Master of Education in Educational Leadership: Foundations of Education
Brief program history:
The M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education (EDF) program has evolved over
the past 10 years in response to student need, resource issues, and the changing field of
Educational Foundations. We offer a M.Ed. emphasis area in Foundations, but most of our time
and resources are devoted to providing service courses throughout the College of Education
(CoE).
One of our undergraduate courses, EDF 200 Introduction to Education, has gone through
tremendous change. In early 1990s, it was taught by 14 different part-time instructors and a
few full-time faculty members. In 1995-96, EDF 200 was moved to a cable class. This
“experiment” was not very successful in the early years, but became more successful as new
faculty members took on the task of teaching it. In the late 1990s, the change was moved to yet
another format – a large lecture section (with about 200 students) combined with smaller
discussion groups. The student response to this format was outstanding and that is the format
that EDF 200 is still currently offered. However, we now also offer 1-2 smaller sections (about
25 students) at different times in order accommodate various student schedules and course
design preferences. This Introduction to Education course is still a major part of our
undergraduate offering; it is a pre-requisite for all students seeking admission to the College of
Education at NAU.
Also in the late 1990s, a new course called EDF 301w School and Society was developed. This
course was, and still is, an undergraduate educational foundations class that is required by all
students in the College of Education elementary education program. This class serves a large
number of students and, as such, has always been offered in both online and face-to-face
venues. Because it also satisfies NAU’s “junior level writing” requirement (hence the “w”
designation in the course number), it has a cap of 25 students. This class is currently offered by
most full-time faculty, but it is also offered by part-time faculty when full-time faculty cannot
meet the demand required by enrollment numbers.
At the Masters level, EDF offers an introductory course (EDF 500: Cultural Foundations of
Education) that is required of students in a few degree programs. We also offer a series of 600level courses that are disciplinary-based (i.e. Sociology of Education, History of Education,
Philosophy of Education, Comparative and International Education). All of these classes have
been, and continue to be, offered both face-to-face and online by both part-time and full-time
faculty. We also developed two new courses during the past year that are topic-based rather
than discipline-based. One focuses on indigenous educational issues from a foundations
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 1
perspective, and the other focuses on racism and whiteness from a foundations perspective.
Both of these courses serve master’s as well as doctoral students.
And finally, at the doctoral level, EDF offers 4 discipline-based courses at the 700-level
(Educational Sociology, Anthropology of Education, History of Education, and Philosophy of
Education). These courses have been offered in both online and face-to-face formats in the
past, but they are currently all offered in a hybrid format (2 or 3 weekend face-to-face meetings
and online work) to accommodate the needs of the EDL doctoral program.
Historically, and still currently, the EDF program has struggled to balance the competing needs
placed upon the program stemming from the multiple constituencies we serve. We have an
undergraduate service course mission, as well as Master’s-level responsibilities, and a mission
to serve the doctoral programs within the College of Education. Given limited faculty and
financial resources, we have never been able to meet all of these needs with full-time and/or
tenure-track faculty alone. We have relied on part-time and non-tenure-track instructors to
help meet the needs in all three areas, although we have prioritized our time so that our
doctoral courses are almost always offered by full-time tenure-track faculty within the
Foundations program. We currently operate with 5 full-time, tenure-track faculty assigned to
Educational Foundations. However, 4 of those 5 faculty members also have teaching
responsibilities in the areas of Educational Leadership and Educational Research.
Program Description
The Department of Educational Leadership offers a Master’s degree (M.Ed.) with an emphasis
in Educational Foundations. The M.Ed. emphasis in Educational Foundations focuses on
students who want to teach education courses to undergraduates at the college level, or for
students who need a foundational background to become a K-12 an educational consultant,
administer a charter school, etc., or for those who are interested in pursuing a doctorate
degree and then teaching at a higher institution in the Foundations area.
Student Learning Outcomes
Below are the outcomes expected from the graduates of the Educational Leadership,
Foundations of Education emphasis:
Students who complete successfully complete this program are able to use the disciplinary
methods from the Social Foundations of Education, including history, philosophy, sociology,
anthropology, law, comparative and international education, as well as the cross-disciplinary
methods essential to the application of these disciplines to policy studies and analyses.
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 2
They should be able to:
Analyze, and articulate the content of an educational issue within the context of the
importance of education in a democratic society.
Write and speak articulately regarding social philosophical and historical context of critical
education issues, thus exercising the ability to synthesize, and articulate the way different
issues interrelate.
Demonstrate the ability to respond as informed citizen to real examples of critical issues as they
present themselves in a democratic society.
Exercise academic and intellectual judgment in their professional and civic responses to issues
of cultural difference, gender, racial and ethnic diversity.
Critically review education policy documents using the foundational principles of the disciplines
represented by the department.
Critically apply knowledge gained from the Foundations disciplines to specific ethical, practical, and
methodological requirements of education, both public and private, in the United States, and globally.
Describe patterns in education history and the significance of these patterns in contemporary
education, especially to explain American education history in the context of the social history
of the United States.
Apply appropriate methods from among the disciplines to do research and, including analysis of
primary sources, ethnographic methods, quantitative analyses, oral history, critical research
methods.
Examine theory from appropriate Foundations disciplines, and develop applications to formal
and non-formal education.
Discuss the complex relations between schooling and society, and in particular, the demands
placed upon schooling in a democratic, pluralistic, and multicultural society.
Show a fundamental understanding of underlying democratic and human rights values in
various educational contexts, including the range of issues which attend to the persistent issues
of fairness and access to education in a democratic society.
Articulate the role of teachers, administrators, and other school professionals, and the rights,
responsibilities, ethics, upon which these roles are built, including the ability to identify the
ideals of the community and the broad ideals of the law, the U.S. constitution, and principles of
Human Rights.
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 3
The emphasis in Educational Foundations requires 36 hours of coursework as follows:

18 hours of required foundations courses

3 hours of research or statistics

6 hours of required leadership skills development courses

9 hours comprising 3 hours in the Graduate Seminar course and 6 hours of thesis work
OR, 9 hours of other selected community college or leadership courses.
These hours are obtained through the following coursework:
FOUNDATIONS: (Select 18 hours from the following)
EDF 630 Foundations of Educational Law
EDF 670 Philosophy of Education
EDF 671 History of American Education
EDF 672 Comparative Education
EDF 673 International Education
EDF 677 Educational Sociology
LEADERSHIP SKILL DEVELOPMENT: (Select 6 hours from the following)
EDL 600 Leadership Skills
EDL 630 Leadership Development
EDL 650 Critical Issues in Educational Leadership
RESEARCH CORE: (Select 3 hours from the following)
EDR 610 Introduction to Research
EPS 525 Introduction to Statistics
GRADUATE SEMINAR AND THESIS OPTION: (9 semester hours)
(May substitute 9 semester hours of community college courses: CC580,
CC680, CC688 OR 9 semester hours of leadership courses: EDL 660, EDL
680, EDL 623 for Graduate Seminar and Thesis.)
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 4
Background Information:
Enrollment
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership – Foundations (PAIR data)
Enrollment Trend: M.Ed. in Educational
Leadership: CC/HE
Total Students Enrolled
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
FY 04
FY 05
FY 06
FY 07
FY 08
FY 09
FY 10
FY 11
FY 12
Unduplicated
0
2
2
9
19
27
23
21
17
Duplicated
0
3
6
15
27
24
24
18
*Duplicated counts were obtained from PAIR data on programs. Unduplicated counts were obtained by using PAIR data for the fall term of each
academic year. Unduplicated count was not available for FY 12.
Graduation Rates
The vast majority of students in the Educational Leadership Master’s Degree program are
located in communities around the state of Arizona. These students work full time in public,
charter and private school while completing courses at extend campus facilities or on-line. Very
few students are full time graduate students. The decline in enrollment since 2006 can be
attributed to a variety of factors, yet most evident are: economic factors for both students and
school districts. Educators at the beginning of their career are the individuals who usually
enroll in master’s degree programs. These early career professional are also the individuals are
most likely to receive reduction in force notification as districts are forced to downsize. Early
career educators have not been willing to commit to the expense of a master’s degree not
knowing if the will have a job in their school district in the future. As school district budgets
have shrunk, so have corresponding funds available to support students taking master’s degree
courses.
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 5
Foundations Degrees Awarded by Location (PAIR data, duplicated count)
Degree
Awarded
Community
Campuses
Flagstaff
Online
Yuma
TOTAL
FY 04
FY 05
0
FY 06
FY 07
FY 08
FY 09
FY 10
FY 11
FY 12
1
5
6
0
3
4
7
0
0
0
1
3
0
0
8
1
1
0
8
1
2
0
3
1
1
1
6
1
1
0
6
2
0
0
9
0
Program Diversity Number of Enrolled Foundations Students by Gender (PAIR data,
unduplicated count; Fall term of each academic year was used for comparative purposes)
Enrollment data indicates that there are twice as many students who are female as male. This is
consistent with trends occurring in our state and nationally. Female participation in the field of
education is increasing as male participation decreases. Ethnic comparisons indicate that our
program is ethnically diverse and serves the needs of our states diverse population. Data
indicates we may be slightly underrepresented by Hispanic students in comparison to Arizona’s
ethnic makeup.
Gender
Female
FY 04
FY 05
FY 06
0
0
0
Male
0
2
2
(100%)
2
TOTAL
0
FY 07
7
FY 08
FY 09
7
15
FY 10
14
FY 11
14
FY 12
11
(78%)
(37%)
(56%)
(61%)
(67%)
(65%)
2
12
12
9
7
6
(100%)
(22%)
(63%)
(44%)
(39%)
(33%)
(35%)
2
9
19
27
23
21
17
Number of Enrolled Foundations Students by Ethnicity (PAIR data, unduplicated count; Fall term
of each academic year was used for comparative purposes)
Race
African
American
Asian
American
Hispanic
FY 04
FY 06
1
FY 07
1
FY 08
1
FY 09
3
FY10
4
FY 11
2
FY 12
1
(50%)
(50%)
(11%)
(5%)
(11%)
(17%)
(10%)
(6%)
0
0
0
0
0
0
Native
American
White
Other/Not
Specified
TOTAL
FY 05
1
0
0
0
1
1
1
(11%)
(5%)
(4%)
1
(6%)
1
3
2
1
1
3
(11%)
(16%)
(7%)
(4%)
(5%)
(18%)
0
0
3
2
3
2
(11%)
(9%)
(14%)
(12%)
1
1
6
14
15
14
14
9
(50%)
(50%)
(66%)
(74%)
(56%)
(61%)
(67%)
(53%)
0
0
0
0
2
2
9
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
19
3
2
1
1
(11%)
(9%)
(5%)
(6%)
27
23
21
17
Page 6
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership: Foundations Self-Study Summary
Relationship to NAU’s mission and strategic goals:
The core EDF undergraduate course is EDF 301w School and Society, and this course fulfills
NAU’s junior-level writing requirement for students. This course is directly tied to NAU’s core
mission of providing an outstanding undergraduate education.
The Foundations program also relates to multiple specific goals in NAU’s strategic plan. Goals 5
and 6 related to diversity, inclusion, and Indigenous communities are evident across our
program and course offerings. All of our courses have foci related to issues of diversity, equity,
and social justice, and we cover issues relevant to Indigenous communities in almost all of our
courses. We also strive to provide learner-centered curriculum and pedagogy (goal 1) in all of
our courses, and we offer courses across the state and have faculty housed in Flagstaff, Mesa,
and Tucson to serve students where they live (goal 2). The EDF program is housed within the
Department of Educational Leadership and, as such, is very tied to distance learning efforts and
NAU’s Extended Campuses. All EDF faculty teach at least one class each semester in a format
other than face-to-face (i.e. online, hybrid, or ITV when it was available). In addition, 2 EDF
faculty members are housed at NAU campuses other than the Mountain campus.
Program quality:
Given limited resources, the EDF faculty have tried to ensure program quality in areas that we
have the capacity to do so. We have developed standard syllabi (and signature assignments and
rubrics where needed) for all courses, and these are distributed to part-time faculty who teach
our courses. In addition, the core faculty members are consulted by the department assistant
chair about any new part-time hires that are made; we review the applicants’ vita and provide
guidance when needed. Although we do offer a degree with an emphasis in Foundations, as is
evident in the numbers above, this is not our central mission. Instead, our central mission is to
provide Foundations courses needed for other degrees within the College of Education. As
such, our focus on program quality primarily lies in ensuring that our service courses are being
taught with rigorous and discipline-appropriate syllabi and materials.
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 7
Faculty Qualification
M.Ed. EDL Foundations
Name
PhD/EdD
Guy Senese
Med/MA
SecEdSoc
MA
PhD/EdPol
DA
Gary Emanuel
Ishmael Munene
PhD Admin/Policy
Frances Riemer
PhD Ed Antrho
Gerald Wood
PhD InstrLdr
Phil
BS
BS
SecEng
B.S.
SecEd
M.Ed/EDL B.S.Forsrv
M.S. ElEd
Angelina Castagno
Mary Dereschewski
M.Ed/Intl
M.S.
SecEd
BA/BS
PhD EdPol
PhD BusAdmin
M.Ed.
EdPol
M.S. Acct
B.A. Phil
B.S. Educ
Yrs K-12
Teaching
Oth K12
4
4
Yrs
HEd
2
18
0.5
4
Notes
24 SBE Cons.
18 Hi # yrs in SBE
16
1
6
24
6
0
0
0
0
18.5
21
6
21 Stat/Math
Mult Prog
115 Eval, stats
EDL Core Faculty Publications and Presentations, 2003-2012
EDL Core
Faculty
Publications
Core Faculty
2003-2012 Authored Book
Journal
Conference
Appendix H
Books
Chapters Publications Presentations
n= 14
22
39
122
249
During the time period 2003 through 2012 the fourteen Educational Leadership core faculty authored 22
books, 39 book chapters, 122 journal publications, and 249 conference presentations (international,
national, state, regional, and local). These are summarized above and can be found in Appendices H,
Core Faculty Publications and Core Faculty Presentations. We consider these numbers to be a
substantial contribution to the field of educational leadership.
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 8
Faculty engagement in research, creative, and professional activities include the following:



Research with local schools and other community organizations
Review and editorial boards on various peer-reviewed and open-access journals
Publications in various journals and edited books, including:
o Castagno, A.E. (2009). “Common sense understandings of equality and social
change: A critical race theory analysis of liberalism at Spruce Middle School.”
International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education. 22(6). Pgs. 755-768.
o Brayboy, B.McK.J. & Castagno, A.E. (2009). “Self determination through selfeducation: Culturally responsive schooling for Indigenous students in the U.S.”
Teaching Education. 20(1) Pgs. 31-53.
o Castagno, A.E. (2009). “Making sense of multicultural education: A synthesis of
the literature.” Multicultural Perspectives. 11(1) Pgs. 43-48.
o Castagno, A.E. (2008). “I don’t want to hear that! Legitimating whiteness through
silence in schools.” Anthropology and Education Quarterly. 39(3). Pgs. 314-333.
o Castagno, A.E. (2008). “Improving academic achievement, but at what cost? The
demands of diversity and equity at Birch Middle School.” Journal of Cases in
Educational Leadership. 11(1). Pgs. 1-9.
o Castagno, A.E. & Brayboy, B.McK.J. (2008). “Culturally responsive schooling for
Indigenous youth: A review of the literature.” Review of Educational Research.
78(4). Pgs. 941-993.
o Lapan, St., Quarteroli, M., & Riemer, F. (2010 in press). Qualitative research: An
introduction to methods and design. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
o Riemer, F. (2001). Working at the margins: Moving off welfare in America.
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press (part of a series on "Power, Social
Identity, and Schooling" edited by Lois Weis).
o Riemer, F. (2010 in press) Addressing ethnographic inquiry. Chapter in S. Lapan,
M.L. Quartaroli, and F. Riemer (Eds.) Qualitative research: An introduction to
methods and designs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
o Riemer, F. (2009). Ethnography Research In S. Lapan, & M.L. Quartaroli (Eds.)
Research Essentials . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
o Riemer, F. (2005). The condition of minority access and participation in Arizona,
2005. The condition of education in Arizona. Arizona Education Policy Initiative.
Phoenix, AZ: Arizona State University.
o Riemer, F. (2004). Connecting and reconnecting to work: Low-income mothers’
participation, past and present, in publicly funded training programs. In S.
Butler, L. Deprez, P. Kahn, & V. Polakow (Eds.) Parenting, work and education:
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 9
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
Low-income mothers in postsecondary education. Albany, NY: State University of
New York Press.
Riemer, F. (in press). Negotiation, Transformation, and Trope: Literacy as
Ecclesiasticism in Botswana. Ethnography.
Riemer, F. (2008). Becoming literate, being human: Adult literacy and moral
reconstruction in Botswana. Anthropology and education quarterly, 39:4.
Riemer, F., & Blasi, M. (2008), Rethinking relationships/reconfiguring teacher
research: Teachers as ethnographers of reservation classrooms and
communities. Action in Teacher Education, Winter 2008.
Goldberg, A., & Riemer, F., (2006) All Aboard Destination Unknown: Sociological
perspectives on educational technology. Educational technology and society. 9:4,
pp. 166-172.
Mitchell, R.W., Wood, G., & Witherspoon, N. (2010). Considering race and space:
Mapping developmental approaches for providing culturally responsive service.
Equity & Excellence in Education, 43(3), pp. 294-309.
Marks, S. U. Lemley, C. K., & Wood, G. K. (2010). The persistent issue of
disproportionality in special education and why it hasn’t gone away. PowerPlay:
A Journal of Education Justice, 2 (1), pp. 4-21.
Senese, G. & Wood, G. (2009, June). ‘Like other kings have:’ A theory of
sovereignty and the persistence of inequality in education. Journal for Critical
Education Policy Studies 7(1), pp. 51-66.
The table below indicates faculty teaching core courses:
EDF Full-Time
Core Faculty
Guy Senese
Gary Emanuel
Ishmael Munene
Frances Riemer
Gerald Wood
Angelina Castagno
Mary Dereschewski
Karyn Blair
Mary Culver
Robert Horn
Rank
EDF Courses Taught/Assigned Lead Faculty
Professor
Professor
Associate
Professor
Professor
Associate
Professor
Associate
Professor
Professor
Assistant
Professor
Assistant
Professor
Associate
Professor
EDF 670
EDF 671
EDF 672, 673
EDR 610
EDF 677, EDF 703
EDF 677
EDF 677
EDR 610
EDL 600, EDL 650
EDL 630
EPS 525
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 10
Evidence of Teaching Effectiveness and Innovation
Course Evaluations
Student course evaluations for the Foundations courses vary greatly. Below are course
evaluations for Spring 2010 and Fall 2011 core courses in the program with response rates and
5-point Likert scale ratings on two variables: the course increased my knowledge in this area
and the course was worthwhile. A “5” is an excellent rating and a “1” is unsatisfactory.
The chair and assistant chair of the educational Leadership department review both full and
part-time faculty student course rating on a semester basis. Course ratings over 4.0 are
generally considered acceptable. Ratings over 4.5 are general considered outstanding. A
cursory review of the master’s degree courses listed indicates improvement required in EDR610
(one of the beginning courses in the program which many students find difficult) and EDF672
(taught infrequently). During 2011 EDF672 was revised to be delivered as an online course and
the Lead instructor is working out the bugs. As noted above, EDR 610 is often our masters
students first experience with an online course. Additionally, EDR610 has the highest number
of classes offered each semester by part-time instructors. The EDL department will be discussing
means of raising student satisfaction in EDR 610 through an analysis of available data and then apply
intervention strategies.
Courses considered outstanding by student reviews are EDL671. We are working on ways to
improve response rates to be 50% as a minimum.
FOUNDATIONS
Course Number and Title
EDF 630 Foundations of Education Law
Sections
Taught
2011-12
5
Response
Rate
(range)
35%
Increased
Knowledge
Course
Worthwhile
4.25
4.23
4.24
4.09
4.67
4.56
3.96
3.91
Not Taught in
2011-12
4.43
Not Taught
in 2011-12
4.32
(6-52(%)
EDF 670 Philosophy of Education
8
31%
(0-56%)
EDF 671 History of American Education
8
52%
(0-100%)
EDF 672 Comparative Education
3
43%
(13-90%)
EDF 673 International Education
n/a
n/a%
(%)
EDF 677 Education Sociology
4
48%
(33-67%)
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 11
LEADERSHIP SKILLS
Course Number and Title
EDL 600 Leadership Skills
Sections
Taught
2011-12
18
Response
Rate
(range)
50%
Increased
Knowledge
Course
Worthwhile
4.37
4.25
4.31
4.40
4.21
4.13
Increased
Knowledge
Course
Worthwhile
3.80
3.71
4.43
4.42
(11-100%)
EDL 630 Leadership Development
7
80%
(33-100%)
EDL 650 Critical Issues in Educational
Leadership
RESEARCH
Course Number and Title
EDR 610 Introduction to Research
12
35%
(0-57%)
Sections
Taught
2011-12
28
Response
Rate
(range)
50%
(0-100%)
EPS 525 Introduction to Statistics
12
48%
(26-65%)
Faculty Contributions to Discipline or Profession through Scholarly, Creative or Professional Activity
The faculty members in the EDF program are very active within professional organizations,
community efforts, campus-based initiatives, and scholarly production.
Contributions to the University: (summary of service)
The EDF faculty serve on: 10 college and university committees; 2 councils; 3 commissions; and
2 NAU associations
Contributions To the Community, State, and Region: (summary of service)
The EDF faculty contribute to the Flagstaff community by serving on City Council commissions
that address equity and educational issues; State associations dealing with a cadre of
educational missions; and numerous Regional and National Associations
Assessment of Student Learning/Success
Student learning outcomes and success are mainly determined by course grades. Educational
Leadership Constituents Council (ELCC) standards serve as the cornerstone of all of our EDL
master’s degree programs. Achievement of course objectives relating to ELCC standards serve
as the basis for student grades. Additionally, the majority of courses utilize a signature
assignment, measurement of student dispositions and field experiences in determining course
grades.
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 12
Mentoring and Research Activity of Graduate Students
One important strength of the Educational Leadership department is the mentor/faculty
relationship which is established with each student individually. Faculty members who teach in
the Educational Leadership department (both full-time and part-time) have been or currently
are practicing foundations, school and university leaders. They are current and are leading by
example. Faculty members are able to blend the theoretical concepts of leadership into
practical application activities for students. Faculty members are located throughout the state
so that students have ample opportunities to access faculty who serve as their mentors.
Faculty mentors are able to assist students with research projects that are occurring in their
schools, school districts and job settings.
Strategic plans for the future:
The faculty members in the EDF are considering a number of ideas for the future development
of the program. We’ve discussed, for example, possibly developing an EDF doctoral program.
We’ve also talked about course development ideas as well as our need for a faculty member
who specializes in international and/or comparative education. It seems much of our time has
been in reactive efforts to defend the need for Foundations coursework within the College of
Education and across campus. Just over the past two years, we have responded to at least five
different program proposals seeking to eliminate Foundations coursework from programs of
study.
Future improvements for the M.Ed. in Educational Leadership: Foundations of Education fall
into four broad categories: Students, faculty/staff, program enhancements, and program
delivery system.
Students:
1. Develop strategies for targeted recruitment of program candidates to grow program
enrollment. The M.Ed. in EDL: Foundations program is a relatively new program in the
College, having only been established in the 2004-2005 academic year. Throughout its
history, the program has generated a moderate level of interest and enrollment. During
the next seven years, the program faculty and department administration would like to
work closely with the NAU Graduate College to develop strategies for identifying
potential candidates and recruiting them to the program in order to enhance the
program candidate pool.
2. Increase the diversity of the candidate pool. While the candidate pool in the M.Ed. in
EDL: Foundations is more diverse than many programs in the College, a variance of one
student would significantly skew the diversity of the candidates. Over 50% of the
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 13
current candidates identify themselves as white. As part of the plans to develop
specific, targeted recruitment strategies, the faculty members and College
administration will work with the NAU Graduate College and the Office of Marketing to
develop strategies to recruit diverse candidates for this program. Of specific interest
would be to increase the proportion of candidates from Native American and Hispanic
backgrounds (College of Education goals 4 & 5; NAU Goal 6).
Faculty/Staff
1. Need for a faculty member with expertise in international and comparative education.
The program faculty members exhibit a diverse range of expertise and experience.
Generally, faculty members who teach in the program are able to teach a variety of
courses, thereby providing coverage of the program courses across the curriculum. One
exception to this is in the area of international education and/or comparative education.
With the retirement and loss of faculty members due to resignation or relocation during
this review period, the program no longer has faculty members who can address these
two content areas (only one faculty member in the department has this expertise;
however, his primary assignment is in other curricular areas, limiting his availability to
teach these courses). Thus, the department must recruit part-time faculty members to
provide instructional coverage for these courses. Even then, it has been very difficult to
identify an instructor/faculty member to teach the course on international education (as
shown by the course not being taught during the most recent academic year). The
department will explore options to with other programs within the college or across
campus and/or the possibility of adding a tenure or non-tenure track position
specializing on international and comparative education.
Program
1. Identify intersections of foundations coursework with programs within the college of
education and across campus. Of particular concern during the most recent efforts for
improving the efficiency of programs and course offerings has been the pattern of
removing graduate-level foundations coursework from programs in an effort to reduce
the overall credit hours of master’s degree programs, both within the College of
Education and across the NAU campus. To actively address this trend, while also
responding to the university efforts to streamline program offerings, the faculty
members of the foundations area will work with curriculum areas to identify
intersections of foundations content with the student learning outcomes and program
goals of the various graduate programs within the College of Education and across
campus.
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 14
2. Develop a set of student learning/program learning outcomes. The M.Ed. in EDL:
Foundations program currently does not have a set of student learning outcomes
and/or program learning goals. The faculty members in the foundations area will work
with the Office of Curriculum, Learning Design, and Academic Assessment to develop a
comprehensive set of program/student learning goals for this program.
3. Develop a comprehensive and rigorous assessment system for the M. Ed. in Educational
Leadership. At present, the program uses course grades to assess the effectiveness of
the program. Faculty members of the foundations curriculum area will work with the
Office of Curriculum, Learning Design, and Academic Assessment to craft a
comprehensive and rigorous assessment system that is aligned to major program
learning outcomes , samples student learning/success across the program, is articulated
with university-level learning outcomes, and includes an electronic system to gather key
artifacts of student learning and evaluate these artifacts to determine the extent to
which candidates demonstrate the major program learning outcomes.
Delivery System
1. Due to the relatively small numbers of students enrolled in the program, the
Educational Leadership- Foundations Faculty are reviewing data and they are involved in
discussions to determine how to increase enrollment numbers. Included in these
discussions will be representatives from extended campuses who are key to the
marketing and promotion of the degree. Offering hybrid courses with meetings
throughout the state is one possibility.
M.Ed. in Educational Leadership-Foundations of Education
Page 15