The Attallah College Ph.D. in Education program offers a unique combination of five emphases:
- Cultural and Curricular Studies
- Disability Studies
- Leadership Studies
- School Psychology (not accepting at this time)
- Teacher Education
Cultural and Curricular Studies (CCS)
The Cultural and Curricular Studies (CCS) emphasis prepares students who are seeking careers in teaching, research, and other professions that allow for opportunities to engage with the world in critically, ethically, and politically relevant ways. Our graduates are college and university professors, educational leaders and administrators, school and district specialists, and community-based leaders and organizers. CCS provides candidates with opportunities to develop deeper understandings of structural relations of domination and inequities, equipping them with the skills and knowledge to advance social change in diverse local, national and international contexts. This emphasis is committed to familiarizing students with philosophy and social theory, the history of schooling and educational policy, and the critical pedagogies that have potential for social transformation and humanization across a multitude of social contexts. CCS places a strong value on learning from the histories, practices, and community wisdom of our students and of the diverse communities that have been historically absent in formal educational settings.
CCS Students engage with contemporary developments and controversies in critical pedagogies, feminist theories, social movements, ethnic studies, critical literacies, bilingual education, and policy formation. CCS students engage in a variety of critical, decolonizing, culturally responsive and socially responsible research methodologies across a broad array of interests. Many CCS students engage with the Paulo Freire Democratic Project. The Cultural and Curricular Studies emphasis requires 57 credits composed of (1) foundations and philosophy, (2) inquiry courses, (3) emphasis core courses and electives, (4) and the dissertation.
Disability Studies (DS)
This emphasis explores disability as a social construct and investigates new ways to think about, educate, and support people who learn differently. Consequently, this emphasis examines disability as a social, linguistic, physiological, cultural, economic, historical, and political phenomenon. Challenging past and even current paradigms requires a deep and rigorous understanding of the literature in disability, special education, general education, and related areas. Graduates will become faculty members in colleges or universities or take leadership positions in the field. They will think critically, act collaboratively, be effectual with various methods of inquiry, and be ethical and exemplary in their service of improving the lives of people with disabilities.
The Disability Studies emphasis requires 57 credits composed of (1) foundations and philosophy, (2) inquiry courses, (3) emphasis core courses and electives, (4) and the dissertation.
Leadership Studies (LS)
The Leadership Studies emphasis prepares students to seek careers in various settings, including TK-12 schools and districts, institutions of higher education, and other research-oriented organizations. The program focuses on traditional and emergent ways to think about and enact leadership and how to find and solve problems locally, globally, and virtually. Students will study ways to create, build, and sustain responsible change within individuals, communities, networks, and organizations. Students will become lifelong learners and engaged citizens who value self-awareness, inclusivity, and just communities, building and sustaining broad-based leadership capacity. Students will utilize an interdisciplinary perspective and multiple research methodologies when studying topics in leadership and sustainable change.
The Leadership Studies emphasis requires 57 units composed of (1) foundations and philosophy, (2) inquiry courses, (3) emphasis core courses and electives, (4) and the dissertation.
School Psychology (SP)
This emphasis prepares students to become teachers and researchers at college and universities and leaders in school psychology at state, national, and international levels. The program is accredited through the International School Psychology Association (ISPA). The program is an institutional member of the Council of Directors of School Psychology Programs, an organization of doctoral programs in school psychology. Following guidelines recommended by the National Association of School Psychologists (NASP), the emphasis extends and expands specialist’s or master's level education in school psychology through in-depth exploration of research, theories, and practices that lead to positive outcomes for all students.
Doctoral preparation will focus on using data effectively to make decisions and evaluate outcomes, developing systems that meet the needs of all students, enhancing cognitive and academic skills, and enhancing the development of wellness, mental health, and life competencies. The School Psychology emphasis requires 48 units composed of (1) foundations and philosophy, (2) inquiry courses, (3) emphasis core courses and electives, (4) and the dissertation.
*We are not accepting applications for the School Psychology emphasis at this time.
Teacher Education (TE)
The Teacher Education emphasis prepares students to become teachers and researchers at colleges and universities where they will help prepare the next generation of pre K-12 teachers and administrators. This emphasis is committed to familiarizing students with major developments in theories of learning and research exploring the architecture of the human mind. These research foundations will inform educational policies across subject disciplines and in a variety of educational settings. For graduates that go on to become university faculty in Teacher Education programs, this emphasis prepares them to connect current research on learning to the instructional approaches that new teachers take into their future classrooms. This allows our graduates to expand their sphere of influence from impacting students in a single classroom to impacting the multitude of classrooms their students will instruct in as future teachers. It also prepares them to conduct research that can improve the pedagogy used to instruct the next generation of K-12 students. This emphasis extends and expands master’s level education in teacher education through in-depth exploration of research, theories, and practices that lead to positive outcomes for all students.
The Teacher Education emphasis requires 57 units composed of (1) foundations and philosophy, (2) inquiry courses, (3) emphasis core courses and electives, (4) and the dissertation.
