This course is an advanced study of legal and ethical issues, including the federal mandate to educate students with disabilities, that impact school improvement. Students will create a school improvement project to educate students or colleagues about legal, ethical, or special education issues.

This course addresses the theories and processes of change in societies, cultures and organizations with particular emphasis on change within the educational systems. Completion of this course will enable students to effectively use theories and processes of social change in their role as change agents within their own educational environments.

This course overviews nationally recognized models for school improvement, the forces and factors that influence school improvement and reform, the barriers to change and reform, and how change can be instigated within educational settings. Students build and value a conceptual understanding of the knowledge base in school improvement. Students develop foundational skills in different styles of writing required throughout the doctoral program.

This course focuses on the collection and analysis of data sources relevant in the educational studies and emphasizes analysis of work samples, observations, inquiry data, artifacts, and standardized test scores. Students become skilled at using methods of authentic assessment to evaluate student learning. In addition, students examine strategies for thematic analysis of observational and inquiry data. Throughout the course students collect and analyze school improvement data.

This course is a school-based research experience during which students conduct a school improvement project across two semesters. Students reflect on practice to identify a research problem, conduct a review of literature to provide a theoretical base for their studies, develop research question, implement a theoretically-based intervention or innovation related to their research problems, and collect and analyze data for the purpose of answering research questions. Emphasis is placed on the cyclical, continuous process of research for school improvement. Must be taken sequentially across two semesters (F, Sp). Prerequisite: EDUC 9962.

Students develop and carry out an independent research project in school improvement. A minimum of eleven semester hours in this course is required for graduation. Continuous enrollment is required while working on the dissertation project. Prerequisites: Consent of dissertation chairperson; admission to candidacy.