Graduate Catalog 2017-2018

Education Specialist Degree in Curriculum and Instruction, Ed.S.

Coursework

All courses are 3 semester hours

Program of Study

The specialist program in Curriculum and Instruction offers components that address the qualities necessary for preparing distinguished teaching and leadership. The program will provide a rigorous and scholarly pragmatic approach that will meet the needs of candidates in various geographic and educational contexts. To that end, participants are required to complete 30 hours of course work and all assigned field experiences.

These courses form a holistic approach to the 30-hour program of study as continuous themes and curricula to guide, instruct, and develop the professional educator to attain distinguished levels of both theory and practice and become contributing members in the professional discourse of improving schooling.

Core Courses (required of all degree candidates)

EDS 8800Program Orientation and Scholarly Writing

3

EDS 8815Curriculum Design for a Changing World

3

EDS 8860School Law and Ethics

3

EDS 8851School Resource Utilization

3

EDS 8877Communication for Professional Practice

3

EDS 8845Theory and Practice of Differentiated Instruction

3

EDS 8846Principles of Assessment Design and Application

3

EDS 8823Representation and Analysis of Quantitative Data

3

EDS 8824Analysis and Evaluation of Research

3

EDS 8880Leadership in 21st Century Schools

3

EDS 8880: Pre-requisite EDS 8823, EDS 8824

Additional Requirements

Other Program Requirements: Specialist Candidate Learning Log


All candidates in Piedmont’s Education Specialist Program will complete an entry log which assesses their mastery of the Specialist Program outcomes against content, scholarly work and course experiences. The SPCLO log allows the candidate to address course outcomes through a triple entry format which is submitted to the course professor and at the end of the program to the 8800 Orientation professors or designated other professors. The candidate’s entries will be assessed for:
  • Mastery of course outcomes through a triple entry method of recording newly acquired knowledge, the impact of that knowledge, and establishing goals as a teacher leader for using the new knowledge to improve teaching and learning in P-12 schools
  • Quality of writing, research, and reporting
  • Scholarship
  • Intellectual reflection with an emphasis on teacher leadership and curriculum and instruction
  • Application to school and community

Flagship Papers


Each course in the Ed.S. program requires a scholarly paper which will be evaluated using the Scholarly Writing Rubric. Individual assignments for the course are identified as Flagship Assignments and the paper should be written to the standards established in the Scholarly Writing Rubric.

Reading and Research


Each candidate in the Ed.S. degree program is required to be knowledgeable of the literature in the field, to study research and become critical consumers of current research. Candidates will be required to write a scholarly literature review addressing a specific area of education.

Field Experiences


A minimum of 20 hours field experience in all levels of P-12 environments is required. These experiences will be aligned with course requirements and documented on a field experience documentation form.