Program Requirements

The Ed.D. program prepares leaders with the commitment, courage, and competencies to transform their educational institutions to meet the challenges of the 21st century.  To develop such a cadre of reflective practitioners, the 63-credit program is designed around core courses and advanced topics courses.

There are four strands in the core course framework: leadership, organizational development, policy, and research methods. Each strand has a minimum of one core course, and most have two or three advanced courses. In addition to those listed, several elective courses in specialty areas are offered each year.  The asterisks denote core courses in the list below.

The courses in leadership include:

EDL 701 - Leadership and Organizational Development I (3 credits)*

EDL 702 - Leadership and Organizational Development II (3 credits)*

EDL 708 - Leadership for Social Equity (3 credits)

EDL 686 - District-Level Instructional Leadership (3 credits)

The courses in organizational development include:

EDL 703 - Leading Organizational Change (3 credits)*

EDL 663 - Educational Planning (3 credits)

The courses in policy include:

EDL 711 - Educational Policy: Context and Inquiry (3 credits)*

EDL 692 - Educational Policy and the Law (3 credits)

EDL 661 - The Politics of School Administration (3 credits)

The courses in research methods include:

EDL 704 - Quantitative Methods in Educational Leadership (3 credits)*

EDL 705 - Qualitative Methods in Educational Leadership (3 credits )*

EDL 725 - Advanced Research Methods (3 credits)

Additional courses in dissertation preparation, an advisement, and the defense include:

EDL 730 - Doctoral Inquiry Seminar I (3 credits)

EDL 731 - Doctoral Inquiry Seminar II (3 credits)

EDL 722 - Research Design (3 credits)

EDL 800 - Dissertation Advisement and Defense ( 6 credits)