Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.)

Lead your school, district or organization boldly with a whole child perspective.

Attain the highest level of educational leadership while developing your social and emotional learning (SEL) skills to comprehensively lead organizations from a whole child perspective, as well as effectively and ethically lead your faculty and staff. Sacred Heart University is the only university in the country where the doctorate is grounded in SEAL (social-emotional and academic learning).

Earn Your Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership with a Focus in SEAL

The Ed.D. in Educational Leadership is ideal for school leaders, including those individuals who hold the Connecticut Intermediate Administrator license (or its equivalent from other states), such as principals or superintendents. The program is also ideal for mid-career educators who are serving in teacher leadership roles such as teacher leader, curriculum coordinator and instructional coach.

Through this online, practice-focused program, you'll be prepared to:

• Expand your knowledge of pedagogy and leadership principles as related to social and emotional learning (SEL)
• Become a practitioner and advocate for the application of social and emotional learning programs in response to the challenges and opportunities associated with contemporary K-12 education
• Deepen your knowledge and appreciation of the political, economic and social forces that influence the decisions of educational leaders

Become a holistic educational leader

Upon graduation from Sacred Heart University, you’ll be prepared to advance your career in education. Many educational leadership roles are enhanced by, or even now require, the doctoral degree, to include positions such as superintendent of schools, principal, district curriculum leader, teacher leader, and special education director, among others.

You’ll also be prepared for employment in other industries, such as state or federal government policy research, and non-governmental or philanthropic organizations.

A practical, applied degree program

Through your required courses, you will gain the knowledge and skills necessary to become a highly effective educational leader, with an emphasis on Social and Emotional Learning, Trauma-sensitive schools and classrooms, and moral leadership. The Research Core is a set of classes designed for you to able to gain the skills necessary to successfully complete a Dissertation in Practice during the third year of the program.

The Dissertation in Practice is a scholarly work that address a complex problem of practice. Defined, a complex problem of practice is a persistent, contextualized and specific issue embedded in the work of a professional practitioner which, if addressed, will result in improved student experiences and outcomes.

Explore previous dissertations from our students

All students in our Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership complete a five-chapter Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP). Students utilize the improvement tools to identify and explore a complex problem of practice in their professional setting, conduct end-user interviews and environmental scans, and write a review of the literature and professional practice related to the problem. Students then design and implement a change idea that they develop to address the problem of practice and then discuss the findings and implications for educational leaders within and beyond their professional setting.

Explore the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate

Additional Program Benefits

• Online classes designed to fit into your busy schedule
• Annual three-day residency requirement on the Fairfield, CT campus in late July
• Degree completion in 3.5 to 4 years
• One of the only doctoral programs in the country, geared towards education leaders, that explicitly addresses social, emotional and academic learning as a major area of concentration
• Proud 2019 member of The Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate
• The Ed.D. program has been accepted into the Holmes Scholars Program

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