Last updated January 3, 2011

MS in Educational Leadership

The MS degree in Educational Leadership is a two-year program. In the first year, students meet the requirements for the California Preliminary Administrative Leadership Credential. In the second year of the program, students initiate and complete a collaborative inquiry (research) project; if you are interested, please see the note below and complete the MS Research Cohort Year Preference Survey  

Admission Requirements

The following are department requirements for admission:

• A current California teaching or services credential. A copy must be submitted to the Credential Student Service Center in Room AE 235.
• A minimum of three years full-time K-12 teaching or service experience under a credential. The verification form is available on our website. District level personnel, human resources or a credential official, should sign the form. The completed form must be submitted to the Credential Student Service Center in Room AE 235.
• Satisfactory completion of CBEST. A copy must be submitted to the Credential Student Service Center in Room AE 235.
• A minimum 3.0 GPA in university course work. Official transcripts are sent with the university application AND to the Department Of Educational Leadership Art & Education Building, Room 250.
• Strong recommendations from your professional colleagues. The recommendation form is available on our website. It should be sent to the Department Of Educational Leadership Art & Education Building, Room 250.
• Evidence of leadership activities demonstrating the leadership criteria described below.
• Capacity to articulate why you want to enter the CSUEB Educational Leadership program at this time. The Statement of Purpose Prompt is available on our website. It should be sent to the Department Of Educational Leadership Art & Education Building, Room 250.
• All candidates must apply for "Classified Graduate" status and declare an MS as a degree goal.

* All candidates must also successfully meet the University Writing Skills Requirement. For information on meeting the University Writing Skills Requirement, see the testing Web site at or call 510.885.3661.

Leadership Criteria

Each year more candidates apply than we have space to accommodate. The faculty carefully reviews all of the documentation and materials provided by candidates as required in the application process. Interviews with candidates may also occur. The following criteria are used in the review and selection process:

• Leadership: Recognized as a school leader who has taken on progressively complex leadership roles.
• Sense of Purpose: Demonstrates a sense of purpose related to education and leadership.
• Equity: Committed to producing equitable outcomes for students across race, gender, language, sexual orientation and socio-economic class.
• Instructional Focus: Active participation in district or site curriculum and instructional improvement.
• Collaboration: Propensity toward collaborative, democratic and inclusive decision-making processes. Shows skillful use of conflict resolution strategies.
• Inquiry: Uses inquiry to explore issues, generate conversations and inform decisions.
• Community: Fosters positive interpersonal relationships among staff, students and parents.
• Reflection: Demonstrates a capacity to reflect on own practice as a teacher and leader.
• Communication: Demonstrates strong oral and written communication skills.

Year 2: Students who have successfully completed Year 1 of the program (Preliminary Administrative Services requirements) are automatically eligible to continue their work toward the MS degree during a second year of enrollment. To indicate their intent to continue their studies for a second year to complete the MS requirements, students complete the MS Research Cohort Year Preference Survey.

If, at the end of the first year, a student is missing more than one of the non-cohort Year 1 requirements (e.g., EDLD 6410, EDLD 6650, or EDLD 6675), the student must contact the Graduate Coordinator to discuss his/her plans for completing all Year 1 and Year 2 requirements in the three quarters of the second year.

Master's of Science Degree in Urban Teacher Leadership

                              This program intends to develop multicultural, community-centered educators

                                            who embody educator and poet Dr. Kipchoge Kirkland's charge to:

                                                                     "Never stop asking questions

                                                                 Keep reading, and most importantly,

                                                                    never forget where we came from."

      This two-year master's degree program (with option for the preliminary administrative credential) prepares educators to serve in formal leadership capacities within schools, school districts, and communities for the purpose of building and sustaining equitable schools. Guiding principles include a continual focus on addressing structural racism and classism, on modeling democratic, multicultural leadership, and on developing personal and community voice to de-center school inequality. As such, the program is led by a collaborative advisory board, consisting of critical educators, community advocates, and practitioners who combine to center critical race theory, culturally responsive approaches, and youth-focused participatory action research throughout all aspects of the program. Instruction is site-based and centers on social justice principles to ensure the program challenges the normalization of academic failure for students of color in urban schools.

      Participants build understanding and develop habits to engage in collaborative, site-based educational innovations that reflect the culture, experiences, and knowledge base of urban youth. As the program prepares participants for Bold, Socially Responsible Leadership, key focus remains on developing strategies for systemic reform and on the nuts and bolts that ensure equitable outcomes. This program is ideal for teachers, teacher leaders, administrators, community educators, and advocates dedicated to creative, community-centered school communities.

Program Features

• Classes are primarily held at CSUEB Oakland and at participant school and community sites
• A two-year program of culminates in a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership, with an emphasis in Urban Teacher Leadership from CSU East Bay
• 2 courses plus fieldwork during the first year; 1 course plus fieldwork during the second year
• Option for the Tier I Preliminary Administration Credential (can be completed within the first year)
• Cohort structure (students progress through coursework as a group)
• Emphasis on school site issues
• On-site coaching by experienced educators dedicated to urban communities

Program Scope and Focus
Full time coursework begins Fall, 2010. The first year focuses on understanding the social context of educational inequality and reform efforts. Participants develop site and community-based leadership skills while examining instruction, supervision, law, and finance as keys to sustained educational equity. Educators working towards their Tier I Preliminary Certificate engage in additional site-based fieldwork. The second year focuses on developing collaborative leadership teams that then implement youth participatory action research on key equity issues, as educators complete requirements for the Master's degree.

Program Outcomes
Upon successful completion of all academic and fieldwork-based requirements, participants will earn a Master's Degree in Educational Leadership. With additional activities (built into the program), participants who meet state requirements will also earn a Preliminary Administrative Credential.

Program Themes

Focus on Critical Race Theory
Critical Race Theory provides race-conscious lenses to examine and address school and community inequality. The program focuses on two key tenets: 1) racism is a normal part of the urban school experience; and 2) efforts to address this racism must center on the voices of those most impacted by racial inequality. 

Culturally Responsive Teaching and Administration
Because urban education requires creative, responsive approaches to communities that face dramatic social and educational exclusion, the program centers culturally responsive educational approaches that reflect the history and presence of the East Bay's diverse communities. Educators focus on modeling culturally responsive curriculum, teaching, and inclusive, engaging school communities.

Focus on Youth Participatory Action Research
This program prepares educators to engage in culturally responsive research methods that directly inform communities, schools, and districts. Through this process, participants develop structures that guide urban youth into conducting action research that identifies structural inequalities, lays out solutions, and develops collaborative leadership teams.

For more information contact:

ardella.dailey@csueastbay.edu

matais.pouncil@csueastbay.edu

LINKS TO APPLY

Fall Department application

University application (used for all terms)