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Instructional Leadership
In the Instructional Leadership specialization, you will develop your knowledge-base in instructional leadership research, theory and practice with an emphasis on change through policy development and educational reform. You will conduct research and analysis as you examine supervision of instruction, curriculum, diversity and the instructional capacity of K-12 schools. As an Instructional Leadership graduate, you may choose to teach; work with organizations interested in education on a global scale; or pursue research in this field.
General Degree Requirements
The PhD Program may be completed in 60 semester credit hours. However, up to an additional 15 credit hours will be allowed as needed to complete the dissertation research. If the program is not completed in 75 credit hours, the student will be dismissed from the program.
Completion Period for Doctoral Degrees
Northcentral University allows 7 years to complete all doctoral programs of 60 credits or less. Normal time to complete varies depending upon course take rate and credits transferred.
Certification and Licensing
The School of Education serves educational leaders by providing online graduate studies in education to reach worldwide populations. The PhD program is designed to reach national and international markets and does not purport to provide licensure or certification in any particular state or country.
PhD Degree Requirements
Admission to the doctorate programs at NCU requires a master's degree from an accredited institution. PhD students are also required to demonstrate competency in specific subject areas prior to enrolling in any of the specialization or elective courses.
Foundational Competencies for PhD Program
- Graduate Level Statistics Competency - PhD students are required to complete a Statistics in Education Research Course, EDU8003, and also EDU8006, Advanced Educational Statistics.
- Competency in Research Writing Skills - PhD students are required to show competency in writing skills for research purposes through their Northcentral University graduate coursework before being assigned to any dissertation courses. Students will be required to take EDU8001, Advanced Scholarly Writing, to improve APA formatting skills and to address advanced writing and research skills as necessary.
- Computer Competency - PhD students are required to use appropriate computer skills that are necessary in writing a dissertation. Students must be able to prepare documents using advanced word processing skills (e.g., creation of tables and figures, headers and footers, page breaks, tables of contents, hanging indents, etc.). In addition, students need to use computer programs for the statistical analysis and presentation of data (e.g., Excel, SPSS). The oral defense normally requires a computer-based presentation by the candidate (e.g., a PowerPoint presentation).
Course Length
All new students enrolling in the PhD in Education program are automatically enrolled in courses that are eight weeks in length. All eight-week courses are indicated by a "-8" (dash eight) at the end of the course code.
Course Code | Name | Course Description |
|---|---|---|
Specialization Course 1 | ||
EDU8002, EDU8002-8 | Educational Research Methodology | The purpose of this course is to enable students to gain a holistic understanding of the research process and examine the most common research designs used in educational research. In this course, students are prepared to make thoughtful and wise choices about their dissertation research project or capstone project through the exploration of different research design options. |
Specialization Course 2 | ||
EDU8003, EDU8003-8 | Statistics I | This course provides an introductory exploration of statistics for the graduate Learner. It includes instruction on the calculation, use, and interpretation of descriptive statistics, and introduces inferential statistical analysis. The emphasis of this course is on providing a working knowledge of basic statistical concepts to help the Learner understand statistical methodology used in education, and also more generally, developing a working knowledge of statistical usage in everyday life. |
Specialization Course 3 | ||
EDU8202, EDU8202-8 | Research Design | In this course, the Learner acquires the basic skills necessary for the interpretation and application of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research. The Learner will examine the formal research process carefully, with an emphasis on practical applications and skill development. Critical concepts and principles intrinsic to research paradigms, study designs, and methods of inquiry are presented to empower the Learners ability to formulate and respond to research questions. The resources listed below from the Northcentral University Dissertation Center are critical resources throughout the whole research process _ learners are highly encouraged to become deeply familiar with the resources from the Northcentral University Dissertation Center. |
EDU8005, EDU8005-8 | Qualitative Research Design | This course is an examination of qualitative methods for studying human behavior including grounded theory, narrative analysis, ethnography, and case studies. |
Specialization Course 4 | ||
EDU8006, EDU8006-8 | Statistics II | This course is an intermediate examination of statistical analyses commonly used for research in education. It prepares the doctoral student with the skills required to plan, conduct (using SPSS), report, and interpret quantitative statistical analyses. Topics include: basic statistical knowledge, probability theory, exploratory data analysis, assumptions for statistical tests, parametric and nonparametric tests. Specific analyses include correlation, regression (simple, multiple, and logistic), basic ANOVA and advance ANOVA techniques. |
Specialization Course 5 | ||
EDU8007, EDU8007-8 | Quantitative Methods | This course provides students with the skills essential for designing experimental, quasi-experimental, and survey studies; analyzing the data collected in those studies, and interpreting the results of data analyses. Students will explore designs and statistical techniques to use with their envisioned dissertation research. |
Specialization Course 6 | ||
EDU8207, EDU8207-8 | Planning Dissertation Research in Education | Students in this course will begin the process of writing a dissertation for a research or professional doctorate. The course will address the University dissertation procedures and aids students in the process of successfully completing a dissertation, including attending to self-care and time management. |
Course Code | Name | Course Description |
|---|---|---|
EDU8000, EDU8000-8 | Foundations for Doctoral Study in Education (This course will be taken as the first course) | This course is an orientation to Northcentral University and to the essential skills needed to pursue a doctoral degree in Education. Doctoral level skills, such as academic integrity, time management, effective use of the Northcentral Library, comprehending complex scholarly texts and research articles, and APA form and style in professional communication are also introduced. Students will complete the course with a better understanding of personal goals, strengths, and challenges, and a roadmap to navigate their way to completion of their educational aspirations. |
EDU8001, EDU8001-8 | Advanced Scholarly Writing | The purpose of this course is to build advanced skills identifying and obtaining high quality sources through online library searches. In addition, the course addresses advanced writing and APA formatting skills, and it prepares students to be critically reflective consumers of research reports. |
Course Code | Name | Course Description |
|---|---|---|
IL7000-8 | The Culture of Learning | Skillful instructional leaders occupy many jobs within educational organizations. These jobs include principals, district administrators, teacher leaders, staff support, community organizers, and parents and students who accept leadership responsibilities. Anyone responsible for creating a culture of learning engages in instructional leadership tasks. Effective instructional leaders must be able to articulate essential links between instructional tasks, student learning, and organizational goals. In this course, doctoral students will explore myriad ways to engage these instructional domains. Through course activities, students will engage topics including technology integration, philosophically sound curriculum decision-making, visionary leadership traits, and curriculum management. |
IL7001-8 | Leader as Advocate and Decision Maker | Instructional leaders are at the pinnacle of decision-making in any organization. Typically, decisions filter down through the ranks until outcomes reach and impact stakeholders. Decision-making requires careful consideration of the overlapping spheres of influence at work in educational organizations. It is essential that instructional leaders have a deep understanding of promoting vision and mission for the organization to meet its goals. One of the most important facets of this is when the leader acts as an educational advocate. Advocates promote positive leadership and learning and focus on effective core values, beliefs, and purpose of the educational endeavor. In this course, doctoral students will engage the complex decision-making concepts and processes while reflecting on staff development and instructional supervision. |
IL7002-8 | Leader as Community Advocate | Instructional leaders must forge relationships with stakeholders in the community to build effective learning organizations. This is an era of heightened accountability and leaders need to be as transparent as possible with operational aspects of the school to allow community members to understand the intricacies of managing education organizations. In this course, doctoral students will develop the skills to seamlessly engage stakeholders in partnerships to enhance educational operations at all levels. The student will develop knowledge of professional learning communities and ways to stimulate community leadership. |
CT7000-8 | Developing Instructional Strategies and Curriculum | In Developing Instructional Strategies and Curriculum, students will contrast and analyze instructional strategies based on a framework of architectural principles. Students will integrate and implement curriculum theories and models that can include differentiated instruction and the infusion of technology. Curriculum standards, requirements, issues, and trends will be evaluated for the production and promotion of recommendations for effective change. |
CT7007-8 | Leadership for Student Achievement | Leadership for Student Achievement provides doctoral students with learning opportunities related to maximizing student achievement. Major instructional models are compared and evaluated to enable a positive, supportive classroom environment. The diverse needs of students and their learning styles are assessed and possible proactive changes are suggested using reflective practices and the insights of differentiated instruction. Student discipline patterns and discipline management techniques are analyzed and evaluated to minimize disruptive behavior and increase learning. Doctoral students will examine and appraise research-based instructional strategies for effective classroom management. Action research plans that will explore classroom self-selected management topics will be expected. |
ED7014-8 | Practices in School Organization | School organizations serve as models of effective teaching and successful student engagement and learning. In this course, the doctoral student will examine the organizational structure of schools and school systems and their relationships to and effects on school programs, teaching strategies, testing and measurement, and evaluation of programs in schools. The student will consider the way schools are organized about time, space, and other resources. Organizational dynamics will be explored and there will be an opportunity to engage operational factors that influence the school climate including human resources, organizational outreach, and capacity. Finally, the student will explore stakeholder participation in organizational practice. |
ED7016-8 | Supervision and Leadership in Schools | The purpose of this doctoral-level course is to explore the theoretical framework and practical applications of supervision and leadership within the economic, social, political, and educational context of schooling. This course is designed so that students can develop a conceptual paradigm of practice to sustain reflection, build competence, enact effective supervision, and promote change. This course facilitates an understanding of development theories and collaborative planning models for enhanced professional practice. Topics include administration and supervision, research, strategies that promote growth, and differentiated supervision models. Emphasis is placed upon the student gaining a clear understanding of the interrelatedness among supervision and leadership, instruction, and assessment. |
ED7035-8 | Curriculum Supervision | This course is designed to expose doctoral students to theories of curriculum and instructional supervision and the design of instructional systems. Emphasis will be on translating theory into practice, particularly for curriculum supervision in public or private schools and/or in industry training. This course provides an overview of theories, principles, practices, and issues in curriculum supervision. It explores the pedagogical and curricular requirements of schools and integrates theory and practice. This course focuses on the design, implementation and evaluation of curricula. Doctoral students will develop the skills and knowledge required to design and manage curricula resources and delivery to ensure congruence among the written, taught, and tested curricula. The course also explores issues of equitable instructional programs, materials, and products that support student achievement and institutional goals. |
ED7030-8 | Development of Organizational Leadership | In this course, doctoral students will explore classic and contemporary approaches to organizational development. Students will define authentic leadership and effectiveness; and will explore what it means to work mindfully while applying principles of authenticity, integrity, and purposefulness. Doctoral students will explore preferred communication styles, cultivate relationship, develop strategies, and identify optimal strategies for organization growth and maturity. Students will be introduced to the doctrines of organization development, theory, and techniques. Attention will be given to organizational development in today's fast paced environments. |
ED7036-8 | Innovation for Change | Doctoral students will employ creative skills, manage innovation, and hone techniques to promote imaginative and flexible change strategies. Education is constantly reinventing itself in order to meet the demands of society. Instructional leaders must be ready to interpret and shape the school organization based on the ideals put forth at the time, by a changing world. School leadership requires an ability to conceptualize and realize a vision for the organization. Change involves knowledge, understanding, and commitment from administrators and cannot be construed as an event but rather a process. Further, change involves working with a diverse group of people and striving to motivate others to muscle through change as it is needed. Leaders must work with a community and use change to implement desirable changes. School leaders are constantly making decisions that impact the school organization. This course will prepare doctoral students to negotiate the world of education innovation and change. |
Course Code | Name | Course Description |
|---|---|---|
CMP9500E | Doctoral Comprehensive Examination | In pursuit of a research doctoral degree (PhD) at Northcentral University, students gain expertise in their academic discipline and in one or more specializations that complement their academic discipline. The Doctoral Comprehensive Examination is intended to assure that students have mastered knowledge of their discipline before candidacy status is achieved and their dissertation work is initiated. The Doctoral Comprehensive Examination is taken following the completion of all foundation, specialization, and methods courses. This course is graded using Satisfactory (S) and Unsatisfactory (U) grading criteria. The Doctoral Comprehensive Examination must be successfully completed with an "S" grade prior to beginning any work in Dissertation courses. This course may only be retaken once. |
DIS9501E | PhD Doctoral Dissertation | In this course sequence, students work progressively on completing each doctoral dissertation milestone toward the completion of the PhD degree. These milestones include Committee and University approval of a dissertation concept paper, a dissertation proposal paper, an approved IRB application by the Northcentral University Institutional Review Board, the collection and analysis of research data, the preparation and approval of the final dissertation manuscript, and the successful completion of the oral defense. Courses are taken continually and sequentially until all dissertation milestones have been completed. Throughout these courses, students often work independently but are required to be in communication with the Chair of their Dissertation Committee at least every 28 calendar days. These courses are graded utilizing Satisfactory (S) and Unsatisfactory (U) as the grading criteria. |
DIS9502E | PhD Doctoral Dissertation | In this course sequence, students work progressively on completing each doctoral dissertation milestone toward the completion of the PhD degree. These milestones include Committee and University approval of a dissertation concept paper, a dissertation proposal paper, an approved IRB application by the Northcentral University Institutional Review Board, the collection and analysis of research data, the preparation and approval of the final dissertation manuscript, and the successful completion of the oral defense. Courses are taken continually and sequentially until all dissertation milestones have been completed. Throughout these courses, students often work independently but are required to be in communication with the Chair of their Dissertation Committee at least every 28 calendar days. These courses are graded utilizing Satisfactory (S) and Unsatisfactory (U) as the grading criteria. |
DIS9503E | PhD Doctoral Dissertation | In this course sequence, students work progressively on completing each doctoral dissertation milestone toward the completion of the PhD degree. These milestones include Committee and University approval of a dissertation concept paper, a dissertation proposal paper, an approved IRB application by the Northcentral University Institutional Review Board, the collection and analysis of research data, the preparation and approval of the final dissertation manuscript, and the successful completion of the oral defense. Courses are taken continually and sequentially until all dissertation milestones have been completed. Throughout these courses, students often work independently but are required to be in communication with the Chair of their Dissertation Committee at least every 28 calendar days. These courses are graded utilizing Satisfactory (S) and Unsatisfactory (U) as the grading criteria. |
DIS9504E | PhD Doctoral Dissertation | In this course sequence, students work progressively on completing each doctoral dissertation milestone toward the completion of the PhD degree. These milestones include Committee and University approval of a dissertation concept paper, a dissertation proposal paper, an approved IRB application by the Northcentral University Institutional Review Board, the collection and analysis of research data, the preparation and approval of the final dissertation manuscript, and the successful completion of the oral defense. Courses are taken continually and sequentially until all dissertation milestones have been completed. Throughout these courses, students often work independently but are required to be in communication with the Chair of their Dissertation Committee at least every 28 calendar days. These courses are graded utilizing Satisfactory (S) and Unsatisfactory (U) as the grading criteria. |
At Northcentral University, we pride ourselves in being completely transparent when it comes to tuition and fees. We have adopted an all-inclusive tuition model that gives you the cost of your Doctor of Philosophy in Education tuition and fees in one flat program rate*. The only additional cost above your PhD in Education program rate is books. Learn more about the NCU’s PhD in Education costs below:
- Per credit cost: $857
- Per 3 credit course cost: $2,570
- Program cost: $51,400
- Average book cost per course: $150
- Application Fee: $0
- Technology Fee: $0
- Registration Fee: $0
Click here to learn more about payment and financing options.
*Program rates are subject to change and generally increase at the start of each calendar year.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned about our students, it’s that they are motivated and ambitious—but they are also busy! At Northcentral University, we’ve designed our education experience to work with you, not against you, so you can achieve your academic goals without sacrificing the quality, flexibility and support you need to be successful.
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- No Physical Residency Requirements
- One-to-One Teaching
- 100% Doctoral Faculty
- Flexibility of Online Learning
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