Become a scholar dedicated to understanding children’s development and learning, and supporting them in their education from birth through elementary school. This rigorous doctorate will prepare you to conduct research in child development and education, including in specific content areas such as early childhood education, literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies.
What You'll Learn
- Qualitative and quantitative methodologies and how to apply them to education research
- Seminal theories in human development and learning and their application to research and practice
- How to develop and design a research study, implement a research agenda, evaluate results, and disseminate results
Your Academic Experience
A Flexible, Highly Individualized PhD Program
You will be able to personalize your program around your individual interests and related areas of specialization such as child development, teacher education, curriculum development, innovations in schooling, and specific content areas such as literacy, mathematics, science, and social studies.
Work with Faculty on Shared Research Interests
Our faculty's research interests center on key themes in early childhood and childhood education, including:
- Human and child development
- Social contexts of teaching and learning
- Culture and language in teaching and learning
- Families as partners in children’s learning
- Language and literacy development
- Content area learning
- Curriculum development
- Evaluation and assessment of teaching and learning
- Experiences of immigrant students and multilingual learners
You'll have the opportunity to work closely with our faculty on grants and studies as you establish your own research agenda.
Advising
Each doctoral student is assigned a faculty advisor in the student’s chosen area of specialization. This advisor serves as an interim academic advisor until the student selects a doctoral dissertation advisor.
Careers
You'll be well prepared for roles, including:
- Researcher or teacher educator in early childhood and childhood education in colleges and universities
- Early childhood and childhood education specialist in government or nonprofit organizations
- Curriculum specialist or evaluator in early childhood and childhood education programs
