About EPS

Faculty in the Department of Educational Policy Studies have expertise in the program areas of Educational Leadership, Research, Measurement and Statistics, and Social Foundations.

We maintain a research culture in the department evidenced by scholarly activity, publishing in leading and ranked journals, academic trade and university presses, presenting at academic conferences and invited addresses. Members of our faculty are known nationally and internationally and have served as office holders in our professional associations and invited speakers at significant annual meetings.

The Educational Leadership program prepares graduates to be effective school and/or system leaders who positively impact student achievement. Throughout the program, students work on meaningful projects in a focused manner that is designed to help students develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions that are required to lead school and district improvement efforts. In addition, EPS collaborates closely with its partner districts to help assure that students are being properly prepared to successfully address school and district needs.

The Research, Measurement and Statistics program is composed of two research strands: quantitative methodology and qualitative methodology. Students choose one of these strands to become an expert in their chosen methodology. Those in the first strand use statistical methods to examine various aspects of educational policy and their influences on students. Those in the second strand often define education and its policies more broadly, examining social discourses that produce and reproduce social inequities.

The Social Foundations of Education program is rooted in a variety of academic disciplines, including anthropology, economics, history, philosophy, political science and sociology. Our interdisciplinary work promotes critical questions that challenge standard assumptions about the purpose of schools in a democratic society, the role that race, class, gender, ethnicity and sexuality play in teaching, learning, school funding, etc. and the importance of understanding critical policy analyses in the context of neoliberalism. The overarching purpose of social foundations study is to bring intellectual insights to develop interpretive, normative and critical perspectives on education, both inside and outside of schools.

The Higher Education unit includes the Ed.D. in educational leadership with a concentration in higher education administration prepares graduates to be successful leaders in institutions of higher education. The Ph.D. in educational policy studies with a concentration in higher education is designed for students who wish to pursue research and leadership roles in the higher education community.

In addition, the Principals Center is administered within our department.

The Center provides continuing professional development for Georgia State University graduates and other educational professionals from Georgia’s public and private K-12 schools with a focus on instructional leadership for schools that succeed for all students.

Their professional development agenda is implemented under various formats which target principals, aspiring leaders and other practitioners interested in improving their leadership and school reform skills.

For more information about their seminars, please visit the Principals Center.

It is through our diversity of perspectives and practices in achieving our purpose that constantly defines who we are!

The primary purpose of the Center for Urban School Leadership is to work in the leadership of urban schools over a substantial period of time by identifying and coalescing the interests and resources of University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) member and non-member institutions, school districts and governmental agencies.