Curriculum

Doctor of Education (EdD) Specialization

Educational Leadership and Management

The EdD specialization in Educational Leadership and Management is designed to prepare practicing professionals to effectively lead colleges; universities; P–12 private and public (including charter) schools as well as corporate, non-profit, and governmental educational organizations. Throughout the specialization, learners focus on the leadership and management competencies successful educational professionals demonstrate. The curriculum is based on current industry knowledge and standards and provides learners with the opportunity to strengthen their inquiry, analysis, communication, decision-making, and leadership skills and use them to address critical, real-world problems. This specialization does not satisfy licensure requirements for P–12 public school teachers or administrators.

Curriculum Overview

The Ed.D. Program requires 48 credits (eight 6-credit courses) of coursework. Students must have a master's degree to be considered for admission. Beyond the coursework, learners are required to complete 24 credits (four 6-credit courses) of the doctoral dissertation.

Why Leadership and Management?

While it is true that for the last decade or so educational doctoral programs have emphasized leadership rather than management, that is changing. The trend since the 2002 has clearly been in the direction of leadership and management.

Three events contributed significantly to the shift.

1. The passage of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) (2002). Since the passage of NCLB, it is difficult to imagine a P12 principal successfully leading a school community without being able to understand, disaggregate and manage from data in order to make excellent curricular and instructional decisions.
2. The publication of Arthur Levine's Educating School Leaders (2005). Levine's work called attention to the current state of leadership preparation programs and the need to significantly improve them in order to assure that the next generation of leaders were competent to do the actual work their professions require—whether leadership or managerially oriented.
3. The release of The Secretary of Education's Commission on the Future of Higher Education the report of the Spellings' Commission (2006).
   Since the Commission's report, it is difficult to imagine a higher education executive not understanding and being able to document her institution's performance in terms of learning outcomes, persistence, and completion rates.

What's become clear is that the focus on leadership or management created a false dilemma. Leaders have to be good managers, and managers have to be good leaders. There's a reason why one of the most critical leadership competencies is called Change Management, after all. An effective leader has to be able to manage change.

This is what the EdD refers to as the genius of and. Learners in the EdD are prepared for leadership and management because they will be challenged in their professional lives to deliver on both.

All learners follow the same course sequence with our EdD program because the courses follow a coherent progression whereby each course builds upon the last.

Program Details

Curriculum

Twelve Required Courses 72 quarter credits
EdD courses must be taken in the following sequence:

• EDD8100 - Foundations of Educational Management and Leadership I
• EDD8102 - Foundations of Educational Management and Leadership II
• EDD8104 - Leadership Through Personal and Professional Development
• EDD8106 - Creating a Culture of Learning
• EDD8108 - Data-Informed Decision Making for Educational Leaders
• EDD8110 - Leading and Managing Change, Part I
• EDD8112 - Leading and Managing Change, Part II
• EDD8114 - Educational Leadership and Management Capstone
• EDD9920 - Dissertation Courseroom (non-credit)
• EDD9921 - Dissertation Research 1 (6 quarter credits)
• EDD9922 - Dissertation Research 2 (6 quarter credits)
• EDD9923 - Dissertation Research 3 (6 quarter credits)
• EDD9924 - Dissertation Research 4 (6 quarter credits)

Course Descriptions

School of Education

EDD8100 - Foundations of Educational Leadership and Management I
(6 quarter credits)

This course is the first of two consecutive introductory courses for all EdD learners in the School of Education. It provides an overview of the degree program's structure, competencies, and requirements and presents the fundamental principles and skills of leadership and management. Learners study the leader's role in achieving organizational objectives and developing shared mission, vision, and values. Learners also explore methods of effective financial, human resource, and operations management and examine principles of inquiry and systems thinking. For EdD learners only. Cannot be fulfilled by transfer.

EDD8102 - Foundations of Educational Leadership and Management II
(6 quarter credits)

This course is the second of two consecutive introductory courses for all EdD learners in the School of Education. Learners build on the knowledge gained during EDD8100 and continue their study of fundamental leadership and management principles and skills. For EdD learners only. Prerequisite(s): EDD8100. Cannot be fulfilled by transfer.

EDD8104 - Leadership Through Personal and Professional Development
(6 quarter credits)

In this course, learners analyze the personal, relational, and metacognitive dimensions of leadership. Learners reflect on personal values and behaviors and use metacognitive skills to examine their own learning and growth. Learners also employ the language and tools of various systems models to frame and solve problems and examine ways to negotiate and influence outcomes within organizations. For EdD learners only. Prerequisite(s): EDD8102. Cannot be fulfilled by transfer.

EDD8106 - Creating a Culture of Learning
(6 quarter credits)

Learners in this course identify the leadership and management skills needed to develop an assessment-, knowledge-, learning-, and community-centered culture. Learners explore ways to advocate for students and institutions; lead continuous and data driven curriculum and instruction improvement processes; and promote academic excellence and cultural competence. For EdD learners only. Prerequisite(s): EDD8104. Cannot be fulfilled by transfer.

EDD8108 - Data-Informed Decision Making for Educational Leaders
(6 quarter credits)

In this course, learners examine the use of data in the planning, execution, and assessment of educational decision making. Learners consider research, multiple perspectives, laws and regulations, organizational resources, and ethics to make data-informed decisions using a variety of decision-making strategies, models, and tools. For EdD learners only. Prerequisite(s): EDD8106. Cannot be fulfilled by transfer.

EDD8110 - Leading and Managing Change I
(6 quarter credits)

This is the first of two consecutive courses in which learners apply the leadership and management competencies gained from previous course work to real-world situations. Learners identify and demonstrate the inquiry, analysis, communication, decision making, and leadership skills needed to address and solve problems; plan, implement, and evaluate change; improve processes; and demonstrate cultural competence. For EdD learners only. Prerequisite(s): EDD8108. Cannot be fulfilled by transfer.

EDD8112 - Leading and Managing Change II
(6 quarter credits)

This is the second of two consecutive courses in which learners apply the leadership and management competencies gained from previous course work to real-world situations. Learners continue to identify and demonstrate the skills exhibited during EDD8110. For EdD learners only. Prerequisite(s): EDD8110. Cannot be fulfilled by transfer.

EDD8114 - Educational Leadership and Management Capstone
(6 quarter credits)

The capstone is the final course prior to the dissertation course sequence. Learners complete a portfolio that includes documentation of the professional growth plan activities they have completed throughout the program, documentation demonstrating specialization competencies, and a dissertation prospectus. The course culminates in a final professional portfolio review that determines entry into the program's dissertation course sequence. For EdD Educational Leadership and Management learners only. Prerequisite(s): EDD8112. Cannot be fulfilled by transfer.

EDD9920 - Dissertation Courseroom
(non-credit)

This course provides learners with resources, guidance, and peer and mentor support during each dissertation course as they complete the required milestones. Grading for this course is R/NS. Prerequisite: EDD8114. Cannot be fulfilled by transfer.

EDD9921–EDD9945 - Dissertation Research 1–Dissertation Research 25
(6 quarter credits)

Learners complete the required dissertation milestones and prepare their dissertation for publication. Grading for this course is R/NS. Prerequisite(s): EDD8114. Courses must be taken in sequence. EDD9920 is a corequisite for these courses. Cannot be fulfilled by transfer.