Organizational Improvement for Educational Leaders (EdD)

1. Understand the historical, philosophical, and sociocultural orientations that underpin assumptions and practices about schooling and education more broadly, for both P-12 and higher education.

2. Consider historical injustices implicit in educational practice and engage organizational improvement strategies to dismantle and rectify them.

3. Use data and research to identify organizational challenges, develop and implement improvement plans, assess progress towards organizational goals, and communicate progress with colleagues and constituents.

4. Use frameworks and design principles to understand and develop organizational goals and align policies and practices to the achievement of those goals.

5. Apply frameworks or theory to motivate, select, and implement organizational improvement strategies, recognizing leadership as a process of social influence.

6. Leverage best practices of professional learning in order to lead and work within teams in service of organizational improvement goals.

Program Policy Document:

Please see the Program Policy Document for more information.

Program Requirements for the Ed.D. Degree

A total of 60 credit hours of course work is required for the Ed.D.

Core Section 1: Understanding the Context of Improvement

12 credits.

EDUC 816 - Historical Foundations for Education Leaders Credit(s): 3-4
EDUC 820 - Working within Local Educational Systems Credit(s): 3-4
EDUC 843 - Continuous Improvement Paradigms Credit(s): 3-4
EDUC 847 - Systems in Education Credit(s): 3-4

Core Section 2: Methods of Improvement

15 credits.

EDUC 827 - Analysis of Secondary Data for Decision Making Credit(s): 3-4
EDUC 828 - Research in Educational Decision Making Credit(s): 3-4
EDUC 829 - Measures of Improvement: Collecting and Analyzing Survey Data Credit(s): 3-4
EDUC 845 - Using Secondary Data in Educational Organizations (Statistics for Leaders) Credit(s): 3-4
EDUC 863 - Program Evaluation in Education Credit(s): 3-4

Core Section 3: Leading Change

6 credits.

EDUC 839 - Education Policy and Governance Credit(s): 3 (Designing, delivering, and evaluating professional learning, communities of practice, socio cultural theories of learning, situative perspectives)
EDUC 847 - Systems in Education Credit(s): 3-4 (including designing and supporting teams, facilitating teams, supervision, adult learning theory)

Electives (9 credits):

Elective course options can be found in the UD Catalog. In addition to the courses on this list, the student’s advisor can approve other electives based on the student’s goals and needs. Any 600-level course in the University can be designated as an elective. The EdD program may offer several standards- or interest-based courses, including but not limited to (course numbers pending):

Higher Education Policy
P-12 Education Policy Educational
Technology
Teaching and Learning Leading for Equity

Colloquia

Colloquium courses will address dispositional aspects of educational leadership and students will take them once per fall and spring term during the three years of their coursework (6 credits).

EDUC 810 - EdD Colloquium 1: The Grammar of an Educational Doctorate Credit(s): 1
EDUC 811 - EdD Colloquium 2: Research Writing as a Genre Credit(s): 1
EDUC 823 - EdD Colloquium 3: Bringing Improvement to Life in Organizations Credit(s): 1
EDUC 824 - EdD Colloquium 4: Coalition Building for Equity and Improvement Credit(s): 1
EDUC 851 - EdD Colloquium 5: Audience, Influence, and Partnerships Credit(s): 1
EDUC 861 - Colloquium 6: Preparing for the Dissertation and Sustainability Considerations Credit(s): 1

Educational Leadership Portfolio: The Dissertation in Practice

Students take the following in fulfillment of the Educational Leadership Portfolio.

EDUC 880 - Education Leadership Portfolio I Credit(s): 4
EDUC 881 - Education Leadership Portfolio II Credit(s): 4
EDUC 882 - Education Leadership Portfolio III Credit(s): 2 (4 credits total required)

Advancement to Leadership Candidacy

Advancement to leadership candidacy, including the successful defense of the ELP proposal (EDUC 880 ).

Education Leadership Portfolio

Development and successful oral defense of the Education Leadership Portfolio (EDUC 882 ).