The Initial Administrator License or IAL is designed to prepare competent and ethical leaders to meet the personnel needs of schools in Oregon. This can best be accomplished by partnering with public and private schools to identify and develop leaders who have an equal commitment to develop these skills with faith, vision and love as their foundation.
George Fox University offers candidates the opportunity to earn as many as two licenses that prepare educators to serve in Oregon public or private schools as K-12 building and district-level administrators. The initial administrator license can be as a specialization in the Master of Education (MEd) degree, as a stand-alone license past the master's degree, or as part of the Doctor of Education (EdD) degree.
The George Fox IAL Program emphasizes the following goals and competencies:
- Leadership in establishing learning goals and evaluation of programs
- Selection, supervision, and professional development of personnel
- Budget preparation and management
- Student management/student activities
- School building design/management of facilities
- Curriculum development and implementation
- Development and coordination of participatory (site-based) decision making
- Communication of district goals and programs to students, parents, and community constituencies
- Technical requirements of mandated programs, such as special education and talented and gifted
Curriculum
The initial administrator license program consists of five foundation or core courses, followed by a year-long sequence of practicum experiences and projects. The candidates transfer core course content into actual practice in school settings. This course work can be can be embedded within a master's program or may be taken as a licensure-only program accessed through face-to-face or online classes as scheduled.
Core Courses (13 semester hours)
EDFL 500 Instructional Supervision (3 hrs)
EDFL 640 Leadership in Education (3 hrs)
EDFL 646 Managing Instructional Budgets (1 hour)
EDFL 671 Ethical Perspectives on Educational Leadership (3 hrs)
EDFL 682 Legal Perspectives on Educational Policy and Finance (3 hrs)
Practica (5 hrs)
EDFL647 Portfolio Capstone (1 hour)
EDFL 648 Initial Administrator Practicum I (2 hrs, fall*)
EDFL 649 Practicum II (2 hrs, spring*)
The two semesters of practicum have three components: Practicum experiences may begin at the completion of at least three of the four core classes, or concurrently with the core in the cohort format, or on the approval of the program director for candidates who are assigned half-time administrator positions.
The university and site mentors will meet to verify the candidate's demonstration and documentation of the following knowledge, skills, and competencies listed in OAR 584-017-0250:
Practicum
Each candidate will begin to assemble a professional portfolio at the start of EDFL 648, Practicum I, and will add to that portfolio throughout their practicum, ending with EDFL 649, Practicum II. The candidate’s completed portfolio must document satisfactory performance in at least five of the following areas of responsibility as listed in OAR 584-017-0280: