NWCCU Accreditation Narrative for
Curriculum and Instruction EdD Programs

Question 1 – What did you do on assessment this year?

Doctoral candidates have two components of their final stretch for completion of their program. The first is the comprehensive exam written and oral defense and the second is the defense of the dissertation.

Question 2 – What data did you collect?

Doctoral level comprehensive exam written and oral pass rates and dissertation defense pass rates.

Question 3 – What did your review of the data indicate for you?

  1. Students who completed their comprehensive exams all passed. Fall semester 2015, seven of seven students completed and Spring semester 2016, seven of seven students completed and passed both of their oral and written comprehensive exams.
  2. Students who defended their dissertations were equally as successful. Spring semester 2016, eight of eight students successfully passed their dissertation defenses.
  3. In our programs in C&I we have a history of successfully preparing our students because we work closely with them as advisors and instructors and typically do not allow them to move forward unless they are prepared to move forward.
  4. Even though all students passed their comprehensive exam oral and written defenses, some students still struggle with the “research” elements.

Question 4 – As a result of your review of the data, what did you do?

  1. All of our students in the EdD programs for Curriculum and Instruction are doing well. Professors work closely with students to prepare them for the comprehensive exam written and oral defenses and the dissertation defense.
  2. We are in the process of discussing how we can make our programs more seamless. We currently have courses for students to take but they can take them at any time during the program. To make our program more seamless we would like to “map” our curriculum so students know what courses will be taught and when they should take them.
  3. For the EdD, we are discussing how we can better prepare our students for the comprehensive exam written and oral defenses. As stated, students sometime struggle with the research portion of the defense. We would like to better prepare them by requiring students to take all Research Courses: EDU 602 (Educational Statistics II), EDCI 506 (Applied Educational research), EDU 610 (Qualitative Educational Research), and EDU 607 (Quantitative Educational Research). Currently students choose nine credits, not all 12 credits.