EdD Content Areas
Baylor’s program offers distinctive coursework, including courses in conflict resolution, persuasive communication, data visualization, and managing educational technology systems — including business functions as well as instructional technologies.
Program component coursework and related experiences in the EdD involve:
Block I: Educational Leadership-Management Core
Students will engage in studies of
- advanced educational law
- politics, policy and governance
- school finance
- trends in educational leadership
- advanced studies for school executives
- curriculum management and evaluation
- conflict management and resolution
- visioning, planning, and acquisitions of 21st century school facilities
- ethics and values in educational leadership; and state, national, and international education systems
Block II: Disciplined Inquiry
Learning to carefully frame complex problems facing school leaders, being savvy consumers of research in support of problem analyses and data-informed decision-making, and using data visualization strategies that help clarify and persuasively pose high-potential solutions — these form the essence of student experiences for disciplined inquiry.
Block III: Persuasive Communications
Competencies in effective oral and written persuasive communications are necessary skills for successful leaders.
Block IV: Clinical Experience
Students will have structured program-keyed clinical experiences learning to frame and address complex problems in educational settings that include working 1-1 with prominent educational leaders as mentors across much of the program. This clinical experience will generally serve as a basis for the dissertation.
Block V: Dissertation-in-Practice
Candidates complete a capstone experience/dissertation-in-practice documenting their efforts to address real-life complex problems of practice, analyze values, persuasively present data-based solution options to a superintendent of schools and policy body/board or agency head, and develop a plan for appropriate implementation.
* The degree plan may be modified during advisement on an individual basis to meet each student’s needs.