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Program Highlights

Current or aspiring Instructional Coaches can benefit from the program, even if they don’t believe they will pursue a position as an assistant principal, principal, assistant superintendent, superintendent, or other administrative role. Aspiring P-12 education administrators will have the tools they need to improve student learning through a systems approach.

This program is the only one of its kind in the state with an instructional leadership focus.

  • Ideal for many audiences: You must already have your master’s degree in education to be eligible for the program, but our students come from a variety of roles with a variety of goals, including aspiring building and district leaders, instructional coaches, classroom teachers, special education teachers, and those in supportive roles such as content specialists, guidance, and counseling services.
  • Convenient format: The program is designed to be pursued part-time. Courses are delivered online in real time (synchronous format) during evenings and on weekends.
  • An opportunity to connect: You’ll enter the program in a cohort of students, and you’ll progress with those students throughout your education, allowing you to learn from each other and build your peer and professional network.
  • Affordable: Competitively priced among both public and private colleges, with the built-in added value of regional professional networking virtual seminars and in-person seminars, where students can come together around important topics in education for discussion and problem-solving.
  • Embedded internship hours: The New York State Education Department requires 600 internship hours in order to issue certificates. We make the most of your time by embedding 300 of your internship hours into your courses – utilizing research and other projects within your schools.
  • Final Internship course: The remaining 300 hours are in the final internship course, where students complete one of three projects depending on their roles (a program review for curriculum specialists, art, music, or ENL leaders; a building strategic plan for aspiring assistant principals and principals; a team coaching plan for students who want to continue as instructional coaches).
  • A stepping stone to the Ed.D.: Students in this program can pursue the Educational Leadership Doctoral (Ed.D.) program at Russell Sage, which requires 60 credits of graduate study in the Educational Leadership course sequence.

Are you a NYC-area student looking for our Instructional Leadership (School Administrator Certification with Superintendent Extension) program with the Center for Integrated Training and Education (CITE)?
This program was formerly known as School Building Leader/School District Leader (SBL/SDL). Find information on this advanced certificate program on the CITE website.

Program Objectives/Learning Outcomes

This program is unique because we formed it around the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL). Older programs have to find alignment with PSEL standards but did not create curriculum based on them.

PSEL Standard 1 Mission, Vision, and Core Values: Effective educational Leaders develop, advocate, and enact a shared mission, vision, and core values of high-quality education and academic success and well-being of each student.

PSEL Standard 2 Ethics and Professional Norms: Effective educational leaders act ethically and according to professional norms to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

PSEL Standard 3 Equity and Cultural Responsiveness: Effective educational leaders strive for equity of education opportunity and culturally responsive practices to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

PSEL Standard 4 Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment: Effective educational leaders develop and support intellectually rigorous and coherent systems of curriculum, instruction, and assessment to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

PSEL Standard 5 Community of Care and Support for Students: Effective educational leaders cultivate an inclusive, caring, and supportive school community that promotes the academic success and well-being of each student.

PSEL Standard 6 Professional Capacity of School Personnel: Effective educational leaders develop the professional capacity and practice of school personnel to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

PSEL Standard 7 Professional Community for Teachers and Staff: Effective educational leaders foster a professional community of teachers and other professional staff to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

PSEL Standard 8 Meaningful Engagement of Families and Community: Effective educational leaders engage families and the community in meaningful, reciprocal, and mutually beneficial ways to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

PSEL Standard 9 Operations and Management: Effective educational leaders manage school operations and resources to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

PSEL Standard 10 School Improvement: Effective educational leaders act as agents of continuous improvement to promote each student’s academic success and well-being.

First Spring Term

Leadership for Equity (3 credits)

Evidence Into Action: Systems Planning (3 credits)

Total: 6 credits

First Summer Term

Leadership of the Curriculum (3 credits)

Total : 3 credits

First Fall Term

Building Professional Capacity (3 credits)

Data Literacy (3 credits)

Total: 6 credits

Second Spring Term

Developing Purpose-Driven Professional Communities (3 credits)

Community of Care: Students, Faculty, Community, and Staff (3 credits)

Total: 6 credits

Second Summer Term

Internship I (3 credits)*

School District Leader Capstone (if pursuing SDL, 3 credits)

Total: 3-6 credits

Second Fall Term

School District Leader Capstone (if pursuing SDL, 3 credits)

Internship I or II*

Total: 3 credit

*Students choose when they do their internship, which can span summer/fall semesters or fall/spring semesters based on what’s convenient for them.

Our Instructional Leadership Advanced Certificate program isn’t just about you earning your School Administrator Certification with Superintendent Extension credentials. We want you to be able to apply your coursework in the field while earning the 600 required internship hours. Here’s how we do it:

Course TitleAligned Field Experience (Internship)
Leadership for EquitySelf-Assessment .5 Field Experience Analysis of a School or Department Culture of Learning (50 hours)
Evidence into Action: Systems PlanningNone
Data Literacy.5 Credit Field Experience (50 hours)Analysis of Program Change Based on Evidence of Student Learning/Program Effectiveness-Implementation
Building Professional Capacity.5 Credit Field Experience (50 hours)Supervisory Cycle with Growth Plan
Developing Purpose-Driven Professional Communities.5 Credit Field Experience (50 hours)Create School/Department Professional Development Plan
Leadership of the Curriculum.5 Credit Field Experience (50 hours)Analysis of Department/Grade level Curricular /Program Change Implementation
Community of Care: Students, Community, Faculty, and Staff.5 Field Experience (50 hours)Select from student discipline, student extracurricular participation, student percentage (disproportionality) in any program, analyze impact and generate remediation
Internship II: Integrative Project and PSEL field experiencesFulfills 300 hours of internshipOne of these integrative projects:

-Program Review: For curriculum specialists, art, music, or ENL leaders
-Building Strategic Plan: For aspiring assistant principals and principals
-Team Coaching Plan: For students who want to continue as instructional coaches

Final presentation of integrative projects with invitations to area administrators, in-person and delivered remotely via Zoom
Final self-assessment
Attendance at four topical seminars
Professional Log documenting hours of field experience at the building and district levels

Admission Requirements

GRE scores are not required for admission to this program but applicants must:

  • Hold a master’s degree in education or a related field
  • Have a minimum of 3 years of teaching experience
  • Have NYSED/Teaching Certificate
  • Provide a resume
  • Provide a recommendation from their district plus two additional professional references
  • Provide transcripts from both their undergraduate and graduate institutions documenting a minimum 3.0 GPA.
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Personal advising, experienced faculty
Francesca Durand, Educational Leadership faculty
Francesca
Durand

Associate Professor and Chair, Institutional Review Board

Learn more about Francesca
Deb Shea
Deb
Shea

Assistant Professor of Education and Program Director for Graduate Certificate Programs

Learn more about Deb

Frequently Asked Questions – Certificate of Advanced Study in Instructional Leadership (School Administrator Certification with Superintendent Extension)

Earning an Instructional Leadership (School Administrator Certification with Superintendent Extension) advanced certificate can open career paths in educational leadership in the Capital Region as well as other areas around New York state. Educators and administrators in New York who want to work within school environments as principals, vice principals, or other administrative leadership roles are required to earn school administrator certification.

The most common school building leadership positions that require an school administrator certification include:

  • Principal
  • Vice Principal
  • Assistant Principal
  • Coordinator
  • Department Chairperson
  • Supervisor

School district leadership positions most often include district superintendents or assistant superintendents. According to the New York State Education Department (NYSED), for initial school administrator certification, “Individuals must complete at least three years of acceptable teaching and/or pupil personnel service experience.”

Graduates of the certificate program can apply the credits they earn toward advancing their education by enrolling in an Educational Leadership Doctoral (Ed.D.) program, which can result in even more career opportunities.

The Certificate of Advanced Study in Instructional Leadership (School Administrator Certification with Superintendent Extension) at Russell Sage College integrates online coursework optimized for working professionals with in-person internship hours that are required for state licensure. NYSED requires 600 internship hours for this certification. The Russell Sage program includes 300 internship hours as part of its Advanced Certificate courses. Each of the following required courses includes field experience that counts toward internship hours:

  • Leadership into Equity
  • Evidence into Action: Systems Planning
  • Data Literacy
  • Building Professional Capacity
  • Developing Purpose-Driven Professional Communities
  • Leadership of the Curriculum
  • Community of Care: Students, Community, Faculty, and Staff

The remaining 300 hours are earned by completing the program’s final internship course. Students in the final internship course complete a designated project, depending on their future roles as curriculum specialists, principals and administrators, or instructional coaches.

By integrating internship hours into coursework, students can apply what they learn in their online courses to work in the field almost immediately. This helps tremendously with information retention and motivation as they move toward active participation in their chosen careers.

The Russell Sage Instructional Leadership (School Administrator Certification with Superintendent Extension) certificate program has an instructional leadership focus and is the only one of its kind in New York state. According to a report from the BU Journal of Graduate Studies in Education[1] that was posted by the U.S. Department of Education, “Instructional leadership is a model of school leadership in which a principal works alongside teachers to provide support and guidance in establishing best practices in teaching. Principals employing this model of leadership communicate with their staff and together set clear goals related to student achievement.”

The Russell Sage program allows current and future leaders to learn from experienced educators and build their expertise in this field. According to the report mentioned above, “When a principal is an instructional leader, there are positive outcomes in student achievement.” Based on ample opportunities to apply classroom work in the field and access to dedicated, experienced faculty, graduates of the program are ready to collaborate effectively with teachers and administrators in their future roles.

[1] https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1230490.pdf

Advanced certificate programs are subject to different financial aid requirements than degree programs, so applicants should talk to financial aid counselors to determine if they are eligible.

Some schools or districts may sponsor employees seeking to advance their professional certifications. Interested applicants should check with their current employers for any sponsored tuition offsets or reimbursement programs. Applicants should also search for scholarship opportunities that may help offset the cost of attendance. Different scholarships may be available based on an applicant’s educational background, career goals, or specific professional or cultural affiliations.

The curriculum for the Instructional Leadership (School Administrator Certification with Superintendent Extension) advanced certificate program is built around the Professional Standards for Educational Leaders (PSEL). Because PSEL is incorporated into the curriculum, all the courses and requirements align with the standards.

PSEL standards were formerly known as ISLLC standards and come from the National Policy Board for Educational Administration (NPBEA). “Grounded in current research and the real-life experiences of educational leaders, they articulate the leadership that our schools need and our students deserve.” Published in 2015 [2], the PSEL includes topics such as:

  • Core Values
  • Ethics
  • Equity and Cultural Responsiveness
  • Engagement of Families and Community
  • Operations and Management

When comparing the core PSEL topics with the curriculum of the Russell Sage Instructional Leadership (School Administrator Certification with Superintendent Extension) advanced certificate program, it is clear that these standards not only influence the curriculum but also serve as a foundation for it. Courses like Leadership for Equity, Developing Purpose-Driven Professional Communities, and Community of Care: Students, Faculty, Community, and Staff directly build upon PSEL and ensure that every graduate of the program is ready to lead based on these guiding principles.

[2] https://www.npbea.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Professional-Standards-for-Educational-Leaders_2015.pdf

Graduates of the Russell Sage Certificate of Advanced Study in Instructional Leadership (School Administrator Certification with Superintendent Extension) program must take additional steps to earn state certification. To obtain the initial certification after completing the certificate program, graduates must[3]:

  • Obtain institutional recommendation
  • Pass the New York State Teacher Certification Exam – Educating All Students Test
  • Pass parts one and two of the School Building Leader Exam
  • Complete a minimum of three years of full-time, acceptable teaching and/or pupil personnel service experience
  • Complete both the Child Abuse Identification and Dignity for All Students Act workshops
  • Complete fingerprint clearance

To obtain Professional Certification, graduates who have completed the above steps for initial certification must also complete a minimum of three years of acceptable educational leadership experience, including one initial year of leadership experience under the mentorship of a certified administrator.

Graduates of the certificate program are eligible to apply for an SDL professional certificate following the completion of the following:

  • Institutional recommendation
  • Three years of paid, full-time administrative, pupil services, or teaching experience
  • Passing parts one and two of the School District Leader exam
  • Completing both the Child Abuse Identification and Dignity for All Students Act workshops
  • Completing fingerprint clearance
  • Verifying citizenship status as an INS permanent resident or U.S. citizen

[3] https://eservices.nysed.gov/teach/certhelp/search-cert-reqs

Need help?
Deb Shea
Assistant Professor of Education and Program Director for Graduate Certificate Programs
shead@sage.edu

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