Research

Introduction

The curriculum of the EdD in Educational Leadership and Management does not include a research course. The reason is that the skills necessary to “think like a researcher,” to evaluate and analyze research, and to conduct applied research will be taught, practiced, and refined throughout the eight courses leading to the dissertation phase of the program. One of the most effective ways to increase your understanding of research skills is to apply them in real world situations. This is why there are assignments in the program’s courses that require you to practice these skills.

Graduates of the EdD will be both research and data literate. In the course of your studies, you will have opportunities to acquire critical habits of mind that will support continuous learning and flexibility of thinking as you become expert problem solvers, informed decision makers, and applied researchers.

The innovative approach to learning research skills was developed by a faculty research team that was tasked with examining how research and research related competencies could best be addressed in the EdD program. Your program was developed to meet the needs of practicing educational leaders, whose data and research needs are different than those whose primary career goal is research. The research competencies and instructional strategies emerged from the study of these key questions:

1. What are the research and data needs of education leaders?
2. Given leader needs, what are the research competencies for the Ed.D.?
3. How can the research competencies best be taught, learned, and demonstrated?
4. What is the dissertation requirement for the Ed.D.?

The following sections provide answers to these questions.

1. What are the research and data needs of education leaders?

A review of the literature supports the premise that the needs of leaders relative to research and data are different than those of researchers. The data and research literate leader has the same or similar competency needs as the researcher, but at different levels of performance and with an emphasis on applied research.

Leaders work with descriptive data, performance statistics, multiple forms of evidence, aggregated and disaggregated data, qualitative and quantitative data, feedback and input, planning and focus groups.

The leader’s role in research and data management often includes

• asking critical and appropriate questions about research
• framing problems and opportunities
• distinguishing credible research from weak research
• fostering a culture of learning and inquiry in an organization
• drawing appropriate and reasonable inferences from data and research
• understanding misuses of research and data
• establishing data based performance standards/metrics
• judging how and when to draw from the research when planning and implementing change
• supervising those who conduct and/or implement research
• defining data/research needs
• critiquing research design
• working with research experts elsewhere in the organization
• making evidence-based evaluative determinations about programs and people
• communicating research and evidence based decisions to multiple constituencies

A leader would be expected to understand and use:

• Descriptive statistics, probability, scaling, structures of research,
• Concepts of validity, reliability, transferability, credibility
• Basic stats: t-test; ANOVA; Chi-square; correlation
• Basic methods: qualitative, quantitative, mixed.
• Computer (or manually) generated data output
• Research studies conducted by others
• Action research methods or other site-based applied research.

However, a leader would not be expected to:

• Conduct studies that employ more complex designs and statistics
• Conduct traditional research
• Publish research findings in journals (although they may do so)
• Have the same depth and breadth of knowledge about research as would be expected of a researcher.

2. Given leader needs, what are the research competencies for the Ed.D.?

The research competencies for the Ed.D. support problem-solving, evidence-based decision-making, and applied research. The competencies (#16–18, described under the Competency tab) are:

Plan for research and problem solving (16).
Implement actions and measure results (17).
Evaluate and reflect on results of actions and decisions (18).

The three competencies mirror a cycle of inquiry: Planning (including identifying and framing problems); Implementing (including taking action and monitoring the consequences); Evaluating (including reflection, dialogue, and planning for new action).

The inquiry cycle applies equally well to problem-solving and action research. The competencies address the research and data related knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to solve problems and conduct action research.

3. How can the research competencies best be taught, learned, and demonstrated?

In the EdD, research content is presented, not in isolation, but in the context of the content of your courses with opportunity for research skill development and practice. The integration of research training in each course replaces separate research courses in the EdD. Research competencies will be introduced and reinforced in a set of problems and practice situations of increasing complexity.

In Phase I of your program, you will build research skills and develop habits of mind in planning, implementing, and evaluating—including problem-solving and decision-making—to address a wide range of leadership challenges from the perspective of applied or action research. An inquiry and research skills framework that is used to frame problems for decision-making or to resolve complex issues is essentially the same process used to design research. Research skills include identifying and framing problems, identifying appropriate metrics or data for research and organizational purposes, developing an appropriate qualitative and/or quantitative research design, conducting data collection and analysis, and understanding validity and reliability issues.

That way, once you get to the dissertation phase, you’ll be prepared to complete your dissertation in a timely fashion, something that’s particularly important to professional practitioners like the learners in the EdD.

The acquisition of these competencies will lead to the capacity to approach the leadership and management responsibilities of your profession as reflective practitioners and transformative leaders who foster organizational learning.

4. Why are research competencies and a research practice important?

The skills of inquiry and evidence-based decision making are important whether making routine decisions, or addressing more complex problems. But leaders, in particular, are accountable for results, and are expected to address an institution’s most significant problems and opportunities, and to propose and implement well-conceived, evidence-based, and forward facing solutions. Therefore, leaders need the knowledge and skills to understand and set problems, and to research solutions through action.

Leaders also need opportunities to practice leadership, management, and research skills in real world settings. The classroom exercises will provide opportunities to gradually progress as action researchers, and to move from novice to expert by the time you’re ready for your dissertation work.

5. What is the dissertation requirement for the EdD?

You will complete a 5-chapter dissertation in Phase II of the program. The inquiry curriculum leads naturally to the action research or other applied research dissertation, which will differ from earlier projects in the independence expected of learners, the richness and complexity of the problem addressed, and the methods chosen to address the problem. Action research focuses on introducing and implementing change to address real organizational problems and opportunities, and allows you to demonstrate both leadership and research skills. Your dissertation research will most likely be an outgrowth of your Phase I studies in which you will be expected to apply course concepts in a real world setting, and an opportunity to demonstrate your ability to add value and improve that organization.

During Phase I of the program, you will be expected to share your ideas for a dissertation topic or topics with other learners and faculty, and to engage in discussion to give and receive feedback as you develop your action research intervention and study design.  You will make use of a Scientific Merit Review form, which is a short, but well-developed outline of your proposed research that typically includes sections such as background information, a problem statement, your research questions, the rationale for your study, the research design, data collection and analysis strategies, and implementation plan. The SMR serves as a “blueprint” for the development of your full research proposal, and is a course requirement of EDD8114 Educational Leadership and Management Capstone.

In Phase II of the EdD, you will complete your SMR, obtain mentor, committee, school, and IRB approval (Institutional Review Board), implement your study, analyze your data, and discuss your conclusions and recommendations for further action and study.  During the dissertation phase, you will be in a cohort of 8–10 learners that will be led by your dissertation chair. The chairperson of your dissertation committee will be an experienced member of the profession and have expertise guiding learners through successful completion of the dissertation. Your other committee members will include two doctoral level faculty members.