Teacher Leader Endorsement
January 2010
Compliance with NCATE/PSC Requirements
New Concentration, Graduate Programs
Performance-Based Certification Only
Kennesaw State University
Please be precise and specific in responding to these items. Responses to these items will accompany the
standard UPCC or GPCC forms and, if required, PSC standards. Concise narrative will be sufficient.
1.
(CF) Describe how this program reflects the unit’s conceptual framework.
The Teacher Leadership Endorsement aligns with the conceptual framework of the Professional
Teacher Education Unit (PTEU) at Kennesaw State University. The PTEU is committed to
developing expertise in educator candidates in initial and advanced programs. The PTEU
endeavors to create educators possessing the capability, intent and expertise to facilitate high
levels of learning in all of their students through effective, research-based practices in classroom
instruction, and who enhance the structures that support all learning. To that end, the PTEU
fosters the development of candidates as they progress through stages of growth from novice to
proficient to expert and leader. Within the PTEU conceptual framework, expertise is viewed as
a process of continued development, not an end-state. To be effective, teachers and educational
leaders must embrace the notion that teaching and learning are entwined, and that only through
the implementation of validated practices can all students construct meaning and reach high
levels of learning. In that way, candidates in the Teacher Leadership Endorsement program
develop into leaders for learning and facilitators of the teaching and learning process. Finally,
the PTEU recognizes values and demonstrates collaborative practices across the college and
university and extends collaboration to the community-at-large. Through this collaboration with
professionals in the university, the public and private schools, parents and other professional
partners, the PTEU meets the ultimate goal of assisting Georgia schools in bringing all students
to high levels of learning.
The goal of the Teacher Leadership Endorsement program is to prepare candidates who will
become experts in assuming the roles of school leadership as teacher leaders or building/system
leaders in education today. The program was designed to align with identified knowledge, skills,
and disposition of educational leadership identified in the Georgia Professional Standards
Commission’s Teacher Leadership Endorsement program (Ga. Reg. 505-3-.73 (educator
preparation) and 505-2-.351 (certification)).
The program was designed by KSU’s Department of Education Leadership faculty in
collaboration with P-12 school partners, particularly Cobb County School District (CCSD). This
framework for program development is consistent with the “collaborative practices”
recommended by the PTEU Conceptual Framework.
2. (National/State Standards) Specify applicable national and/or state standards to which this
program will demonstrate compliance. Please attach a copy of the applicable standards.
The content, goals, and objectives of the program are drawn from and align to the Georgia Professional
Standards Commission’s Draft (Fall 2009) Teacher Leader Endorsement program. Please see Exhibit
A.
Teacher Leader Endorsement
January 2010
3. (Institutional Standards) Specify candidate proficiencies to be demonstrated and assessed during
the program.
The Teacher Leadership Endorsement program is an interdisciplinary program, with courses and
assessments linked to the PSC Rule for Teacher Leadership (505-3-.73).
4.
(Assessment System) Identify (chart is preferable) the unit and program assessments that will be
used to determine if candidates meet proficiencies and standards. Limit the total number of
assessments to eight. See example of a chart template on next page.
Assessments are linked to activities linked to the draft PSC Teacher Leadership Endorsement program.
See Exhibit B.
5.
(Field Experiences) Describe required field experiences and clinical practices that help candidates
develop knowledge and skills in helping all students learn. Include how field experiences will be
assessed and be intensive and extensive enough to demonstrate that candidates: 1) demonstrate
the proficiencies in the professional roles, 2) reflect on their work, and 3) impact student learning.
The Teacher Leader Endorsement is a nine (9) semester hour program, consisting of three (3) courses.
Each course contains an embedded field experience requiring educators to demonstrate classroomacquired proficiencies in a school environment. The courses are – in sequence – EDL 7100 (Teacher
Leadership in Urban Settings); EDUC 7725 (Best Practices in Teaching and Learning in Content Area);
and EDL 7305 (Data Analysis and School Improvement).
Building upon adult learning theory, each course in the endorsement program contains at least
embedded field experience requiring application of classroom-acquired concepts in the school
environment. For example, approximately seventy-five percent (75%) of the coursework required in
EDL 7100 either directly or indirectly has a field experience component. Assignments in EDL 7100
include a leadership evaluation requiring interviewing school stakeholders regarding effective leadership
practices in the school, a school improvement plan analysis requiring educators to study and align their
school improvement plan with specific learning goals, an internal and external school environment
(culture) audit, and professional learning assessment requiring educators to evaluate and align
professional learning to specific learning goals. The field-based assignments typically require students
to prepare and submit more forty (40) pages of individual narrative work for instructor and peer
evaluation. In EDL 7305, educators complete virtually every assignment using authentic demographic
and student performance data from their schools and school systems. In EDUC 7725, educators must
consider and evaluate their own teaching performance, analyzing it against research-based best practices
in their specific teaching content field. All three of the field-based assessments require educators to
identify and evaluate research-based best practices for improving student learning and achievement.
In all classes, students must log and reflect upon their work, identifying how classroom practice is
integrated into student performance tasks. The log is evaluated and commented upon by the instructor.
6.
(Field Experiences and Diversity) Describe how the program ensures that all candidates have
opportunities to work with students with exceptionalities and from diverse populations.
Teacher Leader Endorsement
January 2010
American education is a pluralistic endeavor, and educators must increasingly be prepared to address the
individual and identifiable subgroup needs of learners. While educators could historically rely on de
facto residential patterns to ensure a largely homogenous student population, new growth and enrollment
patterns demonstrate a need for all educators to have experience, strategies and dispositions necessary to
work with varied student and parent groups. As a result, a major focus of the program is to facilitate
teaching and learning in urban settings with culturally and linguistically diverse populations. The
program builds on research in effective theories and strategies for advancing student achievement,
applied through a context of historically underserved populations. Candidates will engage in activities
that facilitate their understanding of how communication, feedback, and coaching techniques are defined
by context and socio-linguistic and socio-economic factors.
Classes in the TL endorsement require students to complete field experiences in diverse settings with
diverse populations and at all P-12 school levels (P-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12). In order to meet these
requirements, students should complete several of field experiences other schools, working
cooperatively with their classmates and instructor(s). Students must document and reflect upon the
diverse settings and various P-12 school levels in which they complete field experiences.
7.
(Technology) Describe how the program ensures candidates can integrate technology in their
practice.
The Teacher Leadership Endorsement program requires candidates to integrate technology into their
professional practice in three major ways. First, all three (3) courses require candidates to use
GeorgiaVIEW Vista as a program management tool, developing presentations, creating word processing
documents, analyzing spreadsheet data, using e-mail to correspond with professors and cohort members,
conducting research on the Internet, using interactive whiteboards, and conducting surveys on the web.
Second, candidates must be able to use technology to improve student learning and meet Georgia
Technology Standards for Educators. During the program, candidates will be provided with
opportunities to explore and use instructional media. They will master use of productivity tools, such as
multimedia facilities, local-net and Internet, and they will develop the confidence to design multimedia
instructional materials, and create WWW resources. Candidates typically communicate with peer
groups through technology, making extensive use of social networking and other Web 2.0
communication tools. This is particularly true for candidates working with team members at school sites
geographically removed from the candidates’ own. EDL 7305 particularly requires candidates to use
Microsoft Excel (or comparable software) to analyze and disseminate student performance data.
Third, all three courses (but particularly EDL 7100 and EDL 7305) make extensive use of electronic
presentations and other instructor-driven educational technology.