The world needs transformative leaders in education—individuals whose passion for
educational quality and equity is matched by a knowledge of learning and development;
a firm grasp of public policy issues; and, the organizational leadership skills to
translate visionary ideas into real-world success.
As a graduate of our program, you will be uniquely prepared for systems-level leadership
in schools and universities, nonprofits and philanthropies, mission-driven for-profits
and state and national educational organizations.
Ed.D. Educational Leadership graduate student and Hosack Elementary School Principal
Matt Heckmann shares his insight on the impact School of Education alumni have in
the field as educational leaders. Hear from Matt.
In educational leadership, experience matters. Sharing those experiences can generate
insights that are hard to come by in other ways. Our Ed.D. in Educational Leadership
program at Duquesne University has produced exceptional educational leaders for schools,
universities and communities for over a quarter-century. Our graduates serve the needs
of children and youth in PreK-12 classrooms, organizational boardrooms and university
administration buildings across the country and around the world.
Join an exceptional community of ethical leaders equipped with the courage and intellectual
discernment to lead systems-level improvements for social justice as university administrators,
principals, superintendents, assistant superintendents, curriculum directors, counselors,
leaders of non-profits and directors of message driven for profits.
Enjoy Immediate Benefits
Our cohort members are regularly promoted within their current organization or secure
a leadership position in another educational organization while still candidates in
our three-year doctoral program. Up your profile and increase your impact, as you
apply what you learn to the challenges and opportunities of real-world practice in
real time with confidence.
Profit from a Schedule that Honors the Life Demands of Working Professionals
Our three-year program is built on a cohort-learning model of collaborative professionals
(school leaders, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, principals, teachers, and university
administrators) who progress through our program together.
The 36-month, 54-credit program is delivered on campus during eight full-day Saturday
sessions in the Fall (six credits), eight full-day Saturday sessions in the Spring
(six credits) and eight full weekday seminars each July.
Strategically Designed Curriculum
Our curriculum balances multidisciplinary coursework with real-world issues to promote
learning inside of educational leadership practice. All courses are taught by the
full-time faculty in the Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership in Duquesne's
School of Education.
Our renowned scholars are recognized for their expertise and research in the areas
like evidence-based improvement, policy analysis, program evaluation, culturally relevant
pedagogy, classroom assessment, organizational improvement and innovation, immigration,
social justice and effective educational leadership for schools, universities, and
communities.
Our dynamic curriculum is responsive and relevant to the challenges real leaders face
and will empower you to better serve children and youth in public and private schools,
colleges and universities, educational organizations and communities.
Program Information
Our Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program will prepare you for systems-level leadership
in schools and universities, nonprofits and philanthropies, mission-driven for-profits
and state and national educational organizations.
I know from firsthand experiences how great Duquesne’s School of Education is:
preparing not just educators, but educators who are leaders serving communities, students
and families.
Matt HeckmannHosack Elementary School Principal | Ed.D. Educational Leadership Graduate StudentDiscover Matt's Story
Our Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program is about making a difference for
real people, real kids, real youths, real adults..."
Dr. Rick McCownProfessor of Educational Leadership
Featured content
Learning is the Measure of Teaching
For Dr. McCown, harnessing educational curiosity and passion is the key to building
leadership capacity. Read how Ed.D. Educational Leadership professor Dr. McCown teaches
his students to become courageous leaders who create meaningful improvements in schools,
communities and universities.
Ed.D. Curriculum and Course Descriptions
Offered on Saturdays during the fall and spring semesters, as well as eight full-day
summer seminars in July, our Ed.D. in Educational Leadership program is designed for
the busy schedules of working professionals.
This professional seminar will operationalize the framing concepts of the program
as expectations for the students. Students will use the lens of social justice to: a) examine themselves
as leaders and their positions relative to others in society; b) investigate problems
as dynamic issues located in ecosystems rather than in one organizational home; and,
c) set actionable goals for self-mastery and self-improvement.
The course promotes the guiding principle that effective educational leaders think
strategically and communicate effectively to catalyze and lead educational improvement
that is community-engaged, evidence-based and socially just.
3 credits
This course will inform the theoretical and empirical frames that connect educational
leadership and conditions of social justice.
Students will develop understandings of critical social theory, institutional networks
of power, the cultural dimensions of power and the dynamics of power that operate
between dominant and subordinate communities to impact the quality of education and
educational opportunity for all learners. Skills of educational leadership advocacy
will be developed through laboratories of practice projects to frame educational leadership
as aspiring for social justice.
3 credits
This course examines the forces that shape educational policy with an emphasis on
governance structures, stakeholders, public engagement, current policy issues and
political contexts at the global, national, and local level paying particular attention
to the contexts of policy including the evolving conceptualization of global and local
systems of governance and the uses, limitations, and ethics of policy and policy analysis.
Students will develop the skills and abilities required to understand, analyze, and
design sound and responsive policy.
3 credits
The course will develop knowledge and skills necessary for the critical consumption
of (1) empirical research from the scholarly and professional literatures in educational
leadership and (2) data generated through and informative of the professional practice
in education.
The course emphasizes developing skills to critique and critically review published
research and to interrogate data generated though standardized testing, action research,
evaluative studies, and policy analyses at the classroom, school, district, state,
and federal levels in order to evaluate evidence and inform decision-making.
3 credits
This course will examine the theoretical underpinnings of human development, motivation,
and learning in PreK-12 education to investigate and understand the design of optimal
learning environments that interact with the learners’ cultural background, prior
knowledge, interests and identity to provide culturally relevant pedagogy.
Students will develop the knowledge and skills to look for and use compelling evidence
of student learning and achievement to support collaborative and intentional inquiry
focused on improving learning opportunities for all learners—children and the adults
who educate them—both in schools and also out of school settings and after school
programs.
3 credits
Within a frame of improving educational practice, the course focuses on understanding
the educational systems where improvement is sought and how accounts of improvement
efforts within those systems are documented.
Tools for engaging stakeholders and accounting for the outcomes and impacts of improvement
efforts will be studied–including their ethical implications and moral imperatives–and
applied in practice contexts. The tools will include the development and use of logic
models as well as tools of improvement inquiry that engage stakeholders in understanding
and addressing problems of practice.
3 credits
Through theory and practice students consider, examine, and problematize the ethical
dimensions of leadership in relation to community systems, organizations, and institutions.
Students will deconstruct concepts of community-engaged leadership including race,
class, gender, justice, and power.
Students will gain the knowledge and skills to work toward positive improvement outcomes
for students, parents, educators, the local community and society as a whole; strengthen
sustainable, mutually beneficial, long-term community partnerships and initiatives
that facilitate positive social change; increase opportunities for engagement though
collaborative learning and inquiry, and increase their visibility, awareness and recognition
of community-engaged leadership.
3 credits
The course provides an overview of the design, development, and implementation of
evaluations of educational programs. The theories and practices of educational evaluation
will be studied with a focus on improving PK-12 schooling, including the performance
of students, teachers, administrators, schools, and community efforts to improve educational
outcomes.
Evaluative purposes, evaluation plans, evaluation designs and instruments will be
examined as well as data collection, analysis, and reporting.
3 credits
This course provides a firm grounding in ethical discernment and an in-depth examination
of federal and state school law. Students will develop skills needed to examine the
complexities and contradictions that occur in schools and communities and address
legal issues that impact the operation of public schools.
A personal code of ethics will be developed and applied to practical situations of
educational leadership, research, and policy to enhance socially responsible leadership
in schools, educational organizations, and communities.
3 credits
This course provides a solid foundation and practical explanations of the many forms
of educational assessment concepts and procedures that affect a school or district’s
student learning and achievement outcomes in order to lead assessment for learning,
establish sound procedures for the assessment of learning, meet accountability requirements,
communicate with various stakeholders and understand how assessment relates to effective
teaching and professional learning.
Students will use key principles of sound educational assessment to inform and plan
educational improvement efforts.
3 credits
Leading practice improvement in educational settings requires that data be collected,
analyzed, and rendered into evidence that is accepted across the boundaries of schools,
the academy, and the community. Data analysis techniques–both quantitative and qualitative–will
be the substantive focus of the course.
Analysis techniques will be examined not only for methodological soundness, but also
to determine how the resulting evidence can be constructed and communicated to multiple
stakeholders focused on improving practice in specific educational contexts.
3 credits
The course provides a background and analysis of the interpretive act embedded in
all educational improvement inquiry.
Designed to provide an in-depth study of qualitative inquiry, the course focuses on
the major qualitative approaches to understanding problems of practice, educational
improvement, and informed educational leadership practice with a special focus on
issues of educational equity and social justice for children and youth.
3 credits
The course frames and engages the students in the comprehensive examinations that
are required for the doctoral program in educational leadership to qualify the student
to proceed to the dissertation in practice as a doctoral candidate.
The faculty of the Department of Educational Foundations and Leadership in the Duquesne
University School of Education has adopted doctoral portfolios with an oral demonstration
and assessment of competencies to ensure that doctoral students possess the necessary
knowledge, skills, and competencies.
3 credits
The course engages students in developing working frameworks for taking the approved
proposal through the phases required for a completed dissertation in practice: data
collection, data analysis, defense drafts, defense presentation, final revisions,
and submission requirements for electronic theses and dissertations.
The seminar provides opportunities for students in groups with faculty to develop
work plans and timelines for submissions to their dissertation in practice committee
and for other capstone products and deliverables.
3 credits
This course explores the interpersonal and social dynamics of educational leadership
to expand understanding of the power and place of social dynamics involved in most
change/improvement experiences.
Doctoral candidates will assess and diagnose negative social dynamics to design proactive
leverage and utilize positive social dynamics as powerful drivers for change. Aspects
of group process design (social technologies), group intelligence, peer-to-peer learning
and social marketing will be addressed in the context of the doctoral candidate’s
dissertation in practice.
3 credits
The first course of a two-course sequence that supports the writing of the dissertation
in practice. The course provides opportunities for students writing their dissertations
in practice to consult with faculty and other students to develop and clarify the
arguments within each section of their dissertation in practice as they develop the
accounts of their research.
The course includes opportunities for students to “workshop” the drafts they are preparing
for their dissertation in practice committee.
3 credits
This course is designed to promote the integration of the interwoven threads of the
curriculum—socially just leadership, community engagement, and research/improvement
inquiry—and the student’s experiences in the Ed.D. in Educational Leadership Program.
Each candidate produces a capstone report that describes, analyzes, and reflects upon
the candidate’s leadership of and contributions to the strategic project that formed
the basis for the dissertation in practice and led to evidence-based decisions to
provide concise insight into the candidate’s work along with next steps, resources,
and questions to consider for practitioners who might lead similar initiatives.
3 credits
The second course of a two-course sequence that supports the writing of the dissertation
in practice. The course provides opportunities for students writing their dissertations
in practice to consult with faculty and other students to develop and clarify the
arguments within each section of their dissertation in practice as they move toward
defensible drafts.
The course includes opportunities for students to “workshop” the drafts that they
will eventually defend before their committee.
3 credits
Application Process
Applications for Summer 2024 are now closed. Applications for Summer 2025 will be
accepted starting in December 2024.
Admission Information
Admission into the Ed.D in Educational Leadership program is based on academic qualifications,
appropriate experience and application packet quality. Admission decisions are made
without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, disability, age, gender or sexual orientation.
Five years of educational experience or experience in a related field is preferred.
The admission committee will not consider incomplete applications.
Admission Criteria
Master's degree in education or related field*
*A 3.0 in graduate work
Five years of experience in PK-12 Schools or related educational field preferred
International Applicants
International Students seeking fully online programs are not eligible for U.S. Student
Visas. Visit International Admissions for additional information and requirements.
Applications for Summer 2024 are now closed. Applications for Summer 2025 will be
accepted starting in December 2024.
Applications for Summer 2024 are now closed. Applications for Summer 2025 will be
accepted starting in December 2024.
Our Ed.D. in Educational Leadership in Duquesne's School of Education is recognized
as a Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) Consortium Member, one of
22 member universities committed to the preparation of educational leaders to ensure
well-equipped scholarly practitioners who provide stewardship of the profession and
meet the educational challenges of the 21st century.
UCEA Center for Educational Leadership and Social Justice (CELSJ)
Our School of Education hosts the Center for Educational Leadership and Social Justice
(CELSJ) as a part of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA).
UCEA is a consortium of higher education institutions committed to advancing the preparation
and practice of educational leaders for the benefit of schools and children. The CELSJ
is now one of only eight UCEA centers worldwide. The UCEA CELSJ at Duquesne University
aspires to be a community that is dedicated to identifying and eradicating conditions
of social injustice in our schools and communities through enlightened and actionable
scholarship, preparation and development of socially just educational leaders, and
the encouragement of leader-practitioners in service of all students. The Mission
of the UCEA Center for Educational Leadership and Social Justice is to advance equity
and excellence on behalf of young people, especially those who have been marginalized,
mistreated and neglected.
It's Time for Bigger Goals
Apply Today!
Learn about our admission requirements and the application process. Make an impact
as a teacher, administrator, school psychologist, counselor and educator with our
graduate programs and certificates.
