Doctorate in Education Administration
You can continue your graduate studies to earn a Doctorate in Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Administration even if you do not wish to pursue a Ph.D. Students may pursue a Doctorate of Education in one of three concentrations: P-12, Higher Education, or Special Education. With comparable rigor to other doctoral degrees, the Ed.D. provides the coursework and instruction to work in educational administration.
Capstone
Under the direction and supervisor of her/his capstone supervisor, students will select a topic area and project approach for completing the capstone requirement. Project approach options will include:
- Program Evaluation: This project will examine the effectiveness and efficiency of a program currently operating in an educational setting. The purpose of the evaluation is to collect and examine data from the students, faculty, administrators, staff, and others involved with an existing program. In addition to inferring conclusions related to the affect of the program, students will also provide recommendations for addressing this educational issue by expanding program resources, updating the program structure, or implementing a new program entirely.
- Policy Report/Analysis: This project will allow students to consider the nature, structure, and success of a current or proposed policy. Policies may stem from the federal, state, local, or institutional levels. Analysis of the policy should describe the problem the policy aims to address, the strategies and requirements utilized by the policy, the pros and cons associated with the policy, an interpretation of the influence of the policy, recommendations for improving and/or implementing the policy to successfully address the targeted problem.
- Organizational Innovation: This project will involve the creation and implementation of a program or policy designed to address a specified problem within an educational setting. Possible innovations may include strategies for improving learning outcomes and academic performance for a target group of students; devising professional development programs to improve instruction, student support, and staff performance; revising the organizational and/or administrative structure of an institution or sub-unit; or drafting a policy designed to address a problem affecting educational institutions.
- Foundations for Publications: This approach involves devising and outlining three potential articles for publication. Ideally, the articles should examine a similar issue related to administration. Articles may focus on providing advice to current and future professionals, promoting improvement to academic outcomes and institutional operations, apply research to practice, and connect theory to practice just to name a few. Students may design these articles for publication in academic research publications, practitioner journals and digest, monographs, and others as approved by the capstone committee.
- Dissertation: This project focuses on conducting original academic research on an issue affecting educational administrators, students, faculty members, or educational organizations. Requirements for this project include proposing a topic, crafting a research question, defining and implementing a research methodology, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and offering recommendations for researchers and practitioners in making use of this study.
The capstone committee will consist of a Chairperson who holds authorization to direct doctoral dissertations and at least 3 others authorized to serve on doctoral committees. The dean of the Graduate School will appoint the committee members upon the recommendation of the chair of the Department of Educational Administration and Higher Education. The Chairperson and at least one of the other members shall be from the Department. One member shall be from outside of the Department of Educational Administration and Higher Education. The remaining member can be any other person who holds SIU graduate faculty status. No more than one member of the four may hold Adjunct graduate faculty status with the Graduate School.
Satisfactory completion of the capstone requirement includes the passing of an oral examination covering the project, targeted problem, and related areas.