Cleveland State University

The Ph.D. in Urban Education program develops the leadership skills of advanced graduate students to prepare them to affect change in urban educational, mental health, and healthcare settings. It is one of the few education doctoral programs in the nation in which a special focus on urban education is infused across different specializations. The conceptual framework and primary focus of the program is preparing the urban educational leader to affect change in the educational environment. The five primary knowledge bases of the Ph.D. program are research skills, an urban perspective, the social context of urban education, the urban learner, and organizational change and development. Concepts from education, urban policy planning, law, economics, psychology, public administration, sociology, political science, and organizational development constitute the core content in the urban educational context that underpins study in the specialty areas. Graduates of the program conduct research and play leadership roles in the areas of instruction, counseling, administration, and policy making in:

• Schools
• Community colleges
• Colleges and universities
• Business and industry
• Allied health organizations
• Social and community agencies
• Hospitals
• Government

Doctoral students acquire academic knowledge, research, and technical skills through their close relationship with the faculty and with their doctoral student peer group. Special features of the Urban Education doctoral program include:

• Cohort of candidates
• Urban laboratory
• Research emphasis
• Interdisciplinary core
• Emphasis on organizational change
• Advanced study in an area of specialized educational practice

The program consists of:

• Core seminars (18 credits)
• Research methodology seminars (minimum of 13 credits)
• Specialized area of study (minimum of 20 post-master's credits)
• Dissertation in the area of specialization (minimum of 10 credits)
• Computer language requirement- EDU 715 (4 credits)

In the core seminars, a group of students remain intact as a continuously enrolled unit for two years of intensive study and discussion. The continuing intellectual association and support of this group meets the residency requirement of the doctoral program. The research methodology seminars provide quantitative and qualitative research skills essential to the creation of new knowledge and the solution of practical education problems. Courses in the specialized areas provide opportunities for advanced study of administration, counseling, teaching, and policy development in the urban context. The dissertation component follows a traditional model, adhering to the scholarship requirements of research for the Doctor of Philosophy degree.

FACULTY RESEARCH AND PUBLICATIONS

The faculty in the College of Education and Human Services has pursued a wide variety of research, in seven major areas:

1. Equity issues, including race and ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic differences.
2. Educational/developmental consequences for special needs/at risk children and youth populations frequently associated with urban environments and the development of educational programs that address these needs.
3. Learning needs and programming for adults in contemporary, post-industrial urban life.
4. The management, organizational development, and reform of educational institutions, especially urban public schools.
5. Counseling and mental health issues of urban populations in the face of changing health care policy.
6. The process of policy development, school reform, and implementation.
7. School effectiveness research, including school, teacher, and community practices that impact students' educational outcomes.

The faculty has been recognized for scholarly publications in more than eighty journals in the core and specialization areas. The Counseling Psychology Specialization is accredited by the American Psychological Association. Questions related to the program's accredited status should be directed to the Commission on Accreditation: