Coursework and Program Requirements

Program Overview

The goal of the DELEJ Ed.D. program is to develop educational leaders that can use their critical lenses to bring about equity and justice focused transformative change throughout educational communities. Graduates of the program will be able to address problems of practice in diverse communities where marginalized and underrepresented students face inequities of race, gender, sexuality, class, inclusion, access, and varied abilities. The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership is grounded in relevant research and theory and supports students in taking a critical inquiry stance and developing a deeper understanding of themselves as reflective practitioners, thoughtful educational leaders, researchers, advocates, policy makers, and change agents.

The three year, three-semesters per year program is designed for full-time working professionals. This program is in an online, asynchronous format, with an annual in-person one week summer residency that allows the cohort to build community on the CSUCI campus.

60 semester units are required to be eligible for the degree.

Requirements for the Doctoral Degree

The basic requirements for the doctoral degree are as follows:

• The degree requires a minimum of 60 units of approved doctoral level work including 12 units for dissertation studies. It is expected for all work to be completed within a three-year period.
• A 3.0 GPA or better in all 60 units offered as satisfying the requirements of the degree.
• Passage of a qualifying examination by the end of the Fall semester of the second year. The qualifying examination shall include a rigorous written assessment of student knowledge; the examination must be passed prior to the student's advancement to candidacy.
• Approval of a written dissertation proposal and oral defense before a dissertation committee. The dissertation proposal examination shall evaluate the candidate's readiness to proceed with the dissertation research.
• Approval, by a dissertation committee, of a written dissertation that is a product of systematic, rigorous research on a significant professional issue.
• Approval, by a dissertation committee, of an oral dissertation defense.

Course of Study

Students will move through four stages of progression of study, comprising 60 units. The Doctoral Program progression consists of Coursework (Core courses, Research courses, Specialization courses), Qualifying Examination, and Dissertation Proposal and Oral Defense, and Dissertation and Oral Defense. This progression provides a learning experience designed to give students knowledge about the strategies of scholarly research, application in practice, and critical analysis.

Courses and Course Progression

Pre-requisites for all courses below include admission to the program:

• Leadership Foundations Core (18 units)
  • EDD 701 Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Justice in Education (3 units)
  • EDD 702 Educational Leadership for Transformation and Change (3)
  • EDD 703 Complex Organizations Designed for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (3)
  • EDD 704 Leading Equitable Assessments and Program Evaluation for Accountability (3)
  • EDD 705 Policy and Practice for Educational Leaders (3)
  • EDD 706 Educational Reforms Designed for Equity (3)

• Research Methodology Core (19 units)
  • EDD 711 Applied/Field-based Research for Equity (3)
  • EDD 712 Applied Qualitative Research Methods (3)
  • EDD 713 Applied Quantitative and Data Analysis Research Methods (3)
  • EDD 714 Data Collection, Visualization, and Analysis (3)
  • EDD 715 Writing and Presenting a Dissertation (3)
  • EDD 716 Writing for Publication: Getting Started (2)
  • EDD 717 Writing for Publication: Advanced (2)
    
    
• Advancement to Candidacy (2 units)
  • EDD 720 Qualifying Examination and Dissertation Proposal Defense (2)
    
    
• Leadership Specializations (9 units)
  • EDD 780T Topics in Educational Leadership (9)
    • Students select 3 courses with content determined by student’s area of specialization. These courses vary depending on student interest.

• Dissertation
  • EDD 731 Dissertation Research I (3)
  • EDD 732 Dissertation Research II (3)
  • EDD 733 Dissertation Research III (3)
  • EDD 734 Dissertation Research IV (3)

Course Sequence and Descriptions (Year 1 through Year 3)

Course Sequence Overview

Course Descriptions

• 1st year - 18 credits

  • Summer 1 (2 five-week courses)– 6 credits 
    • EDD 701: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, and Justice in Education (3)
      This course is designed to engage students in reflection and critique of theoretical approaches dealing with cross-cultural education that promote equity and social justice within educational settings and society. Using diverse and conflicting perspectives, students will gain a greater understanding of challenges and opportunities that align theory and practice with a focus on diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and justice. Students will engage in personal examination of the complexity of views and perceptions as educational leaders in super diverse societies.
    • EDD 711: Applied (Field-based) Research for Equity (3) 
      This course engages students in concepts and skills related to educational measurement, research design, basic statistics, program/policy evaluation, and quantitative/qualitative/mixed-methods, improvement science and short cycles of inquiry, case study, and action research, equity gap and root-cause analysis, consumers of research. Students will apply these concepts and skills, to be able to design and conduct applied research that contributes to important educational equity issues. Course topics include: (a) reviewing and synthesizing educational research, (b) designing a research study on an equity-based problem of practice that could result in a dissertation-in-practice, (c) introductory level data analysis, and (c) evaluating published research.
  • Fall 1 (2 eight-week courses) – 6 credits
    • EDD 702: Educational Leadership for Transformation and Change (3) 
      This course will engage students in understanding, implementing, and evaluating strategic leadership practices based on various theories, models, and approaches for achieving organizational transformation and change. Students will become skilled facilitators of the organizational transformation process by involving educational partners collectively through authentic shared leadership to initiate, implement, sustain, and evaluate meaningful transformation/change efforts framed around questions of equity, ethics, and social justice to bring about solutions to complex problems of practice.  Students will integrate theory and practice to implement a planned change process in their institution. 
    • EDD 712: Applied Qualitative Research Methods (3)
      In this course, students learn the characteristics of various qualitative research traditions, including case study, phenomenology, narrative inquiry, ethnography, and grounded theory. They also gain an introductory understanding of theoretical frameworks and their use in research. They apply tools of qualitative inquiry in the design and implementation of research studies, including the processes of human subjects research and IRB procedures, qualitative data collection, basic data analysis procedures, and strategies of reporting and discussing the findings of a qualitative project.
  • Spring 1 (2 eight-week courses) – 6 credits
    • EDD 703: Complex Organizations Designed for Diversity, Equity, Inclusions, and Accessibility (3) 
      This course examines modern theories of complex organizations and applies them to educational institutions in diverse communities. Course surveys theories of classic management, bureaucracy, psychology of organizations, politics of internal and external organizational spaces, and the culture of organizations. Organizational change processes will be examined. Students apply the theories to their own problem of practice to be able to design and facilitate equity-minded, transformational systemic changes.
    • EDD 713: Applied Quantitative and Data Analysis Research Methods (3) 
      This course examines advanced research methodologies and data analysis techniques applicable to education and social science settings. Topics include experimental and quasi-experimental design, data collection procedures, sampling distributions, statistical analysis for practical significance, nonparametric statistics, inference decisions, and hypothesis testing with applications to the work of education leaders.

• 2nd year - 20 credits

  • Summer 2 (2 five-week courses) – 6 credits
    • EDD 704: Leading Equitable Assessments and Program Evaluation for Accountability (3) 
      This course examines problems of practice in education from the perspective of equitable assessments and program evaluations. Assessment practices, planning strategies, and evaluation processes in P-12 and higher education settings are reviewed along with current issues and trends in the field of education related to school assessment, accountability, and program evaluation. Students will analyze current research and policy regarding Federal, State, and local systems of accountability and assessment to determine the degree to which they are equitable. Students will apply accessible and useable data-management systems that create a culture of personal responsibility and inform instruction and organizations. Students will engage in cycles of program evaluation that assess how teachers/faculty and programs impact student learning and well-being.
    • EDD 780T: Specialization Course (3) 
      Each specialization course will provide advanced knowledge on a specialization selected by the student to support their dissertation and planned future employment.
  • Fall 2 (3 eight-week courses) - 8 credits
    • EDD 706: Educational Reforms Designed for Equity (3) 
      This course examines the knowledge base of theories and grounded research that critique past and current educational reforms in the United States. Special attention will be paid to the theoretical frameworks that guided reforms, the work of professional practitioners, and the intended and unintended impacts on minoritized students, families, organizations, and communities. Knowledge acquired will be a basis for designing meaningful solutions to complex problems of practice that align theory and practice to focus on achieving social equity. 
    • EDD 780T: Specialization Course (3) 
      Each specialization course will provide advanced knowledge on a specialization selected by the student to support their dissertation and planned future employment.
    • EDD 720: Qualifying Examination (1)
      This course will support students in demonstrating acquisition of program learning outcomes by preparing an e-portfolio that documents scholar-practitioner performances from courses in the program that demonstrate equity and justice-focused leadership. Students will learn to reflect and self-assess of their growth in performances during the doctoral program and demonstrate acquisition of knowledge by becoming aware of the scoring rubric for the qualifying exam. Students will design and learn how to defend research based on an existing problem of practice in equity and/or justice for conducting a dissertation-in-practice.
  • Spring 2 (2 eight-week courses) – 6 credits
    • EDD 705: Policy and Practice for Educational Leaders (3) 
      This course examines political, legal and historical contexts affecting local, state and federal educational decision making. The course is grounded on theories on how ideas become policy: the roles that political institutions play and the political factors that shape policy formulation and implementation at all levels. The course critically examines the values and assumptions that underlie educational policy formulation, including the social construction of policy targets and instruments used in implementation. A variety of frameworks are explored to develop skills in both traditional and critical policy analysis. Students apply the course’s frameworks to their own research around a problem of practice. 
    • EDD 780T: Specialization Course (3) 
      Each specialization course will provide advanced knowledge on a specialization selected by the student to support their dissertation and planned future employment.
    • EDD 720: Dissertation Proposal Preparation and Defense (1)
      This course will support students in demonstrating acquisition of program learning outcomes by preparing an e-portfolio that documents scholar-practitioner performances from courses in the program that demonstrate equity and justice-focused leadership. Students will learn to reflect and self-assess of their growth in performances during the doctoral program and demonstrate acquisition of knowledge by becoming aware of the scoring rubric for the qualifying exam. Students will design and learn how to defend research based on an existing problem of practice in equity and/or justice for conducting a dissertation-in-practice.

• 3rd year – 22 credits

  • Summer 3 (3 five-week courses) 8 credits
    • EDD 714: Data Collection, Visualization, and Analysis (3) 
      Advanced methods for data collection, display, and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data.
    • EDD  715: Writing and Presenting a Dissertation (3) 
      This course examines the knowledge and skills necessary to write and orally defend a dissertation. Special attention will be paid to reviewing the expected dissertation format, scoring rubric which will be applied to the written document, and providing a successful oral defense. Students will review APA style expectations and practice presenting and defending research decisions.
    • EDD 716: Writing for Publication, Getting started A (2)
      This course surveys stages and effective strategies in turning dissertation research into a conference paper and a journal article. 
  • Fall 3 (2 eight-week courses) 6 credits 
    • EDD 731: Dissertation Seminar I(3) An S-factor course with Dissertation Chairs
      In this seminar, students will work closely with their dissertation Chair to write a literature review and list of references for their dissertation-in-practice.
    • EDD 732: Dissertation Seminar II (3) An S-factor course with Dissertation Chairs
      In this seminar, students will work closely with their dissertation Chair to write a methodology section, develop instruments/strategies for data collection, and collect their data for their dissertation-in-practice.
  • Spring 3 (3 eight-week courses) 8 credits
    • EDD 733: Dissertation Seminar III(3) An S-factor course with Dissertation Chairs
      In this seminar, students will work closely with their dissertation Chair to analyze the data that they have collected and write a Results section for their dissertation-in-practice.
    • EDD 734: Dissertation Seminar IV (3) An S-factor courses with Dissertation Chairs
      In this seminar, students will work closely with their dissertation Chair to write Discussion, Introduction, and Abstract sections for their dissertation-in-practice. In addition, students will orally defend their dissertation and shepherd it through the publication process.
    • EDD 717: Seminar: Writing for Publication Advanced B (2)
      This course supports editing and advising doctoral students on preparing proposals for converting dissertation research into a conference paper and/or a journal article.

Culminating Experience: The Dissertation-in-Practice

The culminating experience is the Dissertation-in-Practice. Dissertation topics must relate to some existing body of theoretical or empirical knowledge in the chosen field of study and should address a problem of practice. The student will work closely with their dissertation Chair to progress through the dissertation. Dissertations must meet the expectations of the program, the dissertation Chair and committee, and EO 991—the Executive Order that establishes minimum requirements, policies, and procedures that shall apply to all Doctor of Education degree programs offered solely by the California State University (CSU).

The Ed.D.’s applied and equity-focused nature shapes the expectations for the dissertation-in-practice. The Ed.D. dissertation is generally expected to contribute to an improvement in public P-12 or community college professional practices or policy, generally or in the context of a particular educational institution (EO 991). It shall evidence originality, critical and independent thinking, appropriate form and organization, and a rationale for the research problem examined.

DELEJ students will be expected to identify a problem of practice and complete a dissertation that includes a research question(s), a review of relevant literature, clear theoretical framework(s), a thorough discussion of the research methods employed, a critical analysis of the data collected, and a direct and specific discussion of the implications of the study for educational practice or policy. The dissertation must offer specific conclusions or recommendations. It shall also include a written abstract. The dissertation research will be conducted under the supervision of the dissertation Chair and the dissertation committee.

Program Learning Outcomes

1. Apply knowledge of equity, ethics, and social justice to bring about solutions to complex problems of practice by addressing issues of diversity, equity, and opportunity, including attention to special populations.
2. Apply modern theories of management of complex organizations to education by constructing and applying knowledge to make a positive difference in the lives of individuals, families, organizations, and communities.
3. Develop and demonstrate effective collaboration and communication skills to work with diverse communities and to build partnerships, by demonstrating leadership based on a shared vision of learning grounded in moral principles and ethical decision-making.
4. Navigate political, legal, and historical contexts affecting local, state, and federal educational policy and decision-making by utilizing field-based opportunities to analyze problems of practice and using multiple frames to develop meaningful solutions.
5. Develop a professional knowledge base that integrates both practical and research, which links theory with systemic and systematic inquiry for achieving reform and improvement within California's P-12 or community college/post-secondary education institutions.
6. Generate, transform, and utilize professional knowledge and practice by demonstrating leadership based on a shared vision of learning grounded in moral principles and ethical decision-making.
7. Design internal and external accountability processes and use them in data-driven planning by conducting research in relevant field settings, including collection, analysis, and use of original data as well as institutional research and other existing data to improve educational outcomes.
8. Assess learning outcomes and use data for student interventions and program decision-making and improvement, by formulating researchable questions, collecting quantitative and qualitative data, designing statistical and qualitative analyses, and interpreting results to make equity-focused decisions.