Proposed Educational Leadership Doctoral Program New Course Enhancements
(EDL 7200, 8200, 8201 for 2024-2025, Cohort 34)
The completely revised educational leadership doctoral program was launched in 2018 with Cohort 27. Since that time, minor course enhancements and changes have taken place. Through feedback from students, instructors, and our advisory council, the need for an academic dissertation writing course has emerged. Furthermore, this feedback has led us to the conclusion that the writing course should occur in the spring of year one. EDL 7200 Writing for Innovation and Continuous Improvement will be a two-credit semester long course scheduled for year one.
EDL 8100 Designing and Interpreting Instruments for the Dissertation in Practice, was originally designed to meet the financial aid credit requirements and has truly helped those students with their assessment design for their dissertation. Furthermore, feedback from our advisory council and student CATS surveys on the course has led us to the conclusion that this course should become a regular part of the doctoral program. In addition, in order to further solve financial aid concerns that has been occurring in year two of the program, we are proposing to add a part two one credit course, EDL 8201 Designing and Interpreting Instruments for the Dissertation in Practice II. This does not present an increase to the overall program current program (49 to 53) due to the writing course being only two credits.
YEAR 1
EDL 7590
EDL 8115 or EDL 8125 and/or
EDL 8137
EDL
Laboratory of Practice: Teacher Leader Laboratory of Practice: Building Leader Laboratory of Practice: District Leader
EDL 8200 Designing and Interpreting Instruments for the Dissertation in Practice I
Semester Credits Notes
EDL
New in Fall of 2022 –Cohort 31 (previously four one credit courses dispersed throughout the program)
Proposed for Spring of 2025 – Cohort 34
Moved from Spring of Year 2
B2 1 Optional course to be made permanent with cohort 34 (2025) approved two years ago
YEAR 2 Semester Credits
EDL
Meeting Minutes: EDL Advisory Council Meeting
Date: May 26, 2024
Time: 4:00-6:00
1. Welcome and Introductions
Chairperson Todd Hackett-Slimm opened the meeting by welcoming attendees and introducing key participants, including:
• Attendees: Dr. Todd Hackett-Slimm, Dr. Brown, Dr. Kae Keister, Dr. Nancy Carnevale, Dr. Leon Wilson, Dr. TJ Vari, Mr. Travis Piser, Dr. Devon Jacob
2. Writing Course Update
Todd Hackett-Slimm reviewed the council’s earlier discussion on the need for a dedicated writing course for doctoral candidates. He announced that the new course, EDL 7200: Writing for Innovation and Continuous Improvement, has been approved by the College of Education and Liberal Arts. The course is pending final approval from the University Curriculum Committee and is slated for launch in spring for cohort 34.
• The course is designed to strengthen writing skills in the first year of the program and was developed with input from Dr. Carnevale and faculty who teach the action research courses.
• Quote: "Writing can be an extremely powerful tool, and we’re excited that this course will become a part of the first-year curriculum."
3. AI Integration in the Doctoral Program
Discussion shifted to the growing presence of generative AI in education, and the university’s decision to offer students access to Microsoft Copilot. The council reviewed a proposed belief statement from the College of Education on the ethical use of AI. Dr. Nancy Carnevale presented the statement, which emphasized the following points:
• Value: AI should foster creativity and deeper understanding.
• Ethical Use: Clear, transparent guidelines are necessary.
• Faculty Competence: Instructors must understand AI’s limitations.
• Authentic Outcomes: Focus on originality and integrity in student work.
• Leon Wilson raised concerns about the need for explicit instructions on proper AI use. He suggested, "There should be clear guidelines on what’s acceptable and what isn’t, so there’s no ambiguity."
In response, Dr. Keister mentioned that detailed AI guidelines would be left to individual instructors but acknowledged the importance of direct guidance.
4. Quality Measures Self-Study Report
The council reviewed the recent Quality Measures Self-Study, conducted in collaboration with the state. Travis Pisershared key findings, noting that while the doctoral program meets expectations, there are areas for improvement:
• Internships: Enhance internship experiences by updating assignments to reflect realworld tasks.
• Dissertation Process: Ongoing improvements are necessary, with an emphasis on better preparation through writing and measurement courses.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): Ensure DEI discussions are more explicit in course syllabi.
Quote: "It’s there, but it’s not overt. We need to ensure DEI is actively discussed and not just running in the background," said Todd Hackett-Slimm.
5. Discussion on Course Offerings
Leon Wilson noted a gap in foundational administrative knowledge for some students. "There’s nothing that gives you the basics, like what a district is, what a school board does," he said. Kathryn Brown agreed, suggesting a "glossary" of administrative terms. The council discussed whether this could be integrated into existing coursework, such as finance or law classes.
Devon Jacob added that some students do receive this information in specific courses but agreed that clearer expectations for instructors would help. Travis Piser emphasized the need for practical instruction over philosophical discussion in certain courses.
6. Changes to the Doctoral Program
Todd Hackett-Slimm outlined upcoming changes, including:
• Consolidating the two innovation courses into one to avoid overlap.
• Adding a dissertation component to the redesigned course.
• Making EDL 8200 (Designing and Interpreting Instruments for the Dissertation) mandatory in the first summer.
• Creating a follow-up course to support dissertation work in year two. Devon Jacob expressed support, particularly for the instrument course, saying, "The instrument course is extremely important, and the changes will streamline the program."
7. Current and Future Partnerships
The council reviewed several partnership updates:
• Caesar Rodney Cohorts: Success has led to plans for another cohort in partnership with Postal Weight Middle School.
• Cape Henlopen Cohorts: Two cohorts are currently in progress, with potential for a third cohort in Cape Henlopen School District.
• Dual Credit Advantage Program: The program allows students in the School Leadership Graduate Program to earn doctoral credits, which they can apply toward future doctoral coursework.
Quote: "It’s really something we’re excited about… allowing students to balance work and academic commitments," explained Hackett-Slimm.
8. CAEP Accreditation Process
The final agenda item was a discussion on the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) self-study. The program is collecting data through structured assignments to ensure continued national accreditation.
• Faculty and students may be called upon to share experiences as part of the datagathering process.
Hackett-Slimm emphasized the importance of the accreditation, saying, "It’s crucial for maintaining the national recognition of our programs."
9. Closing Remarks
The meeting concluded with Hackett-Slimm thanking the council for their contributions. He encouraged members to reach out with any additional feedback, particularly on the AI integration and program changes.
Self-Study Team Note Catcher and Planning Template
DE Wilmington’s Evidence Synthesis Meeting
January 22-23, 2024
Instructions: Please select a note-taker (or take turns note-taking) from your program team. Use this template, organized by domain, to capture notes from the group conversations with critical friends. There are also spaces for the team to note their reflections and start next steps planning.
Name of Program EDL Program
Today’s Date
1/22/2024 & 1/23/2024
Notetaker from Team Kae Keister & Nancy Carnevale
Domain 1: Candidate Admissions
Notes from the domain synthesis conversation with critical friends
Emphasis was noted on developing equity in admissions – of considering AI for the writing prompt – noting updates for candidate simulation and writing prompt – virtual opportunities for marketing doctoral program – add partnerships
Program strengths include district partnerships that have been developed throughout the state. These partnerships are selected based on the district’s equity centeredness. Ned shared this partntership has increased access and has been “super” beneficial to the entire district for building effective leaders. Another strength voiced by Ned was having all three concentrations together – teacher, building and district leaders. This builds deep understanding across the entire district. Several suggestions to harness the power of technology were offered as they applied to the admission process; including holding virtual open houses, optimizing search engines, AI detectors for prompts, and using Linked In.
Are you thinking differently about your team’s self-assessment on any indicators as a result of that conversation? How?
Consideration of AI use by candidates in writing prompts –parameters set and monitoring ability
Ned confirmed what we indicated as our strengths, the district partnerships are making a positive impact.
Hearing Cheryl’s feedback about how to harness tech in the area of admissions was something we hadn’t thought about –specifically optimizing search engines and using “turn-it-in" to detect AI in writing prompts.
What do you see as the next steps for your program team in this domain?
“Low hanging fruit” or short-term next steps – modify writing prompts to be more current and investigate a virtual recruiting event for doctoral programs. Expand partnerships (Appo) –updating tags and keywords for Search Engine Optimization Language (SEL)
• Continue to recruit partnerships
• Revise writing prompts to include more current quotes and be more equity centered
• Move to develop partnership with the state through the new Induction Program
Domain 2: Coursework
Notes from the domain synthesis conversation with critical friends
Are you thinking differently about your team’s self-assessment on any indicators as a result of that conversation? How?
Integration of GAI within a new academic writing course – adjunct professional development, communication and training is conducted personally by the program chair and instructor to instructor. Continue to update primary resources sometimes versus textbooks. Consideration of overt diverse language, readings and authorship in syllabi.
Travis Piser offered a suggestion of including coursework directly linked to the DIP during year two. Consider addition of writing course during year two.
Intellectual thought diversity and cultural readings and authorship
What do you see as the next steps for your program team in this domain?
Formalized course refresher schedule – sharing resources across sections of courses – GAI considerations for new academic writing course – equity centered intentional language in syllabi
Domain 3: Pedagogy-Andragogy
Notes from the domain synthesis conversation with critical friends
Are you thinking differently about your team’s self-assessment on any indicators as a result of that conversation? How?
What do you see as the next steps for your program team in this domain?
Reflective practice is a major initiative for candidate growth, deep thinking and development in leadership (LDP). Dr. Harrison shared the imperative of having our candidates think and synthesize information to develop the right questions. Faculty professional development is on-going and offered to all. Affirmation of succession planning and collaboration ensures sustainable and intentional common culture for the on-going improvement and future of the program.
Teaching and appreciating the diversity of educational roles and contextual settings is as important as cultural, racial and ethnicity diversity. The importance of coming to an agreement about how we are defining diversity to make it more overt.
Intentionally and overtly within course syllabi create activities for the multifaceted components of diversity – intellectual diversity, roles and context diversity and cultural diversity. Revise course descriptions (EDL 7116 and 7709) to include overt language about innovation and diversity.
Domain 4: Clinical Practice
Notes from the domain synthesis conversation with critical friends
Are you thinking differently about your team’s self-assessment on any indicators as a result of that conversation? How?
LEA partnerships and identified our rationale for continuous improvement. Document given for collaborative information. The SL&L have enhanced immediate feedback to candidates. Partnerships need to be formalized.
Quality might be higher than we first rated but we continue to see a higher level need for enhancing LEA partnerships.
What do you see as the next steps for your program team in this domain?
Tighten up mentor evaluation with aligning with feedback being commensurate across roles. Consider a 360 evaluation of the mentor, supervisor, candidate with a possible add-on of the Action Research team member.
Domain 5: Performance Assessment
Notes from the domain synthesis conversation with critical friends
NELP Standards are cross-walked with PSEL Standards. Candidate Leadership Plans goals are aligned to the NELP Standards and link to the Laboratory of Practice clinical experiences with a culturally responsive emphasis. The Dissertation in Practice is continuously developed throughout the program, but is a bit light in year two with intentional instruction (see Domain 2) Dr. Hale shared the positive impact of having all three pathways (teacher, building and district) combined in classes. This provides a wide-range of perspectives, while allowing for individualized opportunities. Are you thinking differently about your team’s self-assessment on any indicators as a result of that conversation? How?
What do you see as the next steps for your program team in this domain?
Consider making the overall rating a whole number.
Tighten data and reports especially on candidate performance of self-reflection and continuous improvement in the field after graduation. (Exit survey answering…How are components of the program continuing to make improvements in your classroom/school/district? (Note: Also applicable to D6)
Emphasize WU CTE professional development feedback module to our adjuncts.
Domain 6: Graduate Performance Outcomes
Notes from the domain synthesis conversation with critical friends
Working on partnership extension with districts – District partner input given about the doctoral program prepares candidate’s skill development and leadership professional development for work in the field. It is evident that candidates the growth and focus for moving into leadership roles. Continuous growth of candidates after graduation and continued work in the profession was noted as well. Dr. Burrows shared his belief that the cohort model lends
Are you thinking differently about your team’s self-assessment on any indicators as a result of that conversation? How?
What do you see as the next steps for your program team in this domain?
Critical Friends:
Jennifer Alexander
Erin Kaplan
Matt Burrows
Travis Piser
Sylvia Henderson
Leon Wilson
Katie Harrison
Devon Jacob
Jennifer Nauman
Jason Hale
TJ Vari
Ed Small
itself to continuous improvement. Dr. Nauman shared that the WU partnership with the Cape Henlopen district is changing the district culture. It is now an expectation for all administrators to obtain a doctorate and engage in continuous improvement.
Our critical friends continued to share the positive impact of having scholarly practitioners teaching in the program
Consider making the overall rating a whole number.
Graduate exit survey and scorecard data coordinated with the state of DE. Gain attention to data and resources for own scorecard. Expand LEA partnerships to develop the possibility of hub sites.
