About Educational Leadership - PK-12 Specialization at CSUSB
The Doctorate of Education (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership program is rigorous and research-based, framed around questions of equity, ethics and social justice, with the goal of bringing about solutions to complex problems.
If you’re looking for a program that will prepare you to be an educational leader with the knowledge and skills to lead reform efforts that result in improved student outcomes and educational transformation, this program could be an ideal fit.
A three-year cohort-based program, the Ed.D. degree aims to meet the needs of full-time professionals in education; courses are offered on weekends, on Fridays from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., and on Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Students attend every other weekend in the fall and spring semesters and every weekend during the summer semester.
You’ll be encouraged to identify a field-based problem of practice for your dissertation research and can choose from two tracks: PreK-12 or Community College/Higher Education.
Careers in Educational Leadership - PK-12 Specialization
Possible Career Paths
Once you’ve earned your Ed.D., there’s a wide range of positions you may hold as a leader in an educational environment. These can include:
- Principal
- Chief academic officer
- Chief learning officer
- Chief knowledge officer
- Policymaker/analyst
- Educational consultant
- Academic dean
- Researcher
- Education professor
- Curriculum developer
- Superintendent
- Provost
- University/college president
- CEO/COO (nonprofit, higher education, academic medical center, healthcare organizations, government, military, criminal justice, K-12 education)
Sample Courses
Leadership and Educational Reform
Explores governing educational policy, including significant laws, legal principles, recent litigation, teacher and faculty rights and duties, administrative behavior, board relationships and labor management relations.
Foundations of Leadership in PK-12 Institutions
Students will use critical thinking to analyze and evaluate the complexities of historical, philosophical, and socio-political aspects of PK-12 education systems. Emphasizes impact of leadership on societal and legal issues affecting relationships between PK-12 and higher education.
Scientific Inquiry
Offers guided practice in the critical review and application of current educational literature, the development of comprehensive research questions and/or hypothesis development, and design of basic quantitative, qualitative, or mixed methods through a field based problem of practice approach.
Meet Alum Erika Tejeda, Ed.D.
Opportunities for Students
In 2022, CSUSB advanced to the category of Doctoral University: High Research Activity (R2), raising the university’s status to a “national university” from a “regional university” by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. In 2024, the university’s Doctorate in Educational Leadership program placed it among the country’s top 100 education schools, according to U.S. News & World Report.
The College of Education offers a range of scholarships, and the Holmes Scholars Program supports doctoral students traditionally underserved in higher education.
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