Qualifying Examination Policy in Philosophy of Education

Background Information

Prior to taking the Preliminary oral examinations, candidates for the doctorate at the University of Illinois are required to take and pass a set of written Qualifying examinations. The overall procedures are described in Graduate Programs Handbook , available from the Graduate Programs Office of the College of Education, Rm 120.

The purposes of the Qualifying examinations, according to the handbook, include: assessment of the candidate's breadth in the discipline and depth in areas of interest; providing an opportunity to explore, make connections, and integrate content in the discipline.

The EPS Department has established general procedures for developing the Qualifiying examinations and for selecting readers to evaluate them. Otherwise the design of the examinations varies from program to program within the department. These are the procedures developed for examinations within the philosophy of education program.

The Qualifying examinations should be taken after a student has completed her/his doctoral coursework. The intention is that any student who has completed a range of courses in philosophy and philosophy of education, including required courses in the program, should be well prepared to complete these examinations successfully. All students are expected to take a General Field examination and a Special Field examination. The General Field examination should be completed first, and the Special Field examination completed within the same academic year.

The following section will explain the requirements for the General Field examination.

Policies for the General Field Examination in Philosophy of Education

The purpose of the General Field examination is to test students' general knowledge of philosophy of education and their skill in applying philosophical reasoning to educational theory and practice. Candidates will be expected to be familiar with a range of texts in philosophy of education and to be able to analyze significant educational issues philosophically: they will be evaluated on their ability to analyze material in terms of drawing relevant and fruitful distinctions, providing counterexamples, articulating and deconstructing relevant but unstated assumptions or subtexts, identifying ambiguities and drawing out their implications, and proposing alternative ways of understanding or explaining educational problems. Candidates will be expected to address the question in a well-organized way, with clarity of language and theme, consistency, and sensitivity to context. Quality of writing is one criterion of evaluation.

In administering the General Field examination, the division will appoint two faculty members to serve as a Qualifying Examination Committee each semester. This Committee will draft three kinds of questions, and review them with the other faculty of the division:

1. One involving the analysis and critique of a specific article, which will be distributed at the time of the examination.

2. One involving the analysis of a specific educational policy or issue (such as school finance, testing and measurement, multiculturalism, or equity).

3. One involving a comparison of two philosophers of education, or two philosophical positions.

Students taking the examination will pick up the questions from the EPS office and write on two questions from these options. They have two weeks to complete the examination. There is no minimum page requirement or page limit: the answers should be cogent and concise, but long enough to respond to the questions as thoroughly as possible in the time available.

Students are expected to work alone on their answers, and should not discuss them with other students or with faculty. While the questions are not designed to be research projects, students are encouraged to use additional readings that can help to inform their answers.

The answers must be returned to the EPS office, 360 Education, by 5:00 p.m. two weeks from the date of picking up the questions.

The examination reading committee for each student's answers will include the two members of that semester's Qualifying Examination Committee, plus the student's academic advisor. The General Field examination also includes a face to face review session to ask the student to amplify or explain aspects of the written answers, and to provide feedback to the student. The examination is not evaluated as pass or fail until after this review session.

Policies for the Special Field Examination in Philosophy of Education

The area of the Special Field examination will be proposed by the student with the concurrence of the advisor. The Special Field should be a scholarly specialization more broadly conceived than the anticipated dissertation topic. The adviser will be responsible for developing questions, drawing upon the expertise of other faculty when needed. The advisor, in consultation with the candidate, will also determine the format of the examination and select at least three faculty readers in the field being examined.

Further information regarding student and faculty responsibility and examination evaluation can be found in the Graduate Programs Handbook .