Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (M.A.Ed.)

Studying Educational Leadership at Virginia Tech

The Principal Preparation Program is designed to meet the standards of the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium (ISLLC) as well as those of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). In addition to these standards, the curriculum also incorporates over 200 knowledge- and skill-based objectives identified by practicing school administrators. Courses place a heavy emphasis on student learning, collaborative leadership, productive culture, shared decision-making, and planned change.

Course topics include school law, finance and budgeting, instructional supervision, special education administration, leadership and change, research and evaluation, and personnel administration. All Principal Preparation students (M.A. or Ed.S.) complete 30 hours of coursework on a part-time basis, over a period of five semesters or approximately two years. These 30 credit hours include two 3-credit internships, one focused on building-level school leadership and the other focused on division-level, agency, or special school leadership.

Principal Preparation courses are conducted in-person or via blended learning, and all courses incorporate some form of instructional technology. Two-way interactive video connects cohorts across sites, and online resources supplement on-site teaching. Students learn to evaluate instructional and managerial software, and develop the skills to meet Virginia’s technology standards for teachers and administrators.

Career and Professional Development

Students conduct each internship on-site at a local educational institution, under the mentorship of a practicing principal or supervisor. To pass these internships, students must demonstrate competency in a range of standards-based skills.

Students select their primary and secondary internship sites, as well as their mentors, in the first semester of the program. They complete their internships year-round in short blocks during planning periods, after school, before school, or during the summer – whenever they have a break from regularly-assigned work duties. Most students complete their primary internship at the school at which they’re currently employed.