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Educational Leadership
The Educational Leadership specialization will provide you with a strong knowledge-base in K-12 management and leadership. You will learn to lead others as you address management and leadership issues in education, such as school law, safety and diversity. As a graduate, you will have a deep understanding of leadership and supervision within organizations, and will be prepared to pursue positions as a specialist in K-12 educational leadership in today’s diverse educational environment. This specialization also prepares you for further doctoral study in Educational Leadership, should you desire to advance your education at NCU.
General Degree Requirements
The EdS Program may be completed in 33 credits. An Academic Advisor or Enrollment Specialist evaluates each student individually and works with the student to create an academically sound Learning Plan based on prior academics and their professional goals.
Completion Period for Doctoral Degrees
Northcentral University allows 5 years to complete the EdS degree.
Certification and Licensing
The School of Education serves educational leaders by providing online graduate studies in education to reach worldwide populations. The EdS program is designed to reach national and international markets and does not purport to provide licensure or certification in any particular state or country.
Education Specialist (EdS) Degree Requirements
Individuals with a previously completed master’s degree will meet the basis of admission to the Education Specialist Program. The programs includes foundations, scholarly writing and specialization courses, as well as a final capstone. Students must pass all courses with a Grade Point Average of 3.00 (B) or higher.
Course Length
All courses are 8 weeks in length.
Course Code | Name | Course Description |
|---|---|---|
EDU7002-8 | Educational Research Methodology | The purpose of this course is to enable students to gain a holistic understanding of the research process and examine the most common research designs used in educational research. In this course, students are prepared to make thoughtful and wise choices about their dissertation research project or capstone project through the exploration of different research design options. |
Specialization Course 1 | ||
EDU7003-8 | Statistics I | This course provides an introductory exploration of statistics for the graduate student. It includes instruction on the calculation, use, and interpretation of descriptive statistics, and introduces inferential statistical analysis. The emphasis of this course is on providing a working knowledge of basic statistical concepts to help the student understand statistical methodology as used in education, and also more generally, developing a working knowledge of statistical usage in everyday life. |
Specialization Course 2 | ||
Specialization Course 3 | ||
Specialization Course 4 | ||
Specialization Course 5 | ||
Specialization Course 6 |
Course Code | Name | Course Description |
|---|---|---|
EDU7101-8 | Foundations for Graduate Study in Education (This course will be taken as the first course) | This course is an orientation to Northcentral University and to the essential skills needed to pursue a doctoral degree in Education. Doctoral level skills, such as academic integrity, time management, effective use of the Northcentral Library, comprehending complex scholarly texts and research articles, and APA form and style in professional communication are also introduced. Students will complete the course with a better understanding of personal goals, strengths, and challenges, and a roadmap to navigate their way to completion of their educational aspirations. |
EDU7001-8 | Advanced Scholarly Writing | The purpose of this course is to build advanced skills identifying and obtaining high quality sources through online library searches. In addition, the course addresses advanced writing and APA formatting skills, and it prepares students to be critically reflective consumers of research reports. |
Course Code | Name | Course Description |
|---|---|---|
ED7004-8 | School Law | In this course, students will address legal issues pertinent to teacher, administrator, and student legal rights and responsibilities in daily school activities. Students will also review legal process, structures of the law, legislation/ litigation, and practices to avoid. |
ED7005-8 | Language Arts and Reading | This course includes research-based instruction that effectively prepares each candidate to deliver a balanced, comprehensive program of instruction in reading, writing, and related language arts. A balanced approach to reading/language arts instruction includes explicit instruction in basic reading skills and comprehension strategies for all students, including students with varied reading levels and language backgrounds. |
ED7008-8 | Educating a Diversity of Students | As the United States continues to experience increasing cultural diversity, today's educators must appraise, assess, and argue the best means to reach diverse and exceptional students. Additionally, individuals differ in gender, sexual orientation, age, physical, and mental abilities. Students will choose and compare different means to address the nature of cultural diversity, its sources and importance to educators. Finally, students will organize, plan, prepare and write instructions that a district might use to meet the needs of diverse students, taking into consideration epistemological and axiological perspectives unique to each culture. |
ED7012-8 | Educational Leadership | An examination of historical and contemporary theories, models, concepts, and practices for effective and efficient approaches to leadership within organizations will be conducted in this Doctoral level course. Students will also specifically study how to effectively apply these concepts to educational settings. |
ED7013-8 | Financial Issues in Schools | This course is designed to introduce and explore concepts in school finance and school business management. Specifically, the course content will cover school finance and school business practices as it pertains to the national, state, and local practices. |
ED7015-8 | Safety Issues for Educators | The content of this course provides educators with the skills and information to analyze safety data, plan for both school safety interventions and procedures and to manage crises in an educational setting. Topics include school safety, crisis management, intervention plans, and community safety partnerships. |
ED7016-8 | Supervision and Leadership in Schools | The purpose of this doctoral-level course is to explore the theoretical framework and practical applications of supervision and leadership within the economic, social, political, and educational context of schooling. This course is designed so that students can develop a conceptual paradigm of practice to sustain reflection, build competence, enact effective supervision, and promote change. This course facilitates an understanding of development theories and collaborative planning models for enhanced professional practice. Topics include administration and supervision, research, strategies that promote growth, and differentiated supervision models. Emphasis is placed upon the student gaining a clear understanding of the interrelatedness among supervision and leadership, instruction, and assessment. |
ED7022-8 | Policies and Practices in Leadership | This course focuses on research, theory and philosophy in developing powerful schools that educate all children well, grades K through 12. Students will learn about various school reform efforts, policies and politics behind various local, states, and federal efforts, and be able to draw upon the educational change and leadership literature to develop their own process and design for better schools. |
ED7030-8 | Development of Organizational Leadership | In this course, doctoral students will explore classic and contemporary approaches to organizational development. Students will define authentic leadership and effectiveness; and will explore what it means to work mindfully while applying principles of authenticity, integrity, and purposefulness. Doctoral students will explore preferred communication styles, cultivate relationship, develop strategies, and identify optimal strategies for organization growth and maturity. Students will be introduced to the doctrines of organization development, theory, and techniques. Attention will be given to organizational development in today's fast paced environments. |
Course Code | Name | Course Description |
|---|---|---|
ED7053-8 | Education Specialist Capstone Project | ED7053 is the culmination of the EdS program. In this course students will have the opportunity to demonstrate the synthesis of knowledge in the Education Specialist program through the design of a real-world problem solving project. The project should be based on research and/ or fieldwork and must demonstrate an approach to addressing the problem through application of theory. Additionally, within this course students will complete a reflective self-assessment of their learning throughout the program. |
At Northcentral University, we pride ourselves in being completely transparent when it comes to tuition and fees. We have adopted an all-inclusive tuition model that gives you the cost of your Education Specialist (EdS) tuition and fees in one flat program rate*. The only additional cost above your EdS program rate is books. Learn more about the EdS costs below:
- Per credit cost: $820
- Per 3 credit course cost: $2,461
- Program cost: $27,071
- Average book cost per course: $150
- Application Fee: $0
- Technology Fee: $0
- Registration Fee: $0
Click here to learn more about payment and financing options.
*Program rates are subject to change and generally increase at the start of each calendar year.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about our students, it’s that they are motivated and ambitious—but they are also busy! At Northcentral University, we’ve designed our education experience to work with you, not against you, so you can achieve your academic goals without sacrificing the quality, flexibility and support you need to be successful.
- Regionally Accredited
- No Physical Residency Requirements
- One-to-One Teaching
- 100% Doctoral Faculty
- Flexibility of Online Learning
- University Resources
To learn more, request information or call 1-866-776-0331 or start a live chat to speak with an enrollment advisor today. We offer new courses every Monday of the year so you can get started when it’s best for you.
