Master's Degree in Educational Leadership

The Master's Degree in Educational Leadership is designed to provide the student with a Master Degree in Education (M.Ed.) while preparing him/her for a Montana Class 3 Administrative License and a K-12 Principal Endorsement. The M.Ed. supports existing educators in the process of becoming administrators and school leaders. This degree requires a minimum of thirty-seven (37) semester credits at the graduate level. These 37 credits are comprised of 12 three credit courses and one credit for the comprehensive exam which consists of the Master's Program Documentation and Culminating Presentation. An advisor will be assigned to all successful applicants and we encourage you to contact them or the department with any questions regarding your program of study. M.Ed. students must maintain their course requirements with a minimum GPA of 3.0.

Students seeking an administrative license in addition to a Master's of Education (M.Ed.) are required to complete Field Experience.

Course Information

EDLD 502: Philosophy of Education
EDLD 519: Measurement & Analysis of Educational Data
EDLD 520: Educational Research
EDLD 550: Foundations of Education Leadership
EDLD 551: Foundations of Curriculum & Instruction
EDLD 552: Supervision & Evaluation of Public School Education
EDLD 554: Montana School Law
EDLD 556: Finance of Public Education
EDLD 559: Public Relations for Principals
EDLD 583: Strategic Planning for Technology

EDLD 567: K-12 Leadership
EDLD 568: K-12 Curriculum

The Department of Educational Leadership offers courses in the Fall, Spring, and Summer terms.

Critical Tasks for Completion

The following tasks are provided to assist the student in planning and completing their Master of Education Degree (M.Ed.) in Educational Leadership.

After being accepted to the program:

  1. Review the acceptance materials and contact your advisor if you have any questions.
  2. Review the Graduate School’s Policies
  3. Contact your advisor to help you organize a program plan.
  4. Successfully complete your required courses.

Prior to your final semester:

  1. Contact your advisor to be sure you are ready to register and complete your Program Documentation and Culminating Presentation.
  2. Register for your Comprehensive Exam credit: EDLD 594: Comp Exam. This will be your Master's Program Documentation and Culminating Presentation.
    1. If you are registering for this alongside another course during your final semester, you can register for just one credit.
    2. If this is the only course you will be registered for during your final semester, Graduate School policy states that you must be registered for at least three (3) credits per semester for continuous enrollment.
  3. Contact Dr. John Matt (john.matt@umontana.edu or 406.243.5610) to schedule your Culminating Presentation during your final semester.
  4. Apply for Graduation

During your final semester:

  1. Successfully complete your final courses.
  2. Complete and submit your M.Ed. Program Documentation via UM Box.
    1. See below for more detailed information.
  3. Successfully complete your Culminating Presentation

Apply for Your K-12 Principal Endorsement

After successful completion of the Master of Education Degree (M.Ed.) in Educational Leadership:

  1. Contact the Licensure and Assessment Manager, Kristi Steinberg, to initiate paperwork to obtain a Montana Class 3 Administrative License with a K-12 Principal Endorsement
    • Note: In addition to the 12 required graduate courses, obtaining a Montana Class 3 Administrative License has additional requirements.
    • kristine.steinberg@umontana.edu or 406.243.2121
  2. Approximately 6 weeks after the degree award date students review their final transcript to be sure that it is an accurate record of their academic history. Students can print their own unofficial transcript using Cyberbear.

The Master of Education Degree (M.Ed.) in Educational Leadership provides the necessary courses for a Montana Class 3 Administrative License with a K-12 Principal Endorsement. Multiple endorsements will require more hours of coursework.

M.Ed. Program Documentation and Culminating Presentation

In lieu of written comprehensive exams and as a way to assess the quality of scholarship of Master’s degree candidates, the Department of Educational Leadership has implemented a culminating documentation assessment combined with a culminating scholarly presentation designed to manifest the educational leader’s ability to synthesize the course material into a comprehensive leadership activity.

Be in contact with your advisor to be sure you have completed all major requirements before scheduling your M.Ed. Culminating Presentation.

The following documents contain useful materials to guide this process:

READ FIRST: 

Instructions for Uploading Your Program Documentation

Master's Program Documentation Form (required)

Electronic Portfolio Procedures and Student Check List

Culminating Presentation Rubric

M.Ed. Application Requirements

Please visit the Application Requirements page for more information.