About the Department

The Department of Educational Leadership and Cultural Studies at the University of Houston offers degree and certificate programs for those aspiring to positions of educational leadership in elementary and secondary schools, institutions of higher education, and nonprofit settings. The department also sponsors degree programs in Historical, Social, and Cultural Foundations.

The department's faculty members are specialists in a variety of fields of study, including organizational behavior, legal issues, management and leadership, and cultural diversity, as well as educational sociology and anthropology.

A Commitment to Making a Difference

The core academic courses of study in the department are its M. Ed. and Ed .D. degree programs in Educational Leadership. These degrees are designed, in part, to respond to emerging shortages among school principals and district superintendents. The curricula prepare a broad array of leaders for the twenty-first century - leaders who will transform schools, colleges, universities, and community agencies.

The M. Ed. program operates both a traditional on-campus program and a district-based cohort model to ensure the success of degree candidates and responsiveness to the needs of school districts. Applicants for district cohort groups are chosen in Houston's premier doctoral program, supports student interest in work in institutions of higher education. The University of Houston faculty in educational leadership believe that:

• Educational organizations are learning communities,
• Leadership is based on ethical principles and practices,
• Theory and practice are interactive, and
• Reflective learning promotes reflective practice.

The faculty has commitment to deliberative and collaborative discourse, and honors diversity, including global and multicultural perspectives on learning and organizational effectiveness.

National Prominence

The department is a member of the University Council for Education Administration (UCEA), a consortium of leadership units that grant the doctoral degree. The department cosponsors the UCEA Center for the Study of Leadership in Urban Schools.

The department also houses the editorial offices of the Review of Higher Education (RHE), for which faculty members serve as editor-in-chief and editorial staff. RHE is the official journal of the Association for the study of Higher Education (ASHE), a scholarly society of 1,400 members engaged in research on post-secondary education.

Cultural Sensitivity

Being situated in America's most diverse public research university, the department has long been responsive to cultural diversity. The department is home to the university's Asian American Studies Center, which sponsors an undergraduate degree minor and course of study and provides regular opportunities for travel to China. Private foundations and government agencies have funded programs for recruitment and preparation of Hispanic American educational leaders to work with students who have limited English proficiency.