A Follow-up Study of Doctor of Education Students at Drake University

Abstract

Problem: Because decision-makers must choose between many competing alternatives, astute administrators will use findings from periodic evaluations to help make suitable decisions regarding the policy and direction of an institution. This thesis is an evaluation, from the students' perspective, of the doctor of education degree offered by Drake University's School of Education. The study has two purposes: (1) to define the demographic characteristics of the doctoral population to enable Drake to better serve the needs of the doctoral population; and (2) to ascertain from the students' perspective if Drake has realized the goals for the program. Procedure: The population of this study are those students who were admitted to and enrolled in the doctoral core for an Ed.D. degree at Drake University from the years 1986 to 1988. Twenty-seven students were interviewed using a combination mail survey/telephone interview methodology. Findings: The findings indicate the doctoral students were generally satisfied with the program. Most of the dissatisfaction was found in the major specific and class specific areas. It was found that progress toward the doctoral degree ceases at the dissertation stage. It was found that structure of the program is influencial when choosing a school to attend. It was found that Drake graduates are an integral part of the community as they participate in leadership activities. It is found that research endeavors of the students is lower than desired. It is found that students did not exhibit significant lifestyle changes after completing the doctoral core. It is found that the students tolerate the comprehensive exam process but did not view it as valuable and suggested many nontraditional approaches they felt would be of greater value. Conclusions: This study contributes to a limited body of research on outcomes of doctoral education. Further, the methodology used may have contributed to the investigation's ability to obtain richer, and more detailed information in that a mail survey/phone interview combined methodology was used.