Syllabus

Master of Science in Education

EDU 703 Educational Change/School Reform – Fall A 2017

Credits - 3

Description

Regardless of how beneficial a desired change may seem, new initiatives are often difficult to implement. Each educational setting has its own culture, and innovations and changes that are incompatible with the prevailing climate may elicit resistance and hostility. The course examines change theory; studies case histories of successful and not so successful change efforts; and reviews change strategies to equip students with skills for introducing effective reforms.

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

The objectives for this course correspond with Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL) as listed below. In addition, student learning outcomes supporting the course objectives will be specified at the beginning of the week for each module. 

Students will: 

• apply effective consensus building and negotiation skills (PSEL 1, 5, 7)
• explain the principles of organizational development (PSEL 1, 5, 7)
• analyze emerging issues and trends that potentially impact the school community (PSEL 3)
• apply community relations and marketing strategies and processes (PSEL 8)
• analyze the political, social, cultural, and economic systems and processes that impact schools (PSEL 3, 8)
• evaluate and apply models and strategies of change (PSEL 1)
• apply conflict resolution strategies within the larger political, social, cultural and economic contexts of schooling (PSEL 5, 8)
• analyze the dynamics of policy development and advocacy under our democratic political system (PSEL 8)
• articulate plan for continuous improvement, accountability, and action planning for reform (PSEL 1)
• describe desired results, standardized state tests and standards-based education (PSEL 4, 9)
• interpret the background, concepts and contemporary issues of educational reform and school change (PSEL 3)
• study and use research to better understand a complex issue (PSEL 1)

Assignments

Weekly Discussion Boards – Online discussions provide participants with opportunities to make meaning of new theory, key concepts, and applications of theory to practice. Participants contribute to the intellectual development of the class by offering insights, synthesizing understandings, and responding to the postings of others. The expectation is that students make an initial post and comment on the posts of at least two classmates each week.

Interview Assignment – Identify a school reform currently underway in your school or school system. Interview a person charged with leading this reform in some way. It could be the curriculum director, the Title I director, a building principal, a department head, etc. Summarize the interview, highlighting the issues, challenges, and benefits from the perspective of the informant.

Annotated Bibliography Assignment – Research a topic related to school reform. Create an annotated bibliography on the topic, summarizing the findings and explaining how the information relates to reform.

School Reform Assignment – Select a school reform model or program from the last 20 years that has received national or regional attention. Examples include Blueprint 2000, No Child Left Behind, Race to the Top, Effective Schools, Coalition of Essential Schools, Success for All, Response to Instruction, Common Core State Standards, and Proficiency-Based Education. Research your chosen reform, and create a report on it.

CBAM Assignment – Select a reform or innovation that you have been responsible for implementing in your classroom or school. Apply the questions in the Stages of Concern and Levels of Use charts on the nationalacademies.org web site to your own practice with the innovation.

Reform and Change in your School Assignment – Research a reform that is being implemented/used in your school or district. Write a short paper about the reform, including key elements, connection to Stages of Concern, training and other issues, and impact on local level issues.

Research Article Analysis – Select a peer-reviewed article from the annotated bibliography assignment completed in Week 3. Critique the article for its strengths and weaknesses, and summarize the authors’ findings and their implications for the reform in question. 

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown

Assignment	Points
School Reform Interview Report	15
Annotated Bibliography	10
Report on a School Reform Model or Program	10
CBAM Assignment: What's Your Stage of Concern? What's Your Level of Use?	10
Reform and Change in Your School	10
Research Article Analysis	10
Discussion Boards (7 @ 5 Points Each)	35
TOTAL	100

Grade Scale

Grade	Points Grade	Point Average (GPA)
A	94 – 100%	4.00
A-	90 – 93%	3.75
B+	87 – 89%	3.50
B	84 – 86%	3.00
B-	80 – 83%	2.75
C+	77 – 79%	2.50
C	74 – 76%	2.00
C-	70 – 73%	1.75
D	64 – 69%	1.00
F	00 – 63%	0.00