KENNESAW STATE UNIVERSITY
GRADUATE PROGRAM/CONCENTRATION PROPOSAL
FORM 02/25/04
PROGRAM OR CONCENTRATION NAME:__Master’s of Education Program
DEPARTMENT:_ Elementary and Early Childhood Education
PROPOSED EFFECTIVE DATE: Summer 2011
Check One or More of the Following and Complete the Appropriate Sections
_____New Program Proposal**
___*__Change in Program/Concentration/Degree Requirements
_____New Concentration Proposal
Sections to be Completed
All
III – VII, XII
I – VII, XII
**A new course proposal is required for each new course that is part of the new program
Submitted by:
______________________________________________________
Faculty Member
Date
___ Approved ___ Not Approved
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Department Curriculum Committee
Date
___ Approved ___ Not Approved
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Department Chair
Date
___ Approved ___ Not Approved
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College Curriculum Committee
Date
___ Approved ___ Not Approved
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College Dean
Date
___ Approved ___ Not Approved
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GPCC Chair
Date
___ Approved ___ Not Approved
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Dean, Graduate College
Date
___ Approved ___ Not Approved
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Vice President for Academic Affairs
Date
___ Approved ___ Not Approved
______________________________________________________
President
Date
UNIVERSITY SYSTEM OF GEORGIA
NEW GRADUATE PROGRAM PROPOSAL
TITLE
Kennesaw State University
DATE
DEPARTMENT
COLLEGE
Proposed Start Date:
CIP:______
Title
Description
Date
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I.
Program Description
Unique Aspects of Program
Institutional Importance of the Program
KSU's Strategic Plan
System and State of Georgia Goals
Staffing, Facilities and Enrollment
II
Objectives of the Program
III Justification and Need for the Program
Discussion




Appropriate specialization
Quantity of graduates
Productivity
Partnering.
 Placement
Proposed Revisions:
Written and approved by the M.Ed. faculty members within ECE, this program revision has occurred
through a demanding two-year process. These are the proposed changes: 1) change the admissions
policy to allow certified applicants to enter the program who have not taught a year full-time; 2)
change those courses that needed more academic rigor; 3) allow endorsement courses to become a
regular part of the M.Ed. curriculum. These changes should improve the program and increase
enrollment.
The admissions would change to state that the M.Ed. Program in Elementary and Early Childhood
Education would prefer to accept applicants with a minimum of one year of full-time teaching
experience. Furthermore, the program will accept applicants with a clear, renewable teaching
certificate from Georgia and from other states. The two letters of reference required of applicants may
come from school administrators or university faculty members/administrators. This change will
allow us to bring the considerable energy that new teachers bring to any program. It will also make
the program more attractive to a wider pool of potential applicants.
In keeping with pending, stronger rules from the Professional Standards Commission, this revised
program has more emphasis on content area courses. This version has a stand-alone course for math
and for science; these two content areas are combined together in one course in the current M.Ed.
Program. The current combined language arts and social studies course is revised to add an emphasis
Title
Description
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on strengthening the formal writing expertise of graduate students, a need identified by the Advanced
Program Coordinators from the Bagwell College.
In the existing program, students take ECE 7550: Prospectus Completion, ECE 7551 Portfolio
Completion, and ECE 7560: Accomplished Instructional Leader (capstone course). With students’
increasing comfort with technology and with the realization that the student steering committee was
doing the bulk of the conference preparation, we have decided to combine the vital aspects of these
courses into a revised capstone course, ECE 7560: Capstone Course for E-portfolio and Conference.
The revised capstone course retains the technology and conference aspects contained in ECE 7550
and 7551. This frees up space for the embedded endorsement courses, and thus makes the proposed
program more academically rigorous than the current program. Additionally, the revised program has
the final draft of the research project due during the third semester in the Research III course instead
of the current final [fourth] semester in a Research IV that will not exist in the revised program.
Finally, in accordance with the university’s Quality Enhancement Plan: Global Learning for All
Graduates, the revised diversity course now includes global education.
The proposed changes make our program more academically rigorous and more relevant for 21 st
century students.
IV Procedures Used to Develop the Program
For two years, the Assistant Chair and the Graduate Program Coordinator met with the M.Ed. faculty
in three meetings to draft the original revision, which the faculty approved in January 2010. This
process involved the faculty in reading hundreds of possible graduate program objectives, selecting
those most suited to the master’s program, then voting on these objectives. In spring 2010, the Dean
of the Bagwell College of Education approved a pilot program in which the two summer 2010 cohorts
took reading endorsement courses as part of their M.Ed. course offerings. The success of this pilot
program led the faculty to re-convene in another series of meetings, rewriting the revised M.Ed.
Program to add three elective courses to be used as endorsement courses. Finally, the low application
numbers for the program and the desire to bring new energy to the program caused the faculty
members to vote to accept applicants who do not have a full year of teaching experience.
V Curriculum: Degree Program Requirements
Catalog description
Masters of Education Program
Elementary and Early Childhood Education: Grades Pre-kindergarten through Five
The M.Ed. in Early Education is designed specifically for Accomplished Classroom Instructional
Leaders. The program allows candidates in Elementary education (P-5) to earn a M.Ed. Degree in
four semesters. The program is delivered using a variety of formats, which may include distance
learning; face-to-face instruction that uses best practices in teaching and learning; cohort grouping;
and field-based projects. All of these practices are tied to principles from the National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards and school improvement plans. The final phase of the program
involves candidates in a capstone experience. For the culmination of the program, candidates
complete their development of a professional portfolio that includes evidence relevant to many of the
National Board Certification requirements.
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Description
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Candidates are strongly urged to contact the program coordinator or cohort coordinator prior to the
first semester of study to plan their programs, especially any endorsement courses that they may wish
to take.
Program Admission Requirements:
Revised Admissions Requirements:

Complete the On-line Graduate Application.

Obtain and submit official transcripts from EACH college attended, including those institutions
where degrees were NOT earned. Official transcripts are those in a university sealed envelope.
Your transcripts should reflect at least a Bachelor's degree with at least a 2.75 GPA (on a 4.0
scale).

Obtain and submit a copy of your valid Teaching Certificate P-5
(clear renewable only). You must hold certification in Early Childhood or Elementary Education to
be considered for this program.

Obtain and submit TWO Administrator Recommendation Forms. These forms and their
directions are located in the online graduate application above. Please do not submit letters of
recommendation. Only the forms located via the graduate application will be accepted. These two
forms of recommendation MUST come from an educational professional who has taught or
supervised your work and who can write with authority about your abilities as an educator. Obtain
and submit Personal Statement (form provided).

Obtain and submit Letter of Commitment (form provided).
Course Offering Schedule and Plan-of-Study
The Proposed M.Ed. Curriculum in ECE
Growth and Flexibility
The plan is that the program will continue to grow, gaining more applicants with its new flexibility,
allowing candidates to take endorsement courses while earning a Master’s Degree. The department
hopes too that candidates in endorsement-only programs will consider applying to the Master’s
Program.
Future plans include offering at least one online cohort every year. This popular format will better
meet students’ needs and should attract many new applicants, including applicants from outside the
north Georgia region.
Title
Description
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Chart of Proposed Course Changes for
Revised M.Ed. in Elementary Education
Key: Current Courses, New Courses, Existing Courses not in the current M.Ed. that will be used in the
Proposed Revised M.Ed., Courses in the existing M.Ed. that will be revised for the Proposed Revised M.Ed.
Courses from Current M.Ed.
Program
Semester
Offered
ECE 7511: Inquiry:
Educational Research and
Prospectus
Summer I Continue to use this existing course and add the
Roman numeral I to it for clarity: ECE 7511:
Inquiry: Educational Research and Prospectus I
ECE 7512: Inquiry: Best
Instructional and Curricular
Practices & Multiple
Assessment Strategies
ECE 7513: Diverse
Environmental Influences on
Achievement
ECE 7514: Inquiry:
Essentials of Technology
Strategies and Skills &
Introduction to E-portfolio
Summer I Replaced by an elective chosen from one of the
endorsement/certificate programs (i.e. reading,
ESOL, coaching, etc.).
Fall
Revised Title and Content:
ECE 7513: Diversity and Global Education.
Summer I Continue to use this existing course.
ECE 7530: Integrated
Models of Instruction II
Fall
ECE 7531: Research and
Implementation in
Classroom I
Fall
ECE 7540: Integrated
Models of Instruction II
Spring
ECE 7541: Research and
Implementation in
Classroom II
Spring
ECE 7542: Multimedia
Spring
Title
Description
Date
Status of the Course in the Proposed M.Ed.
Program
This course has been revised to include writing
instruction. New title:
ECE 7530: Integrated Models of Instruction I
– Language Arts and Social Studies.
It may be replaced by an elective chosen from one
of the endorsement/certificate programs (i.e.
reading, ESOL, coaching, etc.).
Continue to use the existing course and replace
Roman numeral I with a II to it for clarity: ECE
7531: Research and Implementation in the
Classroom II.
Replaced by an elective chosen from one of the
endorsement/certificate programs (i.e. reading,
ESOL, coaching, etc.).
This course is replaced by the following new
course:
ECE 7543: Research III.
This course is replaced by the following new
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Presentation and E-portfolio
Development Skills
ECE 7550: Prospectus
Completion
Summer
II
ECE 7551: Portfolio
Completion
Summer
II
ECE 7560: Accomplished
Instructional Leader
Summer
II
Totals:
Existing courses used with no changes:
Existing courses revised for proposed
new program:
Existing courses not used in the current
program that will be used in the
proposed new program:
New courses:
Courses in embedded
Endorsement/Certificate Programs
Total Courses:
course:
ECE 7525: Teaching Number, Operations, and
Algebraic Thinking (P-5)
This course content, plus that from ECE 7551 and
7560, is combined into a single revised course,
ECE 7560: Capstone Course for the E-portfolio
and Conference. The 3 hours saved is used for an
existing course that is new to the current M.Ed.
program: ECE 7706: Trends and Issues in
Science for Early Childhood Education.
This course content, plus that from ECE 7551 and
7560, is combined into a single revised course,
ECE 7560: Capstone Course for the E-portfolio
and Conference. The 3 hours saved is used for an
elective chosen from one of the
endorsement/certificate programs (i.e. reading,
ESOL, coaching, etc.).
This course content, plus that from ECE 7551 and
7560, is combined into a single revised course,
ECE 7560: Capstone Course for the E-portfolio
and Conference.
3
3
1
2
3
12
Course Descriptions
Courses that are not being changed are listed above and their course descriptions appear in the
Graduate Catalog online. The course descriptions for the new and revised courses appear in the
syllabi sent with this proposal.
VI INVENTORY OF FACULTY DIRECTLY INVOLVED
COURSE/INSTRUCTOR SUPPORT DEPTH
Title
Description
Date
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FACULTY DEVELOPMENT
FACULTY RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
The Assistant Chair and the Graduate Program Coordinator met with the M.Ed. faculty to draft the
original revision, which the faculty approved in January 2010. This process involved the faculty in
reading hundreds of possible graduate program objectives, selecting those most suited to the master’s
program, then voting on these objectives. In spring 2010, the Dean of the Bagwell College of
Education approved a pilot program in which the two summer 2010 cohorts took reading
endorsement courses as part of their M.Ed. course offerings. The success of this pilot program led the
faculty to re-convene in another series of meetings, rewriting the revised M.Ed. Program to add three
elective courses to be used as endorsement courses. Finally, the low application numbers for the
program caused the faculty members to vote to accept applicants who do not have a full year of
teaching experience.
The graduate program coordinator and cohort coordinator mentor new faculty members and make
sure that they understand the program policies, receive a syllabus and texts, and learn the important
goals of the courses and program. These procedures will be implemented for faculty new to the
courses under revision.
This program supports and furthers faculty research by expecting faculty members to teach research
and to work in collaboration with other university and school faculty.
VII
Outstanding programs of this nature at other institutions
Survey and comparative analysis.
Unique Features of KSU’s program:
This program is typical of the M.Ed. Programs offered in Georgia. It has the advantage of
embedding endorsement courses in the program.
VIII Inventory of pertinent library resources
IX Facilities
X
Administration
XI Assessment
Title
Description
Date
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XII Accreditation – already meets the standards
Business Content Audit:
Referencing the Business Content Worksheet, does this program or concentration, incorporating
the information proposed herein, have “traditional business subject” content delivered by faculty
or programs administered by the Coles College of Business? *
_____ Yes
If “yes,” complete a Business Content Worksheet and obtain necessary
approvals as indicated.
__X___ No
_____ Exempt Graduate programs administered by the Coles College are exempt.
__________
*
All graduate programs exceeding 50% business content are automatically required to meet AACSB
International business accreditation standards. The purpose of the audit is to prevent the unintended,
undesirable compulsory inclusion of programs subject to AACSB standards.
XIII
Affirmative Action Impact
XIV
Degree Inscription
XV
Fiscal and Enrollment Impact, and Estimated Budget
1. ENROLLMENT PROJECTIONS
2. COSTS
A. Personnel -- reassigned or existing positions
B. Personnel -- new positions
C. One-Time Startup costs
D. Operating Costs
3. REVENUE SOURCES
Title
Description
Date
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