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State of South Carolina
Guidelines for Graduate Courses Offered for Professional Development of School Personnel
Rationale: Professional development takes many forms, including such activities as workshops, courses, conferences, study groups, networks, and mentoring relationships. A major portion of higher education’s involvement in the professional development of teachers and other school personnel occurs through the offering of graduate courses to in-service teachers and administrators. Depending on the course and on the institution, these courses may or may not constitute part of a program leading to a specific degree. Regardless of whether the course is taught by college or K-12 personnel or both, regardless of whether the course is offered on a college campus, in a school building or over the Web, and regardless of whether full tuition, discounted tuition, or no tuition is charged, these graduate courses need to meet certain standards appropriate to their status as graduate courses at regionally accredited NCATE-approved institutions which have at their center the compelling State interest in enhancing student achievement in partnership and collaboration with the K-12 community.
Graduate Courses: All graduate courses, whether part of a degree program or for the more narrow purposes of professional development, are subject to the following realities:
a. The higher the quality of the graduate course experience, the more significant the effect is on improving teaching and learning and raising student achievement.
b. Credit hours generated by graduate courses are reported by the institution and factored into the calculation made for requested State appropriations for that institution. The calculation made for courses at the graduate level is significantly higher than for courses offered at the undergraduate level.
c. Demand for graduate credit courses is high since salary increases for SC teachers under the system currently in place are linked to accumulation of graduate credits (e.g., Bachelor’s plus 18; Master’s plus 30); and higher education cannot meet the demand using only its own full-time faculty. Graduate education is different from undergraduate education and other in-service experiences because it:
- involves a greater depth of learning than would be found in undergraduate education;
- involves an increased specialization or focus that would not be found in undergraduate education;
- involves a more advanced level of instruction than in undergraduate education;
- emphasizes student self-direction; and
- emphasizes dynamic interaction with the subject matter, the instructor, and other students, and focuses on the generation of knowledge through research and/or the application of new knowledge.