Doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction

 Research Practice Teams

Curriculum and Instruction EdD students are admitted to join a Research Practice Team based on their interests, experience, and career goals. Each team consists of a faculty advisor and doctoral students conducting research related to the team's focus. Applicants should identify which team they would like to be considered for in their statement of purpose. We are currently accepting applications to the following teams:

Using Data to Support Innovation

How can you as a teacher, counselor, school leader, or education professional use data to improve fairness in education and promote new opportunities to learn for students? 

This research team aims to develop skills and practices for using data to leverage patterns in existing data to drive innovation and research.

We believe that teaching, learning, and assessment today is increasingly shaped by how individual student level data, state level data, and international data are interpreted and used. However, teachers and professionals in education who serve students and communities are often one step removed from first-hand inquiry with data. This team is committed to placing experienced educators at the center of data analysis and interpretation. The goal of the team is to produce findings that inform practice and point to innovative solutions to problems of fairness and access in curriculum offerings for college and career success.

As a doctoral student on this team, you may:

• Discover patterns and trends in existing data to better understand a problem of practice you experience every day.
• Learn to apply data science techniques to big data in education to make predictions and classifications that can open curricular pathways for students.
• Use data analytics to learn more about student competencies that may lead to placement in instructional interventions or curriculum pathways that improve access to college or career.
• Generate new qualitative or quantitative data on emerging curricular or instructional problems to shape future innovation.

The research process in this team starts with identifying a personal interest within the team’s focus on fairness and access to curriculum offerings for college and career success. The team will review prior research and analyze existing data. Innovations are then studied in-depth to validate their efficacy for improving learning outcomes. Dissertation research might entail continued analysis of existing data or collection of new data. Current and former teachers and school leaders are encouraged to apply.

 For more information, please contact Dr. Curtis Pyke (cpykegwu [dot] edu (cpyke[at]gwu[dot]edu)) or Dr. Jonathon Grooms (jgroomsgwu [dot] edu (jgrooms[at]gwu[dot]edu)).

Student Perspectives in Science Education

Doctoral students on this RPT will work with innovative science teachers to understand how new instructional approaches or curriculum changes are experienced by their students. Drawing on the intended-enacted-experienced curriculum model (Clements, Donovan, Theobold, & Crowe, 2021) and the concept of coherence seeking (Sikorski & Hammer, 2019), the team will explore:

• In what ways is the implementation of a new science curriculum perspective-dependent? How might students’ perspectives be similar or different from the teacher?
• When and in what ways might differences in students’ and teachers’ perspectives on curriculum be helpful and generative for science learning? When might these differences be problematic?
• How can information about students’ and teachers’ perspectives be helpful for supporting curriculum design, implementation, and change?

Doctoral students on the team will have opportunities to present their work to teachers, researchers, potential funders, and administrators through a variety of venues. This team will be based in the DC-metro region and will involve face-to-face meetings and classes. Applicants to the team should demonstrate an interest in improving science education. (Prior experience as a science teacher or curriculum developer is helpful, but not required.) Individuals with expertise in educational technology, special education, and multilingual science instruction are encouraged to apply. 

For more information, please contact Dr. Tiffany Sikorski (tsikorskigwu [dot] edu (tsikorski[at]gwu[dot]edu)) or Dr. Karen Kortecamp (karenkorgwu [dot] edu (karenkor[at]gwu[dot]edu)).

Professional Learning

Partnering with an internationally renowned PreK-12 school committed to educator professional learning and a large regional network of educators it leads, and D.C.’s world-renowned museums, this Research Practice Team (RPT) will engage in research to identify crucial features and strategies of high impact, effective professional learning. A focus of the RPT is on understanding the interaction between the effectiveness of professional learning and its effects on educator practice and student learning. The team will explore:

• Which aspects of professional learning work, don’t work, and why?
• What are the challenges to developing effective professional learning programs for educators?
• Which design features effectively improve instructional practice and student outcomes across classrooms and contexts?
• Which design features are particularly effective in schools serving large concentrations of students living in poverty or from historically marginalized backgrounds?
• How can professional learning most effectively support teaching for equity and justice?
• What data are needed to correlate education professional learning with student outcomes?

The RPT experiences will prepare graduates to apply knowledge and insights to design, implement, evaluate, and sustain effective professional learning in schools and museums. Individuals in early childhood and K-12 education, museum and heritage site education, social sciences, and non-profit organizations are encouraged to apply. The work of this RPT will be
shared through international conferences and publications in high impact venues.

For more information, please contact Dr. Karen Kortecamp (karenkorgwu [dot] edu (karenkor[at]gwu[dot]edu)) or Dr. Tiffany Sikorski (tsikorskigwu [dot] edu (tsikorski[at]gwu[dot]edu)).