The College of Education at FGCU is proud to offer a Doctor of Education program with two concentrations: Curriculum & Instruction and Educational Leadership. The programs emphasize the growth and transformation of educational professionals as they focus on organizational management, organizational effectiveness issues, and the development, implementation, and evaluation of curricula. Graduates of the programs will be able to apply research to facilitate institutional effectiveness and will possess the capacity to provide leadership necessary to meet ever-changing educational and organizational goals. The EdD program is designed to provide leaders, policy makers, and researchers with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions needed to design and implement strategies that improve practice and outcomes in organizations, especially schools. Program graduates are also equipped with the research skills to add to the research literature by developing new knowledge. The EdS course of study is a 48 credit hour program and the EdD is an 81 credit hour program. Each includes such coursework as:
o Organizational Leadership
o Curriculum Theory
o Diversity and Global Studies in Education
o Instructional Leadership
o Internship
o Research and Evaluation Courses
o Concentration Courses in either Curriculum & Instruction or Educational Leadership
o Cognate Courses that meet individual’s career goals
o Culminating Research Activity: thesis for the EdS and dissertation for the EdD
The EdS and EdD are QUALITY programs that have:
• Nationally recognized faculty who have held leadership positions in schools, as well as in state and national professional organizations.
• Faculty members use innovative instructional methods.
• Faculty members who are research scholars, have published major textbooks, and who are well-published in national and international journals.
• A mix of coursework delivery that can be taken face-to-face, online, and on weekend.
• Small class sizes to promote faculty-to-student and student-to-student collaboration and learning. The Curriculum and Instruction concentration will meet the need of educators in areas such as staff development, program coordination, and curriculum development, leading to such job titles as Curriculum Specialist, Director of Elementary and Secondary Programs, and Reading Specialist. The Educational Leadership concentration will prepare individuals to become agents of change in organizations as leaders among the ranks of principals, superintendents, and Chief Executive Officers. Graduates of the EdS program will also be prepared to seek doctorates in Education. The EdD degree will also prepare individuals to do research in their chosen career and to hold university faculty positions to teach in college and university degree programs from the bachelor’s degree to the doctoral degree. In addition, some graduates will go on to work in higher education administration careers. Applicants must have a master’s degree and scores on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). Graduate Applications are available at http://www.fgcu.edu/Graduate/prospective.html. For additional information call 239-590-7800.
[These programs are not designed for Educational Leadership certification to be a k-12 school leader. The FGCU certification program in Educational Leadership is a master’s degree program. However, we do work with individuals in the EdS or EdD programs to obtain Educational Leadership certification with some additional coursework.]
