Degree Requirements
Incoming students must complete either 80 credit hours to obtain the EdD or 96 hours to obtain the EdD with Superintendent Endorsement. In both cases, these credits include coursework that covers research, policy, and practice. Coursework is integrated with field experiences to develop leadership capacities consistent with the EdD. A Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) is available for those who do not complete the EdD but who have completed the residency, 64 credit hours of prescribed course work and exams.
EdD Program Requirements Heading link
Program Coordinator Heading link
Cynthia Barron
Phone:
Email:
Sharon Spears
Phone:
Email:
Decoteau J. Irby
Phone:
Email:
EdD Program Requirements Heading link
- EDPS 552: Leading Urban Schools (4 credit hours)
- EDPS 556: Leading Classroom Diagnostics & Interventions (4 hours)
- EDPS 551: Cycles of Inquiry for Improving Schools (4 hours)
- EDPS 568: Education and the Law (4 hours)
- EPSY 535: Human Development for School Leaders (4 hours)
- EDPS 557: Developing Organizational & Leadership Capacity (4 hours)
- EDPS 558: Leading Improvement of Mathematics Learning (4 hours)
- EDPS 559: Internship in Educational Leadership (8 hours)
- EDPS 548: Leading Improvement of Literacy Learning (4 hours)
- EDPS 550: Improving Education Organizations (4 hours)
- EDPS 586: Practitioner Inquiry for School Leaders (8 hours)
- EDPS 592: Professional Career Training in Education Policy Studies (4 hours)
- EDPS 571: The Education Policy Process (4 hours)
- EDPS 579: Organization Theory in Education (4 hours)
- EDPS 544: Research Design in Education Policy Studies (4 hours)
- EDPS 591: Professional Capstone Inquiry (12 hours)
Illinois Superintendent Endorsement Heading link
Required:
- EDPS 553: Leading Urban School Systems (4 hours)
- EDPS 589: Administrative and Leadership Theory in Education (4 hours)
- EDPS 592: Professional Career Training in Education Policy Studies (4 hours)
Choose one additional course selected in consultation with an advisor:
- EDPS 412: Politics of Urban Education (4 hours)
- EDPS 567: Economics of Education (4 hours)
- EDPS 581: Collective Bargaining in Education (4 hours)
Certificate of Advanced Study Heading link
A Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS) is available for those who do not complete the Ed.D., but who have completed the residency, 76 credit hours of prescribed course work and exams.
Required coursework:
- EDPS 552: Leading Urban Schools (4 credit hours)
- EDPS 556: Leading Classroom Diagnostics & Interventions (4 hours)
- EDPS 551: Cycles of Inquiry for Improving Schools (4 hours)
- EDPS 568: Education and the Law (4 hours)
- EPSY 535: Human Development for School Leaders (4 hours)
- EDPS 557: Developing Organizational & Leadership Capacity (4 hours)
- EDPS 558: Leading Improvement of Mathematics Learning (4 hours)
- EDPS 559: Internship in Educational Leadership (8 hours)
- EDPS 548: Leading Improvement of Literacy Learning (4 hours)
- EDPS 550: Improving Education Organizations (4 hours)
- EDPS 586: Practitioner Inquiry for School Leaders (8 hours)
- EDPS 592: Professional Career Training in Education Policy Studies (16 hours)
- EDPS 571: The Education Policy Process (4 hours)
- EDPS 579: Organization Theory in Education (4 hours)
Additional Items for All Specializations Heading link
Annual Reviews
Students will be required to submit an Annual Review, in compliance with College policy on doctoral programs, to show evidence of academic and professional progress. The annual review will include specific work products completed as part of coursework and fieldwork, and revisions may be required in these products as part of cumulative portfolio reviewed for Comprehensive Examination.
Comprehensive Qualifying Exam
Successful completion of the comprehensive exam is required for completion of the CAS and entry into the Research Project stage of the EdD program. No student with a cumulative GPA below 3.00 or with more than one course remaining to complete will be permitted to take the qualifying examination. The exam will include a review of a portfolio of annual performance assessments designated by program faculty. Students who fail to pass all components after the second attempt may recommended by the program faculty to the Graduate College for dismissal from the program.
The EdD Capstone Case Study
The capstone is the culminating demonstration of professional expertise in lieu of a traditional dissertation for the EdD program.
The case study is to be a “case of” leadership and the initiation, development, and management of organizational improvement processes. The primary focus is not individual programs, policies, practices, and other initiatives that might be generated by those processes (e.g., particular curricular initiatives, parent involvement programs, strategies for improving school climate, etc.). Instead, the primary focus is to be on capacity-building processes, cycles of inquiry, processes of continuous improvement or other organizational improvement processes initiated in a school. Individual programs, practices, and other initiatives would receive attention in terms of how those broader organizational processes are working, what they are producing, and why.
The Preliminary Examination
The preliminary examination is taken at the completion of all course work. The exam is an oral defense of a written Doctoral Research Project proposal. The primary purpose of the preliminary examination is review and approval of the Doctoral Research Project capstone proposal for admission of the student to EdD candidacy.