Administrator Certification

Administrator Certification in the Department of Educational Leadership
and Policy Analysis

"Leadership for Learning for All Students"

The Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis offers programs leading to certification as school principal, director of instruction, director of pupil services, vocational education program coordinator, and the superintendency. Certification programs are also offered through cooperative arrangements with the UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater campuses.

The programs emphasize the development of knowledge, skills and dispositions to support leadership for learning for all students. The program is designed in a semi-cohort fashion, with courses offered under the general themes of individual socialization, instructional leadership, and integrative leadership clusters. Course work emphasizes the development of knowledge and skills in the seven state administrator standards, with a strong instructional leadership focus. Students receive training in data-based decision-making, resource reallocation, instructional and cultural leadership, professional development and evaluation, and legal aspects of administrative practice. Students develop a portfolio of their work throughout the program that is used formatively to help shape learning opportunities, and summatively to assess readiness for administrative work.

The field experience is a critical component of the program, and students have field-related work embedded throughout their course work, as well as participation in a field experience that provides students with an opportunity to practice what they have learned.

Graduates of the program serve as administrators in public and private schools throughout the state in diverse settings. They also serve in state and national leadership roles to strengthen and enhance learning outcomes for all students.

Collaborative Pilot Project: The Master Administrator Capstone Certificate (MACC)

In 2003, the Department will be piloting a Master Administrator Capstone Certificate (MACC) program which is being developed by the Department in collaboration with the Wisconsin Association of School District Administrator (WASDA) and the Association of Wisconsin School Administrators (AWSA).

The MACC program will provide an opportunity for excellent administrators throughout the state to participate with faculty and other highly qualified administrators in a 1 ½ year long program focused on action research, mentoring, and the development of a portfolio. Participants will have an opportunity to reflect on their practice, develop and practice mentorship and action research, and bring current problems of practice to the table for collaborative problem-solving. Individuals will be selected for participation with an eye toward developing a strong collaborative group with multiple strengths and from diverse settings.

The Department is working with the DPI to enable administrators to use the MACC program as a vehicle for license renewal. Interested participants will also be able to use the program as an opportunity to develop the materials necessary for state application for the Master Administrator License.

Administrative Certification Program Faculty

Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis faculty members who teach in the administrator certification programs include:

Rich Halverson, whose work focuses on the practical wisdom of principals, and the ways in which principals make sense of, and utilize school improvement policies and strategies to improve student learning.

Paul Bredeson, whose work focuses on instructional leadership and the professional learning of school and district administrators.

Colleen Capper, whose work focuses on developing leadership capacity and organizational structures that support learning for all students.

Geoffrey Borman, whose work focuses on data-based decision-making for administrators.

Kent Peterson, whose work focuses on school culture and administrator training and preparation, particularly for school principals.

Julie Mead, whose work focuses on the legal aspects of educational administration, and on the impact of charter school and choice policies on special populations of students.

Allan Odden, whose work focuses on educational finance, resource reallocation, and teacher compensation.

Carolyn Kelley, whose work focuses on teacher compensation, certification and licensure, principal preparation, and knowledge and skills-based teacher evaluation systems.

Allen Phelps, whose work focuses on school-to-work and data-based decision-making.

For more information or to apply to the Department Administration Certification programs contact Graduate Student Coordinator Shari Smith directly at ssmith@education.wisc.edu and see the Admissions section.

For more information or to apply to the Master Administrator Capstone Certificate program, contact Jim Shaw, jimshaw@education.wisc.edu, 608-263-3232.

File last updated: November 5, 2008 10:39 AM
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