Qualifying Exam and Dissertation Guide for Cal Poly Pomona Doctoral Students

CALIFORNIA STATE POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY POMONA DOCTOR of EDUCATION DEGREE (Ed.) EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP QUALIFYING EXAMINATION and DISSERTATION GUIDE CONTENTS Dissertation process schedule. 1 Choosing a Dissertation Topic. 2 Introduction of the research topic. 3 Review of the literature.

3 Membership of the Qualifying Examination Committee. 4 Function of the Dissertation Committee. 4 Membership of the Dissertation Committee. 4 Dissertation Committee Chair.

5 Appointment of Dissertation Committee. 6 Institutional Review Board Approval. 7 Dissertation Proposal Defense. 7 Final Dissertation Defense.

9 Common Errors to Avoid. 9 Applying for Commencement and Graduation. 10 Tagging for Handicap Accessibility and Uploading of the Dissertation. 11 Qualifying Exam Guidelines.

11 Review of Literature on a Significant Topic in Education. 11 Guidelines for Format. 12 Guidelines for Written Style. 12 Frequently Asked Question (FAQ).

13 Overall Assessment Criteria. 14 Qualifying Paper Assessment Rubric. 15 Qualifying Examination - Faculty Reader Feedback to Candidate. 19 Chapter 2: Review of the Literature.

25 Chapter 5: Conclusions, Discussion, Implications, Recommendations. 29 Dissertation Proposal Forms. 32 Dissertation Final Defense Forms. 39 LIST OF TABLES.

41 LIST OF FIGURES. 43 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW. 45 CHAPTER 4: RESEARCH FINDINGS. 46 CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS.

49 Cal Poly Pomona State University Ed. in Educational Leadership A written doctoral dissertation is the major benchmark required in Cal Poly Pomona’s Educational Leadership Doctoral Program. All candidates complete a dissertation based on a review of the literature and original research on a problem of practice related to educational leadership, student achievement, and school improvement. The primary goal of the dissertation is to generate applied knowledge that contributes to the understanding and improvement of educational practices, policies, or reforms.

The dissertation is a contribution to the field that demonstrates the candidate’s scholarship, research skills, and insight into a particular problem. With its successful completion, we welcome the candidate into the community of scholar- practitioners who are dedicated to profound educational change. The doctoral dissertation at Cal Poly Pomona is a significant scholarly work that uses rigorous research methods in the study of educational problems and practices and the application of problem-solving strategies. This handbook is meant to guide you through the steps in competing the dissertation process in the doctoral program: 1.

DISSERTATION PROCESS SCHEDULE The approximate schedule for the dissertation process in the third year of study for cohorts who began in fall is: Spring/ Early Summer Semester: Proposal defense and IRB Approval Fall Semester: Begin data collection Data collection and analysis Spring Semester: Complete writing of dissertation Dissertation defense Final formatting and submission 1 CHOOSING A DISSERTATION TOPIC As you begin to think about your dissertation research topic. Think about the following questions that can help guide the development of your topic. What is the issue that I want to understand? 2. What do we already know about this issue? 3.

What is the significance of this issue to the field of education? Dissertations in the Cal Poly Pomona Doctoral Program should be: • rooted in a problem of practice or policy in PK12 schools/districts or related settings; • on a topic of compelling personal interest to you; • on a topic that has potential for promoting profound change in student achievement, teaching and learning, and/or leadership for systemic; school/college improvement, in keeping with the Doctoral Program mission and vision; • based on original research, using either data you have collected or analysis of secondary (preexisting) data; • empirical; not primarily historical or theoretical in nature; and • feasible in terms of time, resources, access, permission, etc. Candidates may have shared research interests and may even share aspects of their studies, such as a common research site, quantitative data set, subjects, preexisting instrument(s), or some literature reviewed. However, all students are expected to do independent work on devising their own research questions, literature review, research design, data collection, data analysis, and writing. QUALIFYING EXAMINATION As required by Executive Order No.

991, each student is required to complete and pass a qualifying examination. The qualifying examination shall be administered at a time in the program sequence when the student’s mastery of essential elements of core leadership and methodological concepts can be fairly evaluated and when the student is considered ready to begin formal dissertation research. The qualifying examination for the Cal Poly Pomona Educational Leadership Doctoral Program is scheduled for the start of the Spring Semester of the second year in the program. Students are expected to complete their examination and submit it to the program director at the start of the spring semester.

Content The qualifying examination provides students with an opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the body of literature surrounding a topic related to educational leadership of their choosing. Each student is required to submit approximately a 30-page paper that discusses the relevant literature on the topic and discusses the need to conduct further research on the topic. The goal of the literature review should not only be to identify what research has already 2 been completed, but also to identify the gaps that exist that warrant the need for further research in the topic. The qualifying exam should be formatted the following way: Introduction of the research topic In this section, students will introduce the background of the topic of interest and discuss the significance of this topic to educational leadership.

The student will discuss the organization of the literature review by naming each of the sections of the paper. Both centered first level headings and second level headings are generally included in the overview and should be listed in the order they are found in the paper. Review of the literature In this section, students are required to organize the literature they have gathered and synthesize what they found. Ideally, each student will identify five to seven centered headings for the sections of the qualifying exam.

While a discussion of the historical background of the topic, pertinent legislation to the topic, and concepts of importance to understanding the topic can be discussed without including actual studies pertinent to the topic, the student should include a discussion of research findings from research studies completed within the last 10 years as part of the literature review. Ideally, all references discussed in the literature review should be no more than 10 years old also unless the reference is to a seminal study or as part of a historical overview. Summary In this final section, students will summarize the contents of the literature review but also will discuss the need for further research on the topic. See Appendix A for a complete description of the qualifying examination guidelines.

Membership of the Qualifying Examination Committee The guidelines of Executive Order 991 specify that the qualifying examination committee shall have a minimum of three members, including the chair. The qualifying examination committee chair shall be a tenured or tenure-track faculty member of the campus administrating the Ed. program and except in special cases shall be a member of the Ed. Special cases shall be reviewed and decided by the core doctoral faculty.

At least two members of the committee shall be members of the Ed. program faculty whose primary affiliation is with the CSU campus administering the Ed. program, at least one of whom shall be a member of the core doctoral faculty as defined in Article 12. The committee may include a member who holds an appropriate professional position in a P-12 institution, a community college, or another postsecondary educational institution.

At Cal Poly Pomona, the qualifying examination committee adheres to the guidelines of Executive Order 991 in that three members of the Doctoral Council serve as members to review each student’s qualifying examination. The chair of each committee combines the recommendations of the committee and provides this to the Doctoral Program Director. The Doctoral Program Director is responsible for emailing the qualifying exam results to each candidate using the feedback form, which can be found in Appendix A on pg. 11 of this guide.

3 DISSERTATION Dissertation Requirements In accordance with Section 40511 or Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations, CSU Ed. programs shall require the completion of a dissertation conforming to the following minimum criteria: a. The dissertation shall be the written product of systematic, rigorous research on a significant educational issue and in accordance with a proposal that has been approved pursuant to Article 7. The dissertation is expected to contribute to an improvement in public P-12 or community college professional practices or policy, generally or in the context of a particular educational institution.

It shall evidence originality, critical and independent thinking, appropriate form and organization, and a rationale for the research problem examined. The dissertation shall identify the research problem and question(s) , state the major theoretical perspectives, explain the significance of the undertaking, relate it to the relevant scholarly and professional work, set forth the appropriate sources for and methods of gathering and analyzing the data, and offer a conclusion or recommendation. It shall include a written abstract that summarizes the significance of the work, objectives, methodology, and a conclusion or recommendation. Opportunities for students to complete work in support of the dissertation shall be embedded throughout the Ed.

The dissertation in this program is generally a work of independent scholarship in the traditional five-chapter format. The dissertation proposal is a draft of the first three chapters (Statement of the Problem, Review of the Literature, Methodology). The final dissertation is a revision of these chapters, plus Chapters IV and V (Results/Findings, Discussion and Conclusions), references, and appendices. While final dissertations in this program will generally run between 135 to 200 pages (before appendices and references), each dissertation will be advised and assessed on its own merits by the Dissertation Chair and Dissertation Committee.

See Appendix B for the Cal Poly Pomona Dissertation Format. Dissertation Committee Function of the Dissertation Committee The dissertation committee shall provide guidance and supervision for development and completion of the dissertation. Membership of the Dissertation Committee The dissertation committee shall have a minimum of three voting members, including the chair, and all committee members shall have appropriate expertise in educational practice or policy. The committee shall include at least two tenured-track faculty members of the CSU campus administering the Ed.

program, and at least one member who is primarily affiliated with a California p-12 institution or community college. The tenured or tenure-track faculty members 4 shall be drawn from the core doctoral faculty or affiliated doctoral faculty, as defined in Article 12.1, or shall meet the standards of Article 12. The campus program director may approve an exception to the membership criteria stated above, pursuant to Article 12.3, if the individual nominated has expertise particularly relevant to the candidate’s dissertation research. Dissertation Committee Chair The dissertation committee chair shall provide primary supervision for dissertation research.

The chair shall be a tenured or tenure-track faculty member on the campus administering the Ed. program, and in most cases shall be a member of the core doctoral faculty, as defined in Article 12. Special circumstances may arise in which a tenured or tenure-track faculty member who is from the campus but who is not a member of the core doctoral faculty may serve as the dissertation committee chair if such service is approved by the core doctoral faculty in accordance with program procedures. Below are names and contact information of faculty who are currently eligible to serve as Dissertation Committee Chair: Jose Aguilar-Hernandez jhernandez@cpp.edu Taylor Allbright Tnallbright@cpp.edu Betty Alford btalford@cpp.edu Amy Gimino agimino@cpp.edu Nancy Hurlbut nhurlbut@cpp.edu Dennis Jacobsen drjacobsen@cpp.edu Shahnaz Lotfipour slotfipour@cpp.edu Richard Navarro ranavarro@cpp.edu Jann Patary-Ching pataryching@cpp.edu Heather Wizikowski hewizikowski@cpp.edu Candidates may not be familiar with all of the faculty listed, so their CVs are posted on the doctoral website.

Please do not contact faculty members for service as Dissertation Chair until you have passed your Qualifying Examination. The process of selecting a chair is specific.