Degree requirements
In addition to general VCU Graduate School graduation requirements, students are required to complete course work in core and concentration courses.
- Credit hour requirements: Students are required to complete a minimum of 30 credit hours.
- Grade requirements: Receipt of a grade of C or below in two courses constitutes automatic dismissal from the program. Courses with a grade below C cannot be used to satisfy degree requirements.
Curriculum requirements
| Course | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core courses | ||
| ADMS 618 ADMS 618. Leadership for Change and Improvement. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. Students will reflect on the past, critically review current reality in schools or organizations and creatively predict the nature of schooling or organizational effectiveness in the future in light of the responsive role of the leader. Other constructs presented include change as an educational or organizational paradigm, the use of data to inform changes for improvement, and the leader as a change agent. In addition, students will assess their school or organization for change readiness. | Leadership for Change and Improvement | 3 |
| ADMS 622 ADMS 622. Understanding Diversity and Leading for Social Justice. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. In this course, participants will engage in conversations related to diversity in schools or organizations. Students will explore the critical role of education or organizational leadership in a rapidly changing democratic society. Participants will reflect on how culture impacts leadership beliefs and practice as well as explore strategies for establishing equitable environments that support the needs of all stakeholders. | Understanding Diversity and Leading for Social Justice | 3 |
| ADMS 630 ADMS 630. Understanding and Engaging School Communities. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. Students will explore the broad social, economic, political and demographic shifts that have transformed metropolitan schools and communities over the past half century. Based on a deeper understanding of the complex forces that influence society and democracy, students will develop leadership skills that focus on building relationships and communicating effectively with internal and external schools and/or communities. | Understanding and Engaging School Communities | 3 |
| ADMS 633 ADMS 633. Multiple Dimensions of Leadership. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. This course provides participants with the opportunity to understand their own unique beliefs and dispositions regarding leadership as well as to understand the roles and responsibilities of leaders, including the ethical dimensions of leadership. Various leadership models and theories are presented and explored. | Multiple Dimensions of Leadership | 3 |
| EDUS 660 EDUS 660. Research Methods in Education. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, hybrid or face-to-face). 3 credits. Designed to provide an introductory understanding of educational research and evaluation studies. Emphasizes fundamental concepts, procedures and processes appropriate for use in basic, applied and developmental research. Includes developing skills in critical analysis of research studies. Analyzes the assumptions, uses and limitations of different research designs. Explores methodological and ethical issues of educational research. Students either conduct or design a study in their area of educational specialization. | Research Methods in Education | 3 |
| Concentration courses | ||
| ADMS 655 ADMS 655. Student-Centered Policy and Collaboration. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. Students will explore the school/community ecology to understand the influences on and the potential for a more equity-oriented and culturally relevant K12 public education system. Students will explore the role of public K12 governance and advocacy for policy change, cross-sector collaboration and social entrepreneurship to increase their knowledge and application of the skills and conditions needed to advance equity, opportunity and achievement. The course will focus on organizational and community leadership that values stakeholders as equal partners to improve decision-making and policy oriented toward student success, particularly for historically marginalized populations. | Student-Centered Policy and Collaboration | 3 |
| ADMS 656 ADMS 656. Human Dimensions of Leadership: Empathy, Trust and Care in Organizations. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. Effective, culturally responsive and sustaining leadership practices and approaches are grounded in humanistic relationship management with a clear understanding of human behavior and social processes. This course is about people in education-related organizations. It is designed to help leaders incorporate human dimensions of leadership focused on empathy, trust and care in organizational and community-based leadership. Course content is derived from contemporary theory, research and practice in educational, community-based and organizational behavior and leadership such as organizational theory and management; community cultural wealth; ecological/systems theory/models; community theories (sense of community, social capital, environmental psychology); and critical social and race theory, social justice and social determinants of well-being. | Human Dimensions of Leadership: Empathy, Trust and Care in Organizations | 3 |
| ADMS 657 ADMS 657. Educational Leadership and Civil Rights. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. This course will examine the evolution of civil rights in the U.S. educational system from historical, legal, policy and social science perspectives. Students will explore the grassroots organizing that supports landmark civil rights victories, as well as leadership across crucial spheres such as law and policy. The purpose of the course is to develop students’ understanding of how key civil rights principles have been advanced and contested in schools. The class will do this with an ultimate goal of developing leadership capacity to respond to contemporary civil rights challenges related to education. | Educational Leadership and Civil Rights | 3 |
| ADMS 658 ADMS 658. Community-Based Action Research for Education Stakeholders. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. This course introduces students to a research approach that engages school and/or community stakeholders. The course focuses on action-based research designs with a thoughtful and critical focus on community-based participatory action research and related approaches, such as participatory action research, youth participatory action research and community-engaged research. The course will explore this work as it occurs in school- and community-based settings, as well as within research-practice partnerships. Collectively, these approaches offer students not just a set of methods, but seek to equip them with the skills and insights to fundamentally change the relationship between researchers and research participants and the power dynamics of the knowledge production process. The course attends to the following questions: How can research help with addressing real-world problems in education? How can data collection and knowledge creation through praxis be participatory in a truly democratized, co-owned and emancipatory process? And, how can educational stakeholders use action research as a means to transcend disciplinary boundaries in order to positively impact social and educational change? Crosslisted as: EDUS 658. | Community-Based Action Research for Education Stakeholders | 3 |
| ADMS 659 ADMS 659. Leadership in the “New Demography”: Immigration Theory and Politics. 3 Hours.
Semester course; 3 lecture hours (delivered online, face-to-face or hybrid). 3 credits. As schools and communities experience significant demographic shifts, it is critically important for school and community-based leaders to interrogate the history, theories, politics and debates of immigration, particularly in relation to U.S. schooling and education. Doing so requires an examination of competing theories of race, immigration and identity, as well as notions of transnationalism, integration and citizenship. This course considers these issues from a culturally responsive lens with a keen focus on schools and communities. | Leadership in the “New Demography”: Immigration Theory and Politics | 3 |
| Total Hours | 30 | |
The minimum number of graduate credit hours required for this degree is 30.