CURRICULUM

The entire MIL program is organized around four strands of leadership:

• Organizing schools for equitable teaching and learning.
• Planning and implementing powerful curriculum and instruction.
• Supporting ongoing growth of teachers at multiple levels of change.
• Reflecting on and inquiring into problems of practice.

The curriculum is guided by the principle that each course or experience will develop one or more of the core competencies within each strand. All courses will strive for a balanced and representative presentation of issues pertaining to instructional leadership in different contexts, with different students and different content areas.

In addition to the academic coursework (36 quarter credits), you will complete 9 credits of independent thesis project, with the advice and support of program advisors.

You will take courses designed to develop relevant understandings and competencies. Within each of the courses, you will be assessed with an array of methods, including tests, quizzes, papers, projects, presentations (oral and media-based), and observations.

Throughout the program, you will be working on the planning, implementation and reporting of a thesis project (9 credits) that will be initiated in the first summer action research course (EDC&I 495 Workshop on Improvement of Teaching: Action Research for Teacher Leaders). The project will be grounded in a problem/issue of practice in your own school/district setting. You will present your thesis project in a public setting scheduled in the Spring Quarter of the second year. Core faculty and advisors will attend the public presentations, review students' completed thesis project reports, request revisions, and provide final evaluation and approval.

Core Competencies Developed Through the MIL Curriculum

I. Organizing schools for equitable teaching and learning:
Connecting educational policy and leadership theory with practice, understanding moral and ethical leadership and applying multicultural education principles and practices

II. Planning and implementing powerful curriculum and instruction:
Demonstrating deep knowledge of selected school subject matter, strong pedagogical content knowledge and curriculum knowledge, understanding and application of differentiated instruction and classroom-based assessment

III. Supporting ongoing growth of teachers at multiple levels of change:
Coaching, mentoring/cooperating teacher supervision, study group facilitation/professional learning community creation, support for renewal of teachers as persons, courageous teaching, and commitment to moral endeavor

IV. Reflecting on and inquiring into problems of practice:
Identifying problems of teacher and instructional leader practice, posing researchable questions, thinking about evidence, identifying and evaluating methods of data gathering, identifying and evaluating sources of data, developing and applying methods of data analysis, reaching conclusions and supporting with evidence, and reporting to different audiences