Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study in Educational Leadership

This two-year, 36-credit Certificate of Advanced Graduate Study (CAGS) program is designed for educators holding master’s degrees who are ready to pursue informal and formal leadership work, with the end goal of licensure as a principal/assistant principal in the State of Massachusetts.

The CAGS program supports candidates through coursework (nine core courses) and guided fieldwork (practicum and seminar experiences), all aligned with the Massachusetts PAL Tasks required for principal/assistant principal licensure. The program’s first year is comprised of the graduate certificate in teacher leadership, which can also be completed as a stand-alone, one-year program.

Given the related work of teacher leaders and formal school leaders, this unique program design gives candidates flexibility in pursuing teacher leadership and formal leadership pathways in related one-year and two-year options.

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Program Requirements

Program Requirements

Sequence of Coursework

Recognizing that all school leaders must first possess a core set of teacher leadership skills, the Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies (CAGS) principal licensure program builds upon a solid foundation of teacher leader skills.

The first year of CAGS coursework and fieldwork focuses on learning to lead, facilitating adult professional learning and working with data as a teacher leader. This first-year sequence maps directly onto the one-year teacher leadership graduate certificate program, which CAGS candidates receive in passing.

The second year of the CAGS program (including two 1.5-credit asynchronous, online summer courses between academic years) focuses on the technical and adaptive skills of formal leadership, including managing school budgets, supervising and evaluating faculty, addressing legal issues in education, leading school-community partnerships, and leading culturally responsive change processes.

The CAGS sequence of courses and practicum experiences run as district-based or fully-online cohorts and begin each fall term. Ultimately, the program supports both teacher leader and formal leader development, with a focus on adopting the informal and formal habits of mind and technical skills needed to lead effectively.

Cohort and Coursework Information

Cohorts launch each September and are fully online (one hybrid cohort offered).

Course formats; Candidates complete intensive graduate courses, in sequence, on night per week each semester. Each cohort has a dedicated night, which remains the same across the two years of the program. There is a dedicated cohort on Tuesday night, Wednesday night, and Thursday night.

Practicum

Following state requirements, CAGS candidates complete a minimum of 75 pre-practicum field hours during the first year of their program and then complete 500 practicum hours in the second year of the program.

CAGS Coursework

Please visit the graduate catalog for a complete sequence of coursework.

Note: Across the two-year CAGS program, principal/assistant principal candidates will also complete practicum and/or seminar work each semester, for a total of 9 credits and 500 hours in schools.

Information about Cohorts

For cohorts launching in fall 2025, we will be offering three fully online cohort options (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings) and one hybrid in-person/online option (Thursday evening, location TBA). When applying for fall 2025, please rank your preferences for participation in the four cohorts in your application statement of purpose.

If you have further questions, please reach out to edleadership@salemstate.edu.

Please note: 

All CAGS candidates seeking MA principal/assistant principal licensure must hold:

  • At least an initial MA teaching license
  • Evidence of having completed the educator SEI endorsement
  • Evidence of having passed the Communication and Literacy MTEL from the State of Massachusetts.

Candidates who have not yet met these requirements will still be considered for acceptance into the CAGS program; however, these requirements must be completed during the first year of the CAGS program before candidates are allowed to begin practicum work.

Educational Leadership Program Brochure

View our brochure to find out more about educational leadership programs at Salem State.

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