Education Specialist
33 Semester Credits / 10 Semester / 24 Months
Delivery Method: Online
The Education Specialist program with a focus in organizational leadership provides professionals with a pathway to becoming E.L.I.T.E. leaders in their chosen field without requiring completion of a dissertation. The program develops visionary, forward-thinking practitioners who are prepared to lead, innovate, and influence organizational improvement across diverse settings, including education, government, business, healthcare, military, and nonprofit agencies. The EdS program equips learners with the knowledge, skills, and adaptive leadership mindsets needed to transform organizational ecosystems that are increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. Through applied coursework, learners expand their capacity to identify critical challenges, propose evidence-based solutions, and facilitate meaningful and sustainable change within their professional environments. Graduates of the EdS in Organizational Leadership are prepared to serve as dynamic leaders who strengthen organizational performance, advance equity-driven decision-making, and introduce innovative practices that positively impact their communities. The EdS also offers a seamless pathway to the Doctor of Education (EdD) for those who wish to further their scholarly and professional preparation.
Outcomes
Equity – Doctoral learners create policies advancing equity and social justice that follow ethical and regulatory compliant actions supporting the mission and vision of organizations.
Leadership – Doctoral learners demonstrate leadership skills by integrating theoretical constructs, analyzing the relationship between the leader and the organizational culture, and implementing global leadership thinking within their professional practice.
Innovation – Doctoral learners examine human and organizational dynamics that influence the implementation of innovation in educational enterprises, generate alternative solutions in determining whether to adopt an innovation, as well as create innovative strategic and tactical plans and systems to produce more effective organizations, examining contemporary methodologies to incorporate human and organizational dynamics into the evaluation of innovation initiatives.
Theory – Doctoral learners construct theory-informed decisions for addressing complex problems of practice and integrate theories of change and conduct analyses of relevant innovation and organizational theories.
Education – Doctoral learners employ effective strategies for facilitating organizational learning and are able to critique the effectiveness of communication approaches for diverse recipients.
Core Requirements
| EDD800 | Introduction to Advanced Studies | 3 |
| EDD801 | Theoretical Foundations of Leadership and Innovation | 3 |
| EDD803 | Advanced Writing and Research | 3 |
| EDD804 | Foundations of Research Design and Methodology | 3 |
| EDD805 | Leadership for Systemic and Organizational Change | 3 |
| EDD807 | Teaching, Learning, and Leading in Organizations | 3 |
| EDD809 | Advanced Research: The Literature Review | 3 |
| EDD810 | Fundamentals of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship | 3 |
| EDD811 | Using Communication to Lead Change | 3 |
| EDD812 | Ethical Dilemmas in Organizational Leadership | 3 |
| EDD899 | Advanced Synthesis The Proposal | 3 |