Reflection, Reconstruction, and Transformation of the EdD: A Dean's Perspective

PhD in Education and EdD programs have overlapping but distinct aims. With their focus on developing leaders who can apply knowledge to improve learning outcomes, CPED EdD programs have features not found in most PhD programs. The focus on developing scholarly practitioners who can effect constructive change in practice provides the overarching rationale for deans to support the development of EdD programs within their colleges and schools of education (SOE). The development of an EdD program within the CPED network has implications for a SOE. Several of these implications are described for the case of the Rutgers University's Graduate School of Education (GSE). While contexts may differ across institutions, core issues, such as the role of doctoral education in a SOE's mission, faculty roles and responsibilities, and how best to meet student needs and support their growth as scholarly leaders, are relevant to most SOE deans. To the extent that individual EdD programs are successful, the collection of programs under the CPED network has the potential to accumulate practitioner knowledge of what works in specific local contexts. Rebalancing policy and reform efforts toward dynamic, evidence-based findings from within education is perhaps the greatest promise of the CPED network. Making a positive contribution to these efforts might represent a SOE dean's most important contribution to the field of professional education.