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A Doctor of Education degree (EdD) is a professional doctorate aimed not at producing teachers but educational experts who take on administrative, organizational, and policy-making roles in the sector. A PhD in Education is similar in that it focuses on the teaching profession as a whole rather than learning to be a teacher, and students are expected to produce original research. However, where PhD centres around academic theory and research, an EdD looks at combined practice and research in real-world settings.
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What’s the Structure, Format, and Curriculum?
EdD study is more accessible and available to people with the prior needed experience than ever before. An online Ed.D in higher ed is one way for students to work this study around their current job location, without having to go through the added expense and trouble of moving to a campus or placement.
Many EdD candidates pursue their studies while working, with hours expected at around 15 to 20 a week at minimum. These hours will often be split between research, creating essays and presentations based on the research, and lectures or group discussions.
There are also hybrid and campus-based options, although the former is actually now more common in the US. Most programmes use a cohort learning model to ensure peer-to-peer experience sharing and feedback as well as from professors. This emulates a professional teaching environment, where encouraging classes to learn with each other is important.
In terms of the syllabus and course structure, most EdDs will have modules on:
- Leadership theory
- Research methods and best practices
- Policy analysis
- Data analysis
- Curriculum and educational course design
How Things Transition into Research and a Dissertation
The beginning of the course usually takes around one to two years, and is essentially preparatory work for the main research project and dissertation. For example, students do not usually collect primary data for their own research at this point.
Either at the end of year 1 or early in year 2 of an EdD is when students begin to work on their own original research. This will require the formulation of and delivery of a formal research proposal, which is usually sent to several different University or College officials for approval. This will be done alongside a dedicated dissertation supervisor. This stage can be called a doctoral review or an advancement to candidacy.
The ideas for the research project will usually have roots in discussions, projects, and lectures experienced in the first part of the degree. Many students even come into a EdD with an initial concept of what they want to research for their dissertation.
For an EdD, research is usually workplace-based or policy-oriented, with studies involving people or students currently in education. The research is expected to adhere to ethical standards and come to some kind of original and new understanding of how the field of education works or could be run.
Once approved, students then begin the two to three year task of producing their own, largely independent, research project. The supervisor will still be on hand for structured feedback and advice, but at this point, lectures and classes end.
Career Opportunities, Job Market and Professional Skills
Proving a combination of educational knowledge, research skills, and applied theory, EdDs can offer a wide range of career opportunities. The most straightforward would be university administration, educational policy positions, or a school trust leadership role.
However, among the most lucrative options include being an entrepreneur in educational tech. After several years of intense study, it’s entirely possible EdD graduates could leave seeing a gap in the market that no one has found before for a new business venture.
Outside of that, an experienced University Administrator with a specific area of expertise is hardly a low-paying role. These positions can earn upwards of $100,000 a year in a mid-level role and up to $200,000 for senior positions at elite higher educational facilities. A school district administrator or superintendent could earn around $150,000 a year in larger urban districts.
Educational policy in the US has seen a lot of layoffs at the Department of Education in recent months, but average salaries in senior positions remain high (around $100,000) for those with the right skills. At the lower end, even an entry-level educational consultant or mid-level college administrator will earn upwards of $60,000 in a graduate role.
An EdD is not a track to tenured professorship or a senior lecturing role. However, the core skills of strategic leadership, policy evaluation, and advanced research and analysis position graduates for a variety of high-level roles in the educational field.
