School System Accountability Graduate Certificate

Student Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Understand and articulate the history of the educational reform movement, its intention, and the associated pitfalls of an over reliance on standardized testing.
• Analyze the unique characteristics of personal, internal, professional and organizational accountability.
• Describe the benefits and challenges of implementing new models of organizational accountability in schools.
• Create and implement a communication plan based on benefits-based accountability designed to improve stakeholder engagement.
• Devise a system for defining, articulating and measuring benefits-based accountability across a school system.

Educators and Educational Administrators with an interest in improving organizational accountability, stakeholder engagement and school and system performance will engage in a year-long certificate program which parallels the implementation of accountability reform.

Admission Criteria:

To be eligible to apply to graduate certificate programs, you must:

• have an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited institution.
• have an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher (waivers can be granted based on professional work experience and other factors).

How to apply:

• Complete the application via the online portal
• Submit a $25 nonrefundable application fee. (Waived for Elizabethtown College graduates).
• Upload your current resume.
• Request official transcripts from all undergraduate institutions attended.
• Upload a 1-2 page essay addressing your:
  • motivation for pursuing the graduate certificate
  • statement of professional goals
  • goals for the application of the graduate certificate to your professional life

Those students who successfully complete a graduate certificate and wish to pursue a full master’s degree program will benefit from an abbreviated admission process (see below). Degree-seeking students must meet all of the established criteria for admission into their desired master’s degree program.

Advance to Stacked Graduate Certificate/Degree

After successfully completing their primary graduate certificate, students may complete the Advance in Graduate Certificate or Degree form in the JayWeb student portal to apply to a future graduate certificate or graduate degree. Additional materials may be required, depending on the program of interest.