If you want to become an influential leader in the field of education, you may be motivated to earn a Doctor of Education (EdD) degree. It’s a doctoral degree that can help you build the knowledge and skills you need to make an impact within and beyond the classroom.
To make the most of your doctoral program, you’ll want to align your EdD degree coursework with a specialization that can help you build expertise and help prepare you to become a respected changemaker in your chosen field.
Choosing an EdD Specialization
The first step in choosing a specialization is to find the one that most closely matches your career goals. Walden University offers an online Doctor of Education (EdD) degree program with 13 specializations. To highlight the range of options, let’s take a look at each:
- Community College Leadership: Build on your success in the community college arena or in a higher education business or policy development role. This EdD specialization focuses on a number of aspects of community college leadership, including academic transfer programs, remedial education, student development, and community service.
- Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment: This specialization is designed to provide the strategies you need to impact student achievement as a curriculum expert. You can also gain expertise in the critical-thinking and research skills needed to shape schools and school systems to meet students’ diverse needs.
- Early Childhood Education (Non-Licensure): Earning an EdD degree with a specialization in Early Childhood Education can provide the knowledge you need to become a leader and advocate for children and their families. You’ll explore the complex family, cultural, social, and socioeconomic influences that affect child development and learning. You’ll also examine the history, ethics, and interdisciplinary nature of the field.
- Educational Administration and Leadership (for Administrators): If you’re an administrator and want to increase your ability to influence and transform your educational organization, this specialization is a great choice. Designed exclusively for K–12 administrators, this specialization can help you develop the skills and competencies needed to build more sustainable, collaborative organizations. Walden also offers an Educational Administration and Leadership (Non-Licensure) specialization.
- Educational Technology: Technology dramatically affects student learning, creating a need for educators who can develop technology-based solutions to the challenges of K–12 classrooms. You can also earn a post-master’s certificate through this program.
- Higher Education and Adult Learning: Designed for professionals who want to design, develop, and lead adult learning programs, this EdD specialization examines adult learning theories, program planning and assessment, engaging and motivating adult learners, and more.
- Higher Education Leadership and Management: This Doctor of Education specialization is designed for those in higher education who wish to enter an administrative, leadership, or management position. The curriculum incorporates the latest research-based methods and best practices, allowing you to develop the leadership skills and management principles necessary to lead change across your institution.
- Higher Education, Self-Designed: This customizable specialization allows educators to examine 21st-century higher education solutions, evaluate current education models, and determine how to maximize efficiency and productivity within higher education settings.
- Organizational Leadership and Development: This specialization is designed to help you develop leadership skills you can apply to a career in education, business, or a variety of other job sectors. In it, you’ll develop expertise in organizational needs assessment, program evaluation, leadership practice, and continuous improvement.
- P-20 Education (Self-Designed): This specialization allows you to personalize your education and explore the topics you’re most passionate about. With a P–20 focus, you’ll gain insights into issues that affect students from preschool through undergraduate postsecondary education.
- Reading, Literacy, and Assessment: Recognizing literacy as a driving force in effecting positive social change, this EdD specialization can prepare you to lead literacy initiatives that engage educators within professional development programs and learning communities. You’ll explore strategies that can improve outcomes across the educational system—from classroom instruction to program design to policy development.
- Special Education: More than 7 million students nationwide are receiving special education or related services,1 creating a growing demand for educators qualified to work with children and young adults with exceptionalities. This EdD specialization’s curriculum is informed by the Council for Exceptional Children’s Advanced Preparation Standards and focuses on key issues in the field of special education, such as leadership and policy, program development and assessment, and ethical practice.
Begin Your Online Doctoral Journey
Earning a terminal degree like an EdD is a respected accomplishment and a significant investment in your future. That’s why Walden designs its doctoral degree programs with features that help support working professionals throughout their academic journeys.
The accredited university’s comprehensive student support services include Doctoral Degree Coach®, an interactive planning and progress-tracking tool that can help you stay on track. You’ll find more personalized guidance and support throughout your online degree program as well. Enrollment Specialists, peer mentors, and writing coaches are some of the people you’ll meet along your journey to an EdD.
Walden’s EdD is designed for working professionals who want to earn a degree while staying active in their personal and professional activities. Walden’s flexible online learning platform lets you study on your own schedule, wherever you have an internet connection.
Prepare to take your career to the next level. Find the right doctoral degree program for you and expand your knowledge and expertise in education.
Walden University is an accredited institution offering an online Doctor of Education (EdD) degree program. Expand your career options and earn your degree using a convenient, flexible format that fits your busy life.
1Source: https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgg
Walden University is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission (www.hlcommission.org),
an institutional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education.