Education Specialist in School Leadership: Building and District Level Emphasis
The Education Specialist in School Leadership with Building and District Level Emphasis is a four/five semester, 32/38 semester hour program designed for educators who are preparing for leadership positions in public schools. The program qualifies candidates for Georgia L-6 certification as a School Building Leader and/or School District Leader. Candidates entering the program must have L-5, NPL-5 or NL-5 certification and have a current leadership role or position at the building or district level. Candidates entering the program without L-5, NPL-5, or NL-5 certification must take two additional courses and have a current leadership role or position at the building or district level.
The goal of the program is to prepare creative, flexible, visionary, and reflective leaders with the skills necessary to facilitate and improve the quality of learning for all students. Towards this end, students complete the required sequence of courses as a learning community and engage in class and field-based experiential learning projects designed to develop important leadership skills. In addition to course work, administrative candidates complete four semesters of supervised internships in multiple settings, tailored to individual career objectives.
As part of the NCATE accreditation process, the former EDS in Teacher Leadership program was one of the first in the state to complete an intensive professional review to assess compliance with approved national standards. In their final report in February 2005, the ELCC reviewers commended the Teacher Education Department for providing a strong program that was in substantial compliance with each of the seven ELCC standards. These standards for Advanced Programs in Educational Leadership were developed and approved by the National Policy Board for Educational Administration and serve as the guiding framework for the revised EDS in School Leadership.
North Georgia College & State University accepts applications for the Education Specialist Degree (EDS) Program for fall terms only. As an initial step, applicants must meet requirements for admission to North Georgia as described below. The application packet is then forwarded to the Teacher Education Department for review.
For additional program information, please review Graduate Admissions web site www.northgeorgia.edu/Graduate.
Graduate Admissions Procedures
Application materials may be obtained from the Office of Graduate Admissions or from the North Georgia web site, www.northgeorgia.edu/Graduate. Applicants must pay a one-time, non-refundable application fee. When all application materials required to make an admission decision have been received by the Office of Graduate Admission, notification will be sent to the applicant via mail and a copy of all materials will be forwarded to the program. Upon review, notification will be sent from the Education program to the applicant verifying acceptance or denial.
Students who are admitted, but do not enroll by the academic year following the year of acceptance must reapply through the Office of Graduate Admissions. Students who were previously enrolled but have not been in attendance within the last three terms must also reapply. All documents and materials submitted to fulfill the application requirements for entry to a program at North Georgia become the property of the university and will not be returned. These materials are kept for one year for incomplete application files and for three years for individuals who complete an application and are accepted, but do not enroll.