Master of Arts in Educational Leadership
- Fall January 10
- Spring July 1
- Pullman: Yes
- Spokane: Yes
- GRE
- TOEFL - iBT 80
Degree Description:
WSU offers two masters degree programs in Educational Leadership. The Master of Arts in Education – Educational Leadership (M.A.) is a thesis degree designed for students who wish to focus on continued study and research in Educational Leadership and who may pursue a doctoral degree. The non-thesis Master of Education (Ed.M.) degree is designed for professional educators preparing for leadership positions. The following information is for the M.A. degree.
The M.A. requires a written thesis. The purpose of the thesis is to demonstrate a student’s understanding of educational research & theory as well as a student’s ability to design & implement a research study, and synthesize the results. These hypotheses/questions should be specific, clear, and focused on some aspect of educational inquiry. The thesis includes a review of the pertinent literature related to the research hypothesis/question, a description of the methodology used to investigate the hypothesis/question, the results of the study, and a discussion of the results. The outcome of the thesis research should add to the body of research in the particular field/area.
The final examination and defense of the thesis is intended to explore your ability to integrate and interpret material in the major and supporting fields with emphasis on the work presented in the thesis.
Admission Requirements:
Submit a completed WSU online Graduate School application, a departmental supplemental application, a written statement (of scholarly and professional objectives as outlined on the supplemental application) current resume, three letters of recommendation, GRE scores (only if GPA is below 3.0), TOEFL or IELTS (international only), and transcripts of all past academic work.
Student Learning Outcomes:
All graduates will be able to:
- Identify and analyze the theories, research, and policies related to the study of K-12 educational leadership: ethics and social justice; inquiry; policy; and leadership/instructional leadership.
- Prepare, write and present clear and coherent critical book reviews and reviews of the literature in educational leadership.
- Understand, evaluate, and apply inquiry knowledge and skills to problems of policy and practice of educational leadership.
- Design, conduct, report, and present clear and coherent research studies that contribute to understanding and solving problems of practice in educational leadership.
- Articulate core values and model the guiding principles of the profession including: commitment to social justice; understanding of ethical responsibilities of leadership; effective and respectful interaction with others of similar and diverse cultures, values, and perspectives; commitment to school improvement and a positive impact on student learning.
Student Opportunities:
WSU’s Educational Leadership master’s degree programs can be aligned with the Principal and Program Administrator Certification programs, for those who qualify for certification and who wish to receive Principal or Program Administrator certificates along with the master’s degree. All required graded courses for these certification programs can be applied to the master’s degree program of study. However, the master’s degree in Educational Leadership can be done without including Principal or Program Administrator Certification classes. In either option, course sequences are designed to permit students at any of WSU’s campuses to complete the master’s degree within two to three years.
Career Opportunities:
K-12 administrator, preparation for advanced graduate study, administration in public or non-profit agency, leadership positions in higher education
Faculty Members:
Ardasheva, Yuliya, Ph.D.
Serves as: member only of graduate committee
Research Interests
Contributions of individual differences to second language development and on the interplay between second language and academic development, language-minority education programs, effective instructional techniques for accelerating language and literacy development, content-based models to support language-minority education.
Calderone, Shannon, Ph.D.
Serves as: co-chair or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Examines how families from across the socioeconomic spectrum engage in the college affordability decision-making process. More specifically, she looks at a family’s existing money-related practices as fundamentally socio-historical and sociocultural. As such, these practices contribute significantly to the structuring of social advantage and disadvantage in the college financing process. Dr. Calderone’s most recent research has focused on social trust and debt assumption, financial literacy, and family financial labor as points of insight into the impact of college costs on perceptions of opportunity for high, middle, and low-income families.
Cowin, Kathleen, Ed.D.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Include reflective practice, and the formation of mentoring relationships between educational leader candidates and their mentor
Firestone, Jonah, Ph.D.
Serves as: member only of graduate committee
Research Interests
Social Norms of Education on Beginning Science Teachers’ Understanding
Hill, Glenys, Ed.D.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Organizational culture and its impact on student learning; the role of the superintendent as a change agent; women and minorities as educational leaders and superintendents; lenses of decision making; superintendent-Board relations.
Huggins, Kristin S, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Urban school reform, equity in education, instructional leadership, professional development and teacher quality.
Johnson, Eric, Ph.D.
Serves as: member only of graduate committee
Research Interests
Ethnographic approaches to language-minority education programs and language policies in public schools.
Language policy and planning, the application of policy as practice,
Immigrant communities, parent and community engagement, bilingual education, and Hispanic Serving Institutions.
Kruse, Sharon, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Dr. Kruse’s research broadly addresses two concerns, (1) to help teachers and school leaders better understand the key role leadership plays in schools and (2) to explore how education is currently structured and influenced by social and organizational complexity.
Lapidus, Joseph
Serves as: co-chair or member of graduate committee
Mancinelli, John, Ed.D.
Serves as: member only of graduate committee
McDonald, Teena Paige, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
As a practitioner scholar, my research interests are in the areas of Leadership and Organizational Studies, The Superintendency, Mindfulness, the Principalship, and Organizational and Occupational socialization of Women Administrators.
Neider, Xyanthe Nicole, Ph.D.
Serves as: co-chair or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Teaching and learning at the collegiate level: multicultural diversity,
First generation college students,
Research ethics, graduate education, writing
Campus environment and student experiences
Academic support as means to increase persistence to degree
Newcomer, Sarah, Ph.D.
Serves as: member only of graduate committee
Research Interests
Focus on how language policies are implemented and negotiated in schools, bilingual education, and the development of literacy and biliteracy. Her interests also include how educators, families and other stakeholders create empowering learning practices, both inside and outside of schools, as well as the development of school community agency.
Opstad, Thomas
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Pitre, Paul, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Focuses on racial/ethnic minority and low socioeconomic status students’ experiences in the college choice process and factors that enhance student aspirations for college attendance. Similarly, Pitre is interested in the role that school context plays in developing student college related aspirations. He is also interested in students’ perceptions of their preparation for life beyond K-12 education.
Rada, Roger
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Rodela, Katherine, Ph.D.
Serves as: chair, co-chair, or member of graduate committee
Research Interests
Across my diverse projects, I seek to connect theoretical analyses of culture, language, learning, and leadership with practical applications for increased educational equity, particularly for students of color, low-income students, and other underrepresented communities in our schools and universities.