Program Overview

EdD in Instructional Leadership

Overview

The Doctor of Education (EdD) degree in Instructional Leadership prepares experienced educators to become effective practitioner leaders able to translate current research into policy and practice. The program prepares teacher leaders, department chairs, administrators, and other education professionals to transform K-12 education, driving better educational experiences and outcomes across larger systems.

Course of Study

The program provides clinically-focused doctoral training and a deep grounding in the research on educational practice, particularly as it applies to urban settings and suburban settings with increasingly diverse student populations. Students develop the ability to synthesize and apply new research to improve educational experiences and outcomes for students, and the skills to communicate their insights effectively as leaders in schools and communities.

Total Credits

• 54 credits

Time to Degree

• Range of program completion time from 4 to 7 years
• Average time to program completion is 5.5 years

Curricular Structure

The curriculum is structured into four distinct categories:

1. EdD Core (13 credits)

• Required courses:
  • EDDIL 79900 Leader Scholar Research Seminar (1 credit)
  • EDDIL 80000 Foundations of Research, Leadership, and Equity in Education (3 credits)
  • EDDIL 80100 Leadership for Change (3 credits)
  • EDDIL 80200 Leadership for Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in Education (3 credits)
  • EDF 80400 Analysis of Major Issues in Contemporary Education Reform (3 credits)

2. EdD Research Toolkit (16 credits)

• Required courses:
  • EDF 80000 Statistics for Applied Educational Research (3 credits)
  • EDF 80100 Qualitative Methods in Educational Research (3 credits)
  • EDF 80200 Quantitative Methods and Measurement (3 credits)
  • EDDIL 81000 Leader Scholar Research Seminar (1 credit over 4 semesters for a total of 4 credits)
• Choose one of the following:
  • EDUC 80900 Case Studies in Education (3 credits)
  • EDUC 80300 Statistics for Applied Educational Research II (3 credits)
  • SPED 80900 Mixed Methods Research (3 credits)
  • EDF 80900 Survey Research in Education (3 credits)

3. Applied Research and Electives (17 credits)

• Choose at least one of the following required courses:
  • EDUC 80100 Research on Effective Practice and Curriculum for Students with Disabilities (3 credits)
  • EDUC 80100 Research on Curriculum and Teaching of Multilingual Learners (3 credits)
• Additional courses that may be taken towards the remaining 14 credits in Applied Research and Electives:
  • EDUC 80500 Research on Effective Practice and Curriculum in Literacy (3 credits)
  • EDUC 80300 Research on Effective Practice and Curriculum in Math (3 credits)
  • EDUC 80600 Effective Professional Development of Teachers (3 credits)
  • SPED 80200 Enhancing Achievement through Family & Community Relationships (3 credits)
  • EDUC 80700 Professional Communication for Educational Settings (3 credits)
  • ECC 80100 Research and Practice in Early Childhood Education (3 credits)
  • EDUC 80400 Research on Effective Practice and Curriculum in Arts and Humanities (3 credits)
  • EDDIL 80200 Doctoral Directed Readings (1 to 3 credits) up to 6 credits
  • EDPS 71400 Applied Motivation (3 credits)
  • EDPS 72300 Education Program Evaluation (3 credits)

4. Dissertation Sequence (8 credits)

• Required courses:
  • EDF 83000 Dissertation Proposal Seminar (2 credits)
  • EDF 83100 Dissertation Advisement (6 credits total, may be taken for 1 to 3 credits at a time)

Transfer of Credits

• A matriculated student may request a transfer of credit for a doctoral-level course completed at another institution.
• To be eligible, the course must have been taken within the past five years and closely match the content of a required course in the student's Hunter College program.
• Doctoral students are limited to 6 transfer credits.

Courses Permitted for Transfer

• The program will review transfer of credit requests for the following courses:
  • ECC 80100 Research and Practice in Early Childhood Education
  • EDDIL 80100 Leadership for Change
  • EDDIL 80200 Leading for Justice, Equity, and Diversity, and Inclusion
  • EDF 80000 Statistics for Applied Education Research 1
  • EDF 80100 Qualitative Methods in Educational Research
  • EDF 80200 Qualitative Methods and Measurement
  • EDF 80300 Statistics for Applied Education Research 2
  • EDF 80400 Analysis of Major Issues in Contemporary Education Reform
  • EDF 81000 Mind, Brain, Education
  • EDUC 80100 Research on Effective Practice and Curriculum for Multilingual Learner
  • EDUC 80300 Research on Effective Practice and Curriculum in Math
  • EDUC 80400 Research on Effective Practice and Curriculum in the Arts and Humanities
  • EDUC 80500 Research on Effective Practice and Curriculum in Literacy
  • EDUC 80600 Effective Professional Development of Teachers
  • EDUC 80700 Professional Communications for Educational Settings
  • EDUC 80800 Action Research
  • EDUC 80900 Case Studies in Education: Institutions, Schools, Programs, Classrooms, and Individuals
  • SPED 80100 Research on Effective Practice and Curriculum for Students with Disabilities
  • SPED 80200 Enhancing Achievement through Family & Community Relationships

Transfer of Credit Not Approved

• Transfer of Credit is never approved for the following courses:
  • EDDIL 80000 Foundations of Research, Leadership, and Equity in Education
  • EDDIL 81000 Leader Scholar Community Research Seminar
  • EDDIL 82000 Doctoral Directed Readings
  • EDF 83000 Dissertation Proposal Seminar
  • EDF 83100 Dissertation Advisement

Sample Course Sequence

• The following sequence provides a sample schedule of courses:
  • Year 1:
    • Summer: EDDIL 79900 – Leader Scholar Community Seminar 1 (1 credit)
    • Fall: EDDIL 80000 – Foundations of Research, Leadership, and Equity in Education (3 credits), EDDIL 801 – Leadership for Change (3 credits)
    • Spring: EDF 80100 – Qualitative Methods in Educational Research (3 credits), EDDIL 80200 – Justice, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (JEDI) in Education (3 credits)
  • Year 2:
    • Summer: 3 to 6 credits of elective or direct reading
    • Fall: EDF 80000 – Statistics for Applied Educational Research (3 credits), EDDIL 81000 – LSC Seminar (1 credit), EDUC 80100 – REPAC Multilingual Learners (3 cr) or SPED 80100 REPAC Students with Disabilities (3 credits)
    • Spring: EDF 80300 Quantitative Methods & Measurement (3 credits), EDDIL 81000 LSC Seminar (1 credit), 3 credits of elective or directed reading
  • Year 3:
    • Summer: 3 to 6 credits of elective or direct reading
    • Fall: EDDIL 81000 – LSC Seminar (1 credit), 3 to 6 credits of elective or direct reading
    • Spring: EDUC 804 – Policy & Reform in Education (3 credits), EDDIL 81000 LSC Seminar (1 credit), Comps or 1 to 3 credits of elective or direct reading
  • Year 4:
    • Summer: Comps or EDF 830 – Dissertation Proposal Seminar (2 credits)
    • Fall: EDF 830 – Dissertation Proposal Seminar (2 credits) or EDF 831 – Dissertation Advisement (1 to 3 credits)
    • Spring: EDF 831 – Dissertation Advisement (1 to 3 credits)
  • Year 5:
    • Summer: 3 to 6 credits of elective or direct reading, if needed
    • Fall: EDF 831 – Dissertation Advisement (1 to 3 credits, if needed)
    • Spring: EDF 831 – Dissertation Advisement (1 to 3 credits, if needed)

The Dissertation

• A dissertation is the required culminating assessment in the EdD program in Instructional Leadership.
• In keeping with the principles of the Carnegie Project on the Educational Doctorate (CPED), the EdD program encourages candidates to think of this culminating project as a "problem of practice dissertation."
• A problem of practice dissertation addresses a challenge in educational practice, seeks to investigate that problem empirically by describing it and/or testing solution(s) to address the challenge, identifies actionable implications for the findings of the dissertation research, and appropriately communicates these implications to relevant audiences and stakeholders.

Doctoral Student Handbook

• The handbook is intended to provide guidance to doctoral candidates in the EdD program as well as the faculty members who work with them.
• Available for Cohort 8 and 9, and Cohort 7.