PhD in Educational and Organizational Leadership (PhD-EdL)

3.0 Credit Hours

In this course, you will review current literature and theories related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice. You will also relate knowledge and personal experiences, and examine the educator dispositions necessary for effective diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice practices. Finally, you will justify the role of and recommend practices for diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice in the context of educational leadership.

3.0 Credit Hours

In this course, you will explore models of supervision and evaluation of personnel and analyze policies and practices supporting diversity and inclusion in PK-12 settings. Additionally, you will determine the effects of culture on interpersonal and group communication and evaluate policies and programs for effectiveness. Finally, you will evaluate the role of leadership in managing change and conflict and examine strategies for talent development of instructional and organizational leadership.

3.0 Credit Hours

In this course about legal issues in education, you will explore legislation and regulation in PK-12 education and evaluate institutional liability and risk management policies. You will investigate procedural due process and administrative remedies policies and explain the implications of different status such as PK-12 public, private, charter, for-profit, non-profit schools, and homeschooling. Finally, you will synthesize education case law supporting diversity in the workplace.

3.0 Credit Hours

In this course, you will learn to evaluate leadership skills for effective instructional planning and critique professional learning strategies for curriculum, instruction, and assessment in PK-12 environments. You will examine trends in instructional leadership and curriculum development as well as how to analyze data-driven decision-making processes for continuous improvement. Finally, you will recommend assessment practices for and of learning and review multi-tiered systems of support in PK-12 environments.

3.0 Credit Hours

In this course, you will determine the conditions necessary for innovation as well as recommend change theories to promote innovation in educational organizations. You will assess major barriers to and opportunities for change. You will also critique organizational resources to promote innovation and change. Finally, you will evaluate the effects of culture and climate and advocate for ethical decision-making practices in organizational innovation and change.

3.0 Credit Hours

In this course, you will examine the relationships among policy, leadership, accreditation and research and critique the processes related to operations and policy development in PK-12 education. You will evaluate the impact of educational policies on school operations and practices and synthesize how the policies and practices facilitate effective school performance. Finally, you will evaluate methods for strategic planning and policy implementation in PK-12 education.

3.0 Credit Hours

In this course, you will assess components of funding formulas and critique budgeting and auditing processes in PK-12 education. You will review categorical funding policies and explain fiscal accountability in PK-12 education. Finally, you evaluate funding challenges and recommend sources of grant funding for initiatives in PK-12 education.

3.0 Credit Hours

This course allows for a deep dive into the leadership paradigms in school safety, security, and emergency management. As you develop leadership support strategies for staff and students before, during, and after a crisis incident and advocate for team approaches in planning for prevention-mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery of crisis incidents in K-12 schools, you will also assess current legal and political issues in K-12 school safety, security, and emergency management. Further, you will evaluate leadership responses to ethical issues in school safety, security, and emergency management and create risk assessment plans for evaluating physical risks within K-12 schools. Finally, you will determine school emergency manager responsibilities in the planning of systems to prevent and mitigate crisis incidents at K-12 schools across diverse settings.

3.0 Credit Hours

This is an introductory course in which you will analyze community resources and educational organizations related to trauma-informed educational practices. You will explore how historical contexts and practices have influenced current conditions and pedagogy. Additionally, you will examine cultural and economic contexts with respect to local trauma-informed educational practices. Finally, you will create artifacts of learning as a researcher and develop assignments to aid you in a cumulative signature presentation to address professional development for Trauma-Informed Educational Practices.

3.0 Credit Hours

This course supports your efforts to propose or support social emotional learning (SEL) initiatives. You will synthesize your work in the previous courses for the purpose of planning, implementing, and assessing social emotional learning at the school level or beyond. In this course, you will develop comprehensive proposals and plans for implementing and assessing SEL initiatives based on needs analyses, organizational climate and culture, and other relevant factors. By the end of the course, you will be ready to propose new SEL initiatives or revise existing SEL initiatives.

3.0 Credit Hours

The areas of finance, law, and leadership are deep topics in special education. This course will touch on each of these topics at a higher level. You will explore the various funding models for special education programs and services. This exploration will include the legal considerations related to special education programs with specific references to service delivery models. Related examinations include specific leadership scenarios and reporting obligations. Throughout the course, you will consider the role of leadership in cultivating culturally responsive relationships with all stakeholders to ensure equity and fairness.

3.0 Credit Hours

The operational complexity of higher education institutions grows exponentially with the size of the institution. In this course, you will investigate the typical departments and processes before examining more specific operational aspects of higher education institutions, such as human resources, data-based decision making, institutional effectiveness, environmental scanning, strategic planning, and continuous improvement. Your exploration will consider your specific interests in these topics and types of institutions.

3.0 Credit Hours

There are many functions within the area of higher education student services. You will explore these functions across the student lifecycle in a variety of delivery modalities. Some of the functions you will explore in this course include enrollment, advising, academic support, accommodations and modifications, as well as persistence and retention through to graduation. You will have the opportunity to examine these functions generally within higher education as well as specifically related to the context of your individual interests.

3.0 Credit Hours

Higher education institutions in the United States are bound by different legislation and regulation. There are also different types of institutional and programmatic accreditation that leaders must consider. In this course, you will explore the implications of these different accreditations, regulations, and legislation with specific attention to institutional self-studies and issues of copyright and fair use across different types of institutions.

3.0 Credit Hours

The facilitation of learning is the core function of all institutions of higher education. As a leader in higher education, you need to know how this core function is designed and maintained. In this course, you will explore academic program planning and evaluation, theories and principles of curriculum development, assessment of student learning, and the value of open educational resources and co-curricular activities. You will be able to tailor your work in this course to your current or future institutional contexts.

3.0 Credit Hours

Financial considerations in higher education can be complex. While accounting departments may be responsible for most of the details, higher education leaders need to understand the scope of the financial considerations across the institution. In this course, you will examine budget cycles and specific budgets of higher education institutions. You will explore sources of revenue, including financial aid, grants, and fundraising, and the regulations that govern these activities within higher education institutions in the United States. Throughout your examination, you will consider the role of fiscal accountability and related challenges.

3.0 Credit Hours

This course builds on your foundational knowledge of instructional design with advanced practice. You will recommend instructional and training solutions based on existing assessment and evaluation data, formulate procedures for collaborative design projects with diverse stakeholders, and categorize legal, ethical, and political influences on the design of contemporary instructional and training solutions. You will develop instructional materials, including multimedia learning assets that comply with professional practice of instructional design and development.

3.0 Credit Hours

In this introductory research course, you will explore the underpinnings of the research process, examine research paradigms, and investigate theoretical and practical foundations of qualitative and quantitative research methodologies used within educational research. You will identify criteria for the development of a quality research study that is ethical, accurate, comprehensive, cohesive, and aligned. Specific course topics will involve the ethics of conducting research; data collection and analysis techniques; and issues of feasibility, trustworthiness, validity, reliability, generalizability or transferability, and rigor. This course is intended to familiarize you with concepts and skills associated with conducting theoretical and applied research.

3.0 Credit Hours

This course offers foundational knowledge to become a critical consumer of statistical- based research literature as well as develop the necessary skillset for non-inferential quantitative analyses. The emphasis will be on understanding multivariate data, non-inferential and inferential statistical concepts, the conventions of quantitative data analysis, interpretation and critical inferences from statistical results. Statistical computations will be completed using statistical software applications for quantitative data analysis. The course culminates in a synthesis project to demonstrate statistical skills and aligned with APA guidelines for presentation of statistical results.

3.0 Credit Hours

This course focuses on qualitative research methodology and designs and the methods used to collect and analyze data in educational research. You will examine the principles of qualitative research and explore commonly used designs (also referred to as qualitative traditions or genres) with a focus on application and feasibility. Qualitative data collection and analysis methods will be examined for their suitability with regard to the research design selected. Alignment between qualitative designs and research methods, issues of trustworthiness pertaining to qualitative research, and the role and responsibilities of the qualitative researcher will also be explored.

3.0 Credit Hours

This course explores the quantitative research methodology and associated designs and methods. You will examine paradigmatic perspectives along with the tenets and conventions of quantitative research. This examination of designs and methods will include topics such as feasibility, validity, reliability, variable operationalization, inferential designs, and analytic software applications used within the quantitative research paradigm. You will also explore the components of aligned and coherent quantitative research designs that support meaningful research within the field of education.

3.0 Credit Hours

Prerequisite: Completed all foundational, research, and specialization courses as required by program.

The doctoral comprehensive assessment for the Ph.D.-EDL is your opportunity to demonstrate your preparation for entering the dissertation phase as a doctoral candidate. Throughout this course, you will synthesize discipline-specific content with scholarly literature as you create a prospectus for a theoretically based research study focused on furthering knowledge in the field of education. Ph.D.-EDL research has a focus on contribution to theory, whereas Ed.D.-EDL research focuses on addressing a researchable problem that has practical applications. The two are similar in that they both apply the scientific method to collect data, analyze data, and present results. However, the results are given greater emphasis in terms of theory for the Ph.D.-EDL. In the Ph.D.-EDL degree, you will therefore conduct research that contributes to the broader discipline rather than a specific problem rooted in an applied, professional practice. This prospectus will likely become the foundation of your Ph.D.-EDL dissertation. Note that you will take this course only after all foundation, specialization, and research courses have been completed.

3.0 Credit Hours

In this course, students will complete Chapters 1 and 2 of their Dissertation Proposal. Chapter 1 includes a brief review of the literature with substantiating evidence of the problem, the research purpose and questions, the intended methodological design and approach, and the significance of the study, while Chapter 2 consists of the literature review, including the theoretical/conceptual framework. Completed and committee-approved (against the minimum rubric standards) Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 are required to pass this course successfully.

3.0 Credit Hours

In this course, students will complete Chapter 3 and their Dissertation Proposal (DP). Chapter 3 includes the research methodology and design, population, sample, measurement instruments, data collection and analysis, limitations, and ethical considerations. Students will then assemble their Dissertation Proposal including all appendices necessary. A completed, committee-approved Chapter 3 and a final approved Dissertation Proposal (against the minimum rubric standards) are required by the end of the course.

3.0 Credit Hours

In this course, students will prepare, submit, and obtain approval of their IRB application. After obtaining IRB approval, students will collect data and submit a data collection verification form when data collection is complete. Students will begin synthesizing collected data and analyzing results. IRB study approval and a completed data collection verification form are required by the end of the course.

3.0 Credit Hours

In this course, students will complete Chapters 4 and 5, followed by their Dissertation Manuscript. Chapter 4 includes presenting study results aligned to the research design and research questions and/or hypotheses. Chapter 5 includes study implications, recommendations, and conclusions. Students will then compile and present findings in the completed Dissertation Manuscript and in an Oral Defense. A completed, committee-approved Chapter 5, Dissertation Manuscript, and successful Oral Defense (against the minimum rubric standards) are required to complete the course and graduate.