Alberta Superintendent Certification

Join us for an online information session on Thursday, January 30, 2025 at 7:00 p.m. (MST, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada). The session will run between 30 and 60 minutes.

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Alberta Education's Superintendent Leadership Quality Standard (SLQS) applies to all public, separate, francophone, and charter school authorities. The SLQS governs leadership certification and aims to help individuals entering system leadership roles in education to have a common level of preparation.

The SLQS includes the following seven competencies:

  1. Building Effective Relationships
  2. Modeling a Commitment to Professional Learning
  3. Visionary Leadership
  4. Leading Learning
  5. Ensuring First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Education for All Students
  6. School Authority Operations and Resources
  7. Supporting Effective Governance

For more information on superintendent certification, please review Alberta Education's Professional Practice Standards. Please note that you must hold an Alberta Permanent Professional Certificate (PPC) in order to obtain principal and superintendent certification in Alberta.

Coursework

Successful completion of the following course meets the academic requirement for superintendent certification in Alberta. It is a graduate-level, credit course, requiring between ten and 15 hours of coursework per week (readings, assignments, presentations, etc.).  

Note: this course is only offered in Spring Term.

EDU 523 System Leadership: Theory and Practice

Prerequisite: EDU 521 or Alberta Principal Certification

This research-based course enables the development of competencies that executives must demonstrate in their professional practice when leading large educational systems. The course extends on concepts and principles pertinent to all levels of educational system leadership.

Admissions

This course can be taken as an open studies student, as an elective in a graduate program (in consultation with your program advisor), or as an approved elective in the Graduate Certificate in School Leadership. To optimize your learning experience, we recommend that you have a minimum of two years of teaching experience.


Tuition and Fees

The application fee for Open Studies is $75 for returning students; $125 for new applicants. The application fee for the Graduate Certificate in School Leadership is $135.

Domestic tuition for this course in 2025-26 is $1,529.00 plus non-instructional fees. International tuition is assessed at a higher rate. Contact gcslinfo@ualberta.ca for details.

Note: Tuition for domestic students may be listed at a higher rate. However, to maintain tuition rates across all Professional Learning programs, the Faculty of Education will provide a bursary to keep the amount paid at $1,529.00 per course. If applicable, the bursary will be applied after the add/drop deadline and prior to the fee payment deadline. All tuition fees and bursary amounts are subject to change. Doctoral and international students are not eligible for this bursary.


Additional Information