Education Doctorate Coursework

This seminar course introduces Learning Associates to the doctoral program and the multiple facets of transformational learning and teaching from an interdisciplinary perspective. The seminar provides a framework for the Learning Associate to further develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions required of teacher-leaders for 21st century educational organizations. It is designed to encourage the investigation of the Learning Associates teaching and leadership assumptions, behaviors and goals, and to begin planning to improve personal and professional effectiveness.

This doctoral course explores the design and implementation of transformational professional learning grounded in equity, research, and activism. Through collaborative inquiry, reflective practice, and the study of implementation science, Learning Associates will develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to lead and sustain impactful professional learning in complex educational settings.

The course centers on the scholar-activist identity and positions professional learning as a lever for systems-level change and social justice. Coursework is structured around the design, development, and public presentation of a professional learning initiative that is informed by each scholar’s dissertation research and situated within their professional context. 

This course focuses on the knowledge and skills required to lead strategic and sustainable change across educational and professional organizations. Candidates explore models of change adoption, organizational readiness, and collaborative leadership while examining the structural and relational conditions necessary for innovation.

Participants design and refine a plan for implementing transformational change in their place of practice. Emphasis is placed on fostering stakeholder commitment, supporting professional growth, and evaluating the impact of change on learners and systems.

Graduates of the course are equipped to act as transformational leaders who leverage data, cultivate collective capacity, and advance equitable outcomes across diverse contexts.

This course introduces doctoral Learning Associates to foundational and emergent issues in educational policy and curriculum studies. Through critical inquiry, students will explore the intersection of policy, curriculum, and pedagogy in educational contexts, with particular attention to underachieving populations. Learning Associates will identify policies and curricular aspects relevant to their dissertation problem statements and begin developing pedagogical strategies for adult learners, including those applicable to college-level instruction. Advocacy for local and broad policy changes will also be introduced and explored.

This course introduces Learning Associates to the process of dissertation action research including the starting the development of their proposal that will become the focus of their research. Learning Associates will develop academic writing skills and skills in critiquing their research literature as well as strategies for developing research ideas. Emphasis will be placed on APA style writing and becoming Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative (CITI) certified. 

This course will provide Learning Associates with an understanding of how to use, apply, and interpret t-tests, correlation and regression, one-factor ANOVA, and Chi-Square. Learning Associates will analyze readings that focus on inferential statistics as well as those which focus on mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative research designs).

This course will introduce Learning Associates to qualitative research related to the development of an action research dissertation study. Topics will include research paradigms for qualitative designs, developing surveys/questionnaires, developing questions for and analyzing interviews, and interpreting qualitative research studies. Learning Associates will analyze readings that focus on qualitative research designs.

This course examines how educational systems construct and respond to inequity across race, class, language, disability, and culture. Moving beyond deficit-oriented conceptions of “at-risk” learners, Learning Associates will analyze how federal, state, and local policies shape educational opportunity and outcomes.

Drawing on critical social theory and contemporary research, participants will investigate structural contributors to inequity and evaluate evidence-based frameworks such as MTSS, inclusive design, culturally sustaining pedagogy, and resilience-based models. Emphasis is placed on stakeholder engagement, ethical leadership, and data-informed decision-making.

Learning Associates will critically evaluate social and policy initiatives intended to improve academic, social, and emotional outcomes and will develop a research-informed, systems-level proposal that advances equitable curricular and organizational change within an educational setting or community.

This course examines how policy shapes—and is shaped by—issues of race, culture, language, and power across organizations and institutions. Learning Associates will develop tools to analyze policy design, interpretation, and enactment, with particular attention to equity, cultural responsiveness, and inclusive practice.

The course emphasizes the role of leaders as both policy interpreters and policy actors, capable of leading transformational improvement through changes in practice, development of on-site professional capacity, and advocacy for organizational and systemic change. Candidates will apply course concepts directly to their organizational or professional contexts.

This doctoral-level course examines how leaders across education, corporate, nonprofit, and public-sector contexts use data and evidence to assess performance, guide strategic improvement, and build organizational capacity for continuous learning.

Drawing from organizational learning, evidence-based management, analytics, and improvement science, candidates critically analyze how data systems shape decision-making, equity, culture, and change in complex organizations.

Rather than treating data as a technical or compliance function, the course emphasizes data as a leadership practice—one that integrates evidence, professional judgment, and stakeholder/end used values under conditions of uncertainty.

This course will introduce students to techniques, tools, and frameworks for qualitative data analysis. The course will follow a studio format in which students will receive guidance on how to conduct qualitative data analysis as well as peer-feedback on their own qualitative data analysis efforts.

Learning experiences will involve text readings, reflective writings, videos, qualitative data analysis exercises, and small group discussions. Students will learn about methods for analyzing qualitative data by hand and with the aid of software.

A special topic course is designed to meet the specific needs of the cohort based on current trends and opportunities.

This doctoral course prepares Learning Associates to function as scholarly practitioners through the critical examination of social theory and its implications for leadership, organizational improvement, and educational practice.

Grounded in the principles of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), the course emphasizes the integration of theory, inquiry, and action to address persistent problems of practice. Scholars engage with foundational and contemporary perspectives on social justice, equity, and diversity to better understand how institutional structures, professional decision-making, and policy environments influence access, participation, and outcomes across educational settings. Through disciplined reflection and collaborative inquiry, Learning Associates synthesize theoretical contributions and evaluate their utility for leading responsive, improvement-oriented organizations.

Emphasis is placed on equity-minded leadership and the translation of theory into strategic action; candidates design and justify professional learning initiatives, policy responses, or practice-based interventions that promote organizational learning and strengthen inclusive and effective systems. By bridging conceptual understanding with applied improvement efforts, the course advances the development of reflective leaders capable of initiating meaningful and sustainable change.

Learning Associates will develop the first stages of their action research through exploring the integration of research methods and methodology pertaining to their puzzle of practice.

This course prepares doctoral candidates to make informed, theory-driven decisions about research design and data collection in response to complex problems of practice in educational and organizational settings. Emphasis is placed on the selection, alignment, and justification of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods methodologies and instruments that generate credible, actionable evidence to inform decision-making, improvement efforts, and transformational change.

Candidates will critically examine how research questions, theoretical frameworks, contextual constraints, ethical considerations, and equity considerations shape methodological choices and the use of research to influence practice, organizations, and policy.

Learning Associates will continue to develop their research with their Leader Scholar Community. The LSC will meet regularly during the second year and as needed during the summer sessions during the dissertation research process.

Learning Associates will continue to develop their dissertation with the assistance of their Leader Scholar Community. This course will require directed independent study on the action research project and is specifically for students researching and writing dissertations.

At the end of the semester, if the core assessment is not completed, Learning Associates will receive an Incomplete for the course. They have seven years from the start of their program to complete the dissertation and receive a grade.

Prerequisites: EDDR 701, 702, 703, 704, 710,711, 720, 721, 722, 723, 725, 751, 792, 793 or with permission of the program director.