EdD in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies

The Wheelock Doctorate of Education (EdD) in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies, sub concentration in Educational Leadership: Early Childhood Education—Grade 12, is a three-year, 60-unit, cohort-based program consisting of 14 required courses, three Leadership Seminars (“Cultivating a Leadership Disposition”), and unit-bearing dissertation support. The program is designed for current formal and informal school and school district leaders, including superintendents, principals, deans, assistant principals, program directors, curriculum, and teacher leaders. The coursework takes place in an executive education format at two-week Summer Institutes and on eight weekends during the academic year so that students can continue to work while progressing through the program. The EdD program prepares students for high-level leadership positions in public, independent, and charter schools.

Students in the EdD program study leadership theory and practice. The program combines critically important theoretical background and practical experiences to position graduates to take on increased leadership responsibilities in schools and communities. This program has a strong focus on the marriage of academic excellence and social justice.

Collaborative learning and fieldwork are at the heart of this doctoral program. Students will apply their learning to practice through projects based in their home schools and districts and work collaboratively to test, refine, and monitor innovative solutions to real problems, driving student, teacher, and leader growth in their own educational community.

The EdD program culminates in a dissertation of the practice, which builds upon coursework and experience from students’ home schools and districts. To ensure timely completion of the dissertation, the program provides three dissertation development courses that serve to scaffold each phase of the research and writing process.

Note: As the EdD in Educational Leadership & Policy Studies program is part-time, international students are not eligible for this program.

Students will learn to address fundamental challenges in our schools, including but not limited to:

• Developing and sustaining inclusive and collaborative governance structures for our school and district cultures that reflect a “we/not I” ethos
• Aligning school and district core values and goals with policies, practices, and budgets
• Exercising leadership in challenging political environments
• Engaging a diverse set of stakeholders in decisionmaking
• Ensuring equitable opportunities for student success
• Planning strategically for an ever-evolving educational environment
• Supporting families as partners in children’s success
• Addressing longstanding and new legal issues that impact schools
• Preparing for and managing crises
• Providing alternatives to special education in math and literacy
• Integrating high-impact strategies for behavioral/social/emotional development and intervention
• Developing and implementing effective communication strategies
• Having difficult conversations with educators in need of improvement
• Empowering district- and school-based leadership teams to develop their own professional learning

Learning Outcomes

The following 10 measurable Learning Outcomes posit that educational leaders must demonstrate these capacities:

1. Creative problem-solving around organizational issues. Graduates will be able to build strong collaborative and entrepreneurial cultures that feature formal, dynamic, and inclusive governance structures.
2. Knowledge of strategies for recruiting, nurturing, supervising, and retaining high-quality colleagues. This is a precursor to their leadership role as Chief Talent Developer.
3. Skills in performance-based instructional leadership. School leaders must be instructional leaders, not just managers.
4. Deep commitment to the development of every student within an ethos of equity, building and nurturing a proactive antiracist culture in schools and school systems.
5. The ability to work collaboratively, building strong relationships with all stakeholders, to effect systemic innovation and change.
6. Effective communication skills—orally, in writing, and through technology—to keep the community informed.
7. Knowledge and skills in effective crisis management.
8. Knowledge and skills in school finance.
9. Understanding of the relationship between school and community, particularly in relation to the child within this context, and of issues of race, gender, language, and socioeconomic status.
10. Knowledge of theories and evidence-based practices regarding the education of students and school leadership.

Doctoral-Level Coursework

• Eleven (11) 2- and 4-unit core courses (including two research courses), each focusing on one of the 2015 Standards for Educational Leaders:
  • WED AP 600 Diversity and Justice in Education (4 units)
  • WED AP 631 Child and Family Policy (4 units)
  • WED AP 664 Advanced Strategic Planning and Implementation (4 units)
  • WED AP 751 School Law (2 units)
  • WED AP 759 School Improvement Science and Implementation (4 units)
  • WED AP 761 Organizational Analysis (4 units)
  • WED AP 762 Advanced School Budgeting, Finance, and Labor Relations (4 units)
  • WED AP 765 Educational Politics: Local, State, and National (4 units)
  • WED CT 721 Analysis and Design of Curriculum (4 units)
  • WED RS 615 Understanding and Applying Educational Research (4 units)
  • WED RS 652 Qualitative Research Methods (4 units)
• Three (3) 2-unit seminars (“Cultivating a Leadership Disposition”) focused on the dispositions for effective leadership outlined in the 2015 Standards for Educational Leaders:
  • WED AP 705 Growth-Mindedness, Perseverance, and Cultural Awareness (2 units)
  • WED AP 706 Authenticity, Ethics, and Reflectiveness (2 units)
  • WED AP 707 Collaboration and Innovation (2 units)
• Three (3) 4-unit courses focused on scaffolding the dissertation process:
  • WED AP 996 Dissertation Development I: Defining the Problem of Practice and Developing the Proposal (4 units)
  • WED AP 997 Dissertation Development II: Research and Analysis of Data (4 units)
  • WED AP 998 Dissertation Development III: Writing the Dissertation (4 units)