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Teacher Instructional Leadership Course Descriptions & Schedules

ELP 6010 Evidence Based Decision Making - This course examines theories, issues, challenges, processes, and tools of decision making for educational leaders. The assumptions and weaknesses of classical decision theory are examined and alternative explanations explored, including examination of both formal (scientific) and informal (intuitive) methods of decision-making.

ELP 6130 Professional Learning Communities - This course is designed to support aspiring instructional teacher leaders in acquiring the knowledge and skills associated with collaborative decision making and problem solving within an educational setting. The emphasis of the course is specific to a professional learning community (PLC). Students in this course will explore the essential questions PLCs need to ask and answer, how to engage in authentic collaboration and collective inquiry, and how to organize themselves around a results orientation.

ELP 6200 Adult Learning Theory for Educators - This course focuses on developing knowledge, skills, mindsets, and competencies to participate, lead, evaluate, and advocate for Professional Learning at both the individual, collaborative, and organizational levels. Course content and approach is grounded in the belief that teacher learning is most impactful when participants are part of a community of practice, and when professional learning activities are job-embedded, informed by data, centered on student work and how students learn, active, differentiated to allow for equitable voice and choice of the adults, and occur over a length of time that will allow for cycles of feedback and continuous improvement.  *This course is one of the USBE required courses for an Instructional Coaching Endorsement.

ELP 6250 Leadership for School Improvement – This course focuses on understanding and developing leadership knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to promote change in K-12 educational organizations, including school improvement tied to accountability policies. This course assumes that school improvement and organizational change seek to build equity and justice (or dismantle systemic injustice and inequities). The content of the course includes perspectives that inform how practitioners collaborate to design and plan organizational change, use a research base on implementation and effectiveness of previous change initiatives, and respond to conflict about and resistance to change, build organizational capacity, and sustain people through change processes in the long-term.

ELP 6310 Leadership for Instructional Design and Assessment – This course is intentionally designed for participants to explore the theories, principles, and practices of leadership in the areas of instructional planning, design and assessment. Leadership in instructional design and assessment involves developing knowledge, skills, and competencies for the following: effectively plan instruction based on Utah core standards, create learning experiences for reaching content standards, differentiate instruction for individuals and groups of students, design or select pre, formative, and summative assessments that match learning objectives, and use data to assess effectiveness of instruction.                                                  

*This course is one of the USBE required courses for an Instructional Coaching Endorsement.

ELP 6320 Instructional Coaching – This course is intentionally designed for participants to explore, in a highly engaged, community of practice environment, the theories, principles, and practices of instructional coaching for teacher leaders. Guided by the USBE Standards for Professional Learning, participants explore what it means to be an instructional coach by developing knowledge and dispositions for instructional coaching through review and study of research and theory, then develop the skills of coaching to apply in an authentic setting for promoting affective and cognitive learning. Research and theory explored in this course focus on the interconnection of the following fields: equity, adult learning theory, pedagogy, professional learning, teacher change, communication, relationships, school improvement, and collaboration.                                                                                                                

*This course is one of the USBE required courses for an Instructional Coaching Endorsement.

ELP 6411 Special Education Law and Policy -

ELP 6511 Leadership for Equity and Social Change – This course will focus on the learning of concepts from social justice leadership and culturally relevant practice; and how application of these concepts can change the discourse and practice of school leaders to help create a shared vision of equitable schools that promote a school climate and culture that is safe for all student backgrounds.

 

Semester Schedules

There are a total of eight content courses over four semesters.  Additionally, there is a practicum course in the first and fourth semester for program induction, orientation, and a final project. Each of the content and practicum courses are 3 credit hours for a degree total of 30 total credit hours.

Sample Schedule for a Summer Semester Start

Summer	Fall	Spring	Summer
Adult Learning Theory	Instructional Coaching	Instructional Design and Assessment	Leadership for School Improvement
Special Education Law and Policy	Professional Learning Communities	Evidence Based Decision Making	Leadership for Equity and Social Change
K12 Practicum			K12 Practicum

 

Sample Schedule for a Fall Semester Start

Fall	Spring	Summer	Fall
Instructional Coaching	Instructional Design and Assessment	Adult Learning Theory	Leadership for School Improvement
Professional Learning Communities	Evidence Based Decision Making	Special Education Law and Policy	Leadership for Equity and Social Change
Practicum			Practicum