Stony Brook University’s Professional Education Program
Conceptual Framework – Abridged Version
PEP Vision
To be a global leader in the professional development of educators by creating
diverse learning environments that underscore the symbiosis of research, teaching,
life-long learning, community service, and leadership.
PEP's vision has emerged from collaboration across disciplines through a meeting of minds, diverse
academic perspectives, and cumulative professional expertise and experience. It encapsulates the
diverse perspectives that forge our professional community and delineates our shared vision and goals
that drive our practices at Stony Brook University. Our vision incorporates the knowledge and
experience of our colleagues in P-12 schools, our alumni, educational leadership candidates, and
teacher candidates across disciplines. PEP’s vision is grounded in three major themes. These are
deeply rooted within our practices and guide our vision. They guide our reflective practices, support
our professional endeavors, and provide a strong foundation for renewal as we branch out into the
community.
PEP Themes
Professional Excellence and Growth
Community and Diversity
Leadership and Service
PEP Mission
To realize our vision and help our educational leadership candidates and teacher candidates develop
the knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of developing the higher-level thinking skills of an
increasingly diverse student population, we have identified a number of concrete mission objectives,
which must be realized. The mission of PEP is aligned with Stony Brook University's mission. It is
also aligned with the State University of New York’s mission and vision for teacher education, and
effective leadership with New York State standards for educators and programs, as well as with
national, and professional standards.
1. Provide discipline-based professional education of the highest quality for
undergraduate and graduate teacher candidates and administrators.
2. Integrate research and theories of the disciplines with diverse field experiences, and
create educators who will continue to grow and synergistically combine evolving
expert knowledge with pedagogy that exceeds state, national, and professional
standards.
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3. Integrate diversity into the academic and clinical experiences to enhance the
continuous cross fertilization of ideas.
4. Build and strengthen partnerships within the University and with the regional
community.
5. Provide leadership and professional development for the educational community of
the region and beyond.
PEP Performance Outcomes for Educational Leadership Candidates
The educator, believing in the worth and dignity of each human being, recognizes
the supreme importance of the pursuit of truth, devotion to excellence, and the
nurture of the democratic principles. Essential to these goals is the protection of
freedom to learn and to teach, and the guarantee of equal educational opportunity
for all. The educator accepts the responsibility to adhere to the highest ethical
standards.
(Preamble to the Code of Ethics of the Education Profession, NEA, 1975)
We have established the following performance outcomes to help guide and direct our
curriculum and instruction and to provide standards that the educational leader must meet if
they are to manage change and create collaborative action on behalf of student outcomes.
The performance outcomes for educational leaders are aligned with the mission of Stony
Brook University and that of its Professional Education Program. They are also aligned with
the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium, the New York State standards, and
NCATE standards for educational leadership certification. We strive to prepare educational
leadership candidates who can:
1. Design and execute educational systems to promote higher levels of student
achievement.
2. Develop and implement an educational vision, or build and sustain an existing
one, for assisting all students to meet State learning standards.
3. Collaboratively identify goals and objectives for achieving the educational
vision, seeking and valuing diverse perspectives and alternative points of
view, and building understanding through direct and precise questioning.
4. Communicate and work effectively with parents, staff, students, community
leaders, and other community members from diverse backgrounds providing
clear, accurate written and spoken information that publicizes the school’s
goals, expectations, and performance results, and builds support for improving
student achievement.
5. Lead comprehensive, long-range planning, informed by multiple data sources,
to determine the present state of the school, identify root causes of problems,
propose solutions, and validate improvements with regard to all aspects of the
school.
6. Effect any needed educational change through ethical decision-making based
upon factual analysis, even in the face of opposition.
7. Establish accountability systems for achieving educational goals and
objectives.
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8. Set a standard for ethical behavior by example, encouraging initiative,
innovation, collaboration, mutual respect, and a strong work ethic.
9. Develop staff capability for addressing student learning needs by effective
supervision and evaluation of teachers, by effective staff assignments, support,
and mentoring, and by providing staff with opportunities for continuous
professional development.
10. Create the conditions necessary to provide a safe, healthy, and supportive
learning environment for all students and staff.
11. Establish budgets and manage finances and facilities to support achievement
of educational goals and objectives.
12. Interact and communicate effectively with local, state, and federal
representatives, applying statutes and regulations as required by law, and
implementing school policies in accordance with law.
13. Maintain a personal plan for self-improvement and continuous learning.
Pathways for Excellence in Educational Leadership: Research, Reflection,
and Partnership
Our steps incessantly
create as we go
immense spirals
of unfolding pathways.
From Floating Bridges
by Federico Garcia Lorca (Spanish 1899-1936)
The vision educational leaders instill in their staff emanates from their own educational experiences.
When the educational leadership program engages candidates in interdisciplinary inquiry, experiential
and diverse collaborative partnerships, reflective practice, and focused goals, educational leadership
candidates are more likely to create such learning environments for their staff once they embark on
their own professional careers. Stony Brook’s distributed model of educational leadership preparation
promotes research, reflection, partnership, and pursuit of a vision in all aspects of its programs. It
provides faculty and educational leadership candidates with rich contexts for research-based
investigation and discourse within and across disciplines. It offers diverse contexts for fieldwork,
clinical practice, and community service experiences, and channels for reflective practice. These
cumulative experiences enhance leadership skills and guide the formulation of a personalized
professional vision. The cumulative experiences in the educational leadership program focus on three
important dimensions:
1. Awareness: acquiring concepts, information, definitions, and procedures.
2. Understanding: interpreting knowledge to school environments, integrating
concepts with practice, and using knowledge and skills in context.
3. Capability: applying knowledge and skills to specific problems of practice.
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