New York
Over the past few years, universities have really differentiated Ph.D. programs from Ed.D. programs and have developed three-year Ed.D. models largely geared for students who are already working professionals in education. These Ed.D. programs involve collaboration on multiple levels — among fellow students and, most notably, between students and the schools, school districts or institutions they study.
At AERA’s annual meeting held in New York this week, a panel, “The Professional Doctorate in Educational Leadership: Three Alternatives to the Traditional Dissertation,” discussed new approaches to Ed.D. programs.
“We’re trying to deal with meaty problems that impact schools at all levels in a complex way,” said Dr. Claire E. Smrekar, associate professor of public policy and education at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College and one of the presenters of the Ed.D. session.
The goal of Vanderbilt’s Ed.D. program, said Smrekar, is to build a new generation of leaders who are practitioner oriented as opposed to research or theoretical.
“We sit down and think about what are the compelling urban and rural education problems,” said Smrekar. “Some of our students coming from rural area school districts are raising very important questions that are often unexplored or under examined. We are trying to reflect in our capstones that level of diversity — diversity of problems, diversity of solutions.”
About 20 to 23 Ed.D. students are admitted to Vanderbilt’s program every year. Students are on one of two tracks — K-12 or higher education and take two courses at a time. Each course lasts three weekends of a 15-week semester, which officials say has allowed for more participation.
“It’s urban and suburban and it’s both public and independent schools,” said Smrekar. “One of our incoming students is principal of a Catholic school in Cleveland, Ohio.”
At Vanderbilt, Ed.D. students are not mixed with Ph.D. students. Smrekar said there were previously problems with students finishing the program because the classes were not offered during convenient times for working professionals, but this seems to be lessening, because of the weekend program.
