University of Central Florida

CPED-Influenced Program

Executive Ed.D. in Educational Leadership

School/Department where the Program is Housed

University of Central Florida

Program Description

The Executive Ed. D. in Educational Leadership is a 3-year program for educational leaders in school districts or other education organizations. It is a cohort program which starts each August.

Philosophy and Mission

UCF’s Executive Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program faculty investigated perceptions of current and former doctoral students, along with school district superintendents and executive administrators, related to the value of doctoral program content, what future executive leaders will need to know and be able to do, and the value of the dissertation experience. With this data in hand the faculty designed the Executive Ed.D. in Educational Leadership to be aligned with the Carnegie initiative and reflecting input from executive leaders and students while ensuring rigorous thinking and learning. The program is also aligned with the proposed national standards on Advanced Leadership Certification and the Florida Principal Leadership Standards.

To design the Executive Ed.D., faculty asked the following questions to ensure a coherent and transparent program.

What is our purpose?
The purpose of the Executive Ed.D. in Educational Leadership is to develop influential leaders to effect positive learning outcomes for individuals and their organizations.

Who will the future students be?
The students to be served are educational leaders in schools and other educational settings, organizations, and related fields.

What will future students need to know and be able to do?
This question led to learning outcomes which were organized into strands and courses. Six learning strands are:

1. Serving student social, emotional, and educational needs. (6 credit hours)
2. Political governance influences (6 credit hours)
3. Learning and accountability (9 credit hours)
4. Professional leadership in organizations (9 credit hours)
5. Research (9 credit hours)
6. Doctoral field study (15 credit hours)

Admissions Requirements

Admittance requires a competitive GRE, 3 letters of reference, personal statement, and a master’s degree in a related field.

Description of each year of the Program — number of courses, credits, time frame; core, specializations, dissertation/capstone

Milestones Employed in the Program — comprehensive/qualifying exams, papers, or products necessary for graduation

At the end of Year 1 students will write a white paper to synthesize and apply what has been learning in the program during the first 3 semesters.

At the end of Year 2 students will prepare an acceptable written proposal for client-based field study. After the successful proposal defense to the Educational Leadership faculty and client the student will be admitted to doctoral candidacy.

Program's Support Structure

Forthcoming

Signature Pedagogy

Forthcoming

Laboratories of Practice

Courses are intended to be practitioner focused so that the outcomes result in conceptual and theoretical knowledge, but also have contemporary application to the students’ daily work. The laboratory of practice is their work site.

Inquiry Courses

3 research courses redesigned to meet the needs of the scholar practitioner and titled, Research in Educational Leadership

Capstone

The capstone experience is a 4-semester client-based field study for a total of 15 semester hours.

Syllabi

• Dissertation Proposal Writing
• Learning and Accountability
• Seminar in Educational Research
• The Politics, Governance and Finance of Educational Organizations

Key Contact Person

Walter Doherty

Cost Structure

Forthcoming

Program Handbook

Forthcoming

Program Link

http://education.ucf.edu/edleadership