POLICY GUIDELINES

ED.D. IN LEADERSHIP IN CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION

The Ed.D. is designed for practitioners whose professional goal is to improve curriculum and instruction through providing leadership, expertise, and well-grounded scholarship. Admissions are made once each year in the spring semester. All materials for admission must be submitted by February 28, 1997.

I. Rationale

The Ed.D. option is designed for mature educational practitioners who have achieved a master's degree, who wish to increase their knowledge base through further education and degree attainment, and whose goal is to provide leadership in the development of curriculum and in the enhancement of the quality of instruction offered in educational settings. Participants might be classroom teachers who want to become "Master" or "Lead" teachers as described in the Holmes-Carnegie reports. They might also be department chairs, curriculum supervisors in districts or in state departments of education. All such candidates hold positions which require that they demonstrate the most recent knowledge in the field. In contrast to the typical Ph.D. candidate, their responsibilities do not require them to focus on conducting research as a major aspect of their employment.

II. Admission

Applicants must demonstrate the following:

Recognized educational leadership skills as documented through such methods as three (3) letters of recommendation by administrators or other educational leaders certifying outstanding instructional skills; evidence of serving as a resource for colleagues through inservice presentations, demonstration teaching, or other means; recognition by colleagues as an outstanding educator; evidence of an active role in professional associations; nominations by district or state administrators.

Recognized ability in applied professional scholarship, e.g., preparation of grants and/or articles for publication; presentations at professional meetings; development and/or implementation of curriculum projects. (Submit copies of manuscripts or curriculum development projects.)

Ability to communicate effectively in an interview situation and in writing. Applicants will prepare a critical analysis of a current scholarly publication(s) and will produce a writing sample describing how their professional goals merit their being considered for the Ed.D. Program.

Recognized scholastic ability as documented through a minimum graduate grade point average of 3.00 in the applicant's master's program and two (2) letters of recommendation from course instructors certifying unquestionable ability to engage in scholarship/research at the doctoral level.

A master's degree in a related area from an accredited institution.

Satisfactory evidence of appropriate preparation and expertise in the area of specialization. This may be documented, for example, by a master's degree in the area of specialization. In all cases, faculty in the area of specialization will determine the appropriateness of the applicant's preparation.

A limited number of spaces will be available in the program. The depth of background knowledge in each applicant's area(s) of specialization will be a factor in selection for admission. Therefore, only applicants with the strongest records and whose interests and strengths match the interests and strengths of the College's faculty available for supervision will be selected for each admission period.

III. Program Requirements: (Total of 54 credits in the program)*

A. Required Core Courses (24 credits)*

Curriculum and Instruction

EDDV 860, Curriculum: Research, Theory, and Development

EDDV 897, Curriculum Inquiry EDDV 861, Curriculum Planning and Practice

EDST 829, Research on Teaching

Research and Evaluation

EDST 861, Introduction to Statistical Inference

EDST 665, Elementary Statistics

EDDV 850, Qualitative Research and Evaluation Design in Educational Settings

and two of the following:

EDST 862, Principles in Experimental Research Design
EDST 845, Regression Models in Education
EDDV 851, Practicum in Qualitative Methods
EDST 863, Principles of Program Evaluation
EDDV 891, Management Applications of Research

Leadership

EDST 875, Introduction to Educational Policy

EDDV 895, School Improvement Strategy

* See letter of admission for specific date by which the degree must be completed.

** If appropriate, core course substitutions can be made with the approval of area faculty and the Department Chair.

B. Specialization (18 credits)

Candidates must identify their area of interest at the time of their request for entry into the program. They could select such specializations as math, science, social studies, literacy (reading/language), educational technology curriculum development, occupational education, or instructional theory. Candidates will be assigned to a faculty member with similar specialization interests; normally this faculty member will serve as the candidate's mentor throughout the program. However, later in the program, a candidate might be assigned to a different mentor if it is determined that the student's interests would be better served.

C. Executive Position Paper (EPP) (12 credits)

The intent of the Executive Position Paper, or EPP, is to provide the candidate with an opportunity for an in-depth analysis of an issue or problem in his/her specialization area. Appropriate theoretical principles must be applied to the issue or problem with the aim of developing a well-grounded policy position. The EPP must also present an in-depth review of the relevant literature and appropriate research methodology. The policy recommendations can have a local, state, regional, or even national scope if appropriate. Examples of possible EPP investigations include: the design and/or evaluation of a curriculum project; the design and/or evaluation of a special program for children; the case study of an instructional procedure, an historical analysis, a program or policy.

IV. Evaluation Procedures

Acceptance of an applicant into this doctoral program in Educational Development demonstrates the faculty's commitment to that student's professional development. Evaluation of student progress will be based on:

A. Core Course Performance -- Performance in core courses (Section II.A.) is considered an index of the student's general capability in education. A GPA of 3.00 must be maintained in the core courses.

B. Yearly Candidate Review -- Toward the end of each spring semester, the candidate and his/her mentor should meet to review his/her progress. The goal will be to summarize the student's accomplishments for the year, course work, etc. Comments and recommendations from the rest of the faculty may be sought. A written summary of this review will be conveyed to the Department Chair by the mentor, with a copy to the student, within two weeks of this meeting.

C. Qualifying Examination Before a student is admitted to formal candidacy and entitled to submit an EPP proposal, she/he must satisfy the Program Advisory Committee (Section V.C) through a qualifying examination (which will be a written examination with an oral defense) that she/he has acquired a comprehensive grasp of the knowledge in the core and specialization field areas.

D. EPP Proposal The candidate's EPP Proposal must be approved at a meeting of the Program Advisory Committee. Each proposal must provide the following: a clear identification of the problem to be investigated, a brief review of the pertinent literature, a plan of the procedures to be followed, and a statement of how the solving of this problem might contribute to the improvement of educational practice.

E. Defense of the EPP The student's final evaluation checkpoint is the defense of the EPP. The Program Advisory Committee conducts and evaluates the student's defense. The defense is open to the public. The student will present the findings of the EPP and respond to questions from the Committee and the audience.

F. Overall Course Performance Maintenance of a minimum grade point average of 3.00 is required.

V. Advisors and Committees

A. Mentor Each entering student is assigned to a mentor group by the program coordinator upon the recommendation of the appropriate specialization area faculty or the Department Chair, whichever is more appropriate. While an attempt is made to match student and advisor interests, there is no implication that the mentor must eventually assume responsibility for the student's EPP. The mentor functions as a counselor and a documentsigner helping the student with scheduling and other programmatic decisions.

B. EPP Advisor By the end of the third or fourth semester, students must have decided who, on the Educational Development faculty, they would like as a EPP Advisor. As soon as this person agrees, all administrative responsibility for the student is transferred from the mentor to the EPP Advisor.

C. Program Advisory Committee The Executive Position Paper Committee shall consist of not less than four and not more than six members approved through appropriate departmental procedures. At least two members shall represent the specialization area, one of whom shall be the Committee's chairperson. One member shall represent the area of minor study (where appropriate) and at least one member shall be an external examiner chosen from a different academic unit or from outside the University of Delaware. The chairperson must have established a record of publication and/or scholarship in the field of the executive position paper and shall be a full-time member of the faculty of the University; the definition of faculty includes professional staff who hold secondary faculty appointments. Faculty who have retired or resigned from the University may chair committees of students whose work began under their direction prior to their retirement or departure from the University. An adviser who is not employed full time by the University of Delaware may serve as co-chair of the Committee providing that the other co-chair meets the conditions stated above. In the case of dissenting votes, the majority opinion rules. This Committee approves the candidate's course of study and the EPP Proposal and guides the student through the research and writing of the EPP itself. The Committee should be constituted as soon as possible after the student has selected an EPP Advisor. It is intended that the Committee will support the candidate and that each member will serve as a mentor to the candidate.

Revised 6/13/96