Educational Leadership, Doctor of Education (0010)
Program Coordinator
Gary W. Houchens, gary.houchens@wku.edu, (270) 745-4999
The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership provides knowledge and skills for its graduates to lead organizational improvements within educational and education-related environments. The Ed.D. is designed to prepare scholarly practitioners whose program content and experiences emphasize application to practical challenges facing education organizations.
Using principles of improvement science, WKU Ed.D. candidates complete an innovative dissertation-in-practice utilizing a series of research-based interventions to impact a real-world problem of practice from their own organizational context. Program graduates gain new skills in leadership, research, and organizational improvement techniques, adding value to their own education institutions and the larger field of education practice.
The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership:
- encourages participants to become practitioner scholars by promoting skills and knowledge in practice-based settings through a core sequence of leadership and research courses;
- includes coursework in a customized professional specialization that enhances students' future career opportunities;
- models interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration;
- provides participants with leadership capacity to bring about changes that enhance organizational success; and
- provides interdisciplinary research preparation focused on contextually based problems.
This program is part of the School of Leadership and Professional Studies and is an interdisciplinary program involving faculty and courses from other departments throughout the university. More information may be found at https://www.wku.edu/edd/.
Program Design
The Ed.D. program is designed for working professionals and follows an executive format which allows students to enroll in courses year round. Students participate in a cohort taking six credit hours each semester including summers and can complete the entire program in three-and-a-half years. Coursework is online, but students must complete a one-week summer residency on WKU's main campus at least once during their program. Specialized cohorts may also feature additional face-to-face requirements. Students must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average of 3.0 in all leadership, research, and improvement science courses to remain in the program.
Program Admission
Applicants must have completed at least a master’s degree (or other appropriate graduate degree), have demonstrated leadership capacity within their organizational settings, and be committed to enhancing their abilities to learn and to enhance the educational missions of their organizations and communities. Each student's academic background and professional experiences will be assessed at the time of admission.
Program admission is based on a holistic evaluation of the candidate's application file, which must include:
- Transcripts of all undergraduate and graduate course work;
- Documentation of a master's degree (or other graduate degree) from an organization holding institutional accreditation;
- Current (within 1 year of application deadline) resume or vita;
- An in-depth personal statement including qualifications, rationale, and goals related to pursuing the WKU Ed.D. program;
- Three current (within 1 year of application deadline) letters of recommendation from persons in a position to evaluate the applicant's potential for success in a doctoral program; and
- Completion of an on-demand writing activity.
International students who apply must submit the following additional documents for admission consideration:
- Evidence of ability to communicate in English (as evidenced by a minimum of 570 on the paper based TOEFL; a minimum of 88 on the iBT TOEFL; a minimum of 7.0 on the IELTS; or a degree from an institution with English as the language of instruction.)
International students please note: This program is more than 50% online and may not meet the international requirement for face-to-face program delivery.
Program Requirements (60 hours)
The program consists of 60 hours of graduate coursework. The program includes the following core coursework:
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Required Courses | ||
| EDLD 702 | Introduction to Doctoral Studies in Educational Leadership | 3 |
| EDLD 703 | Introduction to Improvement Science | 3 |
| EDLD 712 | Introduction to Research Methods | 3 |
| EDLD 714 | Ethics and Educational Leadership | 3 |
| EDLD 718 | Reading and Writing About Education Research | 3 |
| EDLD 722 | Research Design for Improvement Science | 3 |
| EDLD 724 | Adaptive Leadership and Improvement Science | 3 |
| EDLD 728 | Qualitative & Quantitative Analysis Techniques for Improvement Scientists | 3 |
| EDLD 734 | Adaptive Leadership and Organizational Change | 3 |
| EDLD 798 | Educational Leadership Field Experience | 6 |
| EDLD 797 | Dissertation-in-Practice Seminar | 3 |
| EDLD 799 | Dissertation Research | 9 |
| Personalized Learning Electives | ||
| With program director or advisor approval, select courses to support intellectual and professional development and career goals | 15 | |
| Total Hours | 60 | |
Program Completion
To complete the program, students must propose, complete, and successfully defend a dissertation.
Experiential Credit Recommendation
Students admitted to the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program may apply to receive graduate credit for successful completion of the National Board Certified Teacher process. Those approved will receive up to six (6) hours of credit for EDU 695. To be eligible to receive credit, students must document that they:
-
have been admitted to the Ed.D. program; and
-
hold current National Board Certification status.
In both cases, the student must submit an application form to the Ed.D. Director, who will consider whether to approve the application and then determine the number of EDU 695 hours to credit to the student's program. The hours may not be substituted for required courses in the program, and no more than 12 credit hours of EDU 695 may be listed on the student’s program.
For NBCT-related applicants, once a recommendation for the awarding of hours for NBCT completion is approved by the EdD Program Director, the student must arrange for the American Council on Education (ACE) to send an official transcript documenting the student’s NBCT status to WKU Graduate Studies so that the credit may be entered on the student’s transcript. No charge will be assessed by WKU for posting these credits