Graduate Programs of Study

Educational Doctorate Program

Program Description
The primary, though perhaps not the only, audience for this Ed.D. program consists of educational professionals who wish to improve the quality of their work in their current roles or to prepare themselves for new roles. This Ed.D. program is uniquely designed to link theory with practice and is not based on traditional assumptions about the relationships of theory with practice or on conventional notions about the status of practitioners and theorists. To be a practitioner is to make decisions about what to do and to take action; but professional practitioners — in education as in other areas — make reasonable decisions and act responsibly and ethically in the light of theoretical and professional knowledge.

• Professional educators are leaders as well as managers; they are not limited to making decisions according to rule or "by the book." They must use discretion and judgment as they seek to find the most defensible course of action in specific, complicated, and perhaps idiosyncratic circumstances. These situations are not merely instances of abstract concepts.
• Although decisions are made in the light of theoretical knowledge, theoretical knowledge cannot be applied to practice in the same way as principles are applied to cases. No single theory is able to encompass the complexities of all aspects of learning or schooling. Professional educators understand the principles and terms which characterize and limit a variety of theories and can select amongst them in order to better understand the situations in which they are involved.
• Decisions also are made in the light of professional knowledge learned on the job as well as from more formal sources. Professional educators can articulate the informal, often tacit knowledge which they develop from practice so that it engages with and modifies the more formal theories learned from other sources.
  
• Professional educators not only make decisions, they act upon them responsibly. They examine the value commitments implicit in their actions; they question the appropriateness of the ends which they seek; they connect their educational contexts to broader social contexts; and they assess the effects of their actions on the achievements, dispositions, and propensities of students, colleagues and community members.

Read more about this program's Distinctive Features and Goals and review Degree Requirements.

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Admission Requirements and Process
All applicants must provide evidence that they:

• Possess a Master's Degree from an accredited institution
  
• Have experience in an educational role
  


In addition, successful applicants
• Have demonstrated leadership or leadership potential
  
• Are willing and able to make the necessary commitment of time to the program
  
• Are likely to be successful in a challenging doctoral program
  
• Welcome the opportunity to interact with university faculty, peers, and colleagues in a search for effective answers to troubling problems in education.

Admissions Process
The admissions process reflects and enacts the principles and values of the program regarding engagement, reflection, the exercise of agency, working for change, and a commitment to professional development and learning. To do this, it includes the following components:

• Register for an information session. Potential applicants are required to attend an information session as part of the application process. This session covers the philosophical framework of the program, its values, and its expectations. Other activities to help potential applicants to make an informed decision about applying include dialogue with current students and faculty.
  
• A written piece (approximately 3 pages), in the form of a personal statement, in which the applicant discusses why he or she is interested in further study and articulates an issue or problem of interest or concern.
  
• A writing sample, preferably a course paper from the applicant's master's program. Alternatively, applicants can write a short (3-5 pg) academic response to readings provided (upon request) by the doctoral program.
  
• A conversational interview with two or three faculty which will provide an opportunity for candidates to become familiar with the program and the faculty, as well as an opportunity for faculty members to get to know prospective candidates. Applicants living outside of the Chicago area will engage in an appropriate, reciprocal substitute for this dialogue.
  
• Three letters of recommendation, at least two of which should be from faculty in the applicant's master's program.
  
• All transcripts of undergraduate and graduate work to ascertain the nature of previous educational experiences, course work, and areas of specialization.
• A completed School of Education graduate application.
• GRE scores are recommended (not required).

Selection
Students will be selected from the pool of qualified applicants by the Ed.D. Admissions Committee.

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Learn about:

• Degree Requirements
• Distinctive Features and Goals
• Faculty
• Application Deadlines
• Apply online

For More Information

Graduate Admissions
School of Education
2320 North Kenmore
Chicago IL 60614
edgradadmissions@depaul.edu
773-325-4405

Diana Satruc, Program Assistant
School of Education, SAC 325
2320 North Kenmore
Chicago, IL 60614
Phone: 773-325-2155
send e-mail

Karen Monkman, Ph.D.
Director, Ed.D. Program
School of Education
2320 North Kenmore
Chicago IL 60614
send e-mail

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