Graduate Single-Course Offerings

Influences of trauma on the whole child from a developmental perspective: including cognitive, physical, emotional, and social; indicators and influences of trauma, impact of trauma and stress on learning and relationships, Trauma Informed Practice, and resilience as a factor in responding to trauma, individual trauma interventions and strategies, and basic neuroscience of trauma and resilience.

Teacher-leadership related to trauma and resilience in various environments and individual demographics. Collaboration and communication to improve professional practice including ethical and legal responsibilities. Implications of vicarious trauma among teachers and other school personnel.

Developing trauma-sensitive classroom environments using trauma-informed approaches that foster resilience in student, teacher, and family relationships. Evidence based trauma-informed interventions that foster resilience among students in the classroom and in the home.

Characteristics of a school climate sensitive to trauma, including continued education and trauma informed training for all school personnel. Resiliency strategies for supporting students, teachers, staff, families, and community partners, from individual interventions to school wide policies and programs, specifically aimed at creating a school climate sensitive to trauma.

An examination of various school improvement processes to include collaborative visioning, data driven decision making, continuous sustainable improvement models and transformational change at the PK – 8 and 7-12 building levels.

Principles and practices of ethics for school administrators. Focus on ethical leadership to promote the success of every student and foster ethical and responsible behavior within the PK-12 school community.

School leadership to meet the needs of PK – 8 and 6-12 students in special education. Focus on special education laws and current issues, students with exceptionalities and services for them, role of leadership in special education, working with families, and inclusion of students with exceptionalities into the regular classroom.

A foundations course in developmental reading for teachers of younger children (ages three through grade 3), emphasizing the characteristics of young children, oral language development, developing reading interests, the integration of all language arts in the beginning reading program, and current issues in teaching the young child to read.

This course will examine recent research-based instructional practices regarding phonics, vocabulary, spelling, and fluency. Special emphases include phonemic awareness, print awareness, alphabetic knowledge, alphabetic principle, decoding, reading practice with decodable text, irregular and high frequency words, fluency, development spelling, and comprehension. The graduate candidate will research current theory, instructional practice and assessment related to each of the word study components within specific literacy developmental stages.

A foundations course in developmental reading for teachers of intermediate, junior, and senior high students (grades 4 through 12), emphasizing reading in the content areas, comprehension levels, reading-study skills, oral interpretation of literature, recreational reading, and current issues in teaching the older student to become more proficient in reading.

A close examination of the writing of children and youth, and the techniques for teaching writing. Special emphasis on the relationship of writing to literature, reading, language, and the other language arts.

The purpose of this course is to introduce candidates to the theory and practice of second language teaching and learning. Emphasis on PK-12 grade levels.

Language and culture are two multidimensional and constantly changing phenomena that are integrally connected to everything that happens in the world. As any language is culturally conditioned, any culture is linguistically defined. Therefore, the main goal of this course is to examine the relationship between language and culture, as well as their effect on community, identity, beliefs, and values. This course guides the candidate in directly applying an understanding of language and culture to classroom practice and curriculum development. Emphasis on PK-12 grade levels.

Introduction to wide range of AI tools and applications in PK12 teaching and learning. Explore how AI systems function and evaluate adaptive learning platforms, automated feedback systems, and generative AI. Understanding and assessing potential and effectiveness to enhance educational outcomes. Practical knowledge of AI tools and strategies for integration into practice.

Family and culture are integrally connected to children’s healthy growth and development. This course equips candidates to understand the complexity of families and to develop positive reciprocal relationships which support and engage diverse families as partners to support meaningful learning experiences and build effective learning environments.

Meets NDE Human Relations requirements.

This course introduces the concepts of fundamental biostatistical concepts, tools, and methods used in public health decision making. Topics include descriptive statistics, probability, sampling distribution, estimation, hypothesis testing, power and sample size estimation, parametric and non-parametric methods, linear regression, ANOVA, and experimental design. The emphasis will be on interpretation, statistical software use, research design, data collection, and analysis. Students will develop Excel-based tools to assess global disease rates and compare health impacts.

NCCAP certification. Prerequisite: An undergraduate introduction to statistics course.

Students will examine core principles of epidemiology and statistical evaluation of the impact of microbial diseases on the health of community- and clinic-based populations. The epidemiology and prevention of chronic diseases will also be emphasized.

This course is designed to provide the student with insight into various leadership styles and techniques that can be utilized within an Athletic Department to assure the success of the department in producing competitive programs that foster growth of its student-athletes in all areas. Particular focus will be placed on the development of a mission statement, vision statement and organizational goals for the department that align with the academic institution and assisting coaches in the same process and assuring its implementation.

Inspired by Joe Ehrmann's groundbreaking work, delves into the core principles of authentic leadership that transcend traditional models. This course explores the profound impact of leadership from the inside out, focusing on the development of character, values, and purpose as the foundation for transformative leadership. Participants will engage in deep introspection, challenging conversations, and practical exercises designed to cultivate self-awareness, empathy, and integrity. The course examines the role of leaders in fostering meaningful connections, promoting equity and justice, and inspiring positive change in their communities. Through a blend of theory, case studies, and interactive sessions, participants will gain the tools and strategies needed to lead with authenticity, compassion, and vision. InsideOut Leadership empowers individuals to become catalysts for personal and societal transformation, leaving a lasting legacy of impact and influence.

Offered once a year – Summer A.

This course is designed to increase students’ effectiveness and skill in analyzing and understanding organizations and their attendant processes. Behavioral science concepts and theories are studied. Individual, group and structural behavior and concepts are presented. Special emphasis will be placed on the importance of leadership and communications.

This course introduces and examines the major functions and processes of managing human resources. Theoretical and current issues will be addressed through class discussion and case analysis utilizing organization and managerial examples. Topics will include assessment of resource need, job description development, hiring practices, training program development, compensation, and benefit plan structure, and termination procedures.

This course will focus on the development of decision-making skills for both effective and efficient marketing. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of marketing in strategic planning and the critical process components in the development of effective marketing strategies. Topics will include market segmentation, use of marketing research in decision-making, use of media and promotion, budgeting, and marketing program evaluation.

This course is designed to increase students’ effectiveness and skills in understanding and managing today’s nonprofit organizations. This course provides students a strategic approach to nonprofit management. Students will review areas essential to effective leadership of nonprofit organizations, including the context of the nonprofit sector, governance, ethics, leadership, fund development, social entrepreneurship, financial accountability, human resource, and volunteer management.