The University of Texas at El Paso College of Education announced on April 2 the launch of its first fully online doctoral program, the Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership and Administration. The new program is designed for experienced educators who want to advance their careers and lead change in their professional environments.
The introduction of this online doctorate is significant because it offers greater flexibility and access to graduate-level training for professionals who may not be able to attend traditional, in-person programs. It also addresses a need for advanced educational leadership skills in both early childhood education and K-12 curriculum development.
The Ed.D. program offers two concentrations: early childhood education or K-12 curriculum and instruction. Alyse C. Hachey, Ph.D., Co-Chair of the Teacher Education Department, said, “We have expanded graduate programming to meet the needs of professionals at all stages of their careers who require the flexibility and convenience that the online format offers, while providing the high-quality, graduate-level training experiences that UTEP is known.” Hachey added, “I am particularly excited about the focus on Early Childhood Education, as there are not many doctoral programs like this one available for professionals in the field.”
According to Hachey, students enrolled in this Ed.D. can remain embedded in their workplaces while conducting meaningful case studies and evaluations that can create immediate impact within their communities. The early childhood concentration focuses on leadership roles related to children from birth through age eight; meanwhile, those choosing K-12 curriculum will address instructional leadership with an emphasis on cross-disciplinary research including artificial intelligence-mediated curriculum development.
Clifton Tanabe, Ph.D., dean of the College of Education said, “Our new fully online Ed.D. programs really embody the College of Education’s mission of access and impact — providing a terminal degree that can be completed from anywhere in less than three years to help educators on the ground drive research-based decision-making and innovation in their own communities.” Tanabe described this initiative as “the type of forward-thinking programming we are striving for…to meet professional preparation needs in today’s educational landscape.”
The program was developed by Hachey along with a faculty taskforce from UTEP’s Teacher Education Department.
