Strategic Educational Leadership: What It Is and How It Can Advance Your Career
Strategic Educational Leadership, offered as a Certificate, M.Ed., Ed.S., and Ed.D. degree, is a strategic pathway for professionals who seek leadership roles in organizations whose core mission involves teaching, training, curriculum design, and other learning functions. This is not a program for individuals seeking a traditional principal or superintendent position in a K-12 school system. The Strategic Educational Leadership program is for individuals who seek leadership roles in education-adjacent organizations and settings. National Louis University offers this degree through its National College of Education at the four graduate degree levels.
What Is Strategic Educational Leadership?
Programs in Strategic Educational Leadership prepare students to manage organizations whose core mission is teaching and learning (for example, corporate learning and development departments, education non-profits, museums, etc.). Curriculum may include leadership theories and practices; studies of curricula and data; studies of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and the efficient use of educational resources.
The Strategic Educational Leadership (SEDL) program is offered at the Certificate, M.Ed., Ed.S., and Ed.D. levels. It prepares students for advanced educational leadership roles within organizations engaged in teaching, learning, training, and other education-related functions. National Louis University’s College of National Education, through its schools, offers a graduate program that can lead to four levels of educational leadership degrees. SEDL graduates possess a Strategic Educational Leadership degree.
Why Pursue Strategic Educational Leadership?
The Strategic Educational Leadership program will typically attract individuals currently employed in Corporate Training and Development or in Nonprofit Education Organizations. Many of our students are also published Curriculum writers for companies that develop educational materials for K-12 schools and Higher Education. The commonality among these individuals is that they are currently practicing leaders in organizations that deliver educational functions. Still, they need formal Education Leadership credentials to advance in their current roles.
It's a great way for people to test the waters of higher educational study. I plan to complete the Graduate Certificate in Strategic Educational Leadership in a couple of years and then decide whether I'm ready to pursue further study. If I am, I can then complete the remainder of the degrees, M.Ed., Ed.S., and Ed.D., that make up the entire S.E.L. program.
It’s also a great program for those who have informally led teams, projects, departments, or programs in education-related organizations. This program recognizes your strategic educational leadership skills and knowledge, helping you be more effective in your organization.
Key Questions About This Program
Does this program lead to a principal or superintendent license?
No. Strategic Educational Leadership is for leaders of organizations outside K-12 school systems that focus on teaching and learning. Therefore, this program does not lead to Principal or Superintendent licensure in K-12 school systems. Note that the National Louis University Strategic Educational Leadership Program does not lead to any of the following Illinois Professional Educator License endorsements: General Education Leadership, Principal, Superintendent. Note that NLU requires formal acknowledgment of the following statement by all students before enrollment in this program:
Can I start at any credential level?
NLU’s program offers entry points at the Certificate, M.Ed., Ed.S., and Ed.D. levels. Importantly, students can begin the program in any term (i.e., fall, winter, spring, or summer) of the year in which they enter. Thus, in contrast to many doctoral programs, which require students to complete a prior master’s degree before beginning doctoral coursework in a given field, here students can begin taking coursework in Strategic Educational Leadership at the graduate certificate level.
What does the culminating project look like at each level?
Each of the levels of Strategic Educational Leadership in the form of a Certificate, M.Ed., Ed.S., or Ed.D. culminates in a leadership project or a program of study (such as a dissertation) that a student completes as they define and explore problems of practice in schools or organizations in which they work, or in external sites and in other countries and cultures as necessary. The scope and nature of these projects vary at each level. The M.Ed. culminates in a leadership project of several hundred pages and several appendices that, in aggregate, define, describe, explain, analyze, and present solutions to a defined problem of practice in which the student identifies, develops, and describes solutions. The Ed.S. also culminates in a project of a similar scope to that described above for the M.Ed. and of similar scale to that which is produced at the end of the M.Ed. program. The Ed.D. also culminates in a project, and this culminates in a full doctoral dissertation that describes, presents, and defends solutions to problems identified through research.
Educators who specifically want to become a K-12 principal or superintendent should pursue a different program — such as NLU's M.Ed. or Ed.S. in Educational Leadership (Principal Endorsement.
This program is NOT for those who are seeking to become a K-12 principal or superintendent. Rather, those seeking such licenses and endorsements should look to NLU’s M.Ed. or Ed.S. programs in Educational Leadership (Principal Endorsement) or the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program.
How long does the program take?
The time required to complete a program depends on many factors, including the student’s prior academic work, career goals, and the time available to study part-time while continuing to work full-time in a related career. Most of our students complete a Certificate in a year or less. Students who complete an M.Ed. in a related field, then an Ed.S., and finally an Ed.D. can spend several years working toward a doctoral degree.
Career Outcomes
Career opportunities available to graduates of Strategic Educational Leadership programs include leadership roles in corporate learning and development, education-focused non-profit organizations, curriculum design and publishing companies, museums and other informal learning institutions, educational technology companies, and training divisions within larger organizations across various industries. Training and development managers, a closely related occupation, are projected to experience continued employment growth through the decade and are one of the higher-paid occupations in the economy, with median annual wages ranging from $90,000 to over $110,000 in 2012. Current projections and wage data for this occupation are available in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Outlook Handbook for Training and Development Managers.
Occupational Outlook Handbook, Training and Development Managers.
The Strategic Educational Leadership program prepares students to enter learning leadership roles in organizations, including for-profit companies, non-profit organizations, ed tech companies, and training divisions. As the lines between education and corporate leadership continue to blur, so too are the roles of learning leaders within organizations.
Strategic Educational Leadership at National Louis University
National Louis University’s National College of Education offers the Strategic Educational Leadership program of study as a Certificate, Master’s, Educational Specialist, and Doctoral degree. This is a progressive program in which individuals can enter at the appropriate level and continue their studies until they reach the Doctoral level, if desired. The learning-leader positions and organizations in corporate training, non-profits, and education-adjacent settings are the focus of this program. They are where the Strategic Educational Leadership program’s graduates work.
