Teacher Leadership Program

The Teacher Leadership Program is designed to provide experienced teachers with specialized leadership development that they can utilize in their practice as classroom teachers who assume leadership responsibilities. These include formal positions appointed by the principal or elected positions determined by peers (e.g., academic coach, department chair, grade-level team leader, program coordinator, member of SBDM Council) and informal roles that teachers voluntarily assume (e.g., member of curriculum design team, peer mentor, school-community collaborator).If graduates of the Teacher Leadership Program determine in the future that becoming a principal is an appropriate career path, they will have requisite foundational knowledge and skills (e.g., leadership experience, advanced knowledge of instructional program) to apply for admission to one of Kentucky's redesigned post-master's principal preparation programs.

Program Options

• Master of Education (MEd)  (30 credit hours)→Rank II
• Specialist in Education (EdS) (30 credit hours)→ Rank I
• Teacher-As-Leader Endorsement Only (CERTE) for teacher's holding graduate degree (15 credit hours)

Program of Studies

Required Courses

• ELS 600 Learning-Centered Schools (3)
• ELS 604 Leadership in Professional Learning Communities (3)
• ELS 620 Leading Action Research for School Renewal I (3)
• ELS 621 Leading Action Research for School Renewal II (3)
• ELS 624 Leadership for Monitoring Learning: Practicum (3)

Optional Courses (6-9 credit hours)

A candidate may select one-credit courses marked with * or three-credit courses to fulfill optional program course requirements up to a total of 12 credits. However, candidate may not take any or all one-credit courses in a numerical sequence (e.g., ELS 605, ELS 606, ELS 607) and the three-credit course next in the sequence (e.g., ELS 608) because content would be duplicated.

• ELS 608 School Law and Governance for Teachers (3) OR up to 2 credit hours selected from
  • ELS 605 Legal Rights and Responsibilities of Students* (1)
  • ELS 606 Legal Rights and Responsibilities of Teacher* (1)
  • ELS 607 Teacher Responsibilities in School-Based Decision Making* (1)
• ELS 612 Leadership for Technology and Innovation (3) OR up to 2 credit hours selected from
  • ELS 609 Technology Leadership in Schools* (1)
    ELS 610 Distributed Leadership in Schools* (1) 
    ELS 611 Current Issues for Education Leaders*(1)
• ELS 616 Leadership for School as Inclusive Community (3) OR up to 2 credit hours selected from
  • ELS 613 Leadership in the Public Context of Education* (1)
  • ELS 614 Partnerships for Closing Achievement Gaps* (1)
  • ELS 615 Leadership for Response to Intervention in Inclusive Classroom* (1)

Electives (6-9 credit hours)

A candidate may select up to 9 credits hours of electives approved for graduate credit to address candidate's unique professional development needs.