This course serves a dual purpose: (1) it focuses on the fundamentals of instructional design and the use of multimedia technology as a teaching and learning strategy that addresses diverse student needs and encourages active participation in learning; (2) it emphasizes technology tools that facilitate communication and collaboration within local and global learning communities as a means of improving leadership functions and effectively engaging with others in online and remote learning environments.

This course provides a critical examination of the formation and re-formation of education in the US public school system. The concepts and theories of power and oppression serve as a framework for understanding the her/historical, cultural, and political context of education. With a focus on the educational narratives of language, race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and immigration status, culturally responsive education is explored as a tool for creating and sustaining educational equity.

Assessment serves as a cornerstone of special education, both in terms of eligibility determination and instructional planning. This course will focus on the wide array of assessment methods available for identifying students with disabilities and evaluating their responsiveness to instruction. Assessments included are norm-referenced, criterion referenced, curriculum based, observational, and dynamic. Students will design instruction, intervention, and support based on assessment results. Field experience hours required.

This course will review and further develop students' skills in evaluation of research and increase their understandings of methodologies, techniques, data interpretation, and instructional applications of research.

This course will provide literacy leaders with the opportunity to increase their understanding of instructional approaches and materials related to K-12 literacy programs. The focus of this course will be on research-based, best practices in literacy curriculum and instruction. This course will emphasize strategies regarding how to be in a leadership role for teachers to support their knowledge and instruction in these best practices.

Students in this course are charged with examining the role of an educator as a moral steward. Students will be asked to think about the individual role that they assume in achieving and maintaining a more democratic and ethical society through education. Investigations into controversial ethical issues and dilemmas prepare educators to critically think through potential situations that may arise with students, parents, administrators, and peers. Students will look at the overview of the systemic nature of education and schooling, with emphasis on the role of the teacher.

Typically, this is the culminating course in the Master of Arts in Education program. It provides advanced study on a topic or emerging issue in American education. It is designed to interrogate contemporary issues and their influences on teaching and learning. Students will develop a broad understanding of the different societal and cultural facets that impact PK-12 education. A four-day residency on the Viterbo University, La Crosse, WI campus is required; commencement takes place on the final day of residency.

This course will focus on the diverse literacy needs of children within the regular education classroom. State and federal legislation concerning inclusion of children with disabilities and the concept of "least restrictive environment" will be studied. An exploration of personal and societal biases will allow teachers increased self-awareness in teaching a divergent population. Appropriate best practices for enhancing literacy in all children will be presented.

This course will help participants understand organizational cultures, the dynamics of power and change, the role of ritual, and the aesthetics of leadership. In pursuit of the common good, the true and the beautiful, the participants will have the opportunity to develop skills to lead effectively. Prerequisite: admission to the Educational Leadership program.

Students will intern in a field experience with kindergarten children integrating prior early childhood coursework through the preparation of interdisciplinary units designed and delivered in a kindergarten environment. Field experience reflections addressing the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) standards will be compiled into a field experience portfolio. Restricted to students admitted to the early childhood endorsement/licensure program. May be repeated for credit.