An interdisciplinary doctoral program in educational leadership (ed.d.): Addressing the needs of diverse learners in urban settings

Abstract

Critics of educational leadership programs argue for change in program designs, content, delivery, and governance structures to address the acute needs faced by Pre-K-12 students and schools. Personnel at the California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH), located in the greater Los Angeles Metropolitan area, has developed its first Educational Leadership Doctoral program (Ed.D.) with two expressed goals. The first is to provide a doctoral program that embraces the reforms suggested by the critics of traditional educational leadership programs. The second is to ensure that the doctoral program at CSUDH addresses the needs of the geographical area, an area in which students and school districts are historically underachieving on standardized test scores, high school completion rates, and college-going rates. Changing this pattern will require particular types of educational leaders, leaders who are sensitive to the cultural issues and understand the impediments experienced by diverse learners in urban settings. Drawing on the work of Normore and Cook (2009), this chapter documents the various elements of program development for the new interdisciplinary doctoral degree in educational leadership.