Ed.S. Instructional Leadership and Schoo...

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Program Overview

Our 30-hour EdS program is a principal certification preparation program for educators who already hold a master’s degree in education. Students will receive an Educational Specialist Degree in Instructional Leadership and School Administration through participation in a best practice, research based curriculum with a practical field experience.

Need to maintain your certification? We offer the six-credit sequence required for Level II principal certification (below).

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At a Glance

Degree
Educational Specialist (Ed.S.)
School
Annsley Frazier Thornton School of Education
Modality
Online/Hybrid
Hours
30+
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Prepare to Lead Schools

Bellarmine’s principal certification program prepares educators to lead in today’s accountability-driven school environments and meet the challenges of 21st century education.

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Mentorship and Field Experience

Students engage in performance-based coursework, leadership field experiences, and are supported by a university mentor throughout the program.

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Bellarmine’s principal certification advanced program, with its theme “Educator as Reflective Learner,” places high priority on educators ready to lead in an environment of school accountability and to face the challenges of the 21st century schools.

Reflective educators use their knowledge of content, practice, and pedagogy; knowledge of the learner; knowledge of self; skills in leadership and guiding the change process; and management of educational logistics and facilities to personally evaluate their effectiveness.

Field Experience

This on-going process provides school leaders with a basis for self-evaluation of how well the acquired knowledge base relates to their current practice. The student will engage in constant performance-based evaluation through course work and leadership field experiences across the program.

Faculty

Grant Smith, Ph.D. is Chair of Doctoral Programs and Assistant Professor of Research Design and Statistics. Grant spent over 20 years in the private sector working in operations management, mergers and acquisitions and the design and execution of feasibility research and process improvement studies. His research interests include accountability measurements, and the relationship of educational outcomes and economic opportunity. He received a B.A. from the University of Florida, a Ph.D. in measurement and statistics from the Florida State University and is currently completing postdoctoral studies at Harvard University where he works with the National Center for Teacher Effectiveness at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. At Bellarmine Grant teaches courses in statistics, research methods and evaluation.

Will Wells, Ed.D. is an Assistant Professor of Instructional Leadership and School Administration. He earned his doctoral degree from the University of Louisville in Educational Leadership and School Administration. Before joining the faculty at Bellarmine in 2016, Dr. Wells was Superintendent in the Oldham County Schools. His experience as a successful assistant superintendent, school principal, assistant principal, guidance counselor, and middle school teacher, in both urban and suburban districts, provided him a broad base of experience and expertise. His current research interests are systems, structures, and policies that improve teacher quality and professional learning.

Rosie Young, Ed.D. serves as the Advanced Education, Graduate Programs Chair at Bellarmine University. She worked in the Jefferson County Public Schools for 38 years, 28 years as an elementary school principal before coming to Bellarmine in 2013 as the Field Placement Coordinator. She also served as the chair of the Ed.S. Program before assuming the chair of Graduate Programs.

 
 

Career Outcomes

Candidates in this program are assigned a university mentor who will work with the candidate through the duration of the program. Completers of the program will be eligible to serve as a principal or assistant principal, grades P–12.

 

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Bellarmine University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) to award bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees.

All advanced-level teacher education programs at Bellarmine University’s Annsley Frazier Thornton School of Education are recognized by the Kentucky Education Professional Standards Board, and are fully accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation. View CAEP Annual Reporting Measures