1. Tips for Writing Your ELPS Ed.S. Comprehensive Exam
2018

2. Ed.S. Comprehensive Exam: Developing strategic plan to address a problem/situation in an educational organization (school, district, or agency)
The purpose of the Ed.S. comprehensive exam is to demonstrate that you can collect and analyze data regarding a school and community in order to apply the knowledge you have gained in the ELPS program to develop a strategic plan to address the needs of the stakeholders.
The five areas that the Ed.S. comp is graded on are as follows:
Clear identification and explanation of a current organizational situation
Clear explanation of why the current organizational situation is unsatisfactory in meeting the needs of one or more stakeholders and/or the goal(s) of the organization
Arculation of a more desirable situation
Clear description of the proposed changes and how the changes will positively impact stakeholders and the current situation AND clear and logical description of strategies to be implemented to bring about the necessary changes (including an evaluation of progress at various stages of implementation)
You should clearly and explicitly demonstrate the knowledge gained in the ELPS program in your strategic plan through discussion of and references to course content/concepts that support the actions you are proposing, as well as why the current situation is unsatisfactory.
2018

3. Getting started…..
Download the directions for the Ed.S. comp from the ELPS Forms for Current Students webpage higher-education-p12-education/educational-leadership-policy- development/current-students/forms.aspx
Be sure you have submitted your request to take your comprehensive exam to the ELPS Administrative Assistant at least by the beginning of the semester you are taking the exam.
You should also have submitted before your last semester in the program your request to graduate to the ELPS Administrative Assistant to have your advisor sign and fax to the Graduate School resources/preparing-for-graduation/
Due dates for comprehensive exams are as follows:
Fall—By 5 pm the first Monday in October
Spring—By 5 pm the first Monday in March
Summer—by 5 pm the first Monday in June
You may submit your exam earlier in the semester that you have submitted your request to complete your comps but you MUST submit them by the above times and dates.
2018

4. Ed.S. Comprehensive Exam: Developing a strategic change plan to address an organizational problem/situation
Identify a current unsatisfactory situation in an educational organization. This can be at the school, district, or agency level.
Gather as much pertinent information about the school/district/community related to this situation as possible. Possible sources include the following:
School’s UIP/improvement plan
District’s UIP/improvement plan
Demographic data on school and district (often found on the respective websites)
Survey data from students, parents, teachers, etc.
Census data on community demographics (Age, level of education, occupations, etc.)
School’s student achievement data available on the CDE website (or the state education department of the school you are focusing on)
Any information on parental involvement, extracurriculars, curriculum, programs, etc. from the school and district websites
Results of TELL Colorado survey (or other similar surveys administered by the district/school and open to the public)
Local newspaper articles on the school and/or district.
2018

5. Other steps in preparation to writing…
Read and apply the Writing Tips also found on the ELPS Forms website (towards the bottom of the list). Go back and reread these tips after you have written your exam and proofread.
Part of your preparation to be a school leader is the ability to communicate well, both in writing and orally. Grammar and punctuation errors detract from the message of any communication, therefore minimize such errors by knowing the rules, applying them, and proofreading carefully.
Assemble all of the data you have collected (see prior slide for suggestions for sources) and analyze the data. Your guiding question in this analysis should be the following: What needs are revealed by the data for each stakeholder group? Use your data to demonstrate that there exists a problem that you will address via the development of a strategic plan in this paper.
Stakeholders and some of their interests that you might consider/address include the following:
Students ( achievement and assessment, safety, equity/diversity, culture)
Teachers (supervision and evaluation, professional development resources and needs, culture)
Parents (perceptions, support, school interactions, communications)
Community (perceptions, resources, support, interactions, communications)
District Office (reporting requirements, resources, rules/regulations, finance, communication lines, hiring/termination processes, evaluation process, negotiated agreements)
State (reporting requirements, rules/regulations)
2018

6. Other steps in preparation to writing…
Review the sections required in the Ed.S. comprehensive exam instructions. Each of these sections should be clearly labeled in your comprehensive exam. These are as follows:
1. Identification and explanation of the current situation
Discuss key decision-makers, followers, and stakeholders/constituents of current situation
Identify key policy or personnel decisions that have created the current situation
Identify values/epistemologies of past leaders that have influenced the current situation
Identify any organizational structures that have influenced the current situation
Identify resource issues that may have contributed to the current situation (human resources, including skill and knowledge, as well as financial resources)
2. Explanation of why the current situation is undesirable
Discuss why the current situation does not align with the purpose, mission, and/or values of the organization
Discuss the effect on members of the organization of the current situation (e.g., morale, motivation, efficacy, etc.)
Discuss why the current situation is not acceptable to current stakeholders
2018

7. Parts of the Ed.S. Comp that must be clearly addressed…..
3. Articulation of a more desirable situation
Explain the goal of the proposed change, addressing the purpose/mission/values of the organization
Discuss the effect on members of the organization of the proposed change, addressing issues of equity that are applicable
Explain the leadership qualities/behaviors/values necessary to enact the proposed change
Articulate the benefits of the change on external stakeholders, specifically to student learning
4. Development of strategies to implement the proposed change
Identify and discuss key structural, human resource, financial, and political elements of the organization that are necessary for successful implementation of the proposed change. (Discuss any policy changes that would be necessary, as well.)
Outline a strategic plan for implementing the proposed change, including approximate timelines and key personnel with rationales for each element of the plan
Identify possible challenges to implementation and discuss methods for dealing with those challenges
Discuss a possible plan for monitoring and evaluating the change
2018

8. Remember….
Students must discuss and cite materials from ELPS course content and outside resources.
You must justify that the problem you are focusing on exists using data and resources. (The problem cannot be based solely on your experiences or opinion.)
APA style/formatting must be used. References must be cited at end of exam.
If you are completing an interdisciplinary Ed.S. degree/comp exam--Be sure that you also explicitly discuss and cite concepts and content from your EDSE coursework and outside readings.
Discussion of course concepts and content should be explicit. Do not make the reader guess if you are referring to or drawing on something you learned in your coursework.
2018

9. Other steps in preparation to writing…
Go through all of the syllabi, papers, materials, slides, texts, etc. from ALL of your ELPS program classes and identify sources that relate to each section of your exam. (If you are doing an interdisciplinary degree/comp, include references from coursework from both disciplines.)
Reread the directions for the Ed.S. comp, particularly the rubric description for a Level 4/High response below.
Written responses to all parts of questions evidence excellent knowledge in educational leadership related to most or all of the Plan of Studies courses and/or state and national standards; ability to synthesize and apply that knowledge to leadership problems or significant educational issues; ability to present a clear formulation of the problem/issue which includes social, economic, legal, human resource, structural, political, and policy factors; clear and correct analysis of the leadership skills/styles/attributes/values needed to handle various factors in changing the situation discussed; clear and logical development of strategies to implement and evaluate the changes desired; and skills in organizing and expressing ideas in a logical, coherent, literate and convincing fashion.
2018

10. Writing your comprehensive exam….
As you write, be sure to review the Writing Tips on the ELPS Forms page periodically.
Begin with an introduction.
Do NOT write as though you are addressing a particular group of stakeholders. You are writing an exam and your audience are your ELPS professors.
Be sure each section of the exam response is clearly labelled with the sections and items listed in the Be sure you explicitly include the data related to each entry plan step.
Strategy steps should be detailed. Your description should be clear enough that someone could implement your strategic plan based on what you have included in your exam.
Don’t forget to include a description of how the implementation and impact of your proposed changes in the strategic plan will be monitored and used to guide further implementation and changes.
Make sure you include a strong conclusion.
2018

11. Writing your comprehensive exam….
Your Ed.S. comp differs from the strategic plan you completed as part of the ELPS 603 class in the following ways:
The comp must address each section and item specified in the directions and listed on slides six and seven of this Power Point.
The comp must include a discussion and citation of concepts and content from across ALL of your coursework. This does not mean you should state the course title as you apply concepts from a given course; rather, you are expected to discuss how various content and concepts relate to or address the various elements of the problem and support your proposed strategies to address the problem. Your discussion of program concepts and content should demonstrate your understanding and ability to appropriately apply the knowledge you have gained in your program to address a real problem.
Thus, the comp is a much more detailed and research-supported presentation, analysis, and response to a particular organizational situation/problem.
2018

12. When you have completed your first draft….
Be sure you have a solid introduction and conclusion to your strategic plan, as well as transitions between each section.
Be sure you have clearly organized the exam and included headings for each section and item addressed in each section.
Be sure you have discussed and cited concepts and content from courses throughout your ELPS program and, if completing an interdisciplinary degree/comp, coursework from both disciplines.
Be sure the reason for each action item in your strategic plan is clearly and persuasively presented.
Review the Writing Tips and proofread!
2018

13. If you are doing an interdisciplinary Ed.S. degree….
Be sure that you also explicitly discuss how your strategies to address the problem you focused on demonstrate the Special Education Administrator Standards as well as the CO Principal Standards in a section at the end of your exam.
Send your exam to the ELPS Administrative Assistant as listed in the next slide and indicate in your that you are submitting an interdisciplinary exam to a member of the Special Education faculty as well as a member of the ELPS faculty.
2018

14. When submitting your Ed.S. comprehensive exam….
the file to the ELPS Administrative Assistant and your program advisor (and SE faculty if doing an interdisciplinary degree comprehensive exam.
If you are completing an interdisciplinary Ed.S. degree/comp exam--Be sure to also the exam to the coordinator of the Special Education Administrator program and indicate that you completing an interdisciplinary exam when you send your exam to the ELPS Administrative Assistant.
It takes approximately two weeks to grade all of the comp exams submitted each semester.
After the exams are graded, the results are sent to the Graduate School.
It may take up to four weeks after the comp exam is due before you will hear the results. Please be patient.
2018