MES students have a wide range of professional experiences in education: a typical cohort has educational practitioners from K-12 and higher education classrooms, administration, and leadership; some with the required two years of experience and some with considerably more years. This diversity supports rich learning conversations, where students routinely share experiences, ask tough questions, and collaboratively build new insights about educational improvement.

MES students also have a wide range of professional educational interests: to ensure a personally relevant learning experience, students integrate their own areas of interest in educational leadership and/or school improvement into their coursework. If you choose to join us, you will enjoy a rigorous synthesis of study, discourse, educational research applications, and reflections on implications for professional practice as you build knowledge in your area of educational interest.

Educational improvement is the result of influence at every level of practice: for instance, the teacher who inventively increases student engagement is no less a leader in educational improvement than is the principal who ignites a renewed school-wide commitment to informed practice. So, whether you are already in leadership, have aspirations of formal leadership, or want to lead educational change from within the classroom, the MES is designed with educational professionals like you in mind. The MES provides you with opportunities to integrate your areas of educational interest into your coursework as you:

• explore emergent, evidence-based research findings in educational improvement
• consider the challenges and opportunities implicit in research findings
• discuss the implications for practice and future research
• plan and execute research to inform educational improvement

Yes. The program is structured to allow you to work full-time and study part-time.

The only full-time study takes place during the first three weeks of July, during a summer residency. Our graduates tell us that the open discussions, deep thinking, and new insights are invigorating and worth the investment of time during the summer. There's something quite wonderful about spending three weeks with a group of people similarly interested in and committed to being educational practitioners-actively involved in the art, science, inquiry, and reflection that is professional practice.

During your online studies, you can expect about 10 hours per week of coursework, so you do need to set aside weekly study time. Our graduates tell us that the support of family, friends, and colleagues is helpful. Let your circle of people know what getting an M.Ed. means to you and let them know, specifically, how they can support you. Talk with your educational leader(s) to determine whether accommodations can be made to support your studies. Lastly, keep your instructors in the loop; if you encounter scheduling difficulties let them know sooner rather than later so that you can collaboratively determine a solution. To optimize your learning experience, we endeavour to accommodate regional K-12 schedules.

Yes. If you are an Alberta K-12 educator, each MES course can be applied as 0.125 years of education toward your TQS (the full certificate is 1.25 years).

Our partnership with the Fort Vermilion School Division (FVSD) provides staff with opportunities including the MES program with a focus on literacy and numeracy as well as the Graduate Certificate in School Leadership which meets the academic requirements for LQS certification with Alberta Education. Both programs were developed to meet FVSD's identified needs.

Our partnership with the Kee Tas Kee Now Tribal Council Educational Authority (KTCEA) provided staff with the opportunity to complete the MES program in the areas of Indigenous teacher education, leadership, and school improvement. To optimize the learning experience, students in this cohort were taught primarily by Indigenous faculty, focusing on Indigenous pedagogies and research methodologies.

Our partnership with the Maple Leaf Educational Systems World School Program provides their staff with the opportunity to complete the MES program with a focus on leadership and international education. This partnership includes collaboration between the Maple Leaf staff and University of Alberta instructors and ensures that teachers are able to complete the program without leaving China as they continue to work.