Dept. of Educational Theory & Practice at UAlbany

ETAP Home

GRADUATE PROGRAMS

- DOCTORAL

- CERTIFICATE OF ADVANCED
STUDY

- MASTERS

- TEACHER CERTIFICATION

EFL Certificate of Graduate Studies Program

Educational Theory and Practice Department

Doctoral Handbook

Qualifying Exam

The Doctoral Comprehensive Assessment serves as the Comprehensive Examination for ETAP doctoral students. The Comprehensive Exam is an opportunity for students to demonstrate their cumulative experiences in the program. The contents of the Comprehensive Exam should reflect prerequisite skills and experiences needed for beginning dissertation research. The Comprehensive Exam will be evaluated by a faculty committee, which normally takes one month (excluding summer and University holidays). Following the evaluation, the advisor will meet with the student to discuss next steps.

	Comprehensive Exam Preparation
	Comprehensive Exam Format
	Comprehensive Exam Assessment
	Forms

Comprehensive Exam Preparation

1.	The student is responsible for preparing, with the guidance of the advisor, a portfolio of his/her work while in the program.
2.	The portfolio should be submitted for formal assessment only after the student has:
	a.	completed at least 45 credits hours of course work applicable to the degree requirements.
	b.	completed all core, seminar, and inquiry course requirements.
	c.	completed the research tool exam and residency requirements.
3.	The portfolio should include:
	a.	only work completed since entering the Ph.D. program;
	b.	vita, transcript, and evidence of passing the research tool exam;
	c.	letters attesting to work that does not have written products (e.g., collaborations);
	d.	material of the highest quality. A few high quality products are preferred over many submissions of lower or mediocre quality. A single item may provide evidence for more than one criterion area.
4.	Criteria by which portfolios will be judged are:
	a.	scholarly thinking and writing ability
	b.	scholarly research ability
	c.	scholarly cooperative ability

Comprehensive Exam Format

A.	Vita and transcript
B	A statement synthesizing the student's development as a scholar;
	a)	What are the main intellectual themes, or questions which unite the work included?
	b)	How do particular items of evidence contribute to these themes?
	c)	Future plans for scholarship and research.
C.	A description of the organization of the portfolio items, including a table listing criteria in the left column and corresponding items in the right column.
D.	The actual items of evidence for each criterion organized as follows:
	1.	Scholarship: evidence for scholarly thinking and writing ability,
	2.	Research: evidence for scholarly research ability,
	3.	Cooperation: evidence for scholarly cooperative ability.

Each item of evidence should be prefaced with a brief statement of the motivation for and circumstances under which the item was produced, and its relationship to the overall patterns of development. A table listing the criteria and possible types of evidence is included at the end of this section.

Comprehensive Exam Assessment

1.	Submission: The portfolio can be submitted for a formal assessment up to three times. In addition, informal assessments can be carried out by the advisor prior to formal submission. When the portfolio is ready for examination, the student should complete the Departmental Doctoral Comprehensive Assessment Form, and return it and three (3) copies of the portfolio to the Department secretary (Education 113). PLEASE NOTE: Electronic submission of the doctoral portfolio is preferred. Sample: http://www.albany.edu/~gs2129/portfolio/portfoliohome.htm
2.	Assessment Committee: The formal assessment will be conducted by an Assessment Committee of three ETAP faculty members. The Assessment Committee will consist of:
		The student's advisor, who determines that a portfolio is ready for formal assessment.
		An ETAP faculty member who the Department Chair will appoint upon receipt of the Doctoral Comprehensive Assessment Form. This person will chair the Assessment Committee and is responsible for certifying the Committee's decision and returning the completed Doctoral Qualifying Portfolio Form to Education 113.
		An additional ETAP faculty member of the student's choice.
	If a portfolio is formally assessed more than once, to the extent possible, each assessment will be carried out by the same committee of faculty.
3.	Possible Actions: The assessment committee can take one of three actions:
		Pass.
		Request resubmit with recommendations for continued preparation.
		Fail. Failure can only be given on the third submission. The action is reported on the Doctoral Comprehensive Assessment Form signed by all committee members. Passes are reported to the Registrar on an official Doctoral Comprehensive Assessmemt Exam Form prepared by a Department secretary and signed by the Assessment Committee Chair and the Department Chair.

Criterion Area	Evidence
1a) Scholarly thinking ability: Ability to comprehend, interpret, conceptualize, and generate ideas, and 1b) Scholarly writing ability: Ability to express oneself in written scholarly forms such as in conceptual, theoretical, persuasive and descriptive writing, and qualitative and quantitative research reviews, proposals, and reports.	Evidence: Selected written work prepared for courses or projects since entering the program. Co-authored work must be accompanied by a description of the contribution of the student signed by the co-author(s).
2) Scholarly research ability: Ability to design research studies, seek funding, collect and analyze observations, interpret results, and prepare research reports	Required: A record of research production indicated in the vita. Additional Evidence: Any research proposals, reports, reviews, research papers or articles, including work done for course credit. Descriptions of contributions to research projects without written products bearing the student’s name must be signed by the project supervisor. A draft dissertation proposal may also be included.
3) Scholarly cooperative ability: Ability to work with others on scholarly tasks, to supervise, to teach, and to lead.	Required: A record of cooperative production indicated in the vita. Additional Evidence: Letters testifying to the ability to work as a project staff member, as a supervisor, as a teacher, or a project leader. Copies of co-authored work products. Co-authored work must be accompanied by a description of the specific contribution of the student signed by the co-author(s).