Ed.D. Program for Educational Leaders

Course Requirements

Instructional Content and Delivery

Instructional experiences include lectures, practitioner-led seminars, field-based research projects, case studies, simulations, position papers, video analyses, computer-assisted learning, cooperative research, and field-based practica.

The experiences and expertise of each cohort member are important instructional resources to the other cohort members. The instructional experiences of each cohort participant are designed to facilitate the development of a 'community of scholars' that is described later in the IDEPEL Program Handbook. All members of this learning community are linked via a computer network, which also provide participants with access to the St. Joseph's University databases and Library, to regional libraries, and to the Internet.

Program participants aspire to competencies that are divided into two sequences: a professional strand sequence and an applied research sequence. The ten strands of the professional sequence provide participants access to the theory underlying educational leadership and to the application of that theory through practica. The IDEPEL’s five applied research strands develop the research tools that participants use in the field; those tools will also be applied in the dissertation project. The cohort members become competent researchers and consumers of educational research, and also conduct and communicate school-based research projects.

The Professional Seminar

The cohort candidates who emerge from the selection process will assemble at Saint Joseph's University for a Professional Seminar in August. There will be an intense orientation to IDEPEL. Program expectations are identified, and participants and faculty initiate the communication networks and study teams that characterize the community of scholars. Leadership development simulation and community building experiences for all members of the community of scholars are also featured during the first week's meeting of the Professional Seminar. These experiences are designed to encourage dialogue, to build cohort teamwork and to engender a sense of authentic community. During the Professional Seminar, the cohort members also design the structure and function of the program's advisory groups.

Full commitment of the cohort members is required. Intervals between the Professional Seminar sessions are used for focused reading and writing assignments, inquiry team organization, and mentor consultations. The Professional Seminar is critical for launching participants into the four-year IDEPEL experience, and into a Community of Scholars that will last a lifetime.

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The Professional Strands Practica Checklist

First meeting – Cohort member introduces the project and seeks approval from the mentor and the professor of the related course;
Second meeting – The mentor and cohort member review the project, check on progress of the project and, if possible, the mentor observes the project; and
Third meeting – The mentor evaluates the success or failure of the cohort member’s practicum experience.

The purpose of the practica is to enable the cohort member to demonstrate practical understanding of the knowledge and concepts discussed in class and in assigned readings, and in general must be completed within the IDEPEL program time frame. The mentor is allowed discretion in recognizing the cohort member's activities occurring outside the IDEPEL program timeframe if, in the mentor's judgment, those activities provide the cohort member with a fair example of the concept to be validated and if those activities would be difficult, if not impossible, to replicate.

Mentors are responsible for assuring that the cohort member completes the activities of the practica experiences and are expected to evaluate, in cooperation with the cohort member and faculty member, the success or failure of the cohort member in meeting the practica requirements. The cohort member’s practicum is judged (“Pass” or “Fail” grade) according to project initiative, creative problem-solving, interpersonal competence, ethical decision-making, and prudent risk-taking. To receive a passing grade, the cohort member must demonstrate sufficient progress in mastering the designated objectives and outcomes to the mentor or must fulfill the approved project practicum and the course objectives stated in the syllabus. A failing grade will be used if the cohort member’s work is of consistently inferior quality during a semester. Work attempted during a semester in which the cohort member receives a failing grade must be remediated to the satisfaction of the mentor and the Program Director. A mentor may recommend a grade of “Incomplete” if a semester’s practicum work was not accomplished due to extenuating circumstances. In this case, the mentor, Program Director, and cohort member will construct a completion timeline. All practica activities must be completed with a pass grade prior to the Candidacy Review.

The original signed copy of the practicum document must be submitted to the course instructor by the IDEPEL cohort member on the following schedule or the cohort member will receive a grade of “Incomplete” for the practicum. The course instructor will promptly return the document after recording the grade and noting the progress. The cohort member is responsible for retaining all documents in a portfolio. The schedule for submitting practicum documents is as follows:

Fall I semester	December 15th
Spring I semester	May 1st
Summer II semester	July 1st
Fall II semester	December 15th
Spring II semester	May 1st
Summer III semester	July 1st
Fall III semester	December 15th
Spring III semester	May 1st

The entire portfolio of practicum checklists or individual practicum project documents must be completed and submitted to the faculty advisor before the last semester of coursework so the cohort member will be allowed to complete IDEPEL's Comprehensive Examinations and enter into final work on the dissertation.

Professional Treatment for Adult Learners

IDEPEL is responsive to the needs of adult professionals without sacrificing any of the academic rigor necessary to prepare leaders in a quality institution of higher learning. For the most part, program activities are carried out during evening hours and summer meeting times. The design of the program respects the high quality of cohort members' professional experience.

Program faculty members are driven by the desire to have cohort members demonstrate mastery of the program's objectives and role competencies. Because of the innovative nature of the instructional delivery system and because of the practica experiences, participants' progress is graded as described in the Evaluation of Cohort Member Progress section of this handbook.

Within the realm of doctoral level work, this program is not unduly disruptive of cohort members’ careers or families; rather IDEPEL encourages program participants to integrate the demands of scholarship, career, recreation and life interest, and family. Cohort members have the advantage of being able to build learning relationships with peers, university faculty, practitioner-mentors, and campus-based advisors.

Shared Decision-Making

TThe Quality Academic Circle addresses the concerns of academic coursework, Communications/Publications, and program initiatives. The Quality Academic Circle encourages representation of all constituents of the community of scholars, as well as invited colleagues and program alumni. This governance body provides cohort members with an opportunity to provide leadership, feedback, and evaluation concurrently with each set of strand activities. The Professional Seminar provides an opportunity for additional advisement, feedback about the program, and governance discussions.

The Quality Social Circle presents occasions to bring together the cohort members for social functions. In addition to the annual receptions set up by the IDEPEL program director, the Quality Social Circle identifies and plans functions for the members and their families.

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Program Scope and Sequence

The IDEPEL courses are divided into two sequences: a professional strand sequence (PS) and an applied research sequence (AR). The professional strand sequence courses provide participants with theory underlying educational leadership and the application of that theory through practica.

Prerequisite Introduction to Research course (AR)

Professional Seminar (PS)
Social Change, Culture, and Education (PS)
Principles of Quantitative Research (AR)
Quantitative Research Design (AR)
Ethics in Educational Leadership (PS)
Educational Planning and Evaluation (PS)
Educational Environment (PS)
Contemporary Curriculum (PS)
Principles of Qualitative Research (AR)
Qualitative Research Design (AR)
Human Resource Management (PS) in Educational Reform (PS)
Fiscal Resources (PS)
Policy, Politics and Community Relations (AR)
Communications and Public Relations (PS)
Dissertation Seminar and Proposal Writing (AR)
Administering the Dynamic Institution (PS)
Workshops on Educational Research and Dissertation Writing

Program Synthesis and Comprehensive Exams

Prerequisites: Cohort members must maintain a minimum grade point average of 3.5 and completed all other program requirements to be eligible to participate in the comprehensive examination.

Fall IV
Dissertation Study 6 credits

Dissertation Committees: Cohort members maintain the responsibility for assembling a dissertation committee. The committee will comprise not less than three members and not more than five. It is expected that the committee chair will be a full-time St. Joseph's faculty member. Committees will comprise at least one additional SJU faculty member. Additional members may be from faculty outside of Saint Joseph's University, the cohort member's mentor, or other individuals who hold a doctoral degree. All committee members must hold a doctoral degree.

Spring IV
Dissertation Study 6 credits

Spring IV
Proposed Date of Graduation

Continued Enrollment: While it is expected that the cohort members will complete dissertation within the 4- year program timeline, individual cohort members are required to apply each semester for continuing program enrollment to the Program Director through the dissertation committee chairperson. If the Program Director approves the application, the cohort member is permitted to register for three credits per fall and spring semesters until all program requirements are met, to a maximum of three calendar years past the expected program completion date. Cohort members may not extend their participation in the program beyond seven years.

Once cohort members have successfully completed all course work and practica experiences, candidates are required to pass a comprehensive examination administered by the IDEPEL program and evaluated by their doctoral committee. This examination is intended to demonstrate the expertise acquired during the three years of related studies pertinent to the IDEPEL. The comprehensive examination is not a mere review exercise for the purpose of reiterating information, but rather an attempt to assess the cohort member’s ability to integrate disparate information, to respond creatively and critically to the issues addressed, to present original research, and to demonstrate the capacity to communicate effectively.

The comprehensive examination contains both written and oral components. The written portion of the exam is organized and conducted according to the program director and the IDEPEL faculty. The oral portion of the exam is held in a two-hour session at which time the full doctoral committee is present for the entire period of the oral exam and actively questions the cohort member on the written work and any other relevant matters. Committee members must be in general agreement about the acceptability of the written portion of the exam in order for the oral portion to take place.

It is important to note that the written and oral examinations are separate but related components of the overall comprehensive examination. Following the completion of the written component, each member of the cohort member’s doctoral committee will review and evaluate all written responses. If candidates fail the written exam, or major portions thereof, they cannot proceed to the oral examination. The doctoral committee may request some further form of remediation before a second written examination is administered and an oral examination scheduled.

The oral component of the comprehensive exam should be completed within two weeks after the written component. Immediately upon completion of the oral component of this examination, the decisions of the candidate’s committee to pass, fail, or to permit a re-examination at a later date is recorded in the IDEPEL Examination Report.

The dissertation proposal will be presented at the end of the successful completion of the oral portion of the comprehensive examination. The cohort member’s dissertation proposal must be distributed by the cohort member to all committee members two weeks in advance of the comprehensive examination. The proposal must contain the traditional first three chapters of a dissertation that include a presentation of the research, Chapter One, a comprehensive literature review, Chapter Two, and the presentation of the methodology, Chapter Three. All chapters must accurately reflect the APA writing style; be edited for grammar, spelling, and punctuation; and reflect the chapter organization and structure presented in the research sequence courses. All of these requirements must be successfully met for the proposal to be successfully defended.