Masters Program in Educational Leadership

Thank you for your interest in the Masters Degree program in Educational Leadership/Administration. Our program is a totally online format. This is good news for our distance learners who would like to complete a graduate degree at FSU! The only required face-to-face meeting is held the first week of classes during the first semester after admission.

The Masters degree in Educational Leadership/Administration is a graduate program designed to prepare professionals for entry-level administrative positions in schools, school districts, and educational agencies. Completing this degree leads to Level I Certification in Educational Leadership. Students are expected to master a core of professional and theoretical knowledge and demonstrate skills in applied research and the practice of leadership. The program of studies incorporates a core of professional knowledge and an experiential component. Emphases include strong academic training and the development of individual candidates as aspiring leaders who can cope personally and professionally with the ambiguities associated with educational leadership in a multiplicity of organizational environments and in an environment of rapid change.

Program objectives for the degrees are drawn from the core content identified by the Florida Principal Leadership Standards, from research and theory on educational leadership, and from collaboration between practitioners and faculty of the department. Specific program objectives are outlined in course syllabi and are implicit in the course requirements for the degree. The Masters degree program emphasizes Florida Certification in Educational Leadership. It covers the areas of:

Instructional leadership
Managing the learning environment,
Learning, accountability, and assessment
Decision making strategies
Technology
Human resource development
Ethical leadership
Vision
Community and stakeholder partnerships
Diversity

As students move through coursework, they complete critical tasks that reflect his or her mastery toward the skills and competencies associated with the ten leadership standards. If a student transfers in a core course, he or she must complete and post the relevant critical tasks. Courses to be transferred must have been completed within five years of admission with a grade of “B” or better.

Subject to the approval of the supervisory committee and the department head, students not seeking Florida Certification in Educational Leadership may develop programs of study which meet their professional needs and/or certification standards in other states.

Students must complete their program of study within seven calendar years from the time of initial registration, or apply for re-admission.

Program of Study

A. Core Courses: (27 semester hours)

CGS 5310 Technology and Communication in Education (3 hrs.)
EDG 5250 Curriculum and Instruction (3 hrs.)
EDA 5192 Educational Leadership (3 hrs.)
EDA 5423 Decision Oriented Educational Research (3 hrs)
EDA 5931 Human and Fiscal Resources in Education (3 hrs.)
EDA 5232 Legal Aspects of Public School Administration (3 hrs.)
EDA 5504 Instructional Leadership (3 hrs.)
EDA 5503 The Principalship (3 hrs)
EDA 5945 Practicum in Educational Leadership (3 one hour courses) The Practicum courses integrate DOE requirements of experiential learning through field experiences, school-based mentoring from an expert in the field, and the Florida School Leaders website for professional development for aspiring school leaders. This course includes one mandatory face-to-face meeting during week one of the student’s first semester.

B. Elective courses: (students are required to take 9 hours of elective courses)

EDF 5887 Multicultural Education
ADE 5385 Adult Learning
EDA 5931 The Assistant Principalship
EDA 5931 Ethics in Educational Leadership
EDA 5931 Policy to Practice
EDA 5931 Teacher Leadership

C. Portfolio (0 hours) - to be completed during student's last semester in the program

EDA 8966 Comprehensive Examination/Portfolio (0 hrs.)**

Total semester hours for Master's Degree: 36

**If a student registers for EDA 8966 with another class, there are no fees for EDA 8966; but if student registers for EDA 8966 by itself, there will be one semester hour of fees assessed.
Progress Toward Masters Degree in Educational Administration

A. Admission to Master's degree program

(This admissions criteria is effective as of Fall, 2008.)

At a minimum, students must have a 3.0 grade point average (GPA) for the last 60 semester hours of undergraduate course work. Also necessary is a competitive score on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) with no subtest (verbal or quantitative) below 400. Foreign nationals whose native language is not English must present a minimum score of 550 (paper-based) or 213 (computer-based) on the TOEFL examination. All applicants to the college must submit an official GRE score as part of the admission process. Bachelors degrees in good standing from an accredited institution of higher education is also a requirement for admission. Students must also show evidence of at least two years of teaching experience in a K-12 setting to be considered for admission to the program.

The admissions program assistant will inform the student by letter of acceptance into the master's program. Please refer to the Information for Prospective Students page for more details.

You may first apply for admission in the program by submitting the following documents:

a letter of intent, stating why you want to complete this program and how it fits in with your career goals;
a vita or resume,
official transcripts from all previous colleges or universities attended,
a GRE score, and
two (2) letters of recommendation from a supervisor.

The FSU EDA program is very competitive and only 25 masters and modified students are accepted per semester. Meeting the minimum requirements does not assure admission to the program.

Our application for admission policy has changed from a rolling administration to a deadline application process. What that means to you is that you will now need to have your application submitted to the department by the following dates:

Spring semester- application process must be completed by October 1
Summer semester- application process must be completed by February 1
Fall semester- application process must be completed by June 1

B. Advising

An advisor will be appointed by the department head who will advise the student throughout the program.

C. Program of Study

The student's Program of Study will be developed collaboratively with his/her advisor. An approved Program of Study must be on file prior to registering for the Masters Portfolio. (See below) Students continuing in the program must maintain a Grade Point Average of 3.0, or they will be academically dismissed.

D. Final Demonstration of Knowledge and Competence

Students should contact the Graduate Section of the Registrar's Office the first week of the semester they plan to graduate to make final arrangements for graduation. The final demonstration of competence is the ePortfolio. The Portfolio is comprised of the following components:

Presentation of the Leadership Development Plan including feedback on the leadership standards;
Reflection on field experiences; and
Conceptual Connections across coursework paper.

The final checklist to be eligible for Level I Educational Leadership Certification also includes:

Mastery of all leadership standards, competencies, and skills demonstrated through the critical tasks:
ESOL Requirement: and
Passing score on the Florida Educational Leadership Examination (FELE).

It is the responsibility of each student to be familiar with all the requirements presented in the Florida State University General Bulletin - Graduate Edition, which may be accessed at http://registrar.fsu.edu/bulletin/grad/info/admissions.htm, as well as requirements outlined in this document for graduation or certification purposes. Refer to the Bulletin under which you originally enrolled in the Master's program.

Clinical Professor: Dr. Rhonda Blackwell-Flanagan, rflanagan@fsu.edu, 850.644.8166