Education (EdD) — The Dissertation

Higher Education Administration

Dissertation planning may begin as early as the first year, but a formal proposal is submitted for approval at the end of the third year. The dissertation must focus on a problem of critical concern in higher education. The problem area may be an issue of learning and teaching, a cultural or historical question or a public policy at the state, regional or national level. The dissertation may comprise experimental research, a field-based investigation, a policy or historical analysis or some combination of these approaches. Recent dissertations, for example, have included a case study of a successful community-campus partnership, a quantitative analysis exploring the relationship between non-cognitive factors and college attainment for students of color and a mixed-method study of trustee effectiveness in community colleges.

Leadership in Urban Schools

Dissertation planning may begin as early as the first year, but a formal proposal must be submitted for approval by the middle of the third year. The dissertation should address a substantive question about some topic of importance to urban public schools. Recent dissertations have included investigations into areas such as: the impact of an anti-racism staff-development programs on teachers, teachers’ beliefs about tracking at the high-school level, sociocognitive influences on parent involvement among “at risk” urban families, the effects of uniforms in public elementary schools, sources of elementary school children’s beliefs about intelligence and students’ experiences in a two-way immersion bilingual program.