Learning and Teaching in Social Contexts, EdD
Become a leader who is able to address emergent and persistent problems of practice. Learn to build continuous improvement in the communities where you work while achieving educational equity.
Solutions for the Real World
Graduates of our learning and teaching in social contexts EdD program don’t just solve problems—they drive meaningful change in their communities. You will combine theory and practice in this program as you get experience addressing real-world education concerns and building solutions applicable to complex organizations.
Civic Learning from the Start
Nicholas D’Amuro, an EdD student in GSE’s learning and teaching in social contexts program, is using his doctoral research to examine why elementary social studies instruction is often pushed aside—and what schools can do about it. A former social studies teacher and current coordinator of school improvement at Genesee Valley BOCES, D’Amuro studies how teachers can be better supported in bringing civic learning into elementary classrooms, especially in rural school contexts. His recent opinion piece in The Fulcrum extends that work to a wider audience, calling for earlier, more sustained civic education that helps students understand democratic institutions, community responsibilities and their own ability to create change.
Points of Distinction
Tailor this three-year program in a way that connects to your specific discipline within or beyond the field of education. Our current cohort of students comes from a range of professional industries such as pre-K-12 education, healthcare, nonprofits and even government.
Be part of a program built around an actionable, justice-focused framework that blends contemporary theory and practice. You’ll learn to address emergent and persistent problems of practice in your chosen discipline, whatever it may be.
You’ll work with faculty intent on helping you reach your goals at the same time they support your work/life balance. These caring mentors are also respected practitioners, researchers and thought leaders.
Program Overview
| Academic credential granted | Doctor of Education (EdD) |
|---|---|
| Credits required for completion | 60 doctoral credits |
| Time to completion | 3 full years (9 part-time semesters) |
| Location | Online |
| Application deadline | Priority Deadline Summer: Feb. 1, then rolling until April 1 |
- 24 credits required in Coursework Centering on a Problem of Practice (cc-PoP)
Required course: LAI 613 Curriculum Theory - 18 credits required in Design and Research Methods for Improving Education (DRM)
Required course: LAI 515 Action Research to Improve Teaching and Learning - 18 credits required in Dissertation in Practice (DiP)
Required course: LAI 621 Critical Interpretations of Research
Required course: LAI 644 EdD Inquiry Practicum
Required course: LAI 702 Dissertation - 60 total credits required
You must have a baccalaureate degree from an accredited institution. It is strongly preferred that you also have a master’s degree.
If you aspire to join our intellectual community, the following materials must be submitted with the online application available through the Office of Graduate Admissions:
- Application fee: A $50 non-refundable application fee, submitted electronically through UB's ePayment system.
- Contact information for three professional references (1 academic preferred). Admissions will send a recommendation survey link to references; no letters required.
- Unofficial undergraduate and graduate transcripts from all colleges attended. (UB transcripts are automatically submitted for current UB students and alumni.) Upon admission to the program, official transcripts are required.
- Statement of educational and career goals (500 word limit)
- Your background: What key experiences have contributed to your commitment to work in the field of education or with education-related issues? Tell us how you think you are positioned to create change.
- Your objectives for graduate study: What are your academic and professional goals and what knowledge, skills, and tools are you hoping to develop through enrollment in a graduate program? Why is graduate study the vehicle to drive the change(s) you wish to initiate?
- Why UB GSE, and why this specific program? Why is enrollment at UB GSE and in the Department of Learning and Instruction critical in helping you achieve your goals?
- Problem of practice research statement (250 word limit)
- The Problem of Practice Research Statement should be a description of an issue:
- What is the problem you have identified, and what information has drawn you to this specific issue?
- The problem could be an issue you, your organization, or your field have struggled with for years, or it could be an innovation you wish to implement at your organization.
- Focus your problem of practice as one that can create transformational change at your organization and be used for improvement or innovation in your field.
- Sample problems of practice:
- increase the variety of teaching strategies used in classrooms
- increase rigor in classrooms and support students in achieving higher levels of rigorous work
- build a community of learners by focusing on productive student group work
- examine the role of anti-bias education in our classrooms and schools, and identify the relevant community issues that we would like our classes and schools to address
- examine how teachers connect content to students’ prior knowledge and experiences, and support teachers’ capacity to enhance relevance in course materials
- The Problem of Practice Research Statement should be a description of an issue:
- Resume or curriculum vitae
When you submit your application, you will have the opportunity to answer the following question: Is there anything about your application that you would like the admissions committee to take into consideration?
Personal Interview Upon University Request: Applicants must make themselves available for online interviews with faculty.
Former/Birth Name: Please provide us with your former/birth name if you have one. When requesting transcripts, please ask the sending institution to indicate your current name and former/birth name.
Admissions Decision: The admissions decision will be communicated to you as soon as review is complete. The decision is based on a number of factors and is the result of a thorough and deliberate process. All decisions are final and cannot be appealed.
Credits for Prior Learning
Applicants to the LTSC EdD program may be eligible to apply Credits for Prior Learning toward up to 15 elective credits in the program. As a scholar-practitioner doctorate, the LTSC EdD recognizes substantial, documented experience that aligns with program learning outcomes. This may include research and scholarly work (such as peer-reviewed publications, formal program evaluations, or dissertation-level writing), practitioner work (such as action research, PDSA cycles, curriculum design, or instructional leadership), and leadership work (such as grant-funded research leadership, organizational learning design, or structured change initiatives with formal documentation).
Applicants interested in this option are encouraged to indicate their interest and upload supporting materials as part of the application process. Credits for Prior Learning are reviewed and approved at the program level during the admissions process.
In-State Residency Tuition
To qualify for the in-state residency tuition rate, you must provide residency documentation indicating you have lived in New York State (NYS) 12 months before your semester start date.
If accepted, you will need to upload three documents to qualify for the in-state tuition rate. See Required Documents for Residency Application for more information.
International Applicant Additional Requirements
- Official original proof of your degree
- A copy of your passport biographical page
- Official test scores—dated within two years of submitting your application—for either the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language), the IELTS (International English Language Testing System), the PTE (Pearson Test of English) Academic, or DET (Duolingo English Test). View the English Language Proficiency policy to find the minimum score required.
- Financial documentation: International graduate applicants must document their ability to pay for all costs incurred while studying in the U.S.
- An official bank statement
All financial forms and supporting documentation with required signatures must be uploaded with your application and dated within one year of your intended enrollment date.
Graduates go on to become:
- Curriculum developers
- Educational consultants
- Elementary and secondary school education administrators
- Instructional coordinators and coaches
- Learning specialists
- Postsecondary education administrators
- Principals
- Program and curriculum directors
- Staff developers
- Teachers
- Top executives senior-level professionals
- University instructors
Research Areas: Achievement; Assessment; Big Data; Cognition; Design and Analysis of Longitudinal Research; Design Experiments; Educational technology; Evaluation; Gamification; Human Computer Interaction; Information Science; Large-Scale Assessment and Research; Learning Design; Measurements; Online and Distance Learning; Qualitative Research Methods; Quantitative Research Methods; Research Design; Research Methods; Standards
Assistant Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Curriculum and Instruction; Discourse analysis; Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Literacy; Professional / Staff Development; Reading Instruction; Writing Instruction
Associate Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Curriculum and Instruction; Educator Preparation; ESL/ENL/Bilingual; Racism and AntiBlackness
Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Dialogic pedagogy: markers of dialogic stance and classroom conditions that support dialogic space
Associate Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: My research primarily explores how teachers and students learn with and use multimodal literacies—especially digital video—as teaching and learning tools in classroom settings.
Associate Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Access and Equity; Cognition; Cognitive Psychology; Cultural Competence; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital literacy; Digital Media and Learning; Diversity; Educational technology; Educator Preparation; Engineering Education; Higher Education; Learning Communities; Learning Design; Learning Sciences; Online and Distance Learning; Problem Based Learning; Professional / Staff Development; STEM education; Universal Design
Clinical Assistant Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: My research explores the (re)production of inequality in and through schooling. I study the preparation of teachers, community-engaged teacher preparation, and school transition processes and how they are used to seek and maintain advantage.
Clinical Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Access and Equity; Curriculum and Instruction; Early Childhood Education; Equity and Poverty; Music Education; Urban Education; Virtual Reality
Associate Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Learning Sciences, STEM Education, Classroom Discourse, Embodiment & Multimodality
Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Computer Science Education; Design Experiments; Educational technology; Human Computer Interaction; Information behavior; Information Science; Learning Sciences
Assistant Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Social studies education, anti-racist social studies, Critical pedagogies, Discourse Analysis, Racialized Emotions and Affects
Clinical Associate Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Curriculum and Instruction; Educational Change; Educational Leadership; Educator Preparation; English Education; ESL/ENL/Bilingual; Higher Education; Leadership; Literacy; Online and Distance Learning; Professional / Staff Development; Qualitative Research Methods; Social and Emotional Development
Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Educational Linguistics; Language Teaching and Learning; Interculturality; Design of Learning Environments (VR); Teacher Preparation and Learning
Associate Professor
Counseling, School And Educational Psychology
Associate Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Access and Equity; Achievement; Assessment; Big Data; Curriculum and Instruction; Design and Analysis of Longitudinal Research; Design Experiments; Digital Innovations; Digital Media and Learning; Diversity; Educational Policy; Evaluation; Gamification; Immigrant Issues; Large-Scale Assessment and Research; Mathematics Education; Online and Distance Learning; Professional / Staff Development; Psychometrics; Quantitative Research Methods; Race, Inequality, and Education; Research Design; Research Methods; School and District Reform; Statistical Methods and Applications in Statistical Issues
Clinical Assistant Professor
Learning And Instruction
147 Foster Hall, South Campus
Buffalo, NY 14214
Email: cuking@buffalo.edu
Research Areas: Racial Literacy; Diverse Literature for Children and Young Adolescents; Dialogic Space; Critical Literacy; Teaching Banned Books
Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Diversity; History of Education; Racism and AntiBlackness; Social Justice; Social Studies Education
Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Digital Media and Learning; Discourse analysis; Diversity; Engineering Education; Ethnography; Linguistic, Discourse, and Sociocultural Context; Literacy; Multimodality, Embodiment, and Digital Literacy; Qualitative Research Methods; Race, Inequality, and Education; Research Methods
Assistant Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Latinx/Chicanx K-12 Education and Teacher Preparation; Latinx Education and Immigration in the U.S. South; Teacher Identity and Subjectivity; Social Studies Education; Critical Geography; (post)Qualitative Methods
Associate Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Computational literacies; K12 computing education; computational social science; design-based research; human-computer interaction
Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Critical Policy Analysis; Educational Policy; Ethnography; Gender Studies; Gender, Culture, and Equity; Global Issues; Politics of Education; Qualitative Research Methods; Sociology of Education
Associate Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Access and Equity; Assessment; Cognition; Curriculum and Instruction; Discourse analysis; Diversity; Educator Preparation; Equity and Poverty; ESL/ENL/Bilingual; Gender, Culture, and Equity; Immigrant Issues; International Education; Large-Scale Assessment and Research; Mathematics Education; Multicultural Competence; Multimodality; Problem Based Learning; Qualitative Research Methods; Quantitative Research Methods; Race, Inequality, and Education; Racism and AntiBlackness; Social Justice; Standards; STEM education; Urban Education
Associate Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Achievement; Assessment; Curriculum and Instruction; Design Experiments; Elementary Education; English Education; Literacy; Measurements; Quantitative Research Methods; Reading Instruction; Research Design; Research Methods; Writing Instruction
Assistant Professor
Learning And Instruction
361C Foster Hall, South Campus
Buffalo, NY 14214
Email: naomitho@buffalo.edu
Research Areas: Learning Sciences; STEAM; Out-Of-School Learning; Connected Learning; Community Education; Video Analysis; Educational Equity
Research Areas: Child and Adolescent Development; Cognition; Curriculum and Instruction; Design Experiments; Digital Innovations; Digital Media and Learning; Diversity; Early Childhood Education; Elementary Education; Ethnography; Gender, Culture, and Equity; Global Issues; Immigrant Issues; International Education; Learning Communities; Literacy; Multimodality, Embodiment, and Digital Literacy; Qualitative Research Methods; Science Education
Clinical Associate Professor
Learning And Instruction
Research Areas: Access and Equity; Diversity; Educator Preparation; English Education; Race, Inequality, and Education; Social Justice; Urban Education
Faculty Expertise
Tiffany Karalis Noel,, clinical associate professor and director of doctoral programs in the department of learning and instruction, focuses on justice-driven inquiry, curriculum transformation and institutional change. Her research explores how scholar-practitioners interrogate entrenched practices, reimagine learning environments and design research that fosters meaningful, human-centered change.
She is committed to helping professionals move beyond analysis to action, a vision that shaped this EdD program. “If you have ever recognized a new or persistent challenge in your professional context and thought, ‘There has to be a better way,’ this program provides the research foundation, mentorship, and collaborative space to turn that realization into impact,” she says.
Resources
Chat With a Student Ambassador
Professional Networking
By joining our program, you become part of a professional network. UB is a member of the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED), a network of over 150 colleges and schools of education in the United States and Canada dedicated to improving the Doctor of Education (EdD) degree. Established in 2007, CPED helps institutions redesign their EdD programs to better prepare advanced practitioners and educational leaders for real-world challenges.