The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership degree, housed in the Doctorate in Educational Leadership for Equity and Justice (DELEJ) program at CSUCI, creates educational leaders in both P-12 and higher education that can use their critical lenses to bring about equity and justice focused transformative change in educational communities. As members of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), our program adheres to CPED’s guiding principles that invite questions of inclusion, diversity, and multiculturalism to deepen understandings of how inequality is perpetuated for historically marginalized groups. The program emphasizes theory, research, and practice, including field experiences, and provides opportunities for students to work within active learning communities designed to build and maintain relationships with other cohort members and faculty. The accelerated three-year timeline with one-week summer residencies on campus and an online course structure with practice-based assignments provides flexibility for working professionals. Completing the dissertation-in-practice culminating experience can launch transformation in your work setting.
These six principles guiding the program design are as follows. The Professional Doctorate in Education:
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- Is framed around questions of equity, ethics, and social justice to bring about solutions to complex problems of practice.
- Prepares leaders who can construct and apply knowledge to make a positive difference in the lives of individuals, families, organizations, and communities.
- Provides opportunities for candidates to develop and demonstrate collaboration andcommunication skills to work with diverse communities and to build partnerships.
- Provides field-based opportunities to analyze problems of practice and use multiple frames to develop meaningful solutions.
- Is grounded in and develops a professional knowledge base that integrates both practical and research knowledge, and that links theory with systemic and systematic inquiry.
- Emphasizes the generation, transformation, and use of professional knowledge and practice.
Key aspects of the DELEJ program
- The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership requires 60 earned semester units in program courses and is designed to be completed in 3 years
- The DELEJ program is designed for working professionals
- Operates with a cohort model
- Courses are online (asynchronous)
- 1 week annual in-person on-campus summer residency
- 3 semesters per year of full-time status with 2-3 courses per semester
- The DELEJ program requires a qualifying examination and a written and orally defended dissertation-in-practice that demonstrates systematic, rigorous research on an equity or justice-based problem of practice that needs improvement. The qualifying exam and dissertation in practice are built into and supported by coursework.
Why earn an Ed.D.?
Advancement to higher levels of leadership in Community Colleges (Deans, Associate Vice Presidents, Provosts, and Presidents), in P-12 Public school organizations (Principals, Directors, Assistant or Associate Superintendents, Chief Academic, Human Resource/Personnel, or Business Officers, and Superintendents), Early Childhood Center or Head Start Directors, and non-profit educational program Directors often list a doctorate in educational leadership as a desired or required qualification to be considered for these positions.
Cost
Tuition is set by the CSU System. You can view CSU current tuition information here. The DELEJ program falls under the “Doctor of Education” cost. Please note that the Doctorate in Educational Leadership program at CSUCI will be three semesters per year.