STRUCTURAL CHANGE IN PUBLIC EDUCATION IMMERSIVE OFFSITE PRACTICUM

Credit Hours: 6

This practicum is composed of two components, classroom-based skills training and a hands-on consulting experience. In the skills training portion of the course, students are trained in the competencies required for success as managers and leaders of modem public- and social-sector organizations. Among the complex skills students acquire are working effectively in interdisciplinary professional teams, managing projects to specified outcomes, adaptable problem solving in the face of ambiguous and changing organizational needs, formulating team-based solutions for multi-dimensional problems (legal, operational, etc.), and designing practical analytic approaches to evaluating solutions including developing and testing hypotheses. Students then apply these skills directly in a consulting experience. Students, working in multi-disciplinary teams, support education organizations in thinking through some of their most challenging legal, policy, strategic, design, governance, and implementation issues and provide actionable solutions. While providing client organizations with important short-term support and long-term access to exceptional professional talent, the projects give students rich opportunities to test concepts encountered in the class; unique insight into what a career in public-education leadership looks like; and important career-entry opportunities and a valuable network in the education sector. Department Permission Required.