Educational Leadership in PreK-12 Program (Ed.D.)

Admission Requirements

Doctoral applicants are required to have earned a master's degree from an accredited college or university. Candidates for the doctoral program must apply to the Endicott College using the online application found at endicott.edu/admission/information-for-graduate-students/apply . General application requirements for all doctoral programs include submission of:

• Official transcripts of all post-secondary academic work sent directly from the institution(s) including confirmation of undergraduate degree, date confirmed, and any other graduate work;
• Non-refundable $50.00 application fee (check made payable to Endicott College, cash or online) Application fee waived for veteran and military students;
• Current resume and/or curriculum vitae;
• Three letters of recommendations. Recommendations should address leadership and scholarly potential;
• Applicants should have 3-5 years of experience with escalating responsibility.
• Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) for all students whose native language is not English; minimum score of 550 (paper-based) or 79 (iBT) is required. Endicott also accepts an IELTS score of 6.0 or better.
• Writing Sample: A short research paper, limit 5-8 pages, (double-spaced, 12 point font, APA format) responding to the following question:
• Choose a contemporary challenge in PreK-12 and provide a research-based synthesis of this issue and a personal narrative. The writing sample will be evaluated for evidence of: thoughtful analysis, ability to develop main points and support claims, focus and organization, academic style, use of sentence variety and vocabulary to convey meaning clearly, control of sentence structure,
• language, grammar and punctuation. Please be sure that your full name is on the document.
• An admission interview and/or conference is required of all candidates, which will be scheduled after application review.

International Applicants for Graduate Admission
Endicott College welcomes and encourages applicants from around the world. International applicants are required to hold a college or university degree equivalent to a four-year American baccalaureate degree. Educational documents in a foreign language are required to be translated into English. All transcripts and translations of transcripts must be official originals and must show courses completed, grades received, grading scale, duration of study, degree or diploma received, and the date conferred. Endicott College reserves the right to request verification of the credentials by an external agency.

International applicants must submit current TOEFL scores when their native language is not English or when their baccalaureate transcript is not from an institution where English is the language of instruction. Once students have been admitted as degree candidates, Endicott College will send detailed instructions about the process for acquiring an Endicott-sponsored student visa.

Program of Study

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this program, students will: 

• Locate, analyze and synthesize existing research to address problems in the field.
• Apply key concepts, theories, and frameworks from education and related fields of inquiry to critically examine leadership issues and decisions in educational settings.
• Utilize social scientific research processes (qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods) to develop and evaluate research
• Communicate clearly with a scholarly audience via written research, oral presentations, and in dialog with each other.
• Conduct original scholarship that contributes significantly to the field.

Required Curriculum

Foundation Courses

• EDL 730 - Current Issues in Educational Policy (Cr: 3)
  

• EDL 702 - History of Public Education (Cr: 3)
  

• EDL 710 - Sociology of Education (Cr: 3)
  

Method Courses

• EDL 716 - Literature Review I (Cr: 3)
  

• EDL 736 - Literature Review II (Cr: 3)
  

• EDL 715 - Introduction to Qualitative Research (Cr: 3)
  

• EDL 735 - Research Methods II: Quantitative (Cr: 3)
  

Leadership Courses

• EDL 738 - Ethical Leadership in Education (Cr: 3)
  

• EDL 720 - Transformational Leadership in Contemporary Education (Cr: 3)
  

K-12 Leadership Electives

Electives - 9 credits

Students must choose three of the following courses:

• EDL 705 - Principles of School Finance (Cr: 3)
  

• EDL 706 - Family-School Engagement (Cr: 3)
  

• EDL 739 - Culture and Change in School Organizations (Cr: 3)
  

Misc Courses

• EXM 700 - Comprehensive Paper (Cr: 0)
  

Experiential Courses

• EDL 772A/772B - Doctoral Apprenticeship I & II (Cr: 6)
  

Dissertation Courses

• EDL 755A - Dissertation Study Part I (Cr: 3)
  

• EDL 755B - Dissertation Study Part II (Cr: 3)
  

• EDL 755C - Dissertation Study Part III (Cr: 3)
  

Total Degree Requirements - 51 credits

View academic catalog and learning outcomes