The Doctor of Education Degree program in Educational Leadership is designed to enhance the experienced school administrator's leadership skills through: (1) advanced preparation that strengthens decision-making, problem-solving, and leadership skills essential to the management of increasingly complex educational organizations, and (2) engagement in guided field research that develops the inquiry skills necessary for effective leadership and management practice. The program uses an inquiry approach that employs problem-solving and research skills applicable to multiple problems and issues. The purpose is to generate an inquiry orientation so that participants will learn to solve problems from broad perspectives. Participants identify, diagnose, and define problems, analyze their component parts contextually and systematically, and develop solutions that are immediately applicable and that deal with underlying issues. Experiences over the course of the doctoral program in Educational Leadership become candidate-led, field-based investigations of educational problems and potential solutions. The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership provides three strand options: P-12 Administration – Candidates entering the Ed.D. program with a master's degree and L-5 certification enter at Tier 1 which consists of 36 semester hours at the Ed.S. level, but this coursework does not lead to an Ed.S. degree or L-6 certification. The Ed.S. degree program and subsequent L-6 certification is a separate degree program. Candidates entering the Ed.D. program with an Ed.S. in Educational Leadership, or a related field, and L-6 certification may apply courses accumulated in that Ed.S. program to the Tier I requirements. Tier II consists of 30 hours of core content in Educational Leadership. Tier III consists of 9 hours of writing the dissertation.

-