The goal of the Education Specialist Program in Curriculum and Instruction is to develop distinguished teacher leaders who effect positive change for schools and for students.The ASCD (2015) describes teacher leadership as the process by which teachers, individually or collectively, influence their colleagues, principals, and other members of the school community to improve teaching and learning practices with the aim of increased student learning and achievement.An effective teacher leader must acquire specialized knowledge and skills as well as sophisticated habits of mind. One of the central habits of mind necessary for teacher leaders is honest and ongoing self-reflection.To support the development of this skill, candidates will reflect on two Program Outcomes at the end of each course and compile these in a log.Instructors will provide feedback that guides the candidate in making meaningful connections between experiences in courses and the important outcomes that will become the foundation of a transformative skill set. The written reflection will be recorded as a grade in each course, and it will comprise 5% of the overall course grade.Candidates must successfully complete the Outcome Log for a course before a final grade is assigned.Grades of Incomplete will be assigned if the Outcome Log is not complete satisfactorally.
This skill set is represented in the Education Specialist Program Outcomes.These six outcomes are essential to the role of the teacher leader, but they are not an exhaustive list.Candidates must understand and reflect upon these six during the program, but they must also work to identify other skills and competencies that are relevant to their unique professional contexts and areas of content specialization.
start this process by considering the sum of your experiences in the classroom, in discussion with peers, readings, and field experiences.Based on those, you will choose a minimum of two of the six PROGRAM OUTCOMES, and compose structured reflections that connect your experiences in the course to your gradual mastery of those outcomes.You may reflect on more than two of the five outcomes, but two is a minimum for each course.
At some point in the program, you must reflect on each Program Outcome at least once. The Program Outcome Reflection Matrix will help you to monitor your progress.Its likely that some courses will connect to more than two outcomes (maybe even all five).Other courses, while essential, may connect to only a few of the outcomes.