Various tools and methodologies for assessing English proficiency in speaking, listening, reading and writing for both ELL children and adults will be critiqued. Formative and summative assessments will be explored with an emphasis on the application and appropriateness of their use for instructional design.

This course focuses on leadership in the educational or corporate environment to bring about change required to meet learning and training needs. Students will evaluate their personal leadership in their professional environment. Leadership tools to provide increased learning opportunities will be used to design learning experiences and evaluate results.

In this course, students will examine theories, organizational learning outcomes, and models of assessment and evaluation that lead to institutional improvement and effectiveness in the use of technology. Students will follow a logic model to conduct a program evaluation and develop a proposal for organizational improvement.

Students will learn how to develop a shared vision of student achievement and integrate it into the school plan. By developing and articulating a belief system and shared vision of teaching and learning, students will learn how to link improved teaching strategies to school-wide and district-wide instructional priorities. From this initial building of a shared vision, students will develop a theory of action directed at getting to the shared vision by ensuring that relevant student data are available and examined regularly. Students will learn and apply strategies for guiding, motivating, delegating and building consensus among diverse constituencies in the school and community. The reality is that school leaders must encounter multiple voices in the community and as such, they need to ensure that those voices are part of the consensus building for shared visions of schooling.

This course will allow students to develop an understanding of the planning for and application of technology for training that meets institutional and organizational needs. Students will utilize technology to effectively develop a request for proposal plan for training utilizing technology to inform, motivate, and prepare learners.

Students gain the necessary skills and knowledge to design effective instructional materials for use in an on-line learning environment. Powerful innovations that may redefine teaching and learning practices will be explored throughout the course.

This course is designed to provide an opportunity for participants to learn how to advocate, nurture, and sustain a school culture and instructional program that is conducive to student learning and staff professional growth in a standards-based system of learning. In this course students will develop an understanding of the rationale for and the components of standards based curriculum and instruction and how they link to students’ learning needs. Students will learn to apply student data to determine policy decisions and leadership actions to improve the instructional program. They will learn to apply site-based teacher-practice data to determine leadership actions to drive professional development and identify student support systems that result in increased student performance. Students will also explore research on diverse learning styles and differentiating instruction for all learners. It is in this course that students learn the power of a system-based approach that builds coherence through a standards-based curriculum and instruction; supervision that supports differentiated instruction in support of accelerating student learning, and the development, implementation, and evaluation of professional development that supports standards-based curriculum and instruction. 

Students are introduced to safe school environments, data-driven decision-making strategies, practice using various assessment tools and monitoring systems for teaching and learning, and learn district, state, and federal accountability systems. Students will gain an understanding of the legal polices pertaining to classified and certificated personnel. Students will also continue to apply a system-based approach that builds coherence through the alignment of fiscal, human, and material resources to support the learning of all sub-groups of students. 

This course develops students' ability to model integrity and justice while learning and applying a variety of decision-making and problem-solving strategies. In this course, students will write a personal code of ethics that includes their moral purpose and belief system for the improvement of teaching and learning. Students will also address issues of equity such as race, language, religions, and sexual harassment. Students will learn ways to inspire and motivate others, and to effectively communicate shared decision-making outcomes to stakeholders. Students will continue to build understanding around the leadership practices that create a learning-centered and trustworthy school community that provides high levels of learning for all students. 

This course provides rich opportunities for participants to examine the impact of culturally responsive teaching within diverse learning environments to foster positive social change. Participants will adopt a cultural and global perspective of teaching and learning to understand how they can best support diverse learners and become agents of social change in their respective fields. Through scenario-based activities, participants will directly apply skills needed to make informed decisions about the design, development, implementation, and evaluation of culturally relevant instructional practices to facilitate the learning of diverse learners. Prerequisite: EDU 650.