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Master's in Education Administration Courses

Curriculum Details

  • 10 – 12 courses
  • 30 credits
  • 320 residency hours
  • 8 week course duration

Earn your online Master of Education degree in education administration in as little as 18 months by completing 10 – 12 courses — a total of 30 credit hours — including core courses, one research course and a practicum experience. The program offers both licensure and non-licensure tracks, allowing you to pursue credentials required for your chosen career path.

Courses are completed through 8-week terms and are taught by respected faculty with real-world experience working in local school districts. The online master’s of education administration practicum requires you to complete 320 Residency hours, which can be fulfilled conveniently on your schedule at your current workplace.

State Reciprocity – SARA
Shenandoah University is a member of NC-SARA, the National Council for State Authorization Reciprocity Agreements. View the licensure requirements for out-of-state students enrolling in Shenandoah programs leading to licensure. Click on the tab at the bottom of the screen to locate your program. Note that these requirements are subject to change. Please contact your program with questions.

Required Courses

Credits

This course is an analysis of the role of the building-level administrator with participation in self-assessment activities and simulations designed to provide information about and insight into effective leadership in schools. This three credit hour course introduces the student to the Professional Standards of Educational Leaders (PSEL) and relates those standards to today’s school, political and cultural environments.
An examination of the role of the principal with regard to the development and practice of effective school and community relations. Emphasis is on taking a systematic approach to communicating with targeted audiences and on developing personal communication and public relations skills. It includes an examination of successful practices in the interpretation of public attitudes, identification and shaping of public policies, organizing involvement activities and dissemination of information. Particular attention given to working with the news media and elected/ appointed public officials.
Legal context within which the public schools operate. Rights and responsibilities of teachers and administrators and student rights and restrictions. General principles of school law are supplemented with pertinent provisions of the Virginia statutes and rulings in case law.
Basic school finance theory and practice. Historical development, current trends, future expectations, involvement of various governmental agencies and major problems and constraints of local, state and federal financial support. Special attention is given to building-level financial planning and budget formulation.
Current topics and issues are addressed and evaluated as they relate to school settings. Trends in school leadership and implications for current practices are assessed.
This course provides clinical field expereince under the supervision of a practicing school administrator and a university professor. Students are expected to complete a minimum of 320 clock hours total (107 clock hours per credit earned) of a deliberately structured supervised internship that provides exposure to multiple sites (elementary, middle, high, central office, and agency) wiht diverse student populations. Must be approved by the student’s advisor. Offered in increments of one, two, and three credits.
The study of American school curricular foundations and trends leads to the design and evaluation of proposed and current curricula. Discussion topics include basic determinants, valid objectives, experiential design, organizational processes, evaluation procedures and systems for changes or improvements.
This course presents the study of supervision as an effective leadership mechanism to improve instruction. Topics include collaborative problem-solving, supervisory processes, cooperative supervision and methods for improving instruments and techniques of evaluation. The course deals with the challenge of assisting and assessing educational personnel in the conduct of providing effective classroom management and instruction. Students develop an action research proposal as a requirement of this course.

This course provides candidates with an understanding for meeting the needs of children identified for services through gifted and talented programs. The course provides an overview of current and historical issues in the field, including those related to the intellectual and social-emotional development of gifted students, and research-based educational practices recommended as service options that meet the cognitive and affective needs of identified students. Candidates will continue to build a foundation for understanding the field of gifted education and the varied needs of gifted learners.

This course introduces graduate students to appropriate models of research, the methods of quality research and appropriateness of the methods and analytical procedures to the question(s) being explored in a study. This course prepares students in necessary skills in accessing, using, interpreting, developing and designing research in the social sciences. Learners will begin to become familiar with the research methods used in their field(s) of study, the philosophical and ethical frameworks associated with that work, and the comparative theoretical constructs informing that work. Learners will be able to articulate the basic concepts of research design and critique design approaches with respect to the questions researchers have set out to answer. In this course, the methods discussed are broadly applicable in the social sciences.

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