OATdb Archive

2013 - 2014

Educational Leadership EDD

Goal
Competence In Field Of Educational Leadership
Students will demonstrate competence in educational leadership


Objective
Development Of Knowledge And Skills In Educational Leadership
Doctoral students in Educational Leadership will develop the research knowledge and skills to complete research topics, as measured by the comprehensive examinations.

Indicator
Comprehensive Examinations
Students will successfully complete comprehensive exams at the end of core coursework. Written comprehensive examinations are developed by faculty and are administered in two parts: (a) written exam consisting of application of knowledge in educational leadership, and (b) the completion of research competencies and a reflection of research competency development. Examinations are scored holistically as pass or fail by five to six faculty members. Patterns across students' passing or failing responses are analyzed to indicate strengths and/or areas of need within the doctoral coursework and program. 

Criterion
Comprehensive Examinations
At least 90% of the students will successfully pass both parts of the comprehensive exams on their first attempt.

Finding
Comprehensive Exams
Of the 23 students taking the exam in 2013-2014, 91% (21) passed the comprehensive exam part A. Of the 23 students, 18 students (78%) completed the research competencies described in part B. Five students have pending results. These students will not be allowed to propose until the comps are completed.

Action
Comprehensive Exams
Students are mastering the exam content (Part A), so we will continue to notify them in advance so that they can continue to prepare and be successful. In regards to the Part B incompletes, we will emphasize the research competencies (e.g., research presentations, publications) earlier in the program and provide a firm deadline for these events to be completed. the date will be shared during their first year in the program.

Goal
Quality And Effectiveness
Students in the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership will display working knowledge of the literature in the field in papers they are required to produce and submit for journals and professional conferences.

Objective
Student Scholarship
During the doctoral program, all students will develop the research, writing, editing, and presentations skills needed to submit one manuscript for publication and one paper for presentation at a research conference. Both are peer reviewed.  

Indicator
Peer Review
Students will recieve feedback on the disposition of manuscripts and academic presentations from external editors/reviewers.

Criterion
Acceptance Of Publication And Presentation
At least 60% of the doctoral students will present a research paper at a professional conference.  At least 40% of the doctoral students will have an article accepted for publication.

Finding
Acceptance Of Publication And Presentation
In 2013-2014, 27 publications  and  48 research presentations were reported by students. With a total 101 activce students, these rates represent 27% publication and 48% presentation rates. We gather these data from conference programs and students' self reports, so these data are likely to be under-reported.

Action
Student Scholarship
Students will continue to receive the skills to perform this action during their first four semesters. We can improve the data collection quality by asking students more frequently and communicating the importance of this indicator. We will continue to provide workshops for students to help them prepare for professional research presentations and provide mentorship in our classes to help them prepare proposals. Efforts related to communication and data tracking will help us increase performance for this objective.


Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement 1. We removed the indicator.
2. We increased the communication with students by providing information about the comp exam date and contents 6 months in advance. Still, we fell short in reaching the goal and will continue to work on setting firm deadlines for Part B of the exam.
3. We did evaluate student CV and professor CV to collect student publications, but with 100 students, we still missed some. We will brainstorm ways to communicate with students so that we are notified when they publish. We were able to use travel applications to help us keep track of presentations and will continue to do this.

Plan for continuous improvement 1. Comp Exams: We will continue to strive for 100% completion and pass rate on the comprehensive exams. We will continue to communicate with students. We will provide advance notice, firm deadlines, and email notifications in advance to help them be successful.
2. Student Scholarship: We will continue to strive for a high rate of research publications and presentations by our students. We will provide workshops, mentorship, and travel funds so that they can complete this objective. We will work to brainstorm ideas to improve data collection for publications.