Department of Education

Chair and Professor Coffland
Professors Denner, Gates, G. Jones, Pehrsson, Sagness, Salzman
Associate Professors Davis, Klug, Pearson
Assistant Professors Cook, Pena
Professors Emeritus Craven, Judd, Marcum, Rexroat, Rost
Associate Professor Emeritus Benintendi
Assistant Professor Emeritus Cullen

Doctor of Education in Educational Administration

The Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) is the highest university award given in recognition of completion of academic preparation for professional practice in Educational Administration. While research is an important component of the Doctor of Education program, candidates are provided primarily with courses and supervised internships to prepare them to function more effectively as professional educational administrators.

Selection Criteria for Doctoral Study

In addition to the general requirements of the Graduate School, persons applying for admission to the doctoral program in Educational Administration will be reviewed using the following criteria for selection. Preference will be given to applicants who have:

  1. Completed the master's degree or equivalent in Educational Administration.
  2. An academic record of at least 2.8 grade point average (GPA) (4 point scale) at the undergraduate level, a 3.5 GPA at the graduate level, and a minimum total score of 1050 on the verbal and quantitative sections of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE).
  3. An administrative experience record generally recognized as providing exemplary educational leadership. Upon request, application procedures will be sent to prospective applicants.

Preliminary Examination

Upon completion of twelve (12) semester hours of work, the progress of each doctoral student will be reviewed by the departmental faculty. Upon completion of this review, the student will either be granted permission to establish a graduate committee, or asked to complete a preliminary examination. The preliminary examination will be three (3) hours in length and will be tailored to the course work and experience of the candidate. Successful completion of the preliminary examination will enable the student to establish a graduate committee. Unsuccessful completion of the preliminary examination will result in: (a) additional course work in the program, or (b) dismissal from the program.

Admission to Degree Candidacy

Each student demonstrating an adequate foundation for doctoral study, based upon the selection criteria and, if required, the preliminary examination, may apply for degree candidacy. The application for candidacy will include:

  1. A course of study designed to remove deficiencies indicated by the preliminary examination and to complete the required program.
  2. A dissertation topic. After receiving the written approval of the major professor and two graduate faculty committee members from the department, the Dean of the College of Education will appoint a fourth member; the application then will be forwarded to the Graduate School for the appointment of a fifth member by the Dean of the Graduate School.

Comprehensive Examination

The comprehensive examination is a significant aspect of the candidate's total doctoral program. The written examination is normally administered during or immediately following the last semester in which the doctoral candidate is engaged in formal course work.

The comprehensive examination, which will follow the course work, electives, and experiences of the candidates, has as its overall objective the assessment of the candidate's knowledge, understandings, and skills as they relate to the field of educational administration. The comprehensive examination is not, however, restricted to specific or standard course content. Although course work, independent study, and professional experiences are essential in providing the candidate with command of the substance of educational leadership, the examination is designed to test the candidate's ability to integrate and apply knowledge in problem solving and analysis. Therefore, the depth of knowledge, ability to synthesize, and capacity to express conceptual thought are important criteria.

Students will complete a minimum of six hours of written examinations. At least three hours will be in the major area of emphasis and three hours will be in the two cognate areas selected by the student with approval of the advisor.

Dissertation

A student is required to complete the comprehensive examination successfully before defending a dissertation proposal.

Residence

Students will be required to maintain enrollment in at least six (6) semester credits of work each semester (including summers) from matriculation to completion of the program. Should a student wish to deviate from this requirement, he/she must successfully petition the Department of Education Graduate Committee.

Required Courses

EDUC 607	Readings in Administration 		2 cr
CESE 632	Administration of Special Education	2 cr
EDUC 641	Professional Negotiations in Education	2 cr
EDUC 643	Personnel Administration 		2 cr
EDUC 644	Organization and Staff Development	3 cr
EDUC 645	Change Strategies			2 cr
EDUC 649	Seminar: Leadership			3 cr
EDUC 649	Seminar: Advanced School Law		3 cr
EDUC 649	Seminar: Issues in Educational 
		Administration				3 cr
EDUC 657	Internship				3 cr
EDUC 659	Informational Management Systems	2 cr
EDUC 660	School Buildings			3 cr
EDUC 661	Educational Planning and Evaluation	3 cr
EDUC 649	Seminar: Applied Research Design	2 cr
CESE 701	Advanced Statistics			3 cr
EDUC 850	Dissertation				10 cr
Electives	(Approval by major
		professor is required)			15 cr