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School of Education

Administration, Supervision, and
Curriculum Development (ASCD)

General Information

The Administration, Supervision, and Curriculum Development (ASCD) Division at UCD has as its primary responsibility the preparation of leaders for public schools in Colorado and the nation. Currently, the Administrator or Principal Professional License is required for people seeking building-level and district-level administrative positions in Colorado.

ASCD offers a program that leads to endorsement for the Provisional License for Administrator or Principal. Following completion of a Master's degree and a district-sponsored induction program, the Professional License for Administrator or Principal can be awarded by the Colorado Department of Education.

The ASCD faculty offers a Master's and Educational Specialist degree in addition to the program for the Administrator and Principal License. Further, the ASCD faculty with faculty from other divisions offers and Emphasis Area in Educational Administration and Policy (EPA) in the new Ph.D. program in Educational Leadership and Innovation (EDLI).

Administrator and Principal Licensing Program and Master's and Educational Specialist Degrees

The ASCD licensing program prepares people to assume leadership roles in elementary and secondary education in Colorado. The program is standards-based and is designed to meet the Colorado Department of Education preparation program requirements. People completing the licensing program and successfully passing the state-approved assessment will be eligible to receive a Colorado Provisional Administrator License or Colorado Provisional Principal License. A Master's or Ed.S. Degree can be completed with at least nine additional credits, and the induction phase, cooperatively organized and managed by the University of Colorado at Denver (UCD) and area school districts, leads to the Colorado Professional License for Administrator or Principal.

Licensing Program

The ASCD licensing program leads to a provisional license for Principals or Administrators. The program is geared primarily to preparation for the Principals' license. Students interested in preparing for the Administrator license will have knowledge and skill requirements that differ somewhat from the expectations for the Principal's license. The variations are outlined both in the domain requirements and in the portfolio products required to complete in the program.

The program leading to the Administrator or Principal License requires twenty-seven graduate credit hours. The program's credits are organized into four domains arranged in six-credit-hour blocks over four terms with one three-credit semester at the end to complete EDUC 5930, the internship which is conducted at one or more qualified sites. Students are expected to enroll for six credit hours each semester, except for the final semester of internship.

The domain requirements for licensing are:

Content areas:

Field Practice:

The Master's (M.A. or Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) Degree requires nine additional credits in research and social science course work or in other course work identified by the student and the student's advisor. These courses can include speciality courses in Administration, Supervision, and Curriculum Development or other areas or disciplined.

Following completion of the licensing sequence and the M.A. or Ed.S. Degrees, a graduate of the UCD program becomes eligible for the Provisional License. To obtain a Professional License, the candidate msut have a supervised inducation experience in a position in a school district with an approved induction program. UCD faculty work closely with area schools and districts to ensure timely induction experiences.

Nature of Program

The licensing, M.A./Ed.S., and induction program are collaborative efforts in which student cohorts are jointly recruited, selected, and trained by UCD faculty and field practitioners from district consortia. Course work occurs in the four domains (except for the nine credits needed to complete the M.A./Ed.S.) which are connected to field experiences in schools. Content learning and field experiences are problem-based. Problem-based learning provides content as well as process ways of thinking about problems of professional practice and empyhasizes learning in settings that most resemble the conditions of practice. Thus, students gain clinical skills (the capacity to recognize and solve problems of professional practice) through the integration of content learning and field applications.

Contact Information

For further information, please contact the Division of ASCD
University of Colorado at Denver
Campus Box 106, PO Box 173364
Denver, CO 80217-3364
North Classroom Building, Room 4023

Rodney Muth, Program Director
(303) 556-4857 Office
(303) 556-4479 FAX
(303) 556-628-3977 Voice Mail

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For further information contact School of Education
Updated July 13, 1997