Program Courses and Curriculum

​​​​PASC program candidates complete 21 units of coursework through seven rigorous courses that develop the necessary leadership competencies in vision and culture, equity-centered school improvement, community engagement, adult learning theory, instructional leadership, organizational and systems leadership, and program evaluation. Socially-conscious leadership is emphasized through PASC program sequence of learning experiences.

PASC Program Course Sequence 

Authentic Fieldwork Experiences

The SDCOE PASC program requires each candidate to engage in K-12 fieldwork/ clinical practice throughout the duration of their program. The fieldwork serves as an essential component in preparing candidates to receive their Preliminary Administrative Service Credential and allows for the candidates to apply learned theory from PASC coursework into practice. The candidate will engage in day-to-day and long-term culturally diverse leadership experiences that are aligned to the California Administrators Expectations (CAPE).

California Administrator Performance Assessments (CalAPA)

The CalAPA cycles (3) are authentic leadership learning experiences (performance assessments) that candidates must successfully pass as part of the requirements for credential recommendation to the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC).

During the course of the program, CalAPA seminars are offered to support the development of the three CalAPA Leadership cycles. Each session is designed to engage candidates in a collaborative model to connect PASC coursework learning to the CalAPA.

• Cycle 1- Analyzing Data to Inform School Improvement and Promote Equity
• Cycle 2- Facilitating Communities of Practice
• Cycle 3- Supporting Teacher Growth

Each CalAPA requires written narrative, with video requirements in cycles 2 and 3.

CalAPA Video Requirements

• Candidates must be allowed to videotape interactions with faculty, staff, and PK-12 students as noted on the SDCOE/ LEA MOU.
• Candidates must ensure they have school/ district media release forms signed and on file from all individuals  who are recorded as applicable.
• Candidates must follow all applicable video recording policies described in the CalAPA cycle guidance.

Appeal Policy and Candidate Remediation Support

Candidates who wish to appeal their scores may resubmit a Request for a Score Verification to Pearson within 90 calendar days.

All three (3) CalAPA cycles must be successfully completed prior to credential recommendation to the CTC. In the event a candidate does not pass a cycle, the candidate is required to pay the applicable fee and resubmit via the Pearson assessment site.

The SDCOE PASC program director (or other related program personnel) will provide individualized support to guide revisions, based on the CalAPA Score Report, to prepare candidate to resubmit.

Systems Leadership Framework

SDCOE's District and School Improvement unit has developed a unique, integrated curriculum that clearly  defines a systems thinking educational leader. The Systems Leadership Framework is grounded in research on effective educational leadership and is woven together throughout the PASC program curriculum and anchors student learning to ensure a deep understanding of how systems leaders build healthy, equity-centered organizations.

5 Dimensions of Teaching and Learning^TM

The 5D^TM Instructional Framework provides a common language for teaching to help school and districts successfully grow high-quality instructional practices. 

Developed from multi-year research at the University of Washington, Center for Educational Leadership, the 5D^TM framework combines vision statements and guiding questions to help practitioners reflect on the core elements of effective teaching.

The cornerstone of our PASC course on instructional leadership, the 5D^TM framework is a researched-based tool to help schools and districts create shared language for teaching and learning, scaffold the development of expertise and grow high-quality instructional practices.