Syllabus for EDL-680
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The primary focus of this course is on the development of school and district budgets and budget forecasting, with consideration of the impact of local, state, and federal funding laws on budget development processes. Students will (1) examine the cyclical nature of budget development and how school budgets are collaboratively constructed; (2) compare and contrast expenditures of like districts; (3) analyze a budget; (4) review various models for implementing a budget and project how the budget should be implemented and coordinated to align with the educational vision; and (5) forecast future fiscal needs based on variables such as enrollment trends, population projections, state reimbursements for student attendances, and housing pattern changes. School financing will be examined through the lens of historical, current, and future funding issues. (ISLLC 3; NJDOE 3).
Upon successful completion of the course, you should be able to:
The following materials are required to do the work of the course. The required textbook is available from the College's textbook supplier, MBS Direct. Required Textbook Brimley, V., Jr., Verstegen, D. A., & Garfield, R. R. (2012). Financing education in a climate of change (11th ed.). Boston: Pearson Education. ISBN-13: 978-0-13-707136-4. Electronic Portfolio Registration
Budget Forecasting and Fiscal Planning is a three-credit, graduate course, consisting of eleven modules:
Each module, in turn, comprises learning objectives, a study assignment (readings from the textbook, PowerPoint presentations, and brief lecture notes), a discussion activity, and a writing assignment. You are also required to complete three reports/projects: a detailed report based on an interview with your business administrator, a report based on your annual district report card, and a school budget. For the course's eleven lessons, go to the Course Modules area of the course Web site. For information about the reports and final project, see the discussions below and the Reports and Project area of the course Web site. For assignment and report due dates, consult the course Calendar.
Each module in the course has a discussion forum. All discussion forums take place asynchronously on the class Discussion Board. Online discussions provide an opportunity for you to interact with your classmates. During this aspect of the course, you respond to prompts that assist you in developing your ideas, you share those ideas with your classmates, and you comment on their posts. Discussion board interactions promote development of a community of learners, critical thinking, and exploratory learning. Most discussion activities contain several assignment questions. Be sure your posting addresses all of them. Some discussion forums direct you to post a course assignment for classmates' comments. Please participate in online discussions as you would in constructive face-to-face discussions. You are expected to post well-reasoned and thoughtful reflections for each item, making reference, as appropriate, to your textbook readings and any other sources you may use, including Web sites. You are also expected to reply to your classmates' posts in a respectful, professional, and courteous manner. You may, of course, post questions asking for clarification or further elucidation on a topic. Click link for an evaluation rubric.
Each lesson in the course concludes with a short writing assignment of about 500 words. The writing assignments require you to write well-reasoned and thoughtful papers on questions derived from the lesson objectives, making reference, as appropriate, to the readings and other sources of information. You are required to use APA sixth edition format for your work and for all references. Click link for an evaluation rubric.
You will conduct and report on an interview with your school or district business administrator about the budget process. The purpose of this exercise is to give you, as a future administrator, first-hand experience with what is involved in preparing a school budget and with all of its various components. See Reports and Project > Interview for further details, and consult the course Calendar for the report's due date. Click link for an evaluation rubric
In a second report, you will review and analyze your district report card. In analyzing the report card you will see how your district compares with state averages as well as possible trends in both your school and district. See Reports and Project > District Report Card for further details, and consult the course Calendar for the report's due date. Click link for an evaluation rubric.
For your final project, you will prepare a school budget for one of three grade configurations (K–5, 6–8, or 9–12). The budget will be based on information provided and will give you an opportunity to incorporate what you learned earlier in your interview of the business administrator. See Reports and Project > School Budget for further details, and consult the course Calendar for the project's due date. Click link for an evaluation rubric.
PORTFOLIO ARTIFACT[S] AND REFLECTIVE NARRATIVE The principal artifacts for this course are the interview report, district report card report, and school budget project. Place each of these artifacts in your electronic folio. Preface them with a brief Reflection that describes the process of the activity, the ISLLC standards that are addressed for each artifact, and how this prepares you for school leadership.
Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:
To receive credit for the course, you must earn a letter grade of C or higher on the weighted average of all assigned course work (e.g., writing assignments, discussion postings, reports, final project, etc.). You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. (Note: Graduate students must maintain a B average to remain in good academic standing.) Letter grades and their numerical equivalents are as follows:
Thomas Edison State College expects all of its students to approach their education with academic integrity—the pursuit of scholarly activity free from fraud and deception. All mentors and administrative staff members at the College insist on strict standards of academic honesty in all courses. Academic dishonesty undermines this objective. Academic dishonesty takes the following forms:
Academic dishonesty will result in disciplinary action and possible dismissal from the College. Students who submit papers that are found to be plagiarized will receive an F on the plagiarized assignment, may receive a grade of F for the course, and may face dismissal from the College. A student who is charged with academic dishonesty will be given oral or written notice of the charge. If a mentor or College official believes the infraction is serious enough to warrant referral of the case to the academic dean, or if the mentor awards a final grade of F in the course because of the infraction, the student and the mentor will be afforded formal due process. If a student is found cheating or using unauthorized materials on an examination, he or she will automatically receive a grade of F on that examination. Students who believe they have been falsely accused of academic dishonesty should seek redress through informal discussions with the mentor, through the office of the dean, or through an executive officer of Thomas Edison State College. Plagiarism Accidentally copying the words and ideas of another writer does not excuse the charge of plagiarism. It is easy to jot down notes and ideas from many sources and then write your own paper without knowing which words are your own and which are someone else's. It is more difficult to keep track of each and every source. However, the conscientious writer who wishes to avoid plagiarizing never fails to keep careful track of sources. Always be aware that if you write without acknowledging the sources of your ideas, you run the risk of being charged with plagiarism. Clearly, plagiarism, no matter the degree of intent to deceive, defeats the purpose of education. If you plagiarize deliberately, you are not educating yourself, and you are wasting your time on courses meant to improve your skills. If you plagiarize through carelessness, you are deceiving yourself. For examples of unintentional plagiarism and advice on when to quote and when to paraphrase, click the links provided below. Examples of Unintentional Plagiarism
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