The Authenticity and Promise of Learner Talk in Programmatic Self-Study

Abstract

Formative assessment plays an essential role in programmatic curricular design. Six years following a comprehensive program redesign, we sought student and alumni voice to capture the degree to which the program aligned with the Carnegie Project on the Education Doctorate (CPED) guiding principles and successfully prepared Scholarly Practitioners. Twenty-one participants — 12 current students and 9 alumni — engaged in two student and two alumni focus groups during Fall 2024. Using a two-cycle qualitative coding process, five themes emerged from the data: social justice as embedded yet emergent, theory to practice, field-based practice, professional identity transformation, and alumni and student variance in program perception. Findings revealed a strong action research-based methodology-to-practice, evidence of professional identity transformation across participants, and a developmental latency between enrollment and full recognition of program impact. The CPED Principles Implementation & Framework© Impact Self-Study Project process highlighted several areas of program strength and helped identify areas for programmatic improvement specific to strengthening student articulation of theoretical grounding and structural gaps between core and concentration coursework.