Program Director

Kathy S. Faggiani, Ph.D.
Office: R-103B
Phone: (414) 277-2711
Email: faggiani@msoe.edu

MSOE’s Rader School of Business and the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation have partnered to create the MBA in Education Leadership program. The innovative program is targeted at teaching professionals with a minimum of three years of PK-12 teaching experience who wish to advance in school leadership roles. 

The program, which serves the needs of public, private, charter and choice school emerging leaders, blends the best of leadership development, business, and educational administration. Two key themes woven through the program are the elimination of the global student achievement gap through better school leadership, and the development of school ecologies that support character formation. 

The MBA in Education Leadership is a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction approved program for principal (51) licensure that offers educators an alternative to traditional Master of Education Administration degree programs.  The program is based on a school partner model that involves existing school leadership and MSOE program faculty in the definition of field projects that will advance important school initiatives and provide an authentic embedded learning experience for students.

Woodrow Wilson MBA Fellowship in Education Leadership

The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation offers a highly selective Fellowship opportunity for program candidates.  The Fellowship consists of a generous stipend to cover full tuition and instructional costs for the program, and also includes three years of executive coaching for program graduates.  The program and Fellow success will be measured, monitored, and reported by a third party evaluator from the American Institute of Research who will be responsible for assessing overall program effectiveness.

Program Faculty

Dr. LeAnn Buntrock, Melinda Davies, Dr. Kathy Faggiani, Stephanie Hull, Dr. Arthur Levine, Angus McBeath, Dr. Patricia Neudecker, Dr. C. Kelly Lawrence Ottman, David Schmitz

Admission Requirements

Admissions to the MBA in Education Leadership program are made on an annual basis for program start in the MSOE summer session. In addition to meeting the general graduate program requirements , all candidates for the MBA in Education Leadership must meet program-specific requirements, which are listed in the

  section of this catalog.

Types of Acceptance Allowed

Applicants to the MBA in Education Leadership Program may only be accepted in full acceptance status, with no allowances for conditional or probationary acceptance in the program.

Program Educational Objectives

At MSOE, program educational objectives refer to what graduates of the MBA in Education Leadership program are expected to achieve within several years of program completion:

1. Rise to significant leadership positions in PK-12 education.
2. Direct innovative educational initiatives and formulate policies using sound analytical skills and evidence-based practice.
3. Lead educational change efforts to raise the achievement of all students, with a particular focus on eliminating and preventing the global achievement gap in PK-12 education.
4. Demonstrate the on-going integration of effective leadership traits and ethical principles into personal and professional personas
5. Build and sustain relationships among diverse constituents, stakeholders, and policy makers that foster a culture conducive to high student achievement.
6. Develop the next generation of teachers who will continue to pursue global excellence in student achievement.
7. Manage school environments to foster student achievement, realize staff development, and nurture the public trust while creating and sustaining an ecology that fosters character formation.
8. Influence and enact Wisconsin school law and education policy to enhance the learning environment.

Student Outcomes

The student outcomes refer to the knowledge, skills, abilities, and dispositions that program graduates will possess at the time of program completion.  These are organized into the broad categories shown below that align with the Wisconsin Administrator Standards (1-7) and enact two key themes within the program: elimination of the global achievement gap (8) and character formation (9).  All program graduates will be able to:

1. Demonstrate understanding and competency in teacher standards.
2. Lead by facilitating the development, articulation, implementation, and stewardship of a vision of learning that is shared by the school community.
3. Lead by advocating, nurturing, and sustaining a school culture and instructional program conducive to pupil learning and staff professional growth.
4. Ensure management of the organization, operations, finances, and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.
5. Collaborate with families and community members to respond to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilize community resources.
6. Act with integrity, fairness and in an ethical manner that models strong character for the school and community.
7. Demonstrate an understanding, respond to, and interact with the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural contexts that affect schools and learning.
8. Apply evidence-based leadership practices to identify and resolve barriers to student achievement and eliminate achievement gaps.
9. Identify, develop, and sustain a school and community ecology that supports character formation.