Program
to combine education, business, and public policy faculty with
on-site practice in tuition-free doctoral program
Harvard
University today announced the launch of a new, practice-based
doctoral program to prepare graduates for senior leadership roles
in school districts, government agencies, nonprofit organizations,
and the private sector.
The
new tuition-free Doctor of Education Leadership Program (Ed.L.D.)
will be taught by faculty from the Harvard Graduate School of
Education (HGSE), the Harvard Business School (HBS), and the Harvard
Kennedy School (HKS). The program offers an unprecedented approach
to preparing leaders equipped to transform the American education
system in order to enable all students to succeed in a 21st-century
world. The three-year program will begin in August 2010 and initially
enroll 25 students per year.
"One
of the core missions of Harvard's professional schools is to prepare
leaders who can guide organizations in a rapidly changing environment.
No sector has a greater need for such transformational leaders
than public education," said Harvard President Drew Faust.
"I am delighted that professors from three outstanding professional
schools are combining their knowledge and experience to create
this groundbreaking program."
Based
at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Ed.L.D. will
be the first new degree offered in 74 years by the school. The
degree is a practice-based doctorate designed to equip students
with a deep understanding of learning and teaching as well as
the management and leadership skills necessary to reshape the
American education sector.
In
the first two years of the program, students will participate
in a new customized curriculum of classes, modules, and practice-based
experiences. In the concluding year, students will enter a year-long
residency in a partner education organization pursuing transformational
change where they will receive hands-on training and lead a capstone
project to complete the doctoral degree.
"Research
clearly shows that no school improvement effort can succeed without
effective leadership, and such leadership is needed at all levels
- federal, state, district, and school - in our current systems
and in the systems we will create in the future," said M.
Christine DeVita, president of The Wallace Foundation, which provided
a $10-million grant to support the effort. "The new Doctor
of Education Leadership Program draws on what we've learned about
effective leader preparation over the past decade. By providing
fellowship support that will remove the barrier of cost and student
debt, we hope to attract the most accomplished and promising future
leaders to this innovative program and to these careers that are
so important to our nation's future."
The
program tethers academic preparation to real-world practice by
partnering with the same types of organizations that graduates
of the program will aspire to lead. These organizations include
not only many of the leading urban school districts (e.g., Atlanta,
Denver, New York City), but also some of the most noted organizations
driving change in K-12 education (including Teach for America,
New Leaders for New Schools, KIPP, and the National Center on
Education and the Economy).
"Our
goal is not to develop leaders for the system as it currently
exists; rather, we aim to develop people who will lead system
transformation," said Harvard Graduate School of Education
Dean Kathleen McCartney. "We believe this new degree program
will be a catalyst to drive that change. It will allow us to meet
our goal of producing a new generation of education leaders, who
will have a laser-like focus on student learning, and will know
how to translate that into large-scale system change. They will
be successful by altering education policy debates, forging powerful
public-private partnerships, and restoring public confidence in
our schools."
The
Doctor of Education Leadership Program - which will be led by
Harvard faculty Richard Elmore (HGSE), Harry Spence (HGSE/HKS),
and Elizabeth City (HGSE) - is unique in its integrated curriculum
in learning and instruction, management and leadership, and policy
and politics. Students will learn with faculty from the three
professional schools, including Stacey Childress (HBS), Marshall
Ganz (HKS), Deborah Jewell-Sherman (HGSE), Robert Kegan (HGSE),
Mark Moore (HKS/HGSE), and David Thomas (HBS).
"In
creating this groundbreaking program, we are proud to bring together
the strengths of our three great faculties with an array of exceptionally
pioneering organizations," said Professor Robert Schwartz,
academic dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. "The
Obama Administration and large private foundations are about to
make unprecedented levels of investment in education reform. It
is critical that states and districts, and the national organizations
they count on for support, have access to a pipeline of leadership
talent equipped with the knowledge and skills to ensure that these
investments produce dramatic improvements in the performance of
our schools."
For
more information on the program and how to apply, visit www.gse.harvard.edu/admissions/connect/
and www.gse.harvard.edu/admissions/apply/.
Steven
Abbott
Associate Director for Recruitment & Student Affairs
Harvard University Native American Program
14 Story Street Suite 400
Cambridge, MA 02138
steven_abbott@harvard.edu
Phone: 617/495-9058
Fax: 617/496-3312
http://hunap.harvard.edu