• Elementary or secondary principal/assistant principal
  
• Program coordinator
  
• Department head
  

Additional career opportunities include positions on the staff of central offices, regional educational agencies, and the state Department of Education.

• Principal
  
• Lead teacher
  
• Department head
  
• Curriculum and assessment specialist
  
• Assistant superintendent
  
• Superintendent
  

Summer I:
EDL 705 (6 SH)
Leadership to Promote
Effective Teaching and
Learning I

EDF 700 (3 SH) The
Purposes of Education
in America

EDF 687 (3 SH) The
Purposes of Education
in America

Summer II:
EDL 701 (3 SH)
Leading Organizational
Change I: Theory

EDL 702 (3 SH)
Leading Organizational
Change II:
Program Development
and Evaluation

EDT 700 (3 SH)
Leadership for
Technology in Schools

Summer III:
Comprehensive Exam
of Foundational Core

Specialty Study:
Academic Year I:
6 SH of
Student’s
Choice

Academic Year II:
6 SH of
Student’s
Choice

Summer III:
3-6 SH of
Student’s
Choice

Inquiry Seminar/Dissertation:

Summer I:
EDL 710: Inq. Seminar I
(2 SH)

Study of Human and
Organizational Learning

Academic Year I:
EDL 711: Inq Seminar II
(3 SH)

Quantitative Research (Fall)

EDL 712: Inq Seminar III
(3 SH)

Qualitative Research (Spring)

Summer II:
EDL 713: Inq Seminar IV
(2 SH)

Study of Organizational
Change

Academic Year II:
EDL 714: Inq Seminar V
(2 SH)

Advanced Research Design
(Fall)

EDL 715: Inq Seminar VI
(2 SH)

Advanced Research
Internship (Spring)

Summer III:
EDL 716: Inq Seminar VII
(2 SH)

Dissertation 1

Academic Year III:
EDL 717: Inq Seminar VIII
(6 SH)

Dissertation 2

EDL 718: Inq Seminar IX
(6 SH)

Dissertation 3

Summer IV:
EDL 719: Inq Seminar X
(2 SH)

Disseminating Research
Findings

Connecticut Administrator Test

All candidates seeking administrative certification must pass the Connecticut Administrator Test (CAT), which consists of two school improvement case studies (three hours) and two instructional analysis and teacher support exercises (three and one-half hours). Candidates register to take this test through the Connecticut State Department of Education. Students may begin taking modules of the CAT as they are ready at any time during the program of studies but must pass all modules prior to receiving institutional recommendation.

Recommendation for certification occurs when students have completed all courses required in the planned program with a grade of B or better, passed the qualifying examination, satisfactorily completed the internship and passed the internship portfolio. In addition, Connecticut certification requires a course in special education that addresses exceptionalities (included giftedness) and inclusion and, for people who earned initial certification out of state, Praxis I (a test of basic skills). The department chair or designee recommends candidates to the School of Education and Professional Studies certification coordinator who in turn makes recommendations to the state.

Inquiry Seminars

The Ed.D. Program offers a special feature aimed at helping to maintain a high retention rate and helping candidates to complete a quality dissertation that can be applied to their work and their career aspirations. Called “Inquiry Seminars,” this feature will be ongoing from the beginning of the program and will include study of inquiry and research methods. It will also serve as a source of emotional and intellectual support for candidates throughout the program. In addition, each seminar will purposefully help the student engage in his/her dissertation topic and prepare selected artifacts for the Leadership Portfolio. Inquiry seminars will also make use of distance learning and web-based instruction as a further way to keep in touch with faculty and cohort members. Table 3 summarizes the content of each of the inquiry seminars.

During the second year of the program, each Ed.D. candidate will complete a summative portfolio. This portfolio will consist of evidence (artifacts, evaluations, projects, and reflections) gathered from the beginning of the program. Some of the portfolio entries will be products (papers, projects, evaluations) that have resulted from assignments in coursework or the inquiry seminars. Other entries will be artifacts that the candidates choose themselves such as products they have produced as a result of their everyday work or products associated with the internships. All entries will be tied to the program’s conceptual framework and to the program’s advanced leadership standards. Candidates will present their portfolios to a group of faculty and colleagues.

Some aspect of the candidate’s work will be assessed through specially designed assessment exercises. Following procedures already in use in the Department of Educational Leadership, and similar to those developed by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, candidates will be asked to react to a series of “situations” aimed at assessing conceptual understanding of particular issues and illustrating the candidate’s problem solving, decision making, data analysis, and interpersonal communication skills. Examples and procedures of assessment center exercises are described in the Student Assessment Handbook