Special to The Star



The educational leadership program at Mississippi State University-Meridian Campus is currently accepting applications from area educators interested in obtaining graduate degrees in school administration.

Admission to the educational leadership program is only once a year with a new cohort of students selected in late spring. The deadline to apply for admission into this year’s cohort is March 15, so applicants need to be completing their paperwork now to have everything in order by the deadline.

“The educational leadership program is designed for graduate students wishing to further their education in the area of school leadership,” said Dr. Matthew K. Boggan, assistant professor of educational leadership at MSU-Meridian. “Over the years, the program has paved the way for hundreds of educators from east Mississippi and west Alabama to advance to superintendents, principals, assistant principals and central office personnel.”

The graduate program is an intensive, fast-track approach over a 14-month period. Participants can earn either a Master of Science degree or an Education Specialist degree, both in school administration.

Classes for the new cohort will begin in June and conclude in August 2010.

“Students tend to really like the 14-month cohort program although the workload can be overwhelming and time-consuming,” Boggan said. “However, once they have completed the program and earned their degrees, they are extremely pleased that it took just a little over a year.”

Participants who cannot handle a full-time load because of work and family commitments can choose to finish the program over the course of two or three years, he added.

An estimated 40 percent of Mississippi’s current school administrators are eligible to retire from the system, which should open up many career opportunities in the coming years, Boggan noted.

A dream of one day becoming a principal is motivating Janet Fortner to earn her educational specialist degree through the leadership program. She also earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in elementary education through MSU-Meridian.

Fortner, lead teacher at Harris Elementary School, is one of 19 students in the program’s current cohort.

“I have been in education for 17 years and for 11 of those years I taught second and third-grade,” she said. “I loved teaching and being in the classroom with the students. I never thought I would leave the classroom.”

But after earning her master’s, a door opened for her to become a reading first literacy coach. Fortner said after much consideration and prayer, she decided to take the coaching position. Although she still misses the daily interaction with students in the classroom, she believes she can have more impact on students’ lives in a school leadership role.

“I have come to realize that I can touch more lives out of the classroom than I could inside the classroom,” she said.

Advancement is the reason LaShon Horne, assistant principal at Neshoba Central Elementary School for the past two years, also applied for the program last spring.

“I already had the job of assistant principal at Neshoba Central Elementary, but for future advancement I knew I needed a master’s degree,” he said.

A former fourth-grade teacher, Horne is working toward his master’s degree in school administration and, eventually, hopes to earn an education specialist degree.

“I like the program’s Saturday classes because they are really convenient for me,” he said. “It was hard during the summer when I had to take my electives. I was trying to work full-time and take 12 hours of classes, but I juggled it okay.”

Both Fortner and Horne said they like the program’s cohort approach because it fosters camaraderie with the other students providing good collaboration and networking opportunities.

MSU-Meridian’s educational leadership programs are nationally accredited by the National Council Association of Teacher Education and the Educational Leadership Constituents Council.

Students who complete the program are eligible to apply for an administration license with the Mississippi Department of Education.

“Right now, our pass rate at MSU-Meridian is 100 percent on the School Leaders Licensure Examination, a national certification exam that is given through the Educational Testing Service,” Boggan said. “The state requires students to pass this exam for certification, in addition to obtaining their master’s or educational specialist degree in administration.”

Anyone interested in the program must submit their application to the graduate school by March 15. A student must have a 2.75 grade point average (GPA) for admission into the Master’s program and a 3.0 GPA to enter the Educational Specialist program, a current teacher’s license, and at least two (2) years teaching experience.  A successful interview with the Leadership Committee and a suggested Graduate Record Exam score are also part of the formula in the selection process for the MSU-Meridian cohort program. 

Educational leadership (EDL) courses are on a rotation basis and are only offered once a year. Most courses are offered on weekends during the fall and spring semesters and on weekends and weekdays during the summer terms. A few courses are offered online or in a hybrid format that includes both classroom lectures and online.

For more information on the educational leadership program at MSU-Meridian, call (601) 484-0100 or visit the Web site at www.msstate.edu/meridian.