Doctor of Education Ed.D.

The doctor of education in learning and leading (Ed.D.) program prepares the next generation of leaders through innovative coursework with a focus on applied research and best practices. The Ed.D. is a 51-semester credit hour program that incorporates three options as areas of concentration: School Leadership and Development, Organizational Leadership, and Development and Neuroeducation. Completion of a master’s degree in education or a related field and demonstration of previous experience in research methods and educational foundations are expectations for admission to the program. Candidates admitted to the Ed.D. participate in a program designed with both support and rigor. For candidates who are able to complete the coursework portion of the Ed.D., but are not recommended to advance to dissertation candidacy, an Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) degree is proposed as a completion alternative.

Ed.D. Core Principles and Learning Outcomes

1. Is framed around questions of equity, ethics, and social justice to bring about solutions to complex problems of practice.
2. Prepares leaders who can construct and apply knowledge to make a positive difference in the lives of individuals, families, organizations, and communities.
3. Provides opportunities for candidates to develop and demonstrate collaboration and communication skills to work with diverse communities and to build partnerships.
4. Is grounded in and develops a professional knowledge base that integrates both practical and research knowledge, that links theory with systemic and systematic inquiry.
5. Emphasizes the generation, transformation, and use of professional knowledge and practice.

Source: The Carnegie Project on the Educational Doctorate.

School Leadership and Development Concentration Learning Outcomes

1. An education leader integrates principles of cultural competency and equitable practice and promotes the success of every student by sustaining a positive school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.
2. An education leader integrates principles of cultural competency and equitable practice and promotes the success of every student by ensuring management of the organization, operation and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.
3. An education leader integrates principles of cultural competency and equitable practice and promotes the success of every student by collaborating with faculty and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources in order to demonstrate and promote ethical standards of democracy, equity, diversity, and excellence, and to promote communication among diverse groups.
4. An education leader integrates principles of cultural competency and equitable practice and promotes the success of every student by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner.
5. An education leader integrates principles of cultural competency and equitable practice and promotes the success of every student by understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context.

Source: ELLC Standards.

Organizational Leadership and Development Concentration Learning Outcomes

1. An education leader integrates principles of cultural competency and equitable practice and promotes the success of every student by sustaining a positive school culture and instructional program conducive to student learning and staff professional growth.
2. An education leader integrates principles of cultural competency and equitable practice and promotes the success of every student by ensuring management of the organization, operation and resources for a safe, efficient, and effective learning environment.
3. An education leader integrates principles of cultural competency and equitable practice and promotes the success of every student by collaborating with faculty and community members, responding to diverse community interests and needs, and mobilizing community resources in order to demonstrate and promote ethical standards of democracy, equity, diversity, and excellence, and to promote communication among diverse groups.
4. An education leader integrates principles of cultural competency and equitable practice and promotes the success of every student by acting with integrity, fairness, and in an ethical manner. 
5. An education leader integrates principles of cultural competency and equitable practice and promotes the success of every student by understanding, responding to, and influencing the larger political, social, economic, legal, and cultural context.

Source: ELLC Standards.

Neuroeducation Concentration Learning Outcomes

1. Identify the core anatomy and physiology of the brain including cellular systems and structures of the central nervous system including the sensory and perceptual systems of integration, inhibition, and feedback.
2. Identify and apply brain based interventions using various theoretical frameworks including the bio-physical model (nutrition, genetics, environment interaction); the biological model (brain differences in anatomy and function); the neuro-semantic model (meaning of the neuroanatomy and the outcomes); and social-construct model (assigning meaning physically and neurobiologically).
3. Develop an educational infrastructure for application of brain-based models of learning including learning models based on the biological framework of the brain and apply to the learning differences in various populations including autism spectrum disorders, attention deficit disorders, mood disorders, conduct disorders, both DSM and IDEA definitions.
4. Define the cultural and linguistic assumptions used to interpret, analyze, and evaluate neuroscience research applied to education (e.g., contextual or field sensitive cultures verses non-contextual, non-sensitive cultures).
5. Describe and apply core cognitive psychological processes related to neuroscience foundations such as an explanation of the competing memory systems; the processes of decision making related to brain functions; and the development of motivation related to limbic system function.