Course Description
For prospective principals. Functions in organizing people to meet educational goals, leadership in instruction, supervision, curriculum design and development, personnel administration, and ethical and legal responsibilities.
Syllabus
Student Learning Outcomes, Goals, Objectives:
Students successfully completing this course will be able to:
- Explain 21st Century principals’ changing responsibilities, including strategic, instructional, managerial, human resources, cultural, external development and micropolitical leadership.
- Understand how principals plan and collaborate to develop a shared vision of a successful, democratic school.
- Describe various strategic leadership roles including long-range planning, ethical decision-making, collaboration, public relations, communication and conflict resolution.
- Recognize school culture and climate as related to student activities, student supervision, discipline, safety, and services for second language and special needs students.
- Distinguish and develop the individual leadership traits necessary to become an effective school leader.
Course Grading Information:
| Activity/Performance Measure | Percentage/Points |
|---|---|
| Class Participation and Professionalism | 10% |
| Assignment #1 - Principal Interview and Shadowing Reflective Project | 25% |
| Assignment #2 - Vision of a Quality School | 25% |
| Assignment #3 - Two page reflection on Self-assessment of NC Standards for School Executives and Clark’s (2007) Leadership Styles Survey | 15% |
| Assignment #4 - The Effective Principal | 25% |
Grade Points Description
| Grade | Description |
|---|---|
| A | Excellent work demonstrating independent high quality performance |
| A- | Very good work indicating consistent and careful thought and attention to the task; some room for improvement and thoroughness |
| B+ | Good work carefully executed for the most part yet requiring several areas of improvement |
| B | Work of graduate standard but omissions exist or careful analysis is not evident |
| B- | Effort is evident but work indicates lack of understanding of the demands of the task |
| C+ | Poor quality work with little attention to detail and the demands of the task |
| C | Work of very poor quality indicating no understanding of the depth of analysis required |
| F | Work has violated the academic honor code and academic integrity policy. |
Attendance/Participation:
Attendance/participation is not a graded component included in the student's final grade for this course.
Course Materials Purchased by the Students:
- Bennis, W. (2009). On becoming a leader. New York: Basic Books
- Marzano, R.J., Waters, T., & McNulty, B.A. (2005). School leadership that works: From research to results. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
- Robbins, P. & Alvy, H. (2009). The principal’s companion (3rd Edition). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
- Robbins, P. & Alvy, H. (2010). Learning from Lincoln: Leadership Practices for School Success. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
- Clark, D.R. (2007). Leadership Styles Survey. Retrieved March 28, 2010 from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/survstyl.html
- North Carolina Standards for School Executives (2006). Retrieved from http://www.ncptsc.org/NC%20Standards%20for%20School%20Executives.pdf
Scholarly Perspectives
This course engages diverse scholarly perspectives to develop critical thinking, analysis, and debate and inclusion of a reading does not imply endorsement.