Students seeking licensure plan a program approved by an advisor to meet State of Iowa licensure requirements. Education Specialist in Special Education Administration The Ed. S. in Special Education Administration program is offered jointly with the Division of Curriculum and Instruction. Its primary objective is to provide sufficient training and experience to enable graduates to obtain entry-level positions in administration. The career focus of the program is on middle management positions such as supervisors and assistant directors.
Emphasis is placed on the integration of theory and practice in the program.
Students are expected to achieve competence in the areas of educational program planning, finance and governance, leadership theory, evaluation, and research methodologies that include statistical methods. They also must gain expertise in areas of specialized program and personnel policy analysis. Commonly selected specialization areas are general administration, elementary school administration, secondary school administration, systems analysis and research, school finance, curriculum, legal aspects, theory, and school personnel. It is appropriate preparation for positions such as assistant dean, assistant to the president, director, in-service director, and division or program chair in selected areas. The specialist degree also may be awarded upon completion of a joint program that consists of a minimum of 60 semester hours of graduate work in higher education and an academic fie ld, or upon completion of a higher education sequence following a master's degree program.