Online Master of Education in Teacher Leadership

Applicants must meet the university requirements for graduate students and complete UD’s online graduate application.

Requirements specific to this program include:

• Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.

• Transcripts showing an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher.

• TOEFL or IELTS for applicants whose primary language is not English. The minimum acceptable score for the Internet-based TOEFL is 100. The minimum acceptable score for the IELTS is 7.0.

• Current employment as a teacher.

To apply, please submit these materials:

• Completed online graduate application. 

• Transcripts showing an undergraduate GPA of 3.0 or higher.

• Personal statement

• Resume

• Three letters of recommendation

The Personal Statement must cover the following three topics:

1. Outline your short-term and long-term career goals and discuss how an M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership relates to them. 
2. The M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership teaches candidates to lead from the classroom. Describe a problem in your professional setting that typifies an issue you would like to pursue as a teacher leader and why you think it is important to address. 
3. The M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership is delivered 100% online. It requires students to be self-initiated learners and excellent time-managers. Describe how you plan to manage your time so you are able to fulfill your course requirements.

The online teacher leadership courses are seven weeks long, with five terms offered per calendar year (Fall A, Fall B, Spring A, Spring B and Summer). Students typically start the program in Fall A, Spring A or Summer, but can begin in any of the terms offered throughout the year.

Required Courses

EDUC 622 The Role of Literacy Across the Content Areas
Explores contributions of literacy research for content learning (e.g., math, science, social studies and language arts). Underscores benefits of linking reading, writing, listening, speaking and viewing for acquisition of content area knowledge. Provides instructional frameworks for supporting student learning from texts.

EDUC 735 Data-Based Decision-Making and Assessment
Prepares aspiring leaders to understand, manage and use data for student assessment, instructional planning and school improvement.

EDUC 772 Understanding Teacher Leadership
Promotes understanding of education standards and self as a leader. Familiarizes candidates with existing literature and research base for teacher leadership.

EDUC 773 Action Research
Explores the major tenets of action research and prepares candidates to conduct school-based and classroom-based action research and communicate findings of research to multiple stakeholders.

EDUC 775 Foundational Skills in a Standards Based Curriculum
Prepares teacher leaders with the foundational skills needed to interpret changing educational standards and to design curriculum and instruction that is aligned with these standards.

EDUC 777 Fostering Technology-Based Collaboration
Explores ways for teacher leaders to use technology to promote collegial environments that focus on continuous improvement of instruction and student learning.

EDUC 720 Teacher Leadership in Education Policy
Supports the development of teacher leaders to understand, influence and implement educational policy in their schools. Focuses on key issues in educational policy, with emphasis on the policy process, politics of education and policy implementation.

EDUC 774 Designing Professional Development
Contributes to the understanding of professional development and impact on student learning. Supports monitoring and assessment of professional development impact.

EDUC 768 Coaching Teachers
Prepares future teacher leaders to provide formative support for teachers. Examines outside-the-classroom coaching contexts (voluntary study groups and grade-level team meetings) and addresses inside-the-classroom interactions, including school-wide walk-throughs and one-on-one coaching with preconference, targeted observation and post-conference.

EDUC 776 Promoting Equitable Schools
Explores how schooling structures, practices and policies produce or resist educational equity for diverse families, cultures and communities. Identifies challenges and opportunities at the classroom and school-wide levels to engage families and communities in efforts to provide equitable opportunities and outcomes for all students.

Tuition Information

$844 Per Credit Hour

The tuition for the M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership program is set at a reduced rate compared to the university’s base graduate tuition rate. Students who are enrolled (i.e., applied and offered admission) in the M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership program will receive this rate, regardless of their state of residency or location of employment.

Base rate exceptions include tuition that is higher or lower than the base due to various factors, including competitive market research, program focus and historical enrollment success and program type (e.g., degree vs. non-degree). Over 90% of our programs fall under the base rate.

The sustaining tuition fee each semester for master’s students is $833 and doctoral students is $1,258. U.S. citizens may apply for Stafford Loans. You must file a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) no later than March 15 (February 1 is preferred) with the Financial Aid Office (302-831-8761) to be considered for a Federal Stafford Loan.

International Students: See ISSS Cost of Attendance for more information.

Delaware residents and Delaware educators who are not enrolled in the M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership program but who want to take a course would qualify for the Delaware Educator Scholarships offered by UD’s College of Education and Human Development.

Elizabeth Farley-Ripple

Assistant Director, Professor
School of Education
Email: enfr@udel.edu
Office: 219E Willard Hall
Phone: 302-831-3117

Bio: Dr. Elizabeth N. Farley-Ripple is a professor in the School of Education, co-directs the Center for Research Use in Education and is the director of the Partnership for Public Education at the UD. She holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Pennsylvania and has more than 20 years of experience in education research, where she has worked collaboratively with educators, policymakers and scholars across the globe. Her research expertise is evidence use and knowledge mobilization and recent work focuses educators’ use of research and data and the role of leadership in evidence-informed improvement, among other areas.

Read Faculty Biography

With a graduate degree in teacher leadership from UD, you can become an active participant in a powerful movement and a force for positive change in our nation’s education system.

Recognizing the need for school leaders who can address issues in schools and districts is of critical importance to our national education system. Teacher leadership is a role that has become a crucial part of building strong, successful schools and rewarding teaching careers at a time when principals and administrators find themselves stretched thin.

The M.Ed. in Teacher Leadership program will prepare you with the knowledge and best practices to make a difference in your teaching career and have a real impact on your students and peers. The program is aligned with the objectives of state teacher leader initiatives around the country. As a graduate, you will be qualified to fill important roles within your school or district, including:

• Department chair

• Instructional specialist/coach

• Instructional practice lead

• Instructional culture lead

• Data coach

• Curriculum specialist/coordinator

• Teacher mentor

• Digital content lead

• Community liaison

You can transfer up to 9 credits per University of Delaware policy.

All requests for transfer credit should be directed to the student’s major department using a Request for Transfer of Graduate Credit form. Transfer credits will be accepted provided that such credits:

• Were earned with a grade of no less than B,
• Are approved by the student’s adviser and the chair of the student’s major department,
• Are in accord with the specific degree program of the student as specified by the unit’s Graduate Program Policy Statement,
• Are not older than five years,
• Are graduate level courses, and
• Were completed at an accredited college or university.

Graduate courses counted toward a degree received elsewhere may not be transferred into a degree at the University of Delaware. Credits from institutions outside of the United States are generally not transferable to the University of Delaware.

Learn more about transfer credit by viewing the Graduate College's Registration and Enrollment Policies.

The online Master of Education in Teacher Leadership program provides students with three opportunities to begin the program each year: Fall, Spring and Summer.

Please review the chart below for the application deadlines:

Additional program-specific information can be found on the College of Education and Human Development's website.