Syllabus

GORDON ALBRIGHT SCHOOL OF EDUCATION

EEA 539: Supervision of Instruction

3 Credits
Effective: Winter 2012/2013

Access to the Internet is required.

All written assignments must be in Microsoft-Word-compatible formats.
See the librarys APA Style Guide tutorial for a list of resources that can help you use APA style.

FACULTY
Faculty Name: Dave Khatib
Contact Information: dave.khatib@rdcrs.ca or 403-318-2176

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this course, candidates develop leadership skills in effective school improvement planning and
instructional supervision processes. Students examine what exemplary school leaders do to create:
a vision for success;
a focus on teaching and learning;
a continuous shared decision making process that involves all stakeholders;
and a code of ethics that develops and sustains a climate of trust and the protection of the rights of all
students, families, and staff.
Candidates evaluate a school and/or school system improvement process and become familiar with
research-based strategies for increasing student achievement, data-driven backward-design curriculum
processes, shared site-based decision-making, and pathways for promoting the achievement of all
members of the learning community.

COURSE RESOURCES
Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P., & Ross-Gordon, J.M. (2013). SuperVision and instructional leadership:
A developmental approach. (9th ed.). New York: Allyn and Bacon.
Required and recommended resources to complete coursework and assignments are available from the
Course Document Lookup.

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
Blase, J. and Blase, J. (2003). Handbook of instructional leadership: How successful principals promote
teaching and learning. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Cherkowski, S. (2012). Teacher commitment in sustainable learning communities: A new ancient story
of educational leadership. Canadian Journal of Education, 35(1) 56-68.
DuFour, R. and Mattos, M. (2013). How do principals improve schools? Educational Leadership, 70(7),
34-40.
Glickman, C. D., Gordon, S. P., & Ross-Gordon, J. M. (2013). The basic guide to supervision and
instructional leadership (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon. (ISBN:
9780132613736)
Kardos, S. and Johnson, S. (2010). New teachers experiences of mentoring. Journal of Educational
Change, 11, 23-44.
Klar, Hans W. (2012). Fostering department chair instructional leadership capacity: Laying the
groundwork for distributed instructional leadership. International Journal of Leadership in
Education, 2012, Vol.15(2), p.175-197.
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Leithwood, K. & Louis, K. (2012). Linking leadership to student learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Leithwood, K. and Beatty, B. (2008). Leading with teacher emotions in mind. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Corwin Press.
Leithwood, K., Harris, A., and Straguss, T. (2010). Leading school turnaround: How successful leaders
transform low-performing schools. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Marshall, K. (2009). Re-thinking teacher supervision and evaluation. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Nolan, J. and Hoover, L. (2008). Teacher supervision and evaluation: Theory into practice. Hoboken, NJ:
Wiley.
Pink, D. (2009). The surprising science of motivation: Dan Pink on TED.com. Retrieved from
http://blog.ted.com/2009/08/24/the_surprising/.
Raptis, H. (2012). Ending the reign of the Fraser Institutes school rankings. Canadian Journal of
Education, 35(1), 187-201.
Shannon, G.S. & Bylsma, P. (2007). The nine characteristics of high-performing schools: A researchbased resource for schools and districts to assist with improving student learning. (2nd ed.).
Olympia, WA: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Retrieved from
http://www.k12.wa.us/research/pubdocs/NineCharacteristics.pdf
Stiggins, R., Arter, J., Chappuis, J., & Chappuis, S. (2012). Classroom assessment for student learning:
Doing it right - using it well (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson. (ISBN: 9780132685887)
Sullivan, S. and Glanz, J. (2013). Supervision that improves teaching and learning: Strategies and
techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Towers, J. (2012). Administrative supports and curricular challenges: New teachers enacting and
sustaining inquiry in schools. Canadian Journal of Education, 35(1) 259-278.

CITYU LEARNING GOALS

This course supports the following City University learning goals:

Strong communication and interpersonal skills
Diverse and global perspectives

COURSE OUTCOMES

In this course, learners:

Apply best practices in supervision of instruction
Account for positive impact on student learning

CORE CONCEPTS, KNOWLEDGE, AND SKILLS

Cognitive coaching/clinical supervision/teacher evaluation;

Cultural competency;
Data-driven decision-making;
Effective use of academic learning time;
Ethnic, cultural, and economic diversity.
Leadership and vision in an age of standards;

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Nine characteristics of high performing schools;

Professional learning community;
Teaching for understanding

OVERVIEW OF COURSE GRADING

The grades earned for the course will be derived using City University of Seattles decimal grading
system, based on the following:
Overview of Required Assignments

% of Final Grade

Instructional Supervision Plan and

Presentation

50%

Observational Reports on Teaching

30%

Session Participation

20%

TOTAL

100%

SPECIFICS OF COURSE ASSIGNMENTS

The instructor will provide grading rubrics that will provide more detail as to how this assignment will be
graded.
Instructional Supervision Plan and Presentation
A school administrator is an educational leader who promotes the success of all students through
sustaining a culture of student learning and staff professional growth.
For this assignment, the candidate uses a School Improvement Plan (SIP) and other artifacts from the
school to describe, critique, and recommend next steps for improving the school or programs central
strategies for improving instruction and student learning. This is a broad standard and might include
several products to demonstrate how a candidate might: analyze effectiveness of an SIP; create displays
of student learning; analyze how instruction is driven by data; describe how school leaders advocate,
nurture, provide, and sustain an instructional program conducive to student achievement and staff growth;
plan and deliver professional development activities; develop professional growth plans with teachers;
develop formative and summative assessment strategies that align with curriculum, assessment, and
instruction. Essentially, the candidate is taking a teaching issue that is predominant in his/her school and
looking at ways of addressing the issue.
Deliverables for this assignment include an instructional supervision plan and presentation.

The Instructional Supervision Plan must include:

the candidates critique of current instructional teaching practices
recommends next steps for improvement of student learning in the school
addresses how the candidate intends to some, but not all, of the following:
lead the school;
develop or renew the schools strategic plan;
supervise, motivate and lead the faculty team;
support action research;
evaluate instruction;

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strengthen the schools climate;

support staff development;
and implement the districts goals, policies, and curriculum.
The plan must exhibits a sound professional and scholarly research-basis, including highlights the Nine
Characteristics of High Performing Schools that are germane to their school (do not use all of them!
Maximum of 3 characteristics), materials relevant from other course readings and this must be presented
in a concise format written using APA format. No more that 6 pages (not including title page and
references). . . I will stop giving feedback after 6 pages.
Candidates must then present their Instructional Supervision Plan. Each candidate will have 15 minutes to
present. The instructor will indicate a 5, 10, 12 and 15 minute mark for presentations. At the 15 minutes
mark all presentations will be terminated.
Candidates upload artifacts, the instructional supervision plan, and digital parts of the presentation to the
candidates electronic portfolio.

Components
Context
Dispositions
Communication
Knowledge
TOTAL
Observational Reports on Teaching

% of Grade
20%
20%
20%
40%

100%

The candidate conducts two instructional observations with coaching cycle (pre-conference, observation,
post-conference). One observation focuses on recording selective verbatim and qualitative information of
student and teacher interactions (direct teaching) and the second observation focuses on recording
quantitative data of on-task and off-task student behaviors.. The written report for each observation
provides a brief overview of the setting, students, teacher, and lesson(s); identification of instructional
framework; details of the pre-observation planning conference; observation report with analysis,
interpretation, and summary; details of the post-observation reflective conference; and a reflection on the
candidates learning regarding observations and coaching. Candidates will write-up the observations in a
first-person essay format. No APA or referencing is needed, and this can be done on a Google document
and shared with the instructor. Please do not use names or other descriptors when journaling about
your observations. And, as part of the ATA Code of Conduct, you must show all observational
material to the cooperating teacher.

Components
Content
Communication
Observations
Reflective Analysis
TOTAL

% of Grade
40%
20%
20%
20%

100%

* If you are not comfortable with doing this assignment please talk to the instructor and an
alternative one will be determined.

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COURSE POLICIES
Scholastic Honesty
Scholastic honesty in students requires the pursuit of scholarly activity that is free from fraud, deception
and unauthorized collaboration with other individuals. You are responsible for understanding CityUs
policy on scholastic honesty and adhering to its standards in meeting all course requirements. A complete
copy of this policy can be found in the University Catalog in the section titled Scholastic Honesty under
Student Rights & Responsibilities.
Attendance
Students taking courses in any format at the University are expected to be diligent in their studies and to
attend class regularly.
Regular class attendance is important in achieving learning outcomes in the course and may be a valid
consideration in determining the final grade. For classes where a physical presence is required, a student
has attended if s/he is present at any time during the class session. For online classes, a student has
attended if s/he has posted or submitted an assignment. A complete copy of this policy can be found in the
University Catalog in the section titled Attendance Policy for Mixed Mode, Online and Correspondence
Courses.

SUPPORT SERVICES
Disability Resources
If you are a student with a disability and you require an accommodation, please contact the Disability
Resource Office as soon as possible. For additional information, please see the section in the University
Catalog titled Students with Special Needs under Student Rights & Responsibilities.
Library Services
CityU librarians are available to help you find the resources and information you need to succeed in this
course. Contact a CityU librarian through the Ask a Librarian service, or access library resources and
services online, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Smarthinking
As a CityU student, you have access to 10 free hours of online tutoring offered through Smarthinking,
including writing support, from certified tutors 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Contact CityUs
Student Support Center at help@cityu.edu to request your user name and password.

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