Ed.D. in Leadership

Program Summary

The Doctor of Education (Ed.D). in Leadership prepares graduate students to contribute to their professional communities as leaders in addressing real-world problems through evidence-based decisions. Students engage with other professionals in the field, including partners such as school districts and states, to apply skills and knowledge to complex problems of practice. Through a selected area of emphasis, the doctoral student identifies a specialty in Educational and Community Organizations or Online Education. Highly interactive coursework in leadership and research leads to a dissertation with guidance by a faculty advisor and committee.

Program Outcomes

• Contribute to professional knowledge bases through the dissemination of applied research
• Collaborate in diverse communities of learning and build partnerships with states, school districts, or other organizations
• Contribute to solutions for complex problems of practice
• Analyze and promote best practices in leadership
• Demonstrate evidence-based decision-making, integrating principles of equity, ethics, and social justice
• Develop and implement personal- or organization-level technology knowledge and skills
• Demonstrate critical thinking and mastery of content knowledge

Core Courses

LEAD6001 Introduction to Advanced Graduate Study (1 semester credit)

Students will undertake an examination of the rigors of advanced graduate study and reflect on personal strengths and challenges at the start of their program. Topics include identity as scholar-practitioner, models of inquiry, self-assessment, and professional goals.

LEAD6103 Evidence-based Learning and Teaching

Students will design, implement, and assess evidence-based teaching strategies appropriate for the online course room. Students will demonstrate best practices for effective online teaching through course activities.

LEAD6113 Ethical Leadership and Social Justice

The course focus is on theory, research, and practices related to ethical administration. Students will assess ethical decision making and implications for policy.

LEAD6123 Management of Financial Resources

Students will examine principles and concepts of finance at local, state, federal, and international levels; strategies for maximizing and obtaining financial resources, and economic issues of the third sector.

LEAD6133 Models of Leadership and Coaching

Students will evaluate and compare different leadership and coaching models and determine appropriateness for diverse settings.

LEAD6143 Strategic Operations Planning and Innovation

Students will design, develop, and implement models of strategic planning that exhibit innovation.

LEAD6153 Policy and Governance

Students will analyze specific current and future public policies and conduct policy impact analyses. Students will evaluate best practices for working with local school councils, volunteer boards, advisory councils, and external stakeholders.

LEAD6163 Management of Human Capital

The course emphasizes principles and practices of personnel administration, including recruitment, selection, evaluation, staff development, and employee relations. Students will evaluate best practices for working with volunteer boards, advisory councils, and external stakeholders.

LEAD6173 Global Perspectives

Students will model and promote responsible global citizenship. Culturally relevant pedagogy will be examined and critiqued.

LEAD6183 Grants Writing for Leaders

Students will analyze funding sources and the process of applying for funds from an organization or agency. Students will develop and critique requests for proposals.

Research Courses

RES6003 Applied Statistics

Students will examine topics associated with statistics including parametric and non-parametric tests, hypothesis formation, frequency distributions, measures of central tendency and dispersion, inferential statistics, and correlation. Emphasis will be placed on the selection of appropriate statistical techniques. Students will conduct and interpret statistical analysis using SPSS.

RES6013 Research Methods

Students will examine foundations of research design, data collection, analysis, and presentation. Students will assess ethics of educational research and reporting.

RES6023 Quantitative Research Designs

Students will compare quantitative research designs and applications. Students will interpret quantitative data and choose appropriate presentations for results.

RES6033 Qualitative Research Designs

Students will compare qualitative research designs and application to real-world issues. Topics include data collection and analysis, as well as ethical issues in qualitative research.

Research Tools

RES6011 Research Tool: APA & Bibliographic Software (1 semester credit)

Students in this course will employ APA format for manuscripts and citations and compare bibliographic software for organizing references.

RES6021 Research Tool: Creating and Analyzing Measures (1 semester credit)

Students will assess existing measures of performance and effectiveness. Students will create sample online surveys for data collection, as well as examine and analyze survey results. Issues associated with the development of valid measures, interviews, questionnaires, and surveys will be addressed.

RES6031 Research Tool: Information Display Strategies (1 semester credit)

Students will design appropriate strategies to present research results, including charts, tables, graphs, and summaries.

Emphasis Tracks

Students will select from one of the following two areas of emphasis tracks:

Track A: Educational and Community Organizations

ORG6203 Partnerships and Community

Students will analyze theories of collaboration, especially as applied to educational and community organizations. Students will propose partnership models for an educational or community organization.

ORG6213 Emerging Technology in Organizations

Students will design, implement, and assess examples of programs that apply emerging technology. The course will focus on issues associated with the interface of technology and people.

ORG6223 Communications and Advocacy for Leaders

This course provides a comprehensive view of advocacy strategies including polling, research, lobbying, and communicating with the media and stakeholders. Students will evaluate communication and best practices for nonprofit and education advocates working in the public policy process.

ORG6233 Organizational Behavior and Culture

Students will recognize structure, values, and motivations within organizations.

Track B: Online Education

TECH6303 Online Learning and Teaching

Students will compare theories of teaching and learning with applications to online instruction. Content includes emerging technology and use of Open Educational Resources.

TECH6313 Creating Online Collaboration and Communities

Students will critique research on social presence and best practices for connecting online with students or colleagues, as well as best practices for social media use within education organizations.

TECH6323 Designing Courses and Programs

Students will implement and assess the concepts of Universal Design for accessible online courses and compare models of instructional design.

TECH6333 Online Teaching and Assessment

Students will demonstrate effective online teaching and assessment; analyze and compare Learning Management Systems; and advocate for professional organizations which provide continuing development for online educators.

Seminars

SEM6601 Doctoral Seminar I (1 semester credit)

Students will present a summary of an emerging real-world issue and engage in peer reviews.

SEM6611 Doctoral Seminar II (1 semester credit)

Students will compare criteria for professional presentations and submit an abstract appropriate for presentation at a state or national conference.

SEM6621 Doctoral Seminar III (1 semester credit)

Students will analyze an issue, demonstrating academic writing, and submit an article draft for peer review.

Dissertation

RES6903 Dissertation I

Students will develop and present research proposal under supervision of faculty advisor. May be repeated.

RES6913 Dissertation II

Students will prepare and deliver final presentations of their research project. May be repeated.

School of Advanced Studies Chair

Lillian Chenoweth, Ph.D.

Dr. Lillian Chenoweth is the Director of School of Advanced Studies, overseeing the Ed.D. and Ed.S. degrees in Leadership.

Dr. Chenoweth's experience in higher education has included the launch of two doctoral programs, several master's programs including a pioneering 100% online program when distance learning was new, and several undergraduate degree programs. Dr. Chenoweth is a sociologist (Ph.D., Texas A&M University) who has worked in online education since 1996.

Her research and publications include scholarly works in education and the social sciences. Her experience includes roles at American College of Education as Chair of Department of Digital Learning & Teaching and Chair of the Institutional Review Board for the conduct of research by students and faculty.

Dr. Chenoweth is a textbook author, as well, in the areas of student internships and initial teacher experiences.

School of Advanced Studies Faculty

Christina Dawson, Ed.D.

Dr. Christina (Tina) Dawson graduated from Virginia Tech in Education Administration. Her research has focused on public school finance, and she has extensive experience teaching online and guiding doctoral research projects. Past work experiences also include serving as Associate Academic Dean at Antioch University and as director of community schools. Dr. Dawson earned a B.S. and M.S. from Virginia Tech in Family and Child Development, then earned an Ed.D. from Virginia Tech in Education Administration. When not online, Dr. Dawson enjoys volunteering with the Pacific Crest Trail Association and enjoying the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest.

Kim Ochs, Ph.D.

Dr. Kim Ochs graduated from University of Oxford with a specialization in Comparative and International Education. She completed post-doctoral studies at London School of Economics Department of Social Policy and currently serves as an advisor for Chrysalis Project South Africa. She has also consulted with European Youth Forum, UN Volunteers, and Commonwealth Secretariat. Dr. Ochs earned a B.A. from Boston University, an M.A. from Boston College in Sociology, and an M.Sc. and Ph.D. from University of Oxford in Educational Studies focusing in Comparative and International Education. Her research has focused on migration of workers and international educational policy.

Applicable fees

• Application fee: $100
• Technology fee: $20 per credit hour (for a total of $1,280)
• Dissertation fee: $200
• Program conferral fee: $150

2013 total program cost: $31,234. For more information, visit the tuition section.

Additional considerations for Ed.D. students

Access to an e-portfolio is provided through existing fees; no additional fee is charged.

Required course materials currently include bibliographic software that may be purchased using a discount negotiated by ACE.

Students may choose required statistics software, either for free or as a purchased tool.

Students are responsible for all expenses incurred for travel to required seminars. Required seminars (1 face-to-face seminar per year) may be chosen from options in different regions of the United States to minimize travel expenses.

Course Plan

(3 semester credits each unless noted otherwise)

Emphasis Tracks

Students will select one of the following two areas of emphasis tracks.

Track A: Educational and Community Organizations (3 semester credits each)

Track B: Online Education (3 semester credits each)

Seminars (1 semester credit)

Dissertation (3 semester credits each)

Total for Ed.D. in Leadership: 64 semester credits