The focus of study for the Doctor of Education in Curriculum and Instruction is the understanding of the theoretical knowledge, implementation options, and practical links among conceptual mapping of curriculum, alternative teaching theory and learning outcomes. Cognitive theories serve as the bridge to connect curriculum design and alternative instructional and learning approaches. Doctoral candidates participate with faculty on research, with teaching assignments, and in various professional activities.

This document outlines the policies and procedures the doctoral candidate needs to follow when pursuing the Doctor of Education Degree (Ed.D.) in Curriculum and Instruction. The Ed.D. is the highest degree conferred by the College of Education at Florida Atlantic University.

The Doctor of Education Program (Ed.D.) in Curriculum and Instruction requires 51 semester hours of coursework beyond the Masters degree and a 15 semester hour dissertation. Acceptance of prior course work into the doctoral program is at the discretion of the student’s doctoral committee.

The degree must be completed within 7 years from the date a candidate is admitted to the Ed.D. program. In addition to course work, each candidate is required to: complete two semesters of university and program residency while enrolled; pass a written qualifying examination; write and defend a dissertation. (Residency does not require candidates to leave jobs or move to the university campus. (See later section on University Residency.)

It is the candidate’s responsibility to be familiar with and follow the program’s policies, procedures, and deadlines. Refer to the Florida Atlantic University College of Education Web site for updated program information (http://www.coe.fau.edu).

I. Admission Procedures

Admission requirements include the following documentation:

___ Appropriate educational experience.
___ A master’s degree from a regionally accredited college or university.
___ An overall grade point average of 3.0 or better in the last 60 semester hours of undergraduate work prior to the granting of the bachelor’s degree.
___ An overall grade point average of at least 3.25 or better on all graduate work attempted.
___ A score of 1,000 or better on the general section of the Graduate Record Examination, representing only the quantitative and verbal combined scores. However, all three scores are reviewed. (Scores may not be more than 5 years old.)
___ Letters of recommendation from two professional supervisors/colleagues.
___ A one page statement explaining your professional goals and reasons for desiring this degree.
___ Additional admission requirements exist for International Students. Contact the FAU Office of International Students and Scholars and the Office of Graduate Studies and Admissions for these requirements.

___ APPLICATIONS ARE NOT REVIEWED UNTIL ALL DOCUMENTS ARE RECEIVED.

Application Sequence

___ Obtain an “FAU Graduate Application” form from either: the University Office of Graduate Admissions, the Office of Academic and Student Services in the College of Education, or download) and mail the application from the Web site (http://www.fau.edu/academic/gradstud/grad.htm)
___ Submit by the deadline date to the FAU University Office of Graduate Admissions:

• The graduate application form.
• The non-refundable fee.
• Official transcripts from all previous institutions. Official transcripts are those that have been sent from the Registrar’s Office of each institution and received at FAU in unopened envelopes.
• Official GRE scores report from the testing service. It is university policy that scores may not be more than 5 years old.
• Letters or copies of certification indicating employment for three years teaching experiences (or appropriate educational experiences).
• Letters of recommendation from two professional supervisors/colleagues.
• Statement of professional goals.

___ After the completed application has been processed by the College of Education, the candidate will be contacted by the Chairperson of the Department of Teacher Education to schedule an interview. Applications are not reviewed until all required documents have been received.

___ After the interview, and when all admission requirements have been satisfied, an official notification recommending admissions to the doctoral program will be issued by the Chairperson of the Department of Teacher Education. This letter of admission will indicate the name of the candidate’s doctoral advisor.

___ At this point, the student must obtain three documents:
1) an FAU Graduate Catalog
2) the FAU Graduate Policies and Procedures Manual
3) the Department of Teacher Education Program Handbook (available from the Department of Teacher Education Office).

Documents 1 and 2 can be obtained from The Office of Graduate Studies and Admissions or on FAU’s Web site: http://www.fau.edu/academic/gradstud/grad.htm
Graduate Student Organizations

Students are encouraged to seek information from and participate in the university graduate student organizations. Graduate support organizations are:

1) The Agency for Graduate Concern (AGC) at http://www.fau.edu/dsr located on the Boca
Raton campus, University Center, room 221. This university wide support
network offers assistance to graduate students on all seven campuses. The AGC
works in conjunction with Student Government and the administration to
continue improving and increasing programs, services, and funding for FAU
graduate students. An e-newsletter offers up-to-date information regarding
grants (funding for travel and research), scholarships, and program information.

2) College of Education Student Advisory Council (SAC): This organization offers
Graduate students many university and college events and benefits (such as
travel expenses to conferences,). (http://www.fau.edu/divdept/coe/sac.html Or http://www.fau/academic/gradstud/grad.htm).

3) For funding inquiries go to http://www.fau.edu/dsr scroll down left-hand listing
to “Student Funding Opportunities” or try http://shr.aaas.org/rtt/sites.htm#3

4) The University Center for Excellence in writing assists with dissertation writing. http://www.fau.edu/UCEW

II. Program of Study Procedures

___ Upon notification of admission, the candidate must contact the assigned doctoral advisor to design a preliminary program of study.
• A maximum of 6 semester hours of graduate credit earned from an institution in a non-degree-seeking status may be transferred.
• The doctoral advisor must complete the “Audit Form” and attach it with the approved program when courses are transferred into the doctoral program.
• When credits are transferred into the program, they will reflect the beginning date of the signed program. All doctoral work must be completed within seven years of the signed program.

• During the entire Ed.D. process, students are required to enroll for at least 1 credit during at least 2 semesters (fall, spring, or summer) of every academic year in order to remain eligible for the degree.
• Students must register for EDG 7938 Doctoral Seminar as soon as all prerequisite courses have been completed. Doctoral Seminar is one of the first courses candidates should take in the Ed.D. program.
• Students are responsible for obtaining and following the Core courses pre-requisite order and term schedule.

___ It is the candidate’s responsibility to select a doctoral committee. The semester before beginning the dissertation, with the guidance of the doctoral advisor, the candidate must identify a chairperson and 2 to 4 graduate-level faculty members to serve on the doctoral committee. One committee member must be from outside the Department of Teacher Education. (A total number of 3 to 5 faculty members serve on the committee—1 chair and 2 to 4 members). See the Graduate Program Coordinator for a list of Graduate Faculty names.

___ The candidate introduces the program of study to each member and obtains signatures from the committee on two forms: the “Appointment of Supervisory Committee” form and the “Program of Studies” form.
___ The chair of the dissertation committee will obtain the signature of the chairperson of the Department of Teacher Education and submit the program to the Director of Academic and Student Services in the College of Education.

___ If COURSE CHANGES are made in the program, a “Graduate Program Course Change” form must be completed and signed by the doctoral advisor then filed with the Office of Academic and Student Services in the College of Education. The candidate is obliged to verbally inform the committee members of this change. The program of study is the base for the qualifying exam.

___ If a CHANGE OF CHAIR is necessary, the candidate must:
• Contact the Department Chairperson to discuss reasons for requesting this change.
• If a change is recommended, the candidate identifies and secures agreement from a graduate-level faculty member to serve as the research chairperson.
• The candidate must verbally confirm with the other members of the committee to see if they will continue to serve on the committee. If they will not, additional graduate-level faculty must be identified.
• File a new “Appointment of Supervisory Committee” form with the signatures of your new advisor and committee members.

___ If a COMMITTEE MEMBER CHANGE is necessary:
• Contact the dissertation chair.
• Identify a graduate-level faculty member and secure agreement from that person that he/she will serve as a doctoral committee member.
• File a new “Appointment of Supervisory Committee” form with the signatures of the dissertation chair and reconstituted committee members.

III. Program of Study Minimum Requirements
The Doctorate degree program requires 51 semester hours  Plus a 15 credit dissertation.  The Ed.D. program requires completion of the following:

* Check pre-requisite requirements for the Core and Research courses

• Area of Specialization (cognate) courses should be completed on the 6000 and 7000 level.
• A minimum of 50 percent of all course work in the College of Education must be completed at the 6000 and 7000 level.
• The remaining 50 percent of all course work must be approved by the doctoral committee.

___ Before a candidate can register for dissertation credit, he/she must pass the qualifying exam.
___ During the semester qualifying exams are taken, candidates may enroll in EDG 7944 Research in Curriculum and Instruction. The candidate’s dissertation topic must be selected and approved by the chair and committee before taking this course.
___ After passing the qualifying exam, registering for dissertation credit does not occur until the procedures for “Admission for Candidacy” have been completed and signed.

IV. Residency

There are two dimensions to doctoral residency. One involves university course credit residency and the other involves the Department of Teacher Education professional experience residency.

1) University Course Credit Residency

University residency is satisfied when students maintain full-time graduate student status for two semesters. The semesters need not be consecutive; however, each student must have, someplace within the program of study, 9 semester hours in the Fall term, or 9 semester hours in the Spring term, or 6 semester hours in the summer term (for a total of 2 semesters).

• At the beginning of the semester in which university residency is to begin, candidates are to contact their advisor and add the dates of residency completion to the program.
• When credit hours fall below required load, due to dropped courses, status becomes part-time and will not meet university residency requirements.

2) Professional Experience Residency

Professional residency is an experience that enables graduate students to interact with faculty, colleagues, and other professionals in the university environment. RESIDENCY DOES NOT REQUIRE CANDIDATES TO LEAVE THEIR JOBS OR MOVE TO THE UNIVERSITY CAMPUS TO COMPLETE THE EXPECTED EXPERIENCES.

Professional residency is satisfied when candidates:

• Complete and organize in a portfolio the experiences detailed in EDG 7938 Doctoral Seminar I. These experiences include mentored research, service, teaching, professional
• presentations, article and grant writing experiences beyond the student’s professional employment.

• Enroll in and complete the requirements of EDG 7944 Research in Curriculum and Instruction.

V. Written Qualifying Examination

Qualifying examination may be taken:
• When all coursework is completed, with the exception of EDF 7482 Advanced Educational Research and EDG 7944 Research in Curriculum and Instruction.
• If a minimum GPA of 3.25 on all graduate work attempted at FAU is maintained.

The written qualifying examination is scheduled and administered on two days. The exams consist of two, three-hour written examinations. The exams are based on the candidate’s program of study and directed by the doctoral advisor.

Procedures
___ The student is responsible for submitting the application for the qualifying examination application by the deadline. Obtain and return this form to the College of Education Student Services Department. These dates are shown in the Academic Calendar in the FAU Schedule of Courses each Fall and Spring semester.

___ The doctoral advisor will notify the Office of Academic and Student Services in the College of Education of the examination results. Each student is notified in writing, by the Director of Academic and Student Services, of the results of the examination (pass/fail/defer. Deferred means a decision is postponed until the candidate clarifies specific responses.)

• A student who fails the qualifying examination on the first attempt may re-take the examination during the following semester. The student must complete and submit with the chair’s signed recommendation a second written application to take the examination.
• If the student fails the written examination a second time, he/she will be ineligible to continue in the Ed.D. program at FAU.

___ After passing the qualifying exams, the student has two years to gain dissertation topic approval from the committee. During this time, the student must register for Directed Independent Study (S/U), not Dissertation credit. If the topic has not been approved within the two-year time parameter, the student is ineligible to continue in the Ed.D. program.

___ During the semester the qualifying exams are taken, the candidate registers for EDG 7944 Research in Curriculum and Instruction (See Residency Requirement).

VI. Admission to Candidacy

Students must complete the following before registering for dissertation credit.

___ Pass the doctoral qualifying examination.
___ Before applying for Candidacy, each student must have already:
• Decided upon, with the guidance and approval of the chair, the dissertation topic.
• Arranged a meeting with the doctoral committee to discuss and seek approval for the dissertation topic, and obtained the signatures of each committee member on the “Approval of Dissertation Proposal”, which is one section of the Admission to Candidacy form.

• All candidates must attend a mandatory IRB (human subjects) education training program before they may begin data collection on their study. This on-line training module is accessible through the department of Health and Human Services at the URL:http://cme.nci.nih.gov/ NIH provides this online education module on the protection of human research participants that is specifically designed for extramural investigators. Completing this module fulfills the NIH education requirement in the protection of human research participants for key personnel (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/Not-OD-00-039.html) and FAU requires this certification for all IRB submissions. After accessing this program at URL:http://cme.nci.nih.gov/ print your completion certificate and return a copy to your doctoral advisor.

• Obtained and submitted the “Research Compliance” (IRB) form for approval when the doctoral committee has approved the dissertation topic. This form is available from and submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies and Admissions. This form requires the doctoral advisor’s signature as the Principal Investigator.

___ When approval of “Research Compliance” has been received from the Office of Graduate Studies and Admissions, attach the signed “Admission to Candidacy” form, (signed by each doctoral committee member and the Department Chair), and file with the Office of Academic and student Services in the College of Education.

VII. Dissertation Procedures

The purpose of the dissertation research committee is to guide and mentor the doctoral candidate through the dissertation process.

___ CONFIRM THAT YOUR “RESEARCH COMPLIANCE” FORM HAS BEEN APPROVED BEFORE CONDUCTING ANY RESEARCH.

___ Confirm that the “Approval of Dissertation Proposal” form has been submitted.
___ If a delay occurs before “Research Compliance” or dissertation approval, students must register for Directed Independent Study (EDG 7906 DIS, S/U) with the doctoral advisor as the professor. Registration for Dissertation semester hours occurs after Research Compliance and dissertation approval.
___ When Research Compliance and dissertation topic are approved, register for 3 semester hours of EDG 7980 Dissertation (S/U). Maintain continuous graduate level enrollment while working on the dissertation.

___ Obtain a recent copy of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
___ Obtain and follow the “Requirements and Guidelines for Graduate Theses and Dissertations” handout from the Office of the Dean of Graduate Studies and Admissions in the Administration Building.
___ Prepare, under the direction of the doctoral advisor, the first chapter of the dissertation.
___ With the doctoral advisor’s guidance and approval, submit dissertation chapters to the committee for approval – allow a minimum of three to four weeks for faculty members to react.
___ Make changes suggested by the committee members and submit amended chapter to the chair/committee.
___ Complete the dissertation work under the direction of the chair and committee.

VIII. Dissertation Defense

In the Dissertation defense, the doctoral candidate makes a summary statement of the intent and findings of the investigation, and responds to questions from the committee.

___ Enroll in dissertation credit during the semester in which the degree is to be awarded. Candidates need to register for only 1 semester hour during the term of graduation, if the Dissertation requirement of 15 hours has been meet.

___ Schedule a date with the committee for the oral defense of the dissertation. The defense should take place a minimum of 10 weeks prior to the anticipated date of graduation (refer to the FAU Academic Calendar for all dissertation deadline dates).

___ A minimum of four weeks in advance of the defense, submit clean (but not bound) copies of the dissertation manuscript to the doctoral advisor and committee members.

___ At least three weeks before the defense, notify the Department Chair of the date, time, and title of the final oral defense of the dissertation.
• The dissertation defense is open to faculty of the College of Education, graduate students of the College of Education, and others approved by the research chairperson.
• The oral defense may not take place if more than one member of the research committee is absent at the time the defense is scheduled to occur.
• Seventy-five percent of the doctoral committee must vote for approval of the dissertation.

___ After defending the dissertation, the candidate should obtain signatures of the chair and committee members indicating approval of the dissertation defense.
___ After completing all revisions to the dissertation (if any are suggested) during the defense, submit 3 unbound copies to the following offices for review, possible revisions, and approval:
1) The Department of Teacher Education, Chairperson
2) The Office of Academic and Student Services of the College of Education for the Dean’s approval
3) Office of Graduate Studies and Admissions

• It is the candidate’s responsibility to adhere to the deadline dates set by each of the above offices and to follow-up with each to ascertain whether any changes are necessary, and to make the changes.

• It is the candidate’s responsibility to keep the chair of the committee informed of the changes requested by each office. Only after all the above-mentioned offices have responded, are bound copies made.

___ A minimum of three bound copies is required and produced from the Office of Graduate Studies and Admissions. (Candidates may request and purchase additional bound copies.)

___ A completed dissertation includes:
• A current title page format.
• Completion of all “changes to be made” that were identified by the dissertation committee, Department Chairperson, College of Education Office of Academic and Student Services (Dean), and University Office of Graduate Studies and Admissions.
• A copy of the submitted University Microfilm Agreement form.
• Proof of payment for copyright and binding fees.
• Any additional requirements set by the University Office of Graduate Studies and Admissions.
• A copy of the “Thesis/Dissertation Transmittal to Library, (obtained from the Office of Graduate Studies and Admissions

___ Submit the three required bound dissertations copies to:
1) The Chair of the Department of Teacher Education
2) The Chair of the dissertation committee
3) The university library.

IX. Procedures for Graduation

___ Complete “Evaluation of Doctoral Program” form and return it to the Department of Teacher Education
___ Complete the “Application for Graduation” form from the Registrar’s Office. Check deadlines.
___ Order cap and gown.
___ Contact your dissertation chair to remind him/her about the graduation ceremony date, location, and time.

CONGRATULATIONS! Commencement convocations are held in the Fall, Spring, and summer semesters.

Original approved October 14, 1998 by the Department of Teacher Education with the intent that the document will be revised and edited as changes in University, College, or Department policies occur. Revised Spring 2006.