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Educational Leadership Curriculum

Curriculum Description

Educational Leadership is designed for practicing education professionals who customarily would have completed a 36 to 60 hour master’s or post-master’s course of study. For this reason, up to 45 hours of relevant course work, consistent with the aims and goals of the doctoral program, will be accepted for transfer credit.

CORE REQUIREMENTS: (12 Credit hours)
Because of the dynamic changes in educational institutions and systems of our society, the core requirements were designed to ensure that students ’ knowledge of organizations, policy, law and finance are at the cutting edge of the field and that they know the literature and the resources for continued study and growth.

PROFESSIONAL CONCENTRATION: (12 Credit hours)
The professional core will address many of the dynamic forces which are impacting our schools and our educational systems. Courses will be selected from doctoral offerings with the advice of the student’s advisor. The professional concentration will deepen the understanding and knowledge base for each student.

FIELD STUDY: (6 Credit hours)
To ensure relevance and applicability to current educational needs and problems, each student will be expected to develop proposals for two field study experiences related to the core requirement and professional concentration. One field study will deal with intra-organizational concerns; the second will focus on inter-organizational problems.

PREPARATION FOR THE DISSERTATION: (6 Credit hours)
Although students will have had previous experience in research methods, statistics and analysis, specific assistance will be provided on the design of the dissertation and the proposal. Advanced work on the research design and plan for analysis will be covered once the general topic is defined and the specific research questions are framed.

DISSERTATION WRITING AND COMPLETION: (9 Credit hours)
Emphasis within this program will be placed on action research and theory testing rather than more fundamental inquiry related to theory generation or building. The dissertation is intended to address the current and real concerns of the educational in order to provide leadership and direction for the new millennium.