Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate Commitment to Engage

For Partner Projects and Education Schools

The purpose of this memorandum is to clarify the roles and responsibilities of the participants (Partner Projects & Schools of Education) in the Carnegie Project on the Professional Practice Doctorate. A shared understanding of the interests of the participants will form the basis of on-going relationships of mutual trust and benefit.

This memorandum contains four parts: commitments by the Carnegie Foundation and the CPED team, commitments by Partner Projects and their host Education Schools, commitments by the Council of Academic Deans in Research Education Institutions (CADREI), and mutual commitments. We begin by proposing a handful of mutual commitments.

Mutual Commitments

While the interests of various Partner Projects and Colleges of Education and the Carnegie Foundation and CADREI may differ, we agree to commit ourselves to the pursuit of excellence in doctoral education, focusing on the concept of the professional practice doctorate and what it means for the successful practice of advanced professional practitioners in schools, colleges and other learning organizations. We mutually agree to enter into this partnership in a spirit of respect, courtesy, and good faith. In service of progress towards these goals, we agree to respond to each other’s inquiries in a timely manner and to be considerate of each other’s priorities, needs and circumstances. When deadlines are mutually accepted, we agree to meet those deadlines, or, if extenuating circumstances arise, to communicate with each other regarding changes in schedule.

From time to time we may choose to have private discussions of matters related to the CPED. Any party to such a discussion may request that the discussion remain confidential: the substance of a private discussion will not be shared with parties not present.

Carnegie Foundation Commitments

From the point of view of the Carnegie Foundation, the CPED is both an effort to promote excellence in the education doctorates and a research project. Our role as sponsors of the initiative will be to inspire and synthesize, but not to design or dictate process or outcomes for Partner Projects.

The Carnegie Foundation will establish an overarching framework for the project, including establishing milestones for progress and schedules for meeting those milestones. The Foundation will establish a unit within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education at the University of Maryland, College Park to manage and direct this initiative. This will serve as the headquarters for the CPED and staff of the unit will report to and consult with Foundation officers and staff. The University of Maryland will provide space and logistical support and assign Graduate Assistants and release faculty to facilitate the Project.

Materials and Tools

The CPED team will create a Google Group to supply materials such as essays on the purpose, design templates on the structure, and evaluation instruments to be used by faculty in designing and evaluating their projects. The intent of these materials will be to prompt action and to inspire effort on behalf of the Project.

Publicity

The Foundation will make every effort to promote the work of the CPED and its Partner Schools and Colleges of Education on our Web site, and organize convenings to promote our mutual accomplishments. The Carnegie Foundation will also widely promote all publications on the CPED that are produced as a result of CPED.

Site Visits

The CPED research team will visit each Partner Project and its host Education School during the duration of this initiative. The visit will serve as a data collection opportunity. Site visits might include focus groups with faculty or students; interviews with faculty, staff, students, and administrators; observations of meetings, classes, town meetings or other events. If requested by the education school, team members will be of service to the education school to discuss the project, make presentations, or provide other forms of assistance.

Convenings

The Carnegie Foundation will sponsor one convening annually including providing facilities, staff support and hospitality for this event. (Other convenings will be held in conjunction with the Winter and Fall meetings of CADREI.)

Analysis and Writing

The CPED team will engage in analysis and writing about the projects, the efforts underway in Partner Projects, and the field-of-study and cross-field insights gained. These efforts will supplement the work of collecting evidence with the education schools. We anticipate that several publications will emerge from the CPED.

Moral Support

If in the course of the project, a campus finds itself in need of support, the Carnegie Foundation will make every effort to assist.

Partner Project Commitments

While the Carnegie Foundation is providing a structure for this effort and some preliminary ideas to spark discussion, the Partner Colleges of Education are defining the content and direction of the efforts to improve education’s doctorates. In the spirit of collaboration, projects will share insights and lessons learned, initially within the CPED circle and later with other CADREI institutions and the larger community of doctoral education institutions.

Data Collection

We will request a small set of common information from all Partner Projects and their Colleges of Education as benchmarks at the outset of the project. This information includes data such as faculty size, doctoral cohort size, time to degree and attrition data, degree program structure and requirements, teaching and advising load for faculty, career plans and placement of graduates. Partner Projects and Colleges of Education will be responsible for collecting this information, providing it to the CPED team, and answering questions that may be necessary to clarify the data and its comparability to other Partner Projects and Colleges of Education.

Information Sharing

Partner Projects and Colleges of Education will agree to share information with each other through mutually-agreeable media. Partner Projects and Colleges of Education will create networks of “critical friends” with whom each can share their ideas, designs and accomplishments. Partner Projects and Colleges of Education will make available to others what they are learning about how best to develop and/or further enhance the professional practice doctorate.

Evidence of Progress

Partner Projects and Colleges of Education will provide the Carnegie Foundation with evidence that the institution has met the milestones established by the CPED framework in order to create a record from which we can all learn. Evidence of deliberations and resulting experiments can take a variety of forms. Our intent is for reporting to be an exercise that flows naturally from and furthers the work of the Partner Projects and Colleges of Education, not to create a time-consuming administrative artifact. The CPED will prompt for evidence on a regular basis and will provide guidelines to assist Partner Projects and Colleges of Education in easily providing requested evidence.

Participation in Convenings and Other Events

Partner Projects and Colleges of Education must be willing to send at least two representatives (we strongly encourage that one representative be a graduate assistant) to the three annual convenings. These two representatives will be chosen by the Partner Projects and Colleges of Education and ideally should be key participants on the leadership team. The expenses associated with the convenings (travel, housing and per diem) will be borne by the Foundation.

CADREI Commitments

Participation

While this initiative is rooted in Carnegie Foundation efforts and situated at the University of Maryland College of Education, CADREI is a recognized and important partner. The current elected chair or his/her designate will serve as an on-going advisor to the project and participate in decision making for project conduct.

Convenings

CADREI will sponsor two convenings annually at their Winter and Fall conferences including providing facilities, staff support and hospitality for these events.

Information Sharing

CADREI will serve as a primary vehicle for sharing information with other colleges and universities engaged in changing doctoral education.

Initial Timeline of CPED and Partner Schools and Colleges of Education

Time frame
2007-2008
By April 15, 2007
Partner Project institutions will submit “benchmark data” to CPED team (see Google group for data sheet)
By June By October By February
Conceptual & Design Phase -Partner Project incorporate Laboratories of Practice and Capstone Experience into design.
-Share with CPED critical friend group for feedback, bring final product to meeting - Partner Project incorporate Scholarship of Teaching & Signature Pedagogies into design.
- Share with CPED critical friend group, get feedback, bring final product to meeting. -Partner Project finalizes design incorporating all 4 aspects, bring final design to meeting.
Meeting: Palo Alto Meeting: CADREI in Sedona Meeting: AACTE in New Orleans
2008-2009
Experimental Phase - Partner Project has implemented 4 aspects, collected feedback.
-Share feedback with critical friend group and bring feedback with friend response to meeting - Partner Project has implemented 4 aspects with feedback, evaluate needs and bring to meeting.
-Share feedback with critical friend group and bring feedback with friend response to meeting -Partner Project has implemented 4 aspects for full year, evaluated and reformed.
-Bring final design to meeting.
Meeting: Palo Alto Meeting:CADREI TBA Meeting: AACTE in Chicago
2009-2010
Deliberation & Dissemination Phase -Partner Project has executed final design for 4 months.
- Bring progress report to meeting - Partner Project has executed final design for 8 months.
- Bring progress report with accomplishments and concerns to meeting. - Partner Project has executed final design for 1 year.
- Evaluate project and bring evaluation to meeting.
Meeting: Palo Alto Meeting:CADREI TBA MeetingAACTE TBA