Rethinking School Leadership Programs: The USC Ed.D. Program in Perspective
Peabody Journal of Education, Vol. 84, No. 1
David D. Marsh University of Southern California
Myron H. Dembo University of Southern California
The Ed.D. program at the University of Southern California focuses on leadership in urban education. The article describes the rationale and guiding principles for the program and its design in terms of core knowledge, inquiry, signature pedagogy, concentrations, and capstone experiences. The article concludes with an assessment of our contributions to date and a set of challenges that will direct our efforts in the near future.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
David D. Marsh served as Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California at the time of the design and early implementation of the Ed.D. program. He also has been professor and the Robert A. Naslund Chair of Curriculum and Instruction in the school. His research writing has recently focused on three topics: the professional doctorate in education, the reform of American high schools where he is completing a second book on high school reform, and the reform of urban education systems. He is completing a major grant from the Broad Foundation to study how superintendents in urban schools systems work to enhance student achievement. He has also served as an advisor to the Carnegie Initiative on the improvement of the professional doctorate in education (the CPED project). He has three degrees from UW-Madison: an undergraduate degree that included a junior year in India, an MAT in history-education that led to high school teaching, and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction. He received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the School of Education at UW-Madison.
Myron H. Dembo is the Stephen Crocker Professor in Education in the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California. He is a fellow in the American Psychological Association and an associate editor of the Journal of College Reading and Learning. Professor Dembo specializes in the areas of learning and motivation with a focus on teaching students how to become more self-regulated learners. He has written three books and over 100 papers and research articles on the teaching-learning process. His educational psychology textbook, Applying Educational Psychology, is now in its 5th edition. His most recent book is Motivation and Learning Strategies for College Success: A Self-Management Approach (3rd. ed.). He has served as chair of the Ed.D Governance Committee since 2002 and was involved in developing the new Ed.D program in the Rossier School of Education.
