Oriented toward Educational Leaders

Online, Cohort-based Experience with Summer Doc Week

Relevant, Authentic Problems of Practice in Educational Contexts

Eligibility

To be eligible for admission to this graduate program, you must have:

• A graduate degree (master’s degree) from an accredited college or university, with a minimum graduate GPA of 3.5
• Completed a graduate-level basic statistics course with grade of B or higher. See below.

Application Documents

• UK Application for Admission
• Transcripts: Copies of all transcripts from all postsecondary institutions that you attended. Uploaded transcripts may be official or unofficial, however If you are offered admission and decide to enroll you will then be required to submit official transcripts to the Graduate School.
• Professional Resume: This should provide your name, contact information, as well as postsecondary education (all degrees, years awarded, institution names, emphasis area), work experiences including leadership experience, professional certifications, professional memberships, publications, Honors/Awards.
• Personal Statement: Submit a 2-page personal statement addressing the following prompts. The paper should be double spaced, Times New Roman 12 pt font.
  • Why do you want to complete an EdD in educational leadership studies focused on being a practitioner scholar?
  • Why have you chosen to apply to this particular program?
  • As an aspiring practitioner scholar, what are your research interests as it relates to problems of practice within organizations?
  • How does this program align with your career goals as a practitioner scholar?
• DEI Statement: Please provide a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) statement. The statement should address multiple facets of how your values and experiences advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in your work. Your statement should reflect the relative importance of these issues to your work and reveal your personal commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The DEI statement should be one double-spaced page, 1 inch margins, 12 point Times New Roman.
• Academic Recommendation (at least one): Recommendations from someone who has earned a doctoral degree and serves in an academic institution is preferred. This recommender should be able to speak to your ability to successfully navigate doctoral level coursework and complete independent action research study.
• Professional Recommendation (at least one): Recommender should be able to speak to your ability to lead, work as a team member, creativity, ability to navigate systems, and manage change within an organization.

International Applicants

If your native language is not English must submit either a TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) or IELTS (International English Language Testing System) score.

• Minimum TOEFL score of 550 (paper-based), 213 (computer-based), or 79 (internet-based)
• Minimum IELTS mean band score of 6.5
• Please note that the language score for international applicants who have received a degree from a U.S. institution is waived.

Statistical Methods

You must have completed a graduate-level basic statistics course with a grade of B or higher.

Applicants to the Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership Studies must understand statistical concepts and the associated reasoning and critical thinking skills with those concepts such that they are prepared for our program’s advanced action research courses. Therefore, applicants to the Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership Studies must demonstrate proficiency in basic statistical concepts and techniques that constitute the foundation of quantitative strands in action research.

To do this, most students show they have passed a course before August 15th of the year of admission covering the application of statistical methods data analysis. Basic descriptive statistics, correlation, normal distributions and hypothesis testing (including correlation and regression) should be covered. An emphasis should be placed on exploratory data analysis and interpretation of results within the broad contexts of education and/or evaluation. You should provide an official course description or syllabus of the course.

If you have not taken such a course, you may:

• Complete EPE 558 or EDP 558 before August 15th of the year of admission to Educational Leadership Studies. Increasingly, EPE 558 and EDP 558 are being offered online. Applicants and students should check with those departments to determine offerings each semester, OR
• Show proof of completion of the following Open Learning Initiative entitled “Statistical Reasoning,” found by following this link: https://oli.cmu.edu/courses/statistical-reasoning-copy/. It’s self-paced and free for independent learners.

On-Demand Writing

As part of the application process, each applicant participates in an on-demand writing task. The purpose of the writing task is to help us gauge your academic writing skills related to your ability to:

• communicate in an organized and purposeful manner in response to a writing prompt,
• provide depth of thought, with support for points made in your writing, and
• show clarity of thought.

We will post a schedule of day/times for the writing in August 2021. The 30 minute on-demand writing task will be conducted virtually via Zoom. Opportunities will be available monthly from August through November. Once you register for a session, you will be provided with log-in information.

How will it work?

• Sign up for a time slot.
• You will receive information on how to log into the session.
• You will receive a writing prompt and be directed to a private break out room.
• You will have 30 minutes to respond to the writing prompt.
• At the end of the 30-minute session, you will receive directions on where to email your writing sample.

How will my writing be assessed?

We are looking for four things in your writing.

• Does your paper provide an overarching purpose and focus that directly addresses the prompt given?
• Does your paper show a depth of thought about the topic, including supporting examples and self-awareness?
• Does your paper demonstrate organization in terms of introduction, transitions, and conclusions?
• Does your paper show a command of general mechanics of writing (e.g., punctuation, spelling)?

What dates are available for this requirement?

• August 19, 2021 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
• September 16, 2021 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
• October 21, 2021 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
• November 18, 2021 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
• December 16, 2021 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time
• January 20, 2022 5:00 PM Eastern Standard Time

How do I register?

You can sign up for one of the sessions via: https://forms.office.com/r/1WJqhpHpWa.