►   Graduate School Rules  apply to this program

Office: Lawrence Street Center, 701
Telephone: 303-315-6300
Fax: 303-315-6311
E-mail: education@ucdenver.edu
Website:  http://www.ucdenver.edu/academics/colleges/SchoolOfEducation/Academics/Doctorate/Pages/EdD.aspx

Program Overview

Students completing this program earn a Doctorate of Education (EdD) in Leadership for Educational Equity. The EdD is a practice-based doctorate for professional leaders in P-20 or community-based educational contexts. The EdD prepares leaders within the profession to address complex educational challenges by combining decision-focused, analytic and research skills with a broad-based understanding of systems anchored in principles of equity and access to education. You will learn to translate research into practice, influence policy, use data effectively in decision-making, and organize individuals and groups to address challenges collaboratively and successfully.

This program reflects a cohort model. In addition to core courses, you select a concentration area (see the list below). Courses are offered in weekend, hybrid (part face-to-face, part online), online and/or summer intensive formats. Students follow their cohort in taking the prescribed coursework and experiences for three consecutive years. A five-year path is also available for students working full-time in the summer.

Course Work - 54 Semester Credits

• 6 credits - Equity core
• 6 credits - Leadership and Organizational Performance core
• 6 credits - Learning core
• 12 credits - Concentration area (select one)
• 9 credits - Research core
• 15 credits - Dissertation

Concentration Areas

Executive Leadership (with Licensure Option): is designed to deepen individuals’ skills in policy analysis, development and research; personnel management; finance; accountability systems and evaluation; and community relations. Support individuals who hold or seek to move into senior management positions inside school districts, community colleges, higher education policy or community-based education organizations.  Students working in P-12 schools may also choose either an administrator or a principal licensure option.  Roles may include that of a director, deputy, superintendent or president.

Early Childhood Special Education/Early Childhood Education: is designed to introduce students to issues and practices in early childhood special education/early childhood education and to prepare students to provide leadership to improve outcomes for children with disabilities across early childhood settings. The program will prepare students who can act effectively as administrators in districts, agencies and programs to improve outcomes of all children, including children with disabilities.

Mathematics Education: students and faculty focus on teacher learning and professional development experiences. Specifically, projects investigate the ways that particular interventions used in professional development for mathematics teachers impacts their content knowledge and pedagogical practices in their classrooms. Work in this area is framed by a situated perspective of learning and incorporates mixed methods to answer questions around the ways particular interventions support teacher and student learning. Video data is prominent in both the design of professional development interventions as well as a major data source for analyses. Analytic methods vary based on the research question and grain size.

Professional Learning and Technology (PLT): this concentration area brings together faculty and students seeking to support working educators in ongoing professional development (PD) and learning activities, helping them become more effective and productive in their jobs. The PLT focus addresses the PD needs of K-12 teachers but also those of higher educators and workplace learners. Applying principles of adult learning, instructional design and change leadership, we use a variety of methods (mentoring, coaching, site-based communities, e-learning resources, workshops etc.) to support professional growth and accountability. The PLT courses in the EdD program prepare you to assume leadership in professional learning programs at all levels (site-based, district- or organization-wide), applying the latest research and best practices of the profession.

Science Education: prepares students to explore, understand, and think critically about the nature of science and science education from a largely research-oriented perspective. Students may elect to focus on environmental science education as an area of specialization within this concentration area through electives and discipline- specific research agendas.

Latin@ Schools and Communities: this concentration will focus on leadership, organizational change and measurement, data-informed decision-making, and creating equity and excellence for all children. Students will look at school re-structuring for linguistic diversity, language education policy and politics, and issues of assessment and instruction for Latino/a students. Together with their faculty mentors, students will work with real data sets and authentic observations and apply their leadership skills to create real world solutions for change.

Urban and Diverse Communities: the Urban and Diverse Communities concentration area is developed for practitioners in PK-12, higher education, or community-based settings. Students will impact urban and diverse educational systems through developing a complex view of educational opportunities and challenges that are influenced by policies and practices in housing, healthcare, employment, urban development, and similar fields. Also, students will develop the skills and dispositions to work alongside communities, while developing an understanding of the historical and cultural realities facing those communities.