Syllabus for EDL-700
FIELD-BASED PRACTICUM
Description | Prerequisite | Objectives | Materials | Structure | Assessment | Grading | Integrity
The Field-Based Practicum is a culminating activity for students completing the Master of Arts in Educational Leadership (MAEdL) program. It requires you to engage in a 120-hour practicum experience, and thus the completion of 300 hours of practicum activities, at your school site or at an alternative site where you can put leadership theory into practice, working with a local school administrator and the course mentor. You design and implement a series of administrative, supervisory, curricular, and professional development activities that address the standards developed by the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC). Activities will be structured to address each of the six ISLLC Standards during the 12-week practicum. On completion of the activities, you will develop a final report that includes artifacts as well as analysis and reflective commentary on the practicum.
Before enrolling in this capstone course, you should have completed 180 documented hours of practicum activities. These hours are distinct from the 120-hour Field-Based Practicum and may not be used to satisfy the 120-hour practicum.
For a list of sample activities that can be used to complete both the 180-hour prerequisite and the 120-hour Field-Based Practicum, see the Sample Activities document posted in Course Documents.
Note: As part of the requirements for administrative certification with the endorsement of Principal in New Jersey, you are required to complete a total of 300-hours school-based practicum activities.
On successful completion of this course, you should be able to accomplish the following:
You will need the following materials to do the work of the course. The required textbooks are available from the College's textbook supplier, MBS Direct.
Required Textbooks
Cunningham, W. G. (2007). A handbook for educational leadership interns: A rite of passage. Boston: Pearson Allyn & Bacon. ISBN-13: 9780205464234.
Fullan, M. (2005). Leadership & sustainability: System thinkers in action. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press. ISBN-13: 9781412904964.
Fullan, M. (2007). Leading in a culture of change. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. ISBN-13: 9780787987664.
The Field-Based Practicum is a 12-week, three-credit, graduate course that comprises student-created modules of approximately two-week duration. The 120-hour Field-Based Practicum is an extension of the 180 hours of practicum activities completed prior to entering this course. Each student-created module focuses on one or more activities aligned to the six ISLLC standards. Any module may address primarily one standard and also address one or two others.
ISLLC standards can be reviewed at the Wallace Foundation Web site (http://www.wallacefoundation.org/Pages/default.aspx):
For a list of sample activities that can be used to complete both the 180-hour prerequisite and the 120-hour Field-Based Practicum, see the Sample Activities document posted in Course Documents.
Consult the course Calendar for all assessment due dates.
In completing the Field-Based Practicum, you will be assessed using a variety of evaluation strategies, techniques, and activities in the form of plans, reports, logs, and artifacts.
Consult the course Calendar for assessment due dates.
Activities Log
Your first assignment will be to document the 180 practicum hours completed prior to taking this practicum course, using the Educational Leadership Practicum Log provided in Course Documents. This initial accounting of previous practicum activities provides a basis for developing a suitable action plan for the 12-week, 120-hour Field-Based Practicum.
To submit the activities log, go to the Submit Assignments area of the course Web site.
For additional help regarding preparing and submitting assignments, see the Student Handbook located within the General Information area of the course Web site.
Action Plan
You will develop an action plan for the 12-week practicum that addresses all six ISLLC standards and uses a school or school district as the base of study. The plan will include objectives aligned with standards, proposed activities, timelines, and anticipated outcomes.
To submit both a draft of your plan and the finalized Action Plan, go to the Submit Assignments area of the course Web site.
For additional help regarding preparing and submitting assignments, see the Student Handbook located within the General Information area of the course Web site.
Activity Reports
Activity reports will follow the completion of each module or set of activities (approximately every two weeks). Included is a description of the activities, relationship to standards, accomplishment, feedback from administrator and mentor, and artifacts.
To submit activity reports, go to the Submit Assignments area of the course Web site.
For additional help regarding preparing and submitting assignments, see the Student Handbook located within the General Information area of the course Web site.
Click link for an evaluation rubric.
Reflective Log
You will maintain a reflective log on the course Web site that will include personal observations, comments, ideas, and other statements that monitor the various steps of the practicum. The log is shared with the course mentor only.
Click link for an evaluation rubric.
Discussion Board
The class Discussion Board will provide daily or weekly opportunities to exchange ideas and thoughts with other students. The course mentor will monitor the board and participate as appropriate.
For posting guidelines and additional help with Discussion Board assignments, please see the Student Handbook located within the General Information area of the course Web site.
Click link for an evaluation rubric.
Final Report
You will produce a final report in electronic format. Included will be samples of your work during the practicum.
To submit the final report, go to the Submit Assignments area of the course Web site.
For additional help regarding preparing and submitting assignments, see the Student Handbook located within the General Information area of the course Web site.
Click link for an evaluation rubric.
Artifacts
You will organize all the products of the practicum into an artifact file for review by the College mentor and yourself. It will serve as both a means to evaluate your work as well as a means to display to others the outcomes of the experience.
On-Site Mentor Report
The on-site mentor or school administrator will provide feedback on your performance relative to the ISLLC standards.
Portfolio Artifacts and Reflective Narrative
The principal artifacts for this course are the documents you create that can support the hours accrued for the practicum. These can include memoranda, meeting agenda, formal presentations, etc. Accompanying each artifact is a reflective narrative that describes the process and how the artifact meets specific standards and prepares you for school leadership.
Upload your artifacts to your electronic portfolio, and be certain to indicate their alignment to the applicable ISLLC standards.
Your grade in the course will be determined as follows:
|
Activities log |
5 percent |
|---|---|
|
Action plan |
10 percent |
|
Activity reports |
20 percent |
|
Reflective log |
10 percent |
|
Discussion Board |
10 percent |
|
Final Report |
35 percent |
|
On-site mentor report |
10 percent |
All assignments will receive a numerical grade of 0–100. You will receive a score of 0 for any work not submitted. Your final grade in the course will be a letter grade. Letter grade equivalents for numerical grades are as follows:
| A | = | 93–100 |
| A– | = | 90–92 |
| B+ | = | 88–89 |
| B | = | 83–87 |
| B– | = | 80–82 |
| C+ | = | 78–79 |
| C | = | 73–77 |
| C– | = | 70–72 |
| D | = | 60–69 |
| F | = | Below 60 |
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
Using someone else's work as your own is plagiarism. Although it may seem like simple dishonesty, plagiarism is against the law. Thomas Edison State College takes a strong stance against plagiarism, and students found to be plagiarizing will be severely penalized. If you copy phrases, sentences, paragraphs, or whole documents word-for-word—or if you paraphrase by changing a word here and there—without identifying the author, then you are plagiarizing. Please keep in mind that this type of identification applies to Internet sources as well as to print-based sources. Copying and pasting from the Internet, without using quotation marks and without acknowledging sources, constitutes plagiarism. (For information about how to cite Internet sources, see the "Academic Standards" section of the Online Student Handbook and the citation links under Writing Style Guides located in the General Information area of the course Web site.)
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
When to Quote and When to Paraphrase