Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.) Admissions

Admissions & Application - Program Overview

The principal goal of the Educational Leadership for Social Justice Program (ELSJ) is to further develop and encourage bold, socially responsible leaders committed to create schools where students of color and poor children achieve at high levels of success. Of pivotal concern for our public schools is leadership with the professional habits, dispositions and courage to redress injustice based on race, class and gender prejudices.

Admissions Criteria

To be considered, an applicant must have educational leadership experience in PK-12, alternative education, or other agency settings that serve PK-14 students. Significant leadership responsibilities can include: principal, director/coordinator, executive leadership at district/county/program levels. Teacher leaders with site-level or district-level responsibilities and who can demonstrate systems-level knowledge are invited to apply. Applicants must be committed to continuing their work as transformational leaders for social justice in organizations that serve PK-14 students and their communities.

To be admitted to the ELSJ program, applicants must meet the academic requirements as well as demonstrate professional experiences and academic skills that suggest a strong potential for success as doctoral candidates and as bold, socially responsible educational leaders. Meeting the minimum requirements qualifies an individual for consideration, but does not guarantee admission to the ELSJ program. Admission will be granted on a competitive basis and limited to 20 candidates on an annual basis and begin every June (Summer quarter start). The ELSJ program will not include a foreign language requirement.

The ELSJ program requires the following of all applicants for admission to the doctoral program:

• an earned baccalaureate degree and master's degree from accredited institutions of higher education with a GPA in graduate study of 3.0 or above;
• submission of Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores from within the last five years; GRE® General Test Overview
• demonstrated leadership skills and abilities in PK-12 schools or closely related fields (e.g., school reform networks, policy institutions);
• demonstrated and documented professional or personal commitment to equity and social justice;
• demonstrated academic excellence;
• professional experiences which demonstrate problem-solving ability and an interest in critically assessing current educational policies and practices;
• three confidential recommendation forms attesting to the leadership ability, equity commitment and capacity of the candidate to undertake doctoral-level work;
• professional resume;
• a written response to a writing prompt concerning issues of school effectiveness and the challenges facing leaders in bringing about sustained change that will result in equitable outcomes for all students in California;
• a portfolio of at least one, and no more than three, samples of work that demonstrate how the candidate’s leadership has made a difference in student learning outcomes – for each item, include a brief paragraph that identifies the issue represented by the item, the desired goal, and what the item illustrates about the candidate’s competencies;
• Employer/District Support Agreement stating support for the candidate’s doctoral studies from her/his employer or, in the cases where this is not provided, an individual plan for meeting the demands of the program and his/her professional responsibilities, including support systems that the individual expects to access.

We are now accepting applications for the 2013 cohort

Admissions Procedure

The process of applying and being admitted to the ELSJ program is a two-step procedure. The first step requires that interested persons submit a program application. Successful applicants selected into the ELSJ program by the Admissions Committee will be authorized to submit a CSU application in order to be officially admitted to the university. A detailed explanation of each of the steps follows:

Step One: Submission of Department Application

• Application materials are to be submitted by March 1, 2013 for the fourth review cycle.
• After the Admissions Committee review, successful applicants will be invited to a group interview and simulation activity.
• Our program begins in the Summer quarter with an orientation in early June.

•  
  • Online Application
  • Recommendation Form
  • Employer Support Form
  • Writing Assessment
  • GRE
  • Successful applicants who have been selected by the Department of Educational Leadership will be asked to complete on online California State University, East Bay application. Please note that you must be admitted into the ELSJ program prior to submitting you application to the university.

• Step Two: Submission of University Application

  Western Association of Schools and Colleges approval 2008

  Questions? email edd@csueastbay.edu or call 510-885-3559