Eastern Kentucky University’s first doctoral degree program will focus on the improvement of P-12 public education, particularly in rural Kentucky schools.

EKU’s Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degree program in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies is now accepting applicants for the Fall 2008 semester. “This is a red-letter day in the history of Eastern Kentucky University,” said EKU President Doug Whitlock. “I commend the Council on Postsecondary Education for the swift action it took in approving this academic program, which is so important to the future of our region and Commonwealth.”

Dr. James Rinehart, chair of EKU’s Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, said the CPE’s approval “is a big step for EKU to improve leadership capacity for rural education.”

“It is a commonly held belief, and supported by research, that leadership is one of the keys to improving student learning and closing achievement gaps for all students,” Rinehart said. “The approval of the doctorate for the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies enhances its ability to improve leadership in the rural schools of this region. Further, I believe the Department will become a model for other universities, nationally and internationally, that have rural communities and schools to serve, especially with EKU’s links to the Rural Trust and the development of the Center for Educational Research in Appalachia. February 26, 2008, was indeed a special day for EKU and the surrounding region.”

Program Director Dr. Jerry Johnson noted EKU’s “rich history of commitment to serving this area, an area characterized by both exceptional assets and exceptional obstacles. This Ed.D. program has been developed with a conscious and deliberate recognition that rural schools and communities – the schools and communities in which most program participants will likely serve – face unique challenges and possess unique strengths with which to face those challenges. Sustaining and improving these schools thus requires specific knowledge bases and specialized technical and practitioner skills.”

For that reason, the EKU program will include a Rural Studies Core with a particular emphasis on Appalachian Kentucky, and will imbed educational, cultural and sociological content within the coursework as appropriate.

“We intend to provide this part of the state with the kind of high-quality leaders that an effective doctoral program can produce, who are at the same time responsive to the rural Appalachia context,” Johnson said.

The program’s interdisciplinary focus will bring together “a world-class faculty roster drawing from the entire University,” Johnson said, and provide enough flexibility so students can pursue specific areas of interest related to education, such as school safety, organizational dynamics or school finance.

In developing curricula, delivering instruction and facilitating research, EKU’s College of Education will draw upon and strengthen its relationships with external organizations such as The Center for Rural Development, The Rural School and Community Trust and The Appalachian Regional Commission, Johnson added.

Also, through the College’s Center for Educational Research in Appalachia (CERA), Eastern will collaborate with schools and school districts throughout Appalachian Kentucky to “identify barriers and obstacles and use that information in developing and implementing our research agenda.”

CERA, under the direction of long-time school superintendent Dr. Jack Herlihy, was established by EKU to identify, research and analyze policy issues that impact P-16 public schools in Appalachia and to be a vehicle for agencies to collaboratively research problems and disseminate results among various constituencies.

Very little educational research nationally is focused on rural schools and their needs, Johnson explained, so the research stemming from the EKU doctoral program, much of which will be performed by students in collaboration with faculty mentors, may prove to be nationally significant.

Johnson said the program will enroll 15 students this fall, adding that the student/faculty ratio will remain low to maximize quality. The program is structured to attract a diverse mix of teachers and administrators from pre-school through postsecondary education as well as possibly state officials.

Johnson, a former high school teacher and principal, also serves as policy research and analysis manager for The Rural School and Community Trust and has authored numerous articles and made many presentations nationwide on a variety of education-related topics.

For more information about EKU’s doctoral degree program in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, contact Johnson at 859-622-6678 or jerry.johnson@eku.edu.