Students can complete the doctoral program in five years or less depending upon how many courses are taken a semester. The following is a typical program of study over five years.
All students are conditionally admitted until they pass the portfolio review process.
First Year | Portfolio
The cohort of first year students take a set of four required courses:
- Applied Statistics
- Psychological Foundations of Education
- Research Methods
- Cognitive Psychology
There are specified requirements for each course which are included in the students' qualifying portfolio. All students are conditionally admitted until they pass the portfolio review process. Once they pass the portfolio review, students are fully admitted into the L&I doctoral program.
Year Two to Four
In Years Two-Four of the program, students will enroll in six special education core courses (18 credits). The courses within the special education core are designed to prepare higher education faculty and researchers who are informed about federal and state policies and pedagogical and research competencies essential to addressing the specialized needs of high-need students with disabilities (e.g., English learners, students performing far below grade level) in a variety of settings.
Students also complete one Special Education practicum per year. Students are provided with mentors from partner institutions of higher education and state and local educational agencies. The purpose of the three practica is to provide students with opportunities to develop and apply pedagogical, research, and leadership competencies. This includes how to use school, class, and student-level data to improve teaching and student outcomes.
The six Special Education core courses, plus the three special education Practica, comprise the major of the Ed.D. in Special Education. In addition to these courses, students will enroll in Advanced Research and two Elective courses.
Years Four and Five
Typically in Year Four, students will enroll in Proposal Development Seminar. This course is designed to help them prepare a prospectus for the dissertation study. Under the guidance of the chairperson and committee members, students will prepare a dissertation proposal which will be presented to the full committee during an oral dissertation proposal defense
Students advance to candidacy after completing 45 credits of required coursework and submitting an approved dissertation proposal. The final dissertation will be presented to the full committee for approval during an oral dissertation final defense.
