Areas of Specialization

Organizational Leadership and Policy Studies (OLPS)

Program Overview

This program area seeks to develop researchers and scholar practitioners interested in policy analysis, leadership, and change in educational organizations. Key areas of inquiry within this program relate to the design and implementation of education policy, educational reform at school, district, state, and federal levels, and educational leadership in K-12 school settings and other organizations that matter to student learning. Our program stems from the premise that cross-disciplinary studies and close connections between research and practice are essential for strengthening both educational research and educational practice especially in urban school systems and communities. Our graduates assume professional positions as principals, superintendents, central office administrators, directors of youth organizations, university professors, researchers in think tanks, policy analysts in federal and state agencies, school reform support providers, and organizational change consultants, among others. The mix of prospective researchers and practitioners in our area helps students develop professional networks that extend into research and practice communities and to move ably between research and practice.

Master's Program

The OLPS MA program provides a unique opportunity for students to pursue their interests in education policy, leadership, and organizational change at a Research 1 university in the nation's capital region. Masters students work individually with an individual faculty advisor to develop a course of study that fits their professional goals and interests. Students may choose to sample course across a range of areas such as organizational behavior, leadership, and policy analysis or to develop specializations within one of these or another related area. Students are encouraged to take courses throughout the university, in particular in the School of Public Affairs. As part of their coursework, all MA students are encouraged to participate in a one-semester internship for course credit in policy analysis, organizational leadership, or organizational change in the Washington Metropolitan Area.

Masters students who enroll in full time coursework and who make adequate progress may complete their MA within one calendar year. Part-time students are encouraged to complete their degree within two calendar years. The small size of our program- means students have ample access to faculty and opportunities to build strong professional networks among their peers.

Doctoral Program

The OLPS Ph.D. program prepares a select number of students each year to specialize in the interdisciplinary fields of education policy, organizational change, and educational leadership. Each student works with a faculty mentor to develop a course of study and dissertation project that fits his/her professional goals. OLPS graduates have gone on to become university professors, directors of statewide and national associations, county superintendents, school reform support providers, among others. Many of our students work closely with faculty as apprentices on research projects. Recent apprenticeships have focused on school-based learning communities, school reconstitution, school district central office reform, after-school programs, and small schools initiatives.

For Ph.D. students, programs are individually tailored around the following framework:

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