EDL

This course examines organization, roles, and relationships within the various work settings of the school district leader. The course distinguishes between leadership, power, and fear as motivators for human action. The process and purpose of building and leading inclusive communities with collegiality and collaboration are explored in theory and practice. Candidates are engaged in activities and processes to develop knowledge and skill in areas of communication, negotiation, facilitation, conflict management, and feedback. These define the lens through which candidates observe and analyze the board - superintendent relationship within a school district.

This course focuses on current change theory and on the historical and contemporary research in leadership theory and practice. Current applied research on the value and characteristics of learning communities are explored and related to leadership and the notion of service. Concerns of leadership are examined through theory and case studies ensuring candidates construct the personal and professional platform that will guide them as ethical decision makers. Security, risk, courage, and the meaning of work as motivators of action are investigated. Candidates will acquire knowledge of the leadership skills, values, and behaviors important to the development of communities of learners capable of significant service.

Economic, political, social, and technological forces are converging on education with higher standards and increased system accountability. This course relies on the interrelated knowledge base about leading, learning, and change. The principles and policy that determine funding for public schools, the revenue sources that support a school district, budgeting, financial management and reporting are examined in this course. The public presentation relating the educational to the annual financial plan is also reviewed. Accountability data including student assessment results are investigated to identify strengths and problems and to guide the investigation into root cause and inform proposed solutions.

The legal and regulatory parameters and the formation, implementation and evaluation of education policy are the emphasis in the course.  This course also examines the multiple facets of law, regulation and policy impacting system leaders.  It is incumbent on the educational leader to be able to examine and lead an organization and guide a governing board in the discussion of topics of critical interest to the educational community.  This specifically includes the processes necessary to develop a policy position and course of action, to implement that course of action, and to evaluate the outcome of that course of action.  New York State is the unit of focus with comparisons drawn to other states in a variety of areas.

The internship for this program is a field experience that occurs throughout the candidate?s first four semesters of study. The course is designed for each candidate specifically to ensure the Individual Leadership Plan fully addresses the Nine Essential Skills developed by the New York State Education Department. The candidate will be participating in seminars with the Sage faculty coordinator of interns, will be working with a site supervisor at each internship site and will also be assisted by an assigned executive coach during these semesters.

The internship for this program is a field experience that occurs throughout the candidate?s first four semesters of study. The course is designed for each candidate specifically to ensure the Individual Leadership Plan fully addresses the Nine Essential Skills developed by the New York State Education Department. The candidate will be participating in seminars with the Sage faculty coordinator of interns, will be working with a site supervisor at each internship site and will also be assisted by an assigned executive coach during these semesters.

The internship for this program is a field experience that occurs throughout the candidate?s first four semesters of study. The course is designed for each candidate specifically to ensure the Individual Leadership Plan fully addresses the Nine Essential Skills developed by the New York State Education Department. The candidate will be participating in seminars with the Sage faculty coordinator of interns, will be working with a site supervisor at each internship site and will also be assisted by an assigned executive coach during these semesters.

Systemic research is essential to improve the effectiveness of school systems and inform leadership decisions. In this course of the research sequence, the individual researchers and their research team will present study results in scholary written journal/conference proposal.  Additionally, presentation of individual research to the doctoral committees will follow.  For EDL 748, which this course precedes, each individual and team will also present their final research for a colloquia of invited guests including regional and statewide school leaders.  The complexities, the competing interests, and the systemic view characteristic of district leadership within the research problems will be fully examined.  This course will conclude with reflective engagement by all members of the cohort to self assess their team effectiveness.  Furthermore POP teams will submit a draft of the Conference Proposal or Journal Article (CP/JA) document including: Abstract, Purpose Statement, Literature Review/Framework and Methods.

This course is to help doctoral candidates develop a basic research design by introducing them with relevant research and statistics vocabulary.  This course includes basic research terminology and an overview of qualitative and quantitative research design issues.  Some examples of the terminology presented in this course are population, sample, research question, null and directional hypotheses, primary and secondary sources, meta-analysis, institutional review board and human subjects protection, descriptive statistics, inferential statistics, significance testing, effect size, unit of statistical analysis, types of sampling (random, systematic, cluster, convenience, purposeful), reliability, types of validity, bias, parametric and non-parametric statistics, and correlation.  The overview of research design issues will include descriptive, causal-comparative, correlational, case study, survey, observational, ethnographic and historical research.

This course explores research strategies associated with qualitative and quantitative designs. The focus is on the practical application of these research strategies to problems of practice related to educational leadership. The uses of observation, surveys, and interview are explored in depth.  The emphasis is on the collection, organization and analysis of data.  Candidates will compare the relative strengths and weaknesses of each research tradition in order to be best able to select a strategy for his/her doctoral project.  This is a hybrid course that utilizes face-to-face seminars, online discussion as well as the use of Moodle activities which will provide students the opportunity to view assignments, PowerPoints, and related documents for understanding qualitative and quantitative research.  Students will be required to interact with the instructors using Skype to receive constructive comments on assignments.  Instructor will also interact with students via email and online journal.

This course focuses on the development of the individual doctoral research projects of each doctoral candidate.  Candidates develop research questions or hypotheses, design the methods section of their doctoral study, and complete the Sage Institutional Review Board's application.

The Doctoral Research Colloquium is the culminating course in which each doctoral research team presents to the gathering of Sage faculty, executive coaches, colleagues, and educational leaders from school districts and educational agencies. Presentations include joint literature reviews related to team problems of practice, addressing each individual dissertation and concluding with a set of joint recommendations for the field and reflect the School of Education?s commitment to best practice in instructional technology.  The course includes an opportunity for reflective conversation among cohort colleagues regarding the program and their development as scholar practitioners during the twenty seven months of study.

This course explores the opportunities and challenges that are present in schools as a result of multicultural, multiethnic, and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds of students, parents and staff.  The focus is on the role fo system leadership with regard to leaders' knowledge and leadership behaviors, policies, and practices impacting effect school and student performance among diverse populations.  The course considers how the orle of system leadership builds effective learning cultures in schools that are diverse and multicultural.

This course leads candidates to the finalization of project design and through the collection, interpretation, and analysis of data to inform decision making at the participating research site. Candidates will exhibit the ability to critically and comprehensively examine an important problem, contribute to organizational change, and improve district performance. In consultation with a doctoral advisor candidates will submit the results of their research in prescribed written format and will report the research results as a member of a research team to an assemblage of practitioners, faculty, and peers. The course will create the seminar space for candidates to explore who they are as they conclude the doctoral program and deeply consider the contribution they will make by leading a school system.

This course leads candidates to the finalization of individual candidate doctoral research projects with a particular emphasis on summary of findings, conclusions, and recommendations.  Candidates will exhibit the ability to critically and comprehensively examine an important problem, contribute to organizational change, and improve district performance.  In consultation with docotoral research committee chair and members, candidates will submit the results of their individual doctoral research as per the format outlined in the Russell Sage College Educational Leadership Research Handbook.

This course serves those who have need for extended time to complete individual or team research requirements of the EdD program. This is a repeatable course and is delivered to individual candidates on an as needed basis.

This course focuses on one-to-one work between the candidate and their dissertation chair (course instructor).  The candidate will work with their dissertation chair and other committee members to develop dissertation chapter(s).  The focus is on the writing of the chapters and individual guidance from the dissertation chair.  This is an independent study course that utilizes online discussion, written and verbal feedback from the dissertation chair and interactions by phone, email, face-to-face meetings and/or virtual meetings.  At the completion of EDL 771, students will have completed purpose statement, research questions, and draft of Chapter One.

At the completion of EDL 772, students will have completed an acceptable draft of Dissertation Chapters Two and Three, and submitted an IRB application.

At the completion of EDL 773, students will have completed an acceptable draft of dissertation chapter four.

This course focuses on one-to-one work between the candidate and their dissertation chair (course instructor).  The candidate will work with their dissertation chair and other committee members to develop dissertation chapters.  The focus is on writing of the chapters and individual guidance from the dissertation chair.  This is an independent study course that utilizes online discussion, written and verbal feedback from the dissertation chair and interactions by phone, email, face-to-face meetings and/or virtual meetings.