policies and practices. This course is limited to students enrolled in the Leading
Learning in ECE graduate certificate program.
- 4932 Policy & Advocacy in ECE (2 credits)
- This course provides the historical and political context of early care and education
in the United States. Local, state and federal mandates, public laws, and legislative
procedures and initiatives will be investigated. Students will learn from child advocates,
lobbyists, and elected officials. Building a learning community, mobilizing community
resources, and working with community agencies to advocate positive change will also
be addressed. This course is limited to students enrolled in the Leading Learning
in ECE graduate certificate program.
- 4933 Family Diversity &Partnerships (2 credits)
- This course is about families in their many constellations, their strengths and challenges,
and the ways in which early care and education leaders can extend their effectiveness
by working in partnership with families. This course explores the importance of family
centered practice in early care and education. Family centered practice is based
on a core set of values, beliefs and practices that recognize that families can contribute
to all aspects of their child's early care and education through their active and
meaningful participation. Family diversity, family interests and needs, cultural
perspectives and various family circumstances are explored in order to build greater
understanding, awareness and sensitivity. Family and professional partnership models
which support young children, by respecting, strengthening, and supporting families
will be highlighted. This course is limited to students enrolled in the Leading Learning
in ECE graduate certificate program.
- 4934 Reflective Leadership in ECE (3 credits)
- This course is designed to foster the early care education leader's commitment to
the importance and use of data and multiple information sources. Effective leaders
must have the skills to reflect critically on practices in their programs and promote
the importance of inquiry as a professional responsibility of their staff. Evaluation
design, qualitative and quantitative methods, data collection systems, analysis of
data, reporting and formatting of early childhood assessment and evaluation data will
be highlighted. This course is limited to students enrolled in the Leading Learning
in ECE graduate certificate program.
- 4935 Young Exceptional Children (2 credits)
- This course provides perspective and views related to the inclusion and support for
young children with special needs and their families. The most recent regulations
and research-based practices related to young children with special needs, including
simultaneous language learners and children living in poverty, will be explored from
the leader's perspective, including the IFSP and IEP process, child and family support
systems, professional development, legal issues and evidence based practices for optimizing
growth and development. This course is limited to students enrolled in the Leading
Learning in ECE graduate certificate program.
- 4936 Current Issues in ECE (1 credits)
- Current topics and/or critical issues in the field of Early Care and Education are
addressed in an advanced seminar format. Topics vary by instructor and year and may
address current issues in research, theory, policy development, and/or administrative
leadership. This course is limited to students enrolled in the Leading Learning in
ECE graduate certificate program.
- 4937 Mentorship in ECE (1 credits)
- The mentorship is a supervised field experience designed to expose students to a variety
of leadership roles in the field of Early Care and Education. Throughout the quarter,
students will interact with a selected mentorship supervisor and will attend, observe,
and participate in a range of activities related to leadership in ECE, such as, task
force participation, advocacy work, and administrative practices. This course is
limited to students enrolled in the Leading Learning in ECE graduate certificate program.
- 4938 Budgets & Funding in ECE (2 credits)
- This course is designed to assist in the financial planning and fiscal operations
of early childhood programs in order to promote and sustain quality. Students will
investigate budgeting and its impact on programs and policies. Specific financial
management tolls are discussed with fundraising, grant writing and administration,
and the use of local and federal resources to adequately address the issues of quality,
compensation, and affordability. Topics will include: setting up the program, materials,
supplies, salaries, budgeting, regulatory and tax information, fees, personnel, marketing,
insurance, cash flow, accounting, and grant writing. This course is limited to students
enrolled in the Leading Learning in ECE graduate certificate program.
- 4991 MA Independent Study (1 to 17 credits)
- 4992 Directed Study (1 to 10 credits)
- 4995 Research - M.A. Thesis (1 to 17 credits)
- 4XXX K-12 Administration Transfer (1 to 10 credits)
- 5100 Data Use for School Improvemnt (1 or 2 credits)
- School leaders need to apply quantitative and qualitative research skills in a variety
of ways to understand and improve the work of schools. This course reviews methods,
applications, and data sources, including assessments and large-scale datasets, for
continuous school improvement and program evaluation.
- 5991 PhD Independent Study (1 to 17 credits)
- Special projects in the field of education, taken by arrangement of Educational Administration
faculty.
- 5992 Directed Study (2 to 10 credits)
- 5993 Dissertation Planning & Design (1 to 4 credits)
- The Dissertation Planning and Design Seminar is designed to prepare students to undertake
the completion of a dissertation. The dissertation process can often be confusing
and overwhelming, especially for students coming from a cohort-based program. This
course will assist students in turning a research idea into a polished dissertation
proposal and provide strategies for making the process manageable and enjoyable.
- 5994 Sem: Dissertation Organization (3 to 5 credits)
- Individualized assistance in developing the dissertation topic, issue, problem; guidance
in preparation for proposal orals and application to the Human Subjects Committee;
direction for dissertation chapter organization, writing and completion. This seminar
(offered in the summer quarter) is targeted for the student who needs support in completing
the dissertation after an extended period away from the project.
- 5995 Dissertation Research (1 to 20 credits)