The Executive Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) in Professional Leadership, with an emphasis in Literacy Education, in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction is an online 51-credit hour program providing research and applied skills for educators grappling with current issues in urban settings.

The program is designed to facilitate the knowledge, skills and dispositions needed for instructional leadership in curriculum and instruction in urban schools, developmental reading programs, community organizations and related educational institutions. The intent is for graduates of this program to remain in educational settings as instructional leaders. The design of the program emphasizes content inquiry, problem-solving and participant collaboration in a variety of courses and research activities. Practical Laboratory of Practice activities provide students with an avenue to apply the specific of these school-based situations to their course-of-study and research projects.