Education, Ph.D.
(Early Childhood, Intervention and Literacy)

Program Description

Overview

The Ph.D. in Education prepares leaders in educational research who can meet challenges ranging from the social-emotional needs of diverse student populations to addressing controversies in literacy instruction to designing, implementing and evaluating educational programs within cultural contexts. The UNC program is designed to foster collaboration among faculty and students from diverse disciplines, thus providing the opportunity to develop relevant research agendas. Graduates of the Ph.D. program are prepared for leadership positions in research and teaching at major universities and institutes.

The Ph.D. in Education is organized as a single program with three research emphases: Culture, Curriculum and Change; Early Childhood, Intervention and Literacy; and Educational Psychology, Measurement and Evaluation.

Early Childhood, Intervention and Literacy

The Ph.D. program in Early Childhood, Intervention and Literacy (ECIL) emphasizes the multidisciplinary study of the development of young children with diverse characteristics in the context of families, schools, and culture. Of special importance is the interest in designing new curricular and intervention strategies for the development and learning of typical children, children with special needs, and children from culturally diverse families. In addition, there is an emphasis on instructional approaches to support literacy for young children in families and schools.

During their first semester of study, all Ph.D. in Education students enroll in a school-wide proseminar, a school-wide research methods seminar, a specialty proseminar, and a one-hour supervised research experience. The program requires a total of twelve credit hours of research methods, with two courses required and two courses determined by each student in consultation with her/his committee.

During the second, third, and fourth semesters of study, students enroll with individual faculty for one credit hour of supervised research and writing.

Students in the Ph.D. program are required to maintain full-time enrollment through the completion of course work.

ECIL Students

Students are encouraged to participate in a range of research and teaching experiences that will prepare them for their professional goals. These experiences may include participation in research studies within and outside the School, teaching classes and the supervision of student teachers.

A graduate student organization within the School and campus-wide organizations are available to students in the program to help enrich their experience. Internships and other fellowships are also available.

Current students in the program have interests in communication and child engagement, health and childcare, literacy, bilingual education, family involvement in the neonatal intensive care unit, characteristics of children with Fragile X Syndrome, and innovative curriculum development/evaluation of literacy programs as well as early intervention programs.

Admissions

A master's degree is required before entering the Ph.D. program.

Students who have a strong research interest in education but who do not have a master's degree are strongly encouraged to enter the flexible M.A. program (30 hours) in education and then apply to the Ph.D. program. The M.A. program does not automatically result in licensure to teach.

Admitted students come from a variety of backgrounds, including: experience and interests in traditional classroom teaching, special education, neonatal intensive care units, childcare, emergent literacy, family involvement in schooling, curriculum development, teacher education, etc. They also have diverse backgrounds with respect to age, experience, ethnicity, culture and gender.

Program Contact

Lynne Vernon-Feagans, Program Coordinator
lynnevf@email.unc.edu
(919) 843-5623