Master of Education in Urban Educational Leadership
Master of Education in Urban Educational Leadership (UR LEAD MED)
36 Credits
MASTER OF EDUCATION (M.Ed.) IN URBAN EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP • 36 CREDITS • UR LEAD MED
The Master of Urban Educational Leadership (MUEL) is designed to prepare candidates to serve as high-performing transformative leaders within urban schools and districts. Created primarily for candidates pursuing the principalship and supervisory positions, this 36 credit program is based on best practices, aligned to the national Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) as well as the Michigan Standards for the Preparation of Central Office and Building Administrators. The MUEL program will provide an invigorating learning experience that synergistically combines rigorous academic work with on-going practiced-based learning experiences.
A significant emphasis is placed on real-world case studies and simulations that help candidates develop the skills, competencies, and mindsets necessary for successful educational leadership in an urban environment. Candidates will leverage their lived experience while exploring current research and best practices in the areas of leadership, curriculum, instruction and assessment, entrepreneurship, school law, human capital management, educational policy and related areas of study.
Admission Checklist:
In order to qualify:
Fill out the Davenport Application for Admission.
Candidates must have a bachelor’s degree or above with a 3.0 GPA
Two (2) signed professional recommendation forms and one personal recommendation form are required.
A current resume/CV must be submitted and it should include prior employment experience, educational background, and any organizational affiliations.
Statement of purpose (refer to the statement of purpose form in the admission packet).
Participate in an interview with the College of Urban Education (CUE) Admission Committee – to be scheduled by Davenport upon submission of the completed application.
This course introduces candidates to contemporary and classic theories of leadership. Additionally, this course examines the replacement of trait-based leadership theories by research-based practices in the educational context. The topics explored in this course are drawn from multidisciplinary perspectives, including psychology, anthropology, and sociology. Applicable Course Fees can be found at https://my.davenport.edu/financial-aid/how-much-does-du-cost/tuition-and-fees.
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Master of Urban Education program
Students must master the general principles of American school law with particular emphasis upon Michigan statutes. The course will examine the legal bases of federal, state and local administrative levels. The course will review the salient legal provisions of the Education Code respecting administration of schools, the rights of patrons and employees, torts, contracts, certification, tenure, school planning and the rights and obligations of pupils. Applicable Course Fees can be found at https://my.davenport.edu/financial-aid/how-much-does-du-cost/tuition-and-fees.
Prerequisite(s): Acceptance to the Urban Education Program
This course will give candidates the strategies necessary to develop and sustain inclusive, equity-focused schools and systems. Candidates will gain understanding of how the intersection of race, identity, power, and privilege in our society impacts urban schools. Methods to identify inequitable structures and practices reflecting the legacy of racism and other forms of exclusion will be introduced. Candidates will learn strategies for building school culture, curriculum, and programs that include strengths-based instruction, cultural competency and effective communication with all stakeholders resulting in family and community engagement. Candidates will develop the capabilities to do this critical work within schools and urban educational systems. Applicable Course Fees can be found at https://my.davenport.edu/financial-aid/how-much-does-du-cost/tuition-and-fees.
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Master of Urban Education program
Candidates in this course will examine effective methods of school leadership based on data that impacts instruction, school culture and managing leadership teams. This course also examines the political and cultural context of educational reform and innovation efforts in urban districts and charter management organizations over the past decade. Candidates will compare the perspectives of several school and district leaders who helped lead the reform efforts in large and diverse urban districts and those of critics of the reform movement. Applicable Course Fees can be found at https://my.davenport.edu/financial-aid/how-much-does-du-cost/tuition-and-fees.
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Master of Urban Education program
3
Business Essentials for Urban Schools and District Administrators
This course is designed to introduce candidates to the whole spectrum of traditional human resources’ responsibilities and major functions and to grapple with the organizational challenges that have emerged in urban school districts due to poorly functioning HR systems, and challenges with labor and reactionary management. Topics will include intentional recruitment of a diverse workforce, effective candidate screening and selection processes, onboarding, performance management and evaluation, compensation, career progression and employee and labor relations. Additionally, candidates will learn how to transform an urban school or district’s human resource management function into a more strategic and integrated component of a district’s overall approach to improving student achievement. Applicable Course Fees can be found at https://my.davenport.edu/financial-aid/how-much-does-du-cost/tuition-and-fees.
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Master of Urban Education program
In this course, candidates will be introduced to successful reform strategies and best practices that address how time, resources, and responsibilities can be allocated in urban schools and districts. Candidates will determine how each of these strategies can be managed politically and communicated to stakeholders. Exploration of strategic frameworks including strategic decision making and analysis of complex systems, structures and problems from multiple stakeholder perspectives will take place from a socio-economic and a socio-political context. Applicable Course Fees can be found at https://my.davenport.edu/financial-aid/how-much-does-du-cost/tuition-and-fees.
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Master of Urban Education program
Candidates will examine a series of best practices in school budgeting, which clearly outline steps to developing a budget that best aligns resources with student achievement goals. Urban school and district budgets will be evaluated with a specific focus on coherence and optimizing student achievement with available resources. The role of the school and district’s instructional priorities as a guide for decision-making will be evaluated with a specific focus on making budgetary decisions in the context of increased numbers of diverse and impoverished candidates, dwindling state and federal resources and the redistribution of public school educational funds to private and charter school management organizations. Applicable Course Fees can be found at https://my.davenport.edu/financial-aid/how-much-does-du-cost/tuition-and-fees.
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Master of Urban Education program
In this course, candidates will learn the essentials of performance management, specifically how to judge the performance of individual schools, decide which are effective enough to continue supporting, and how to use data to determine whether to shore up struggling schools or create new ones. Candidates will reflect upon the literature on government agencies and businesses that have shifted to performance-based accountability and management, learn why traditional compliance-based systems and structures are not suitable to achieve breakthrough student achievement in urban schools, and examine the necessary technical, cultural and staff capacities in performance-based organizations. Candidates will critique the differences between the leadership and management skills, competencies and dispositions needed in performance-based organizations compared to those valued in compliance-based organizations and the implications surrounding tenure, legacy systems of promotion and seniority. Applica
In this course, candidates will review recent research on effective instruction and explore advanced classroom strategies and techniques designed to enhance their effectiveness in meeting the needs of diverse populations of learners. Examples include direct instruction, cooperative learning, dimensions of learning, creative problem solving, and applications of technology to thinking and learning. Candidates will develop expert teaching skills and learn to diagnose and deliver instructional strategies that are most appropriate in specific circumstances commonly found in urban schools. Applicable Course Fees can be found at https://my.davenport.edu/financial-aid/how-much-does-du-cost/tuition-and-fees.
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Master of Urban Education program
Candidates will learn a new way of viewing teaching that is grounded in an understanding of the role of culture and language in learning. Candidates in this course will compare the best practices outlined in multiple cultural, linguistically responsive frameworks, eventually adopting one of the proposed frameworks or creating their own to be implemented in their work context. Candidates will also explore relevant coaching and change management strategies and apply them as they learn about their students’ family makeup, immigration history, favorite activities, concerns, and strengths. Applicable Course Fees can be found at https://my.davenport.edu/financial-aid/how-much-does-du-cost/tuition-and-fees.
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Master of Urban Education program
This course explores the leadership and management skills, competencies and dispositions needed to develop culturally responsive school, family, and community partnerships. Topics covered include engaging youth through culturally relevant experiences and capitalizing on their funds of knowledge in cultural contexts; training teachers and youth program workers to understand the importance of utilizing culturally relevant pedagogical strategies; and how to assess newly developed and existing programs to determine the level of efficacy, inclusivity, equity and cultural relevance. As a learning community, candidates will explore their beliefs about the role of families and community members in school reform. Candidates will research the impact of home-school and community-school partnerships on student learning and explore the various theoretical frameworks about these partnerships. Applicable Course Fees can be found at https://my.davenport.edu/financial-aid/how-much-does-du-cost/tuition-
Candidates in this course will explore the need for schools to establish their own internal systems and professional cultures to improve student outcomes and develop their own systems for leading the instructional core in context. Candidates will learn how to evaluate the learning experience of students in classrooms and the implications of these experiences for the instructional core. Applicable Course Fees can be found at https://my.davenport.edu/financial-aid/how-much-does-du-cost/tuition-and-fees.
Prerequisite(s): Admission to the Master of Urban Education program