Degree Requirements

Requirements for completing the Ph.D. program in Education with a concentration in Language and Literacy Education include requirements that are common to all areas of concentration and those that are specific to Language and Literacy Education (see below).

Requirements Common to All Concentrations

The following courses are required. Specific requirements of the area of concentration in Educational Policy are described later.

Proseminars (6 credits)

• 16:300:501 Proseminar in Educational Theories and Practice
• 16:300:503 Proseminar in Educational Research

*These courses are typically taken in the first year.

• 16:300:509 Qualitative Research Methods in Education I
• 16:300:511 Quantitative Research Methods in Education I, and Either
• 16:300:515 Quantitative Research Methods in Education II
• 16:300:519 Quantitative Research Methods in Education III, Or
• 16:300:513 Qualitative Research Methods in Education II
• 16:300:517 Qualitative Research Methods in Education III

• 16:300:600 Prethesis Research
• 16:300:601 Prethesis Research

Cognate Courses (6 Credits)

Students take 6 credits outside of Education (i.e., outside of courses offered in School 15 and in 16:300). The courses should be in an area related to the students’ primary area of concentration and should be selected in consultation with the student’s advisor

Specialization(18 credits)

Six graduate courses in the area of concentration must be taken. Specific requirements in the educational psychology concentration are included in the next section.

The Qualifying Examination Committee is composed of four members of the Ph.D. faculty in Education who work in the specific area of the concentration. Each area of concentration in the Ph.D. in Education program has different requirements for the qualifying examination.

Students complete an original piece of research as their dissertation project (24 credits of 300:701, 702). The research is expected to contribute to the knowledge base in the student’s particular area of interest. Students cannot enroll in Research in Education until they have been admitted as a candidate for the Ph.D. program after passing their qualifying examinations.

Specific Requirements of the Concentration in Language and Literacy Education

Qualifying Examinations

The purpose of the qualifying examination is to determine whether a student has acquired mastery of the field of concentration to warrant admission to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree. It should be taken as soon as the student has completed the major portion of the course requirements; it should be taken no later than four years after the student first registered in the Graduate School - New Brunswick and not later than two terms before taking the final dissertation examination.

The examination is conducted by a committee of four members of the Ph.D. in Education faculty. The examination is comprehensive in character and may be written or oral or both.