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Master of Education in EducationAL LEADERSHIP

During your years of teaching, you’ve been maturing both as an educator and as a person in relationship with Christ. Now you’re ready for a new challenge: advancing into K-12 administration, where you can serve God by helping to create a well-run school community. Southeastern’s Master of Education in Educational Leadership, shaped for followers of Jesus, teaches you not only to become a skilled principal or assistant principal, but to continually “put on the mind of Christ”—and to put that mind to good use in your school.

WHY CHOOSE THIS DEGREE?
Job prospects for education administrators look good. The U.S. Department of Labor reports that between 2006 and 2016, many Baby Boomers will be retiring from school administrative positions—as we’ve begun to see in our districts already. Additionally, it predicts that the number of school leadership positions will increase as schools and their leaders begin to shoulder more responsibility for monitoring student achievement.

Our own area of the country offers a particular advantage: enrollment of school-age children is expected to grow more briskly in the U.S. South than elsewhere. Throughout the country, administrators will likely continue to be in high demand.

Many teachers feel called to move up into school leadership; they’re eager to earn higher certification and to fill the upcoming vacancies. Perhaps like you, they also want to prepare for their new leadership roles alongside other people of faith.

WHY CHOOSE SOUTHEASTERN?
In Florida’s Polk County school system and within regional private and Christian schools, Southeastern has earned a reputation for turning out responsible, well-prepared graduates. Our College of Education has received high praise from the State of Florida for contributing to the success of Central Florida schools.

Teachers interested in rising to leadership roles within Florida League of Christian Schools schools find Southeastern’s program singularly helpful. No other Christian university in the Central Florida region offers the M.Ed. in Educational Leadership.

For a Christian there’s no substitute for learning a new profession with faculty and students who share your conviction that every administrative task—from setting curriculum standards, preparing budgets, and hiring teachers to remembering children’s names—merits your God-given best.

In structure and content, Southeastern’s M.Ed. matches the educational leadership programs of large, regional state universities. Our decisive difference comes from several elements: our comfortably low student:professor ratio, our broadly experienced Christian faculty, our emphasis on practical skills, and especially, the perspective of faith that infuses every class. Here, professors and students alike wholeheartedly embrace the paradox that the most effective leaders are those who see themselves as servants.

In your classes, expect practical lessons, creative methods, and honest sharing. Expect your professors to remind you often of the big, ongoing question: How can I add value to the lives of the people I serve at this school? As you learn about topics like policy-making, school finance, curriculum development, conflict resolution, school law, and personnel management, you also absorb a leadership approach that can transform even a suffering school into a cohesive community.

THE ACCELERATED PROGRAM
As a working teacher you have a busy life, so we’ve set up our M.Ed. to make optimum use of your available time. Our cohort-based, accelerated track to your Educational Leadership degree requires 36 credit hours and takes you only 18 months.

During both the fall and spring semesters, you take three five-week courses, attending class only on Saturdays; that’s 15 Saturdays each semester. During the summer, you take four intensive courses, each lasting one week. All your classes during this full year take place on our Lakeland, Florida, campus.

The fourth semester—the following fall—brings your practicum, within your own school. (If you’re not currently teaching, we’ll help you find an appropriate site). Working with your supervising administrator 10 hours per week (two hours per day) for 15 weeks, you gain invaluable on-site experience.

This accelerated course sequence covers all your academic work, after which you take the Florida Educational Leadership Examination (FELE), the program’s exit requirement. If you’ve already completed three years of teaching, successful scores on the FELE make you eligible to apply for Educational Leadership certification in Florida. Your final step is to enter the administrative employment pool here in Polk County or elsewhere in the state.

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS
Ideally, students in this accelerated M.Ed. program enter in the fall as a cohort and progress together as a group, but if that doesn’t match your timetable, you can enter at any point. If you prefer not to follow the accelerated track, you can choose to take only one or two courses each semester and/or to take fewer intensive weeklong courses during the summer session.

Southeastern’s M.Ed. in Educational Leadership is designed for state-certified teachers who have already taught for three years in either public or private schools. But our program is not limited to veteran teachers. If you haven’t yet spent three years teaching, you can go ahead and complete the M.Ed., receive your Educational Leadership certification, and thus get a jump start on your next vertical move. If you’re changing careers—that is, if you do not already hold an undergraduate degree in education—you may need to begin by taking additional undergraduate courses that can make you eligible for teaching certification in Florida.

A HIGHER DEGREE OF SERVING
Inside you, there’s a leader that God is already starting to develop—and Southeastern is ready to help that servant-hearted leader emerge. We want to see you working as a principal or assistant principal, leading through judicious and compassionate example, and creating a productive school community where every student, teacher, staff member, and parent feels known and valued.

Southeastern University welcomes you and your new calling, in the name of the greatest Leader of all. To receive more information about Southeastern’s Master of Education in Educational Leadership program, click here.

CATALOG DESCRIPTION AND COURSE REQUIREMENTS

This program is available:

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