Abstract
This essay describes the work of faculty at a public university in the southeast to align their application process with CPED principles through the addition of structured behavioral interviews. Their work was grounded in the premise that redefinition of the Ed. D. program to focus on the effective preparation of scholarly practitioners also requires a redefinition of the type of student who is most likely to benefit and, consequently, how the applicants most likely to achieve success are identified and admitted. A structured interview was added to the application process as a tool to gather data to accurately predict the likelihood of student success in the program and as a leader of change in schools. The development of the interview was guided by selection science literature, and questions were aligned to essential student attributes. Although the interview questions and process are still evolving, data from the initial administration suggests that the interview has promise as a useful element of the candidate selection process.
Highlights
As colleges of education work to refine their doctorate in educational leadership (Ed.D) programs to align with the Carnegie Project on the Educational Doctorate (CPED) principles, attention typically focuses on updating coursework and the dissertation process to ensure rigor and relevance
In order to ensure that the most appropriate applicants are selected for admission to the School Improvement Ed.D program at the, the faculty posed the following question: How can we use selection science research to create an Ed.D. application process that will accurately predict the potential of each student for success in a program designed for practitionerresearchers focused on school improvement?
To assess student potential to identify and solve problems of practice related to school improvement, faculty committed to the creation of a structured behavioral interview process designed to measure the attributes necessary for success in the Ed.D. program and as a leader of school improvement
Summary
As colleges of education work to refine their doctorate in educational leadership (Ed.D) programs to align with the Carnegie Project on the Educational Doctorate (CPED) principles, attention typically focuses on updating coursework and the dissertation process to ensure rigor and relevance. This work, while essential, may be insufficient if we truly desire to achieve the shared vision of preparing educational leaders who are scholarly practitioners, ready to meet the complex challenges of the 21st century. Refining the Ed.D. to focus on the effective preparation of scholarly practitioners requires a redefinition of the type of student who is most likely to benefit from such a program and, how the applicants most likely to achieve success are identified and admitted. The Ed.D. program in school improvement at University of West Georgia has a school improvement focus, yet when faculty examined the admission process the program, they expressed concern that decisions based solely on the review of written materials may not provide sufficient evidence that applicants have the potential to identify problems of practice and to use research to solve those problems. Faculty concerns stemmed from perceptions that students experience difficulty connecting their dissertation proposals to school improvement initiatives, despite coaching and instruction
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