ESU Set to Graduate First-Ever Doctorate Students

Last April, the Board of Governors of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education approved a doctor of education in Educational Leadership and Administration for East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania. The 60-credit Ed.D. is the first doctorate program in the 124-year history of the institution.

On Wednesday, March 22 Greg Cottrell was the first student to defend a dissertation for ESU’s doctoral program. Cottrell is the assistant principal at North Hunterdon High School in New Jersey. In his dissertation research he aimed to gain an understanding of how data about student internet activity can influence the instructional design choices that teachers make in order to meet the needs of digital learners. His findings support the guiding hypothesis that there are educational benefits associated with providing teachers access to comprehensive learning analytics reports associated with their students.

“Greg Cottrell’s successful dissertation defense marks a true watershed moment in ESU’s history. It is an enormous personal achievement for Greg, one which deserves to be proudly celebrated,” said William Bajor, Ph.D., director of graduate and extended learning at ESU. “It is also a moment where Greg has the unique honor of leading the way for those who will follow him as future doctorate degree recipients at ESU.”

Since 2000, ESU has offered this doctoral program in collaboration with Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP), the only State System university approved to offer doctoral degrees until the 2012 passage of Pennsylvania’s Higher Education Modernization Act (Act 104). Act 104 permits all State System universities to propose and offer professional doctoral degrees. Because of the demonstrated need for the Ed.D. in educational leadership and administration and ESU’s ability to support the doctoral program, both institutions agreed that ESU should develop its own degree. The program’s curriculum, closely modeled on the IUP program, has been fully approved through ESU’s university-wide curriculum committee and Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE).

“The ESU/IUP partnership program maintained strong enrollments throughout its 15-year existence,” said Douglas Lare, Ed.D., ESU professor of professional and secondary education and doctoral program coordinator. The partnership program used a cohort model with new cohorts entering the program every other year. Dr. Lare, who has played a key role in the development of ESU’s doctoral curriculum added, “ESU’s doctoral program will be vigorously documented, measured and assessed through an ongoing analysis of student performance data to ensure the program will continue to align with the educational standards required by state and national accreditation agencies.”

ESU’s doctorate is designed to enhance leadership and administrative skills of PreK-16 leaders. “The Ed.D. is grounded in the belief that effective administrators play a key role in advancing their institutions and the students they serve,” said ESU Provost Joanne Bruno, J.D. “This program has been a long time coming, particularly for the members of ESU’s faculty and administration who have partnered to see this program come to fruition.”

Housed in the College of Education and offered by the department of professional and secondary education, the new doctoral program’s courses are taught primarily by ESU faculty with supporting temporary faculty who have specific industry specializations for certain courses. Terry Barry, Ed.D., dean of ESU’s College of Education, noted that while the new doctoral degree is housed in the department of professional and secondary education, there is thoughtful collaboration and interdisciplinary involvement across the colleges with outside agencies providing opportunities for internships, research studies and other practitioner-based requirements.

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