Curriculum and Supervision

Curriculum and Supervision

The program in Curriculum and Supervision is intended for students who have a passion for student, teacher and school development. Our work is multidisciplinary. Our students explore contemporary educational issues through scholarly experiences in curriculum, supervision, teacher education, professional development, teacher leadership, instructional coaching and mentorship. Students and faculty in the program conduct research contributing to our understandings of how teachers learn and develop in a variety of formal and informal learning communities. Graduates go on to academic positions at colleges and universities throughout the world in teacher education, curriculum, and related fields as well as positions in schools, districts, governments, and other entities concerned with the development of expertise in teaching and learning.

Some central perspectives and principles unite and undergird our work in this area. We see teaching as a socially situated and complex activity with intellectual, moral and craft dimensions. Given the complex nature of teaching, we believe that teacher development is grounded in an inquiry stance and ongoing reflection. This understanding of teaching undergirds the rest of the work we do in preparing students to engage in scholarship and practice in teacher education, curriculum, supervision, and professional development. We conceptualize leadership as a function as opposed to a role or position. We understand professional development to be an individual and collective lifelong endeavor situated in a range of contexts, both informal and formal. We understand all these aspects of our work in education as unfolding through collaboration within communities of practice in which theory and practice are mutually informing. We view our work as multidisciplinary, national, and international in scope.

Here at Penn State, our work is multidisciplinary and flexible. Our students come from a broad range of educational settings both in the U.S. and abroad. Our students have the opportunity to work on issues and concerns relevant to state, regional, national and internationals settings across a broad variety of roles in education. Though our understandings are informed by broad perspectives in curriculum, our practice and scholarship are situated primarily in schools. Our students are fortunate to have access to a host of resources including the amenities of a large and thriving research university with dedicated faculty who both conduct research at the forefront of their fields and devote personal attention to doctoral students. We have established strong relationships with a diverse set of school districts that span rural, suburban, and an increasing number of urban contexts. We are also proud to have a long-standing, award-winning Professional Development School in which teachers are our full partners in teacher education. We are located in State College, Pennsylvania, in a region nicknamed “Happy Valley,” a community that’s a positive, affordable and welcoming place to live and work.

Faculty

Dr. Fran Arbaugh

Dr. Bernard Badiali

Dr. Sonja Brobeck

Dr. Jacqueline Edmondson

Dr. Gwen Lloyd

Dr. Jim Nolan - Program Coordinator

Dr. Eve Shellenberger

Dr. Iris Striedieck

Dr. Anne Whitney

Dr. Kristen Dewitt

C & S Courses

CI 405 – Classroom Management
CI 501- Teacher Inquiry
CI 550- Overview of Contemporary School Curriculum
C & S 551- Curriculum Development
C & S 552- Curriculum Leadership
C & S 553 – Issues in Curriculum and Supervision
C & S 555- Development of Teacher Education Program
C & S 557- Seminar in Curriculum Research
C & S 558- Standard Works in Curriculum
C & S 560- Principles of Instructional Supervision
C & S 562- Methods of Classroom Supervision and Coaching
C & S 563- Designing Staff Development Programs
C & S 564- Supervision Theory
C & S 590- Colloquium in Curriculum and Supervision
C & S 595- Internship/Apprenticeships in Curriculum and Supervision
C & S 596- Independent Study in Curriculum and Supervision

A variety of courses focused on special topics and projects in Curriculum and Supervision are also offered as C & S 497, 498 and 597

Programs of Study

M. S. in Curriculum and Instruction with an Emphasis in Curriculum and Supervision- 36 Credits

The Plan of study for the M.S. comprises the following components:

• Core requirements (required of all CI Masters students): 9 credits - One course in curriculum; one course in educational research; one course in philosophical, social, psychological or historical foundations of education
• Emphasis area: 15-18 Credits in Curriculum and Supervision or related areas
• Research: credits of CI 600 (Thesis Research)
• All credits must be from graduate courses - 400 or above levels - with at least 18 credits at 500 or 600 levels
• M.S. students must complete a research-oriented thesis in which a formal question(s) has been answered through appropriate methods of inquiry. The thesis may be a presentation of empirical, theoretical or philosophical work that has some direct relationship to some aspect of curriculum and instruction broadly defined. If human subjects are involved in providing data for the thesis, University policy requires that approval of the research plan and procedures be secured from the Office of Research Protections (ORP) prior to beginning the study.

M. Ed. In Curriculum and Instruction with an Emphasis in Curriculum and Supervision -30 Credits

The Plan of study for the M.Ed. comprises the following components:

• Core requirements (required of all CI Masters students): 9 credits -One course in curriculum; one course in educational research; one course in philosophical, social, psychological or historical foundations of education
• Emphasis area: 15-18 Credits in Curriculum and Supervision or related areas
• Research: credits of CI 600 (Thesis Research)
• All credits must be from graduate courses - 400 or above levels - with at least 18 credits at 500 or 600 levels
• M.Ed. students must complete a master’s paper or project, with the guidance of an adviser, in which some practical education problem or issue is carefully addressed. The paper may be a report of a completed project, a review of the literature concerning a problem, a survey of practices, an essay or any similar effort acceptable to the M.Ed. paper advisor. Projects may include curriculum design or reform, development of software, pedagogical performance, or other creative work acceptable to a M.Ed. project advisor. All projects must be accompanied by analytical and theoretical written commentary. If human subjects are involved in providing data for the thesis, University policy requires that approval of the research plan and procedures be secured from the Office of Research Protections (ORP) prior to beginning the study.

Ph. D. in Curriculum and Instruction with an Emphasis in Curriculum and Supervision

• Core Requirements include two credits of course work. Students must enroll in C I 590 (one credit) during their first year in the doctoral program. This course completes a student’s orientation to the C I doctoral program. Students must also enroll in C & S 590 colloquium (one credit) to complete their orientation to the Curriculum and Supervision emphasis area.
• Depth of Knowledge can be demonstrated through the successful completion of a combination of courses, readings, and experiences called rotations or apprenticeships. Typically, the C & S faculty has expected the equivalent of 18 credits of course work and rotations in Curriculum and Supervision or related areas to indicate depth of knowledge. The specifics of this category are left to the discretion of the emphasis area and the acceptance of the members of the doctoral committee.
• Breadth of Study represents a student’s efforts to broaden his or her inquiry into a chosen field by including a collection of academic, professional and foundational work and studies in other departments and colleges across the University. Typically, doctoral committees have accepted the equivalent of 15 credits to demonstrate breadth.
• Research Knowledge and Capabilities are demonstrated through completion of coursework and projects Ph.D. candidates are expected to demonstrate their abilities to function effectively within at least two research traditions being able to read, understand, and critique published research and to create, conduct, evaluate and report on their original studies to scholarly audiences. The C I faculty recognizes the legitimacy of a wide variety of research traditions, including, but not limited to demographic, ethnographic, experimental, hermeneutic, historical, interpretive, linguistic, narrative, phenomenological, and theoretical. In the past, C I faculty members have expected 12 credits as demonstration of competence in this category.

Ph.D. Student Timelines/Milestones

1) Coursework including CI 590 and C & S 590 in first year of doctoral study
2) Rotations (Guided experiences) in a variety of activities including teaching, supervision, research, leadership and service
3) Candidacy exam (taken at or near the end of the first year of study)
4) A two semester residency experience is required for all doctoral degree candidates
5) Comprehensive exam (taken at or near the end of coursework)
6) Dissertation proposal
7) Dissertation defense

Financial Support

Students typically find financial support through assistantships in which they work in teaching or supervision of beginning teachers; these positions include work in the Professional Development School [link] as well as supervising students in field placements in a range of local schools. Other graduate assistants work with individual faculty members as research assistants. Assistantships are awarded separately from offers of admission, but applicants should complete an application for an assistantship at the time of application to the program.

Program Contact:

Dr. Jim Nolan
jimnolan@psu.edu
814-865-2243
148 Chambers Bldg.
University Park, PA 16802