2019-2020

Certificate of Advanced Study in Education

Graduate Department

Degrees offered

Certificate

Campuses

Main Campus
Eastern Shore Higher Education Center (ESHEC)
Southern Maryland Higher Education Center (SMHEC)

Summary

The Certificate of Advanced Study in Education (CASE) in Instructional Leadership is a 30-credit Program of Study for experienced educators who have completed a Master’s degree.  The program provides advanced studies in leadership, curriculum, and pedagogy. Through a curriculum designed to integrate theory and practice, educators acquire or enhance skills that will meet the needs of future educational leadership.

Curriculum

This Program of Study consists of six, 600-level Core courses and four electives. Electives may be taken in a student’s area of special interest. Students must maintain a B average to be awarded a CASE Certificate.

600-Level Core Courses (18 credits)

Select from among the following:

          EDU-624     Dialects in American Schools (3)
          EDU-665     Digital Game Based Learning and Design (3) OR EDU-676     Educational Applications of Multimedia (3)  
          EDU-674     Global and International Perspectives in Education (3)
          EDU-697     Language and Intercultural Communication for Changing Populations (3)
          EDU-698     Linguistic and Cultural Diversity (3)         
          EDU-722     Education and Policy Analysis for Changing Schools (3)
          EDU-747     Learning, Language and the Brain (3)
          EDU-760     Legislative and Legal Decisions Affecting Changing School Populations (3)
          EDU-772     Changing School Population in Historical Perspective (3) 
          EDU-775     Democracy and Education: Philosophical Perspectives (3)
          
Electives (12 Credits)

Areas of special interest are available in Reading, Administration and Supervision, Special Education, Global and Multicultural Education, Curriculum Planning, TESOL, Historical, Philosophical, and Psychological Perspectives, Management, Technology, Marketing, and Public Relations.

The CASE Program is flexible and the required courses in the Program of Study can be modified by the Advisor to allow students to obtain Certification in the following areas:

      • Administration and Supervision
      • Cultural Proficient Leadership
      • Gifted and Talented Education
      • Library Media
      • Literacy Specialist/Coach (Reading Specialist)
      • Mathematics Instructional Leadership, Grades K-6 or Grades 4-9
      • Special Education
      • STEM, Grades preK-6
      • TESOL
      • Spanish

Courses

EDU-624 Dialects in American Schools

This advanced course examines the effects of linguistic variation in K-12 classrooms. Various factors will be analyzed that can result in linguistic variation, such as social class and ethnicity. Students examine nonstandard language varieties of English, including African American Vernacular English, and World English varieties. An important focus of the course will be effect of nonstandard English on the development of literacy skills. The course will also address unique pedagogical strategies for teaching speakers of nonstandard varieties of English. Students will complete individual research projects, in which they analyze the language development of K-12 students. [3 credits ]

EDU-665 Digital Game-Based Learning and Design

The evolution of information and communication technologies has fundamentally shifted how people, big business, and governments communicate and conduct business. The modern world is experiencing disruptive innovation, however, schools and higher education institutions have not experienced the same philosophical and technological shift as the rest of the world. Many of the pedagogical practices and instructional resources have remained unchanged for far too long. Learners entering the globalized workforce are ill-prepared. In essence, schools must prepare learners for their futures, not our past. In this course, learners will explore merging issues related to teaching, learning and assessment in the 21st century. They will explore the pervasive nature of disruptive innovation and identify the essential skills needed by students to survive in the new workforce. [ 3 credits ]

EDU-674 Global and International Perspectives in Education

Prepares students for learning and teaching for the 21st century with new methodologies, new skills and new approaches in an increasingly interdependent world. These interdependencies include: international communications systems providing worldwide access to information, global economic situations that impact career and work, ideological contests that are global in nature and significance, and the challenge of global disparity in standards of living and access to resources. Inquiry into the nature of these interdependencies enables educators to make decisions impacting curriculum and instructional methodology appropriate for preparing all students for intelligent participation in the contemporary world. [ 3 credits ]

EDU-676 Educational Applications of Multimedia

Provides an introduction to designing and planning multimedia projects in the K-12 setting through collaborative inquiry. Topics to be introduced include storyboarding, conferencing, video editing and incorporating multimedia elements into selected software programs. Students will read some of the latest research covering the impact of multimedia development on student achievement. [ 3 credits ]

EDU-697 Language and Intercultural Communication for Changing Populations

Examines the nature of language as the instrument of communication that expresses cultural and societal modes of thinking, customs and values. Participants analyze their own and others' socio-cultural perceptions, values and behaviors in order to gain insight into student behaviors and develop strategies that facilitate effective instruction and learning for all students. The study of linguistic patterns enables teachers and other educational leaders to gain global insights into the role of language in fostering individual and cultural identity. This course focuses on sociolinguistics and the social contexts in which language is used. [ 3 credits ]

EDU-698 Linguistic and Cultural Diversity

Assists educators in better understanding the nature of language and language acquisition in the context of their relevance for education. First and second language acquisition will be studied in detail, primarily from a cognitive perspective with emphasis on the analysis of the diverse variables that play a role in language acquisition and how these affect literacy development. The focus of this course will be on the study of language development of K-12 students who are linguistic minority students, including those for whom Standard English is a second dialect and those for whom it is a second language. [ 3 credits ]

EDU-722 Education and Policy Analysis for Changing Schools

Creates awareness of recurring issues and tensions inherent in providing educational opportunities in a democratic society. Examples are: impact of linguistic and cultural diversity on equity, ethical issues confronting teachers and policy-makers, tensions between individual and collective interests, limits of democratic authority and equality of educational opportunity in a democratic society. This course introduces the process by which such policies are accomplished: identifying context and relevant antecedents, framing of problems and solutions within policies, policy implementation and anticipating and responding to policy consequences. The course includes theoretical and applied readings on state and national policy issues as they affect the educational environment and the learning needs of mainstream and non-mainstream students. [ 3 credits ]

EDU-747 Learning, Language and the Brain

Demonstrates how new brain imaging capabilities illustrate the ways the brain acquires knowledge and stores memories. This seminar course examines current brain-in action research and the insights this information provides for effective instructional practices with special manipulation. Students design, conduct and discuss research projects addressing aspects of brain functioning and the consequences for learning. [ 3 credits ]

EDU-760 Legislative and Legal Decisions Affecting Changing School Populations

Applies analytical and legal reasoning skills to issues emerging from implementation of recent legislation setting standards for: achievement expectations for specific student populations, mandatory testing requirements, teacher quality and licensing, instruction for students for whom English is a second language and related issues. Using the case study approach, students apply the precedents established in previously studied landmark cases to cases and problems currently pending, or soon to come, before district courts and the Supreme Court. Emphasis is placed on alternative dispute resolution in a wide variety of situations that present the possibility of
litigation with focus on issues affecting changing student populations. [ 3 credits]

EDU-772 Changing School Population in Historical Perspective

Considers the immigrant experience as integral to major developments in the history of American education. The United States has been called "a nation of immigrants," and John Dewey has defined the school as a society in miniature. This course traces the influence waves of immigration have had on American attitudes and institutions of education from colonial times to the present as successive generations have responded to the pedagogical, economic and political implications inherent in the changing demographics of American schools. The course provides insights into the aims, challenges and priorities for curriculum and instruction as American schools have confronted such issues as learning differences, gender, race, ethnicity and social structures in changing populations of learners. The course traces the history of complex interactions as multicultural and multilingual students, teachers, staff, parents, community leaders and others have sought to create schools as learning communities. [ 3 credits ]

EDU-775 Democracy and Education: Philosophical Perspectives

Analyzes the major philosophical perspectives that have formed and continue to inf luence American attitudes toward the enterprise of schooling and toward the roles and responsibilities of schools in the United States. Selections address education both as a public responsibility and as an individual pursuit. Students also examine the unique moral, ethical and educational issues raised by the linguistically and culturally pluralistic nature of society in the United States. Through reading, study, analytic discussion and reflection students identify more clearly their own philosophies of education with regard to serving non-mainstream learners and the ethical principles that guide their professional decisions. [ 3 credits ]