The Master of Arts in Education - Teacher Leader Program

This program provides strong leadership training for candidates who choose to serve as classroom teachers throughout their professional careers. The TL program allows candidates to hone skills to serve as resource teachers, consultants, committee chairs, and instructional leaders among their peers in their schools and districts. For those seeking to be leaders in their own schools and districts, the program prepares candidates to pursue opportunities beyond their own classroom and to focus on skills needed to leverage both internal and external resources that influence student achievement. An underlying philosophy of the program is that student learning is enhanced when schools are filled with instructional leaders who understand and model effective teaching and learning practices and who are able to mentor others to become more effective leaders.

Teacher Leader Master's candidates can select a wide variety of areas of specialization including:

Admission Requirements

(For ALL areas of specialization)

  1. General Admission to graduate study.
  2. An acceptable admission index by meeting any of the following:
    1. GRE score (verbal + quantitative) X undergraduate GPA = 2050(minimum);
    2. Miller Analogies Test (MAT) Scaled Score X undergraduate GPA =980 (minimum);
    3. The test requirement is waived for candidates who have successfully completed a master's degree.
  3. A valid teaching certificate or statement of eligibility.
  4. For candidates selecting the Reading/Writing or School Community Leader areas and also seek National Board Certification, admission to the National Board for Professional Teaching program is also required.

Alternate Admission Requirements

This process requires that the candidate meet the criteria for admission to the Teacher Leader Fifth Year Program as follows:

  1. General admission to graduate study.
  2. A baccalaureate degree with an overall minimum GPA of 2.5.
  3. A valid teaching certificate or statement of eligibility.

Candidates meeting the above criteria will be admitted to the Teacher Leader Fifth Year Program. Candidates admitted to the Teacher Leader Fifth Year Program may be granted alternative admission to the Teacher Leader Master Program in either of the following ways:

Provision 1: Candidates granted alternative admission may take up to 12 hours in the specific Teacher Leader program to which they are applying. If the candidate earns a GPA of 3.75 or higher for these 12 hours, the GRE/MAT testing requirements are waived for regular admission to the program

OR

Provision 2: Prior to registering for the fifth course, candidates may submit a GRE or MAT score that results in an acceptable admission index. The admission index will be determined by the following:

  1. GRE score (verbal + quantitative) X undergraduate GPA = 2050 (minimum);
  2. Miller Analogies Test (MAT) scaled score X undergraduate GPA = 980 (minimum).

Other Program Requirements

After completion of 12 hours, candidates must have attained at least a 3.0 cumulative program GPA. Candidates falling below a 3.0 cumulative program GPA may take no more than an additional six hours. If after completing an additional six hours, the cumulative program GPA is below 3.0, the candidate will be dropped from the program.

Requirements for the Degree

  1. Satisfy general degree requirements.

The student must apply for graduation in the Graduate Office at the beginning of the term in which they anticipate completion. The Graduate Office is located at 701 Ginger Hall or access the completion form online at www.moreheadstate.edu/graduate

  1. Maintain a cumulative 3.0 GPA in all courses taken after completing the bachelor's degree.
  2. Candidates must successfully complete a capstone project in a venue approved by their advisor. The capstone project may include a presentation before a panel of educators, a presentation as a part of an educational conference, or professional development the candidate has written and planned. The capstone project may also include a publication in a peer reviewed professional journal. In order to track completion of the capstone, during the semester in which the capstone is completed all students must register for EDTL 690 - Teacher Leader Capstone. This is a zero credit course.
  3. If a student has not become unconditionally admitted after completing 12 graduate hours, he/she will not be allowed to register for additional hours.

Student Competencies

The following list includes the student competencies for the Teacher Leader program and the course(s) in which each competency is discussed (D), enhanced (E), assessed (A), and/or contains a critical performance (CP).

  1. Be leaders in their schools and districts [EDTL 601 (A), EDTL 602 (D), EDTL 604 (D), EDTL 605 (D), EDTL 606 (D)].
  2. Evaluate high-quality research on student learning and college readiness [EDTL 601 (D), EDTL 603 (A), EDTL 605 (CP), EDTL 606 (E)].
  3. Deliver differentiated instruction for P-12 students based on continuous assessment of student learning and classroom management [EDTL 602 (E), EDTL 603 (E), EDTL 604 (E), EDTL 605 (D), EDTL 606 (A)].
  4. Gain experience in content knowledge (within areas of specialization).
  5. Incorporate reflections that inform best practice in preparing P-12 students for postsecondary opportunities [EDTL 601 (E), EDTL 602 (E), EDTL 605 (CP), EDTL 606 (E)].
  6. Support P-12 student achievement in diverse settings [EDTL 601 (A), EDTL 602 (E/A), EDTL 603 (E), EDTL 604 (A), EDTL 605 (D/E), EDTL 606 (D)].
  7. Enhance instructional design utilizing the Program of Studies, Core Content for Assessment, and college readiness standards [EDTL 601 (A), EDTL 606 (CP)].
  8. Designs and plans instruction [EDTL 602 (D), EDTL 604 (A), EDTL 605 (D), EDTL 606 (CP)].
  9. Creates and maintains a learning climate [EDTL 601 (CP), EDTL 602 (E), EDTL 604 (E), EDTL 605 (E), EDTL 606 (E)].
  10. Implements and manages instruction [EDTL 604 (A), EDTL 606 (E)].
  11. Assesses and communicates learning results [EDTL 601 (A), EDTL 602 (D), EDTL 604 (A), EDTL 605 (E/A), EDTL 606 (A)].
  12. Demonstrates the implementation of technology [EDTL 601 (E), EDTL 606 (A)].
  13. Reflects on and evaluates teaching and learning [EDTL 601 (A), EDTL 602 (D/E), EDTL 603 (A), EDTL 604 (A), EDTL 605 (CP), EDTL 606 (D)].
  14. Collaborates with colleagues, parents, and others [EDTL 601 (A), EDTL 602 (D/E), EDTL 603 (A), EDTL 604 (CP), EDTL 606 (D)].
  15. Evaluates teaching and implements professional development [EDTL 601 (E), EDTL 602 (E), EDTL 604 (D), EDTL 605 (E), EDTL 606 (E)].
  16. Provides leadership within school, community, and profession [EDTL 601 (D), EDTL 602 (E), EDTL 603 (A), EDTL 604 (D), EDTL 605 (D), EDTL 606 (D)].
  17. Design and conduct professionally relevant research projects [EDTL 602 (D), EDTL 603 (CP), EDTL 606 (E)].

Assessment (Capstone) Procedures

Each aspiring Teacher Leader candidate is required to successfully complete a capstone project. The capstone project will require application of teacher leadership skills that ultimately will bring about improved student learning. To that end, candidates will be involved in activities and projects throughout the teacher leader program that cause them to critically examine current practices and suggest continuation of the practices or develop strategies for improvement. One of the major objectives in the Research and the Teacher Leader course is to "Collaborate with professionals in the public schools to identify research questions that would improve learning in specific settings." These questions then become foundational in the candidates' work in subsequent courses and will be the nucleus around which their capstone projects are built. Candidates will be encouraged to present their capstone projects in settings that are most appropriate for their projects. For example, candidates who are working on a school improvement project may present their findings before the SBDM council. Other candidates may have projects that are more appropriate for a presentation before the Board of Education, while others may find the best setting to be a professional learning community comprised of others most impacted by the project. Many candidates will present their capstone in the Curriculum and Instructional Design course. All candidates will be required to post an electronic version of individual presentations and support documents in Blackboard, our electronic course management system. Posting in Blackboard will allow for peer review as well as make the projects available to all members of the Teacher Leader Advisory Committee. A three-member committee consisting of the TL program lead (or designee), a PreK-12 educator, and a peer (i.e., another candidate completing the program at the same time or a recent [within the last two years] TL program graduate) will evaluate each capstone project. Additional information, including the rubric used to evaluate the capstone project, may be obtained by contacting the Foundational & Graduate Studies in Education Department.

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Foundational & Graduate Studies in Education