EdS Specialist Degree

The Education Specialist (EdS) degree has two (2) requirements:

 
At WSU the Specialist Degree (EdS) and endorsement for licensure are very similar. Both the degree and the licensure endorsement have two specializations:

 
The Specialist Degree (EdS) is a university degree and addresses the expectations of developing a scholar – a person expected to:

 
Licensure requirements for K-12 Principal and Superintendent are set by the Minnesota Board of School Administrators (BOSA) and indirectly approved by the state legislature. This is a list of competencies they feel are needed before being granted a license to practice as a school administrator. WSU can endorse your request to MDE (Minnesota Department of Education) for licensure as a K-12 Principal and/or Superintendent. Wisconsin’s DPI accepts our endorsement for each license and requires that all Minnesota expectations be met. Iowa requires that you present them with a completed Minnesota license. Licensure requires a minimum of 30 graduate credits beyond the MS and completion of coursework or experiences that address all competencies (Core plus the licensure area).

The WSU EL coursework has been mapped to the 85 Core BOSA Competencies and the 15 K-12 Principal competencies and the 10 Superintendent competencies.

At Winona State University the Specialist Degree requires the student to participate in a 1) research class and 2) to complete and defend a Field Study or EdS Thesis. These two research experiences are not required for the endorsement for a license.

A set of 8 Core Courses are required for both specializations. The content and experiences embedded in these 8 courses have been mapped to the Minnesota Board of School Administrator’s (BOSA) competencies. The 85 Core BOSA Competencies are addressed in the following 8 courses:

In addition for the K-12 Principal specialization and endorsement, 9 credits are required:

In addition for the Superintendent specialization and endorsement, 18 credits are required:

Up to 10 graduate credits (beyond the MS degree) may be transferred into a WSU degree. Any graduate coursework taken in Education Leadership may be used to waive required coursework. See your program advisor for details.