Curriculum & Instruction - Advanced Graduate Programs

Educational Specialist (EdS)
Doctor of Education (EdD)

The Lindenwood University Educator Preparation Programs (EPP) is accredited by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (MoDESE http://dese.mo.gov). The initial teacher education program is accredited by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC www.teac.org) through the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP www.caepnet.org).

The Lindenwood University graduate degrees in education are designed to meet the needs of practicing educators as well as those interested in entering the discipline of education. These degree programs offer new approaches for analyzing contemporary problems and acquiring new perspectives, techniques, and knowledge. These approaches include developing a one-to-one relationship with an experienced and highly trained educator; participating in courses which provide strong foundations for professional growth such as problem-solving opportunities and the opportunity to prescribe an individualized program of study.

Criteria for Admission to the Graduate Education Program

Online application.
Current résumé.
An official transcript showing a completed baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a minimum GPA of a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale and any coursework completed since the completion of their bachelor’s degree. Students with a GPA below a 3.0 have the ability to appeal the requirement through the Graduate Appeals Committee. If a student has completed an additional degree since their initial bachelor’s degree, they may be admitted on the GPA from their most recently completed degree.
Successful completion of a program interview with a Program Director. Applicants will submit a taped video response to six questions which the admissions team will review.
Master of Arts in teaching students must submit official transcripts from all higher education institutions they have attended.
Completion of a program overview with the assistance of a professor who teaches in the specific department in which the applicant is interested.

Requirements for the Program

Graduate degrees are to be completed within five calendar years from the date of matriculation in the program. (Matriculation is the date of the first day of the first term in which the student begins the graduate program.) Students requiring longer than five years must file a Petition for Policy Exemption. Students will be expected to meet the degree requirements in effect at the time of the petition.
Graduate students who have not had an undergraduate or graduate course in Education will be required to take EDU 54100 - Education of the Exceptional Child to fulfill MoDESE requirements.
Students who plan to apply for a certificate in Illinois will be required to take additional licensure exams and possibly coursework. Please see the Illinois State Board of Education website for more information. Students should first apply for their Missouri teaching certificate and then apply for an Illinois license.
Graduate students in Master of Arts programs who register for the EDU 60000 - Master’s Project in one term must continue to register each subsequent term until the project is completed and accepted. The fee for the Master’s Project extension is $50 per semester. Summer semester sessions are excluded. Failure to register for continuous registration will result in termination from candidacy for the degree.
Graduate students must complete an application for degree and pay any required fees in order to be accepted for graduation. The application should be submitted according to the academic calendar deadlines.

Transfer and Workshop Credit

Students in the master’s programs (Human Services does not accept workshop transfer credits) may transfer no more than nine graduate hours of credit to Lindenwood from other accredited institutions. Human Service students are not eligible to count workshop credit towards degree conferral.

All graduate transfer credit must be from an accredited graduate institution and must meet the approval of the dean of the College of Education and Human Services and the registrar.
All transfer credits must carry a letter grade of B or better. An official transcript must be provided for verification.
“Pass-Fail” or “Credit” courses may be accepted in transfer.
All transfer and workshop graduate credit must be relevant to the student’s proposed program and should have been completed within the last seven years.
Once admitted, the student must obtain prior permission from the dean of the College of Education and Human Services and the registrar in order to apply credit from any other college or university toward the degree. Prior Approval forms are available in the Office of Academic Services for this purpose.
Students may elect to take a maximum of six credit hours of approved workshops to be accepted as part of the credit for the degree. These hours would be included as part of approved transfer credit if taken at other accredited institutions.

Transfer of International Course Credit

A student wishing to transfer semester hours of graduate level coursework from an international institution must bring to Lindenwood the following items and present them to the academic advisor to review:

An official ECE or WES course-by-course evaluation of the international graduate level transcript showing the courses that the student wishes to transfer.
A translated copy of the course description and syllabus for each course that the student wishes to apply to transfer.
An official ECE or WES document evaluation of the international undergraduate transcript, confirming that a baccalaureate degree has been conferred.

Upon arrival to Lindenwood, the student should bring these items to the academic advisor. These items will be reviewed by the advisor and will be forwarded to the assistant dean of educational leadership.

All students seeking a Master of Arts in education are required to complete the core curriculum within each program page.

Educational Specialist (EdS)

The educational specialist program consists of a minimum 30 or more credit hours, with the possibility of six hours being transferred in from Lindenwood or another university.

A minimum of 24 credit hours of coursework is required at the 60000-level for the Educational Specialist in educational administration. 24 credit hours of course work at the 60000-level is required for the Educational Specialist in school administration.

Note: Six credit hours of coursework taken for completion of the Master of Arts in school administration may be applied toward the Education Specialist in educational administration.

Program Requirements

Requirements for an educational specialist degree include the following options:

Completion of a Master’s Degree.
A minimum of 24 graduate education credit hours earned after completion of the Master’s.
A minimum of 24 credit hours of coursework taken at Lindenwood University.
Successful completion of a Specialist Project.

Doctor of Education (EdD)

The online Doctor of Education in Leadership program is a 48 credit-hour, three-year, cohort-based learning experience offering students an opportunity to develop and transform educational processes, practices, and organizations, implement design thinking principles, applied research methodology and emerge as a scholar-practitioner. Each fall and spring scholar teams, including content experts and students, engage in the process of creative problem solving, research and developing a problem-based dissertation. Doctoral students receive individual and ongoing support throughout the EdD experience. All students select an emphasis: Curriculum & Instruction, Education Administration (Missouri Advanced Superintendent Certification), or Higher Education Administration when submitting an application. Should a student select a different emphasis area after semester one, year one additional credit hours/time to complete the program will be required.
During the first semester, Leadership, EdD students begin the dissertation in practice and continue to creatively problem solve throughout the coursework and the three-year experience. As part of the Carnegie Project of the Education Doctorate (CPED) faculty and staff engage in the process of continual program improvement to meet the needs of today’s adult learner.

GPA and Grades

Students must maintain a GPA of 3.5 or higher for each term throughout the course of the EdD program. Students will be placed on probation for any term that the term GPA is lower than 3.5 in the doctoral program and will be dismissed from the program for two consecutive terms where the term GPA is below 3.5. Students may appeal.

If a student receives a grade lower than a B in any of the Problem of Practice courses, the course must be retaken.

If a student receives a grade of F the course must be retaken. Only the highest grade earned will be used in the calculation of the grade point average. Repeating a course does not remove the previous grade from the transcript.

Grades of I for Incomplete mean the student did not satisfy the course requirements during the term the course was taken. The student’s first responsibility is to complete the course requirements. Therefore, students with a grade of I may not enroll in another course without the approval of the department head, department of educational leadership.

Education Administration advanced superintendent certification applicants will be able to apply earned credit toward the Educational Specialist (EdS) program after the completion of a transcript review and approval by Director of Graduate Studies. Students must complete and submit a Change of Major form to change their degree from EdD to EdS.

Criteria for Admission to Leadership EdD Program

Master’s degree
Completion of the Lindenwood University online application
Supplementary Application to Leadership EdD
GPA of 3.0 or higher in previous graduate studies
Experience as an educational leader, teaching, administration, non-profit, or corporate work experience.

To earn the doctoral degree a student must complete the doctorate level coursework (including any 50000- or 60000-level courses that are required or being substituted) with a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or higher, pass a comprehensive exam, and complete and receive approval of the doctoral dissertation in practice, and complete a dissertation in practice oral presentation approved by the Scholar Team Lead and committee members. For specific guidelines, please see the Lindenwood University Leadership EdD Handbook.

Because the current SIS will not calculate the program GPA, any student with previous LU graduate coursework will need a Policy Exemption on file to explain which courses are to be calculated toward the graduation requirement.

Doctoral Continuous Enrollment Policy

All Leadership, Ed.D. students participate in the learning experience as a cohort during the core coursework sequence per the program planning guide within the Leadership EdD handbook.

Leadership, Ed.D. students, who completed Problem of Practice III, without completing the dissertation in practice and/or oral presentation must enroll in EDA78940 Capstone Experience working with the student’s Scholar Cohort Lead and committee members. Leadership, Ed.D. students become “Inactive” following two consecutive semesters of non-enrollment in coursework. Students who step out of the initial cohort, in which the student was admitted, will need to join a new cohort in which the sequence of coursework aligns. Anything beyond two consecutive semesters of non-enrollment in coursework, requires the Leadership, EdD student to re-apply to Graduate Admissions to rejoin the program and a new cohort understanding they will join the new cohort in which the sequence of coursework aligns.

All doctoral students are expected to complete the degree within five years and should work with their Scholar Cohort Lead and committee for degree completion. Failure to complete the degree in this timeframe will result in removal from the Leadership EdD program.