Superintendent Program

The K-12 Principal Certificate acknowledges students seeking endorsement for state (MN and WI) licensure as a K-12 Principal but not seeking the Specialist (EdS) degree.

This is a formal licensure area for Minnesota schools.

Licensure is a state function through the Minnesota Board of School Administrators (BOSA), for which the WSU Education Leadership Department is an approved program aligning with the rules outlined in Minnesota Rule 3512.2500.

Wisconsin accepts the WSU endorsement for Superintendent and Iowa requires the candidate receive a Minnesota K-12 superintendent license.

The Minnesota Superintendent license is accepted for at least a provisional superintendent’s license in many other states.

The superintendency is also an emphasis within the Education Specialist Degree (EdS) in Education Leadership.

The EdS degree requires the same coursework and experiences as licensure with the addition of 6 credits related to research and scholarly study.

The Superintendency licensure can also be obtained as an area of emphasis within the doctoral program for those already licensed as a K-12 principal.

Licensure as a superintendent requires that you have completed three years as a teacher in the area in which you were certified. Licensure as a Superintendent requires the following coursework:

• 24 credits of licensure courses (or their equivalent done at the master’s level)
• 6 credits of internship for the Superintendency

If you are already licensed as a K12 principal or director of special education in Minnesota, you may be able to complete the superintendent licensure in as few as 2 additional courses plus the 2 internships.

Minnesota rules require a superintendent to have at least 60 credits past their bachelor’s degree.

For the Education Specialist Degree you must complete a minimum of 30 credits beyond the Master’s Degree. This includes:

• 24 credits of licensure courses (or their equivalent done at the master’s level)
• 6 credits of internship for the Superintendency
• 6 credits related to research

Up to 10 graduate credits (beyond the MS degree) may be transferred into a WSU EdS degree.

Field Study

Students are required to complete a field study as part of the EdS degree.

The field study is a scholarly or academic activity intended to better prepare a leader for the meaningful understanding of schools and organizations by:

• Identifying a research question
• Understanding how others have answered the question
• Collecting and analyzing relevant data
• Preparing a written summary

During this experience, a final document is prepared (the field study) and students prepare for a professional dialogue with their field study committees (often called the defense).

Each internship is 160 hours, and students are immersed in the environment, activities, decisions, and tasks of a superintendent.

The site for the internship is initiated by the student, who also approaches a site supervisor (a practicing superintendent).

The University Internship Supervisor will finalize these arrangements or can assist in finding a site and site supervisor.

Site visits by the University Supervisor are used to initiate a list of activities for the semester and review the candidate’s engagement at the end of the semester.

A reflective journal is kept to personalize the internship experiences and formalize connections to course work and leadership theories.