Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility

Program Overview

The Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility Program, approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Education, qualifies professionals to serve as chief school administrators. This program, which prepares individuals to serve as superintendents and assistant superintendents, offers the knowledge and skills and fosters the dispositions that are necessary to direct, operate, supervise, and administer the organizational structures and educational activities of a school system.

Mission

Neumann University educates a diverse community of learners based upon the belief that knowledge is a gift to be shared in the service of others and that learning is a lifelong process.

The Division of Education and Human Services recognizes that learning, teaching, and collegiality are fundamental activities of all educational organizations, and that knowledge and active inquiry form the basis of teaching and administrative practice. The Division further affirms that these qualities and activities are linked inextricably to the moral and ethical imperatives that drive leadershp behavior.

The mission of the Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility Program is to help leaders develop the knowledge and understanding required to create and continuously improve standards-aligned instructional systems, equitable learning opportunities, leadership for results, data-driven cultures, results-focused planning, targeted assistance, professional learning communities, and professional accountability.

Program Outcomes

A student who successfully complete the Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility Program is able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of and competence in instructional leadership, which provides purpose and direction for the achievement of all students.
• Demonstrate the organizational skills to implement plans of action efficiently and effectively for student achievement.
• Collaborate with students, faculty, staff, and parents to create a school climate that fosters student achievement.
• Understand the importance of a clear, detailed vision and explicitly stated philosophy in shaping a coherent curriculum and fostering an effective school.
• Use data in a systematic way to assess the needs and accomplishments of students, faculty, and staff.
• Think systematically about practice; learn from experience; seek the advice of others; draw upon educational research and scholarship; and actively seek opportunities to grow professionally.

Program Design

This Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility Program requires a total of 42 graduate credits, which are specified in the Program Curriculum. To be eligible for the Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility certification, a six-credit internship (EDU 801 ), in addition to the 12 other required courses listed below in the Program Curriculum, is required. EDU 801  consists of a 360-hour learning experience, guided by the PA Leadership Standards, which includes classroom and field activities, the latter of which requires a 180-hour site-based internship experienced over a 365-day period. EDU 801  is taken after all program requirements have been successfully completed. In addition to these curricular requirements, The student must also satisfactorily complete the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania mandated assessment (School Superintendent Assessment [SSA]; Test Code # 1020), a student must have a chief school administrator’s verification of six years of teaching or other professionally certified service, three years of which must be in either a supervisory or administrative position, as well as meet all other requirements stipulated by Commonwealth of Pennsylvania law.