Educational Leadership
Master of Education Program and Principal
Professional
Certification Preparation Program Guidelines
01-30-2014
Graduate Education and Research
College of Education
Texas Tech University
Box 41071
Lubbock, TX 79409-1071
(806) 742-1997
Fax (806) 742-2197
www.educ.ttu.edu
Program Overview
The Educational Leadership program faculty have conceptualized a new 36-hour, two-year program of
studies for our Master's and Principal Professional Certification program. This program design re-thinking
has resulted in a program that will prepare performance-ready principals for struggling schools, who
want to turn around schools as an elementary, middle school, or secondary principal.
Requirements for admission:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Two years of teaching experience
Demonstrated record of student improvement
Bachelor's Degree
Disposition to be a turn around school leader
The EDLD faculty pledge to teach students to be principals who:
1) go into schools and tell faculty that things are not going to be the same,
2) identify beliefs that hold back change,
3) cultivate culturally responsive school environments,
4) go into schools and cultivate high-performing teachers/teacher teams,
5) create dissatisfaction with the status quo,
6) cultivate interdisciplinary cooperation around TEKS,
7) create disruption of existing school and community norms,
8) hire the right candidates, and
9) manage teacher performance.
The following T-chart illustrates our goal, the desired skills, and knowledge that we expect our students to
acquire and to demonstrate with increasing competency throughout the two-year period.









Skills
Creating culture for reform
Create awareness things
are not going to be the 
same
Identify beliefs that hold
back change
Cultivate culturally

responsive school
environments
Build relationships that
Achieve Results
Cultivate high performing
teachers/teacher teams 
Create dissatisfaction with
status quo
Cultivate interdisciplinary
cooperation around TEKS
Manage
people/processes/climate

Create disruption of
existing school &
community norms

Hire the right candidate
Manage teacher
performance
Assessments
Products
Evaluation Criteria
Rubric containing: 
Articulation of reform
vision
Sharing data with

stakeholders

Communication of
difficult message
Engaged Teachers
Greater buy-in over
(evidence of buy-in to
time among teachers
turn-around efforts)
and stakeholders
Student achievement
 Increased student
Positive beliefs held by
achievement (90 in a
stakeholders
90/90 school)
 Greater buy-in over
Retention of effective
time among teachers
teachers
Rubric containing:
and stakeholders
 Student achievement
Functioning of PLC/TAP
 Increased student
 Positive beliefs held by
rubric
achievement (90 in a
stakeholders
90/90 school)
 High-quality
 3 or above on TAP
instruction
rubric
Rubric containing:
 Lower raters of turnBehaviors aimed at
over
balancing complaints Teachers (evidence of
 Increased student
and compliance
buy-in to turn-around
achievement (90 in a
Awareness of decision efforts)
90/90 school)
biases
 Student achievement
 3 or above on TAP
TAP rubric
rubric

Admissions and Advisement Procedures
Requirements for admission:
1) Two years of teaching experience
2) Demonstrated record of student improvement
3) Bachelor's Degree
4) Disposition to be a turn around school leader
To join us, follow the simple two steps below:
The Graduate School
1)
First, you must apply to the Graduate School at http://cms.educ.ttu.edu/ or
at http://www.depts.ttu.edu/gradschool/admissions/how.php. You submit the following to the Graduate School.
a)
An application to the Graduate school.
b)
Official transcripts
2)
Be admitted to the Graduate School
The College of Education, Educational Leadership Program
3)
Second, apply to the College of Education EDLD program at http://cms.educ.ttu.edu/. Submit all EDLD
program materials to this site. You submit the following:
a)
an up-to-date professional resume,
b)
two letters of recommendation,
c)
a statement of professional goals that should include reasons why you are interested in the program.
Student applications will be reviewed by program faculty on an ongoing basis for a Fall or Spring semester start
date.
Notification of acceptance. The official letter of acceptance or rejection will be sent by the Office of
Graduate Admissions. Admission is competitive; not all applicants will be admitted.
Appeal process. Applicants who are not accepted into the master’s program in educational leadership may
appeal the Education Leadership program faculty's decision. The first level of appeal is to reapply to the program,
addressing the program faculty's reasons for rejection, as delineated in the notification of the rejection letter. If an
applicant is still rejected by the Educational Leadership program faculty, the next level of appeal is the College of
Education Graduate Academic Affairs Committee. In making an appeal to the Graduate Academic Affairs
Committee, the applicant must address the Educational Leadership program faculty's reasons for rejection as
defined in the previous letters. If the applicant's appeal is denied by the College of Education Graduate Academic
Affairs Committee, there is no further recourse for admission.
Additional Information and Suggestions
Other important issues such as registration, financial assistance, ethics, and appeals procedures are
outlined in the Texas Tech University Graduate Catalog, College of Education Student Handbook, and
the Education Student Handbook. Those can be accessed from our website.
What Happens After Acceptance
The program of studies begins in the fall or spring semester and continues with two courses each semester for the
next two years. Upon admission into the program, you are appointed an advisor who assists you with the process
of developing an endorsement plan (for certification) and a degree plan (for graduation). When necessary,
students can file degree plan changes at any time in the two-year program of studies. Because program faculty
designed this program of studies to instill specific sets of skills and knowledge, only six hours of transfer credit may
be transferred from another accredited university principal preparation program. In addition, the year-long
internship must be taken at TTU.
Master's and Principal Certification Program of Study
Phase 1 (P1) Courses:
EDLD 5306 School-based Leadership
EDLD 5310 Instructional Supervision
EDLD 5320 Data-driven Communication
EDLD 5340 Educational Law
EDLD 5361 Process of Educational Change
Phase 2 (P2) Courses:
EDLD 5325 Decision Making in Educational Leadership
EDLD 5350 School Personnel and Fiscal Management
EDLD 5351 Communication for School Leaders
Phase 3 (P3) Courses:
EDLD 5370 Implementation Challenges in Educational Leadership
EDLD 5385 Teams in Educational Leadership
EDLD 5392A Principal Internship – First Semester
EDLD 5392B Principal Internship – Second Semester
Note: Successful completion of the courses above satisfies the academic requirements for
principalship preparation in Texas. Students must also complete Instructional Leadership
Development (ILD) and Professional Development and Supervision (PDAS) training at a
Texas Regional Education Service Center. Students must also pass SBEC's TExES
principal certification exam and have acquired two years of teaching experience to serve as
a Texas school principal.
Note: Principal internship (Field-Based Experience) courses are those in which students
work closely with a College of Education Faculty member as well as a building principal in an
elementary, middle / junior high, or high school campus context. The student will accrue 110
hours of field-based experiences in the first internship semester and another 110 hours of
field-based experiences in the second internship semester.
Other Resources and Suggestions
Before applying, talk to professionals in the K-12 school leadership community to clarify your
understanding of the rewards and demands of school administrative careers. Assess how
your personal strengths and weaknesses may impact your ability to be a school
administrator.