Purpose

The Doctor of Education Degree (Ed.D.) is designed to meet the needs of advanced graduate students who hold or are seeking to assume leadership roles in education and who are dedicated to advancing the profession through quality teaching, research, and service. The curriculum emphasizes school administration in K-12 settings. The program is designed to satisfy the licensing requirements in Indiana for the school superintendency; however, sufficient flexibility exists to design a program to meet the needs of the individual candidate.

General Degree Requirements

The doctoral degree program with a major in Educational Administration and Supervision consists of a minimum of 90 semester hours of graduate credit. Forty-eight semester hours must be completed at Ball State. A master's degree is required.

Research Requirements

A minimum of 15 semester hours in research is required prior to DISS 799.

The following courses are required:
EDAD 635	Educational Decision Making (3)
EDPSY 640	Methodology of Educational Research (3)
EDPSY 641	Statistical Methods in Educational and Psychological Research (3)
ID 705	Research Colloquium (3)*
*Must be taken two consecutive semesters, FALL and SPRING - 2 hrs. in fall; 1 hour in spring		12 hrs.

An additional 3 hours are required from the following:
EDPSY 642	Intermediate Statistics (3)
EDPSY 646	Tests and Measurements (3)
EDPSY 785	Survey Research Methods (3)
EDCUR 660	Ethnographic Research in Education (3)
EDCUR 661	Introduction to Qualitative Research (3)	3 hrs.

Other research courses in qualitative research may be helpful to the student conducting his/her dissertation research.

Dissertation

Each student is required to write a dissertation on a topic approved by the committee. Students sign up for DISS 799 for a total of 10 dissertation hours.

Required Courses in the Major:

The doctoral student will ordinarily have taken the following educational administration courses for the master's in educational administration, administrative license, and/or the Ed.S. Degree in School Superintendency. A minimum of 40 hours of graduate work is required in the major, a majority of which must be taken at Ball State University.

Masters Courses:
EDAD 600	Introduction to Educational Leadership		3
EDAD 630	Human Resource Development		3
EDAD 635	Educational Decision Making		3
EDSUP 650	Supervision of Instruction		3
EDAD 684	Educational Finance and Ethics		3
EDAD 686	School Law		3
EDAD 689 (610/620)	The School Principal		3
EDAD 694	Principal Internship		6
EDPSY 640	Methodology of Educational and Psychological Research		3
EDCUR 601 (610/620)	Principles and Procedures of Curriculum Development		3
One course from:	EDFON 631, 641, 651; EDMUL 660		3
			______
		Total	36 hours
Ed.S. Required Courses:
EDAD 640	The Educational Administrator and Public Relations		3
EDAD 685	Fiscal Management of Educational Agencies		3
EDAD 687	Special Education Law for Administrators		3
EDAD 688	School Facilities		3
EDAD 698	Seminar in Theory of Educational Administration		3
EDAD 696	Superintendent Internship		3
EDAD 780	The School Superintendent		3
EDAD 782	Specialist Capstone Seminar		3
EDCUR 610	Elementary School Curriculum		3
or
EDCUR 620	Secondary School Curriculum		3
Six additional hours from:	CPSY 600; EDFON 631; EDPSY 603, 641, 646; EDCUR 671; EDMUL 660; EDEL 644		6
Additional Courses in the Major
EDAD 798	Advanced Seminar in Educational Administration		6*
*Must be taken two consecutive semesters, FALL and SPRING - 3 hrs. each semester
EDPSY 600	Advanced Educational Psychology: Learning		3
EDPSY 641	Statistical methods in Educational & Psychological Research		3
One Multi-Cultural Course:	EDFON 651; EDMUL 660; EDMUL 670; EDEL 644; SOC 521		3

Cognate Requirements

The doctoral student must have either two cognate fields (or minors) consisting of a minimum of 15 hours each or a single cognate field consisting of a minimum of 24 hours. For the 15-hour cognate, 9 hours must be taken at Ball State University; 12 hours of the 24-hour cognate must be taken at Ball State University. Cognates are available in all university major fields of study for the master's, specialist, and doctoral degrees. In addition, cognates are offered in composition, foundations of business, general field of education, gifted studies, higher education, history, philosophy, and sociology of education, literary theory, literature, marriage and family counseling, neuropsychology, psychology of human development, teacher education in higher education, the teaching of English, theory of computing, and research methodology.

Doctoral Committee

The student's doctoral committee is appointed after the student has been admitted to study for the doctoral degree--usually near the end of the first year of doctoral work. Until the committee has been appointed, the director of the doctoral program or a delegated representative will serve as the program advisor for the student.

Residence Requirement

The residence requirement for this degree is completion of at least 15 semester hours in two consecutive semesters of graduate work beyond the master's degree.  Summer may be used as one of the semesters for residency purposes.

Application Process

The student applies for admission to the doctoral degree program by submitting the following to the Graduate School:

1. Application for Graduate Admissions (obtained from the Graduate School or on the Internet)
2. One copy of all college/university transcripts
3. Graduate Record Examination Scores

 

The student submits the following to the Department of Educational Leadership:
A professional portfolio consisting of the following items:

1. Autobiography (500-1,000 words)
2. A 3-5 page paper containing the applicant's philosophy of education and statement of purpose to be accomplished by earning the doctoral degree and describing the contributions the candidate expects to make to the doctoral program and to the profession of educational administration
3. A current vitae
4. Names and address of five references (department will contact them directly)
5. One copy of all college/university transcripts

 

When admission materials have been received, the Department of Educational Leadership reviews and evaluates all application materials. As part of the evaluation, the applicant may be invited to campus for a personal interview. Following the evaluation, the Department makes a recommendation to the Dean of Teachers College and the Dean of the Graduate School, who make the final decision and notify the candidate.

After admission, the student must begin coursework within two years, and all requirements for the degree must be met within seven years from the date of the first course taken after admission to the doctoral program.

Criteria for Selection

The Department of Educational Leadership considers primarily the following criteria in determining it's recommendation: the applicant's Graduate Record Examination Scores; the grade point average in previously completed graduate work; the content of reference letters; the compatibility of the degree program and the applicant's goals/needs; other evidence of advanced graduate academic skills (writing, research, etc); and relevant career or life experiences/accomplishments.

Assistantships

A limited number of doctoral assistantships, awarded on a competitive basis, are available to candidates who are accepted into the doctoral program. In addition to the assistantship stipend, doctoral students receive a remission of the contingent portion of the general fee, remission of the graduate course fee and a out-of-state fee waiver.

For additional information contact

Dr. William Sharp

Doctoral Program Director
Department of Educational Leadership
Teachers College Room 918
Ball State University
Muncie, IN 47306-0590
Phone: 765-285-8488
FAX: 765-285-2166