Education Specialist (EdS) Curriculum and Instruction
Coursework
All courses are 3 semester hours
Program of Study
The Education Specialist in Curriculum and Instruction prepares candidates to become imaginative leaders, able to develop curricula, design learning environments, and use assessment to improve student outcomes. Candidates learn to use research to drive innovation and to inform their role as a leader beyond the walls of the classroom. The program provides a rigorous yet pragmatic experiences that meet the needs of candidates in various geographic and educational contexts. Participants are required to complete 30 hours of course work and all assigned field experiences. (20 hours across diverse settings)
Core Courses (required of all degree candidates)
| EDS 8800 | Program Orientation and Scholarly Writing | 3 |
| EDS 8815 | Curriculum Design for a Changing World | 3 |
| EDS 8860 | School Law and Ethics | 3 |
| EDS 8851 | School Resource Utilization | 3 |
| EDS 8877 | Communication for Professional Practice | 3 |
| EDS 8845 | Theory and Practice of Differentiated Instruction | 3 |
| EDS 8846 | Principles of Assessment Design and Application | 3 |
| EDS 8823 | Representation and Analysis of Quantitative Data | 3 |
| EDS 8824 | Analysis and Evaluation of Research | 3 |
| EDS 8880 | Leadership in 21st Century Schools | 3 |
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 log. Candidates are expected to conduct field experiences outside of their home school.