Kent State University's Curriculum & Instruction ( C&I) program offers the Doctor of Philosophy ( Ph.D.) degree to qualified students interested in issues related to educational curriculum and instruction.
Special areas of study with C&I include:
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Mission
The mission of the doctoral program in Curriculum and Instruction is to prepare scholars for successful careers in college and university setting and to produce curriculum leaders for schools and other educational institutions.
Entrance Into the C&I Doctoral Program Requires:
- Completed application form
- Two letters of recommendation
- Submission of undergraduate and graduate transcripts
- Completion of the Graduate Record Exam (GRE). A minimum score of 550 on the verbal portion is interpreted as an indicator of the applicant's writing and speaking abilities.
- Submission of two writing samples ( One sample is either an essay based on a prompt or a previously developed example of scholarly writing; the other sample is a 500-word essay which provides a personal rationale for pursuing a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction from Kent State University).
These five application requirements are submitted to and coordinated through the Graduate School of Education (If you have questions on any of these five requirements, contact Ms. Debbie Roeder, droeder@kent.edu, 330-672-0558).
- Orientation by e mail, phone or in person with C&I Program Coordinator, Dr. James Henderson at jhenders@kent.edu or 330-672-0631
- Personal interviews with three C&I faculty members. If these personal interviews are not possible, a phone conversation with one or more C& I faculty members serves as a satisfactory alternative.
Admission decisions are made throughout the entire year on a continuous rolling basis. However, there may not be sufficient C& I faculty available for interviews between the Fall, Spring and Summer Semesters.
The doctoral program is divided into two major parts, the advisory (coursework) phase and the candidacy (dissertation) phase.
Advisory Phase
Once admitted into a C&I Doctoral program, students will be assigned an initial advisor or advisors from the C&I faculty in order to initiate their advisory phase.
Within the first three semesters of their course work, students must organize an academic advisory committee. The advisory committee may or may not include the initial advisor(s). Students will then work with their advisory committee to create their doctoral study prospectus ( the plan of academic work during the advisory phase). And complete the written and oral comprehensive examinations.
Information on the Advisory Phase
- The advisory phase requires 60 course credit hours beyond the master's degree.
- Students have four years from the time of admission to complete their advisory phase coursework and comprehensive examinations. Students have five years from the time of entering candidacy ( dissertation phase) to complete all doctoral requirements. Thus, a total of nine years is available for students entering existing graduate coursework to complete the doctoral requirements.
- A minor area of study is optional, not required.
- C&I Ph. D students are required to take:
- C&I 87000, Theory and Research in Teaching, 3 credits
- C&I 77001, Fundamentals of Curriculum is a recommended prerequisite for C&I 87001 C&I 87001,
- Theory and Research in Curriculum, 3 credits
- C&I 87002, Forms of Inquiry in Curriculum and Instruction, 3 credits
- During the advisory phase students must develop and implement a residency plan. The plan should include professional activities normally associated with life in an educational research institution and academic community setting ( e.g., attendance and presentations at professional conferences, professional writing and publications, teaching undergraduate courses, workshops, attendance at doctoral defenses). Students may complete these activities collaboratively with faculty members or fellow doctoral students. In addition, students are required to take the following: C&I 80089; Residency Seminar I ( within the first year of admission to doctoral study) and C&I 80090; Residency Seminar II, (during the later half of doctoral study).
- At completion of the coursework and other requirements lists on the students' prospectus and residency plan, the student engages in written and oral comprehensive examinations that covers academic work accomplished during the advisory phase. Upon successful completion of the comprehensive examinations, the student enters into Candidacy, better known as the dissertation phase of the doctoral program.
- At this point, the student's advisory phase committee is dissolved and the student must organize his or her dissertation committee
Candidacy Phase
- The C&I Ph. D. students organize their dissertation committee.This committee contains a minimum of two C&I faculty members and one faculty member from a Kent State University Ph. D. program other than Curriculum and Instruction.
- The student's dissertation committee supervises the dissertation research progress and evaluate the final product.
- Once students have successfully defended their dissertation, they receive their Ph. D.
