Montclair State University

Program Requirements

Doctoral Financial Aid Opportunities

For additional information about the graduate scholarships and fellowships listed below or for a list of other awards, please visit: http://www.montclair.edu/graduate/financial/scholarships.php.

Saul and Adelaide Goldfarb Fellowship (Doctoral)

Description: The Saul and Adelaide Goldfarb Doctoral Fellowship is awarded on a periodic basis to qualified doctoral students at Montclair State University who have not previously earned a doctoral degree.

The award will be paid to the student in biweekly installments for the year of the award. In order to maintain the award, the student must show continual progress toward completion of the dissertation. To that end, the student receiving the award will be required to submit a progress report regarding the dissertation on April 30, August 31, and December 31 to The Graduate School. Each progress report shall be accompanied by a letter of support from the student's dissertation advisor confirming the progress.

If it is determined that a student is not making satisfactory progress with the dissertation, the Fellowship award may be in jeopardy. If the student completes the dissertation and earns the doctoral degree prior to the end of the award year, the student will be paid the balance of the award at that time.

Eligibility: To be eligible, students must be fully matriculated in a doctoral program and must have an approved dissertation proposal.

Award Amount: The Fellowship will provide a one-time $10,000 award to the recipient.

Deadline: April 1st

Application Process: To be considered for the Saul and Adelaide Goldfarb Doctoral Fellowship, students must submit the Saul and Adelaide Goldfarb Graduate Scholarship Application by April 1st. The application is available at http://www.montclair.edu/graduate/financial/scholarships.php.

International Graduate Student Award

Description: The International Graduate Student Award waives the out-of-state portion of the tuition and allows the student to pay the in-state tuition amount. Please visit http://www.montclair.edu/graduate/new/academic_policies.php for more information on the minimum academic retention standards.

Eligibility: The MSU International Graduate Student Award is available to any student who meets all of the following criteria:

Graduation with a bachelors or a master's degree from one of Montclair State University's Global Partner Schools
Applies and is admitted into a graduate program at Montclair State University
Maintains the minimum academic requirements for retention in the graduate program

Carla M. Narrett Graduate Research Award

Description: The Carla M. Narrett Graduate Research Award was developed to honor the first Dean of the Graduate School and Research for her years of service to Montclair State University. The award provides funding to graduate students conducting research or presenting results at professional conferences.

Eligibility: Funds will be awarded based on availability and on the strength of the proposal.

Award Amount: Graduate students may be awarded up to $300.00 to explore a faculty-sponsored independent research project or a specific component of thesis or dissertation work, e.g. instrument development/validation or a pilot study. The Award also assists students with expenses associated with presenting papers at scholarly and professional conferences. The fund will offer reimbursement for a maximum of $300.00. Reimbursement is limited to expenses for travel, food, lodging and conference fees.

Deadline: Graduate students are invited to apply to the Dean of the Graduate School on a rolling basis each academic year.

Application Process: To apply, current graduate student must submit a proposal in writing to the Dean of the Graduate School. The proposal should describe the project, why the funds are necessary and a budget outlining how the funds will be utilized.

Award recipients are expected to submit a written report once research is completed, including the question under investigation, research methods, results, conclusions, and how the monies from the Award were used.

Albert Wang Dissertation Award

Description: The Albert Wang Dissertation Award is available to qualified full or part-time doctoral students at Montclair State University who are enrolled in their courses for dissertation advisement.

Eligibility: Students:

Must be fully matriculated in a doctoral program at MSU
Must be enrolled in or anticipate being enrolled in dissertation advisement at the time of the award
Must have a dissertation proposal fully approved on file in The Graduate School

Award Amount: The Albert Wang Award Fund provides for one $2,000 cash award to be given each fall semester to assist doctoral students who are conducting scholarly research as a part of their dissertation.

Deadline: To be considered for the Albert Wang Dissertation Award, doctoral students must submit the following to The Graduate School by June 1st:

The Albert Wang Dissertation Award Application form
5 page typed summary of their dissertation proposal with an abstract
Copy of Dissertation Proposal Approval form with all signatures
Letter of support from dissertation advisor addressing scholarship of the work and its potential impact on the field

Application Process: Print out an Albert Wang Dissertation Award Application, which can be found at: http://www.montclair.edu/graduate/financial/scholarships.php#awd and submit it to The Graduate School.

Students will be evaluated on these materials as well as their academic performance in the doctoral program. Students will be notified of the results by mid-summer. Recipient must enroll in dissertation advisement for the semester of the award and must maintain a minimum of 3.0 GPA. The recipient may not receive this award more than once nor hold another University scholarship or Graduate Assistantship simultaneously.

What can you do with an Ed.D. in Mathematics Education?

Become a leader in your district

Curriculum developer
Evaluator
Department Chair
Professional development leader
Mathematics specialist

Teach at the college level

Mathematics Education faculty member in mathematics department or school of education at a university/four-year college

Teach undergraduate and graduate methods and research courses
Mentor theses
Teach undergraduate mathematics courses

Mathematics faculty member in two-year colleges

Work for private companies or on grant-related projects

Textbook writer (or develop other publisher materials)
Editor of textbooks or other curriculum materials
Evaluator
Proposal writer
Researcher
Editor of mathematics and mathematics education curriculum materials
Textbook consultant

Work on policy

Government positions in department of education
Consultant
Lobbysist for education reform

Teach K—12 mathematics

Research-based teacher
Innovator of teaching methodologies
Active participant in professional and research community

Dissertation Titles of Graduates

"Factors that Produce and Reduce Mathematics Anxiety as Perceived by Seventh Grade Females -
A Qualitative Study"
Martha Baklarz Croley
Advisor: Ken Wolff

"The Development of Seventh Graders' Conceptual Understanding of Geometry and Spatial Visualization Abilities Using Mathematical Representations with Dynamic Models"
Deborah L. Ives
Advisor: Evan Maletsky

"The Use Of The Graphing Calculator To Support The Learning Of The Function Concept By Students With Learning Disabilities In A Mathematics Classroom"
Diane Carluccio
Advisor: Ken Wolff

"A Mathematical Community of Inquiry in the High School Setting"
Ray Siegriest
Advisor: Gideon Weinstein

"The Role of Paradox in Argumentation and Concept Transformation in Community of Mathematical Inquiry: A Dialectical Analysis"
Nadia Stoyanova Kennedy
Advisor: Mark Weinstein

"Metacognition And Mathematical Problem Solving Case Studies Of Six Seventh Grade Students"
Michelle Elizabeth Sarver
Advisor: Ken Wolff (Gideon Weinstein)

"An Interdisciplinary Approach to Secondary Math Class Activities: The Influence of Multiple Intelligences Inspired Tasks On Student Learning of Geometric Concepts"
Janice-Lynn Nazziola Shuhan
Advisor: Anthony Piccolino

"The Effect of Visually Enhanced Instructional Units on High School Calculus Students’ Visualization Ability and their Understanding of the Limit Concept"
Arpi A. Lajinian
Advisor: Ken Wolff (Evan Maletsky)

"A Study of Students' Perceptions About Their Attitude Toward Mathematics (ATM), Achievement in Mathematics (AIM), Factors That Influence ATM, And Suggestions To Improve ATM In A 'Better Than Average' District"
Laura Ann Clinton Sullivan
Advisor: Eileen Fernandez

"The Evolution Of One Teacher’s Interactions With Students Working In Small Groups To Improve Their Communication, Self-Regulating, And Problem-Solving Skills
Sarah Quebec Fuentes
Advisor: Mika Munakata

"The Effect of Using a Problem/Project Based, Document Driven Unit of Instruction on High School Students’ Achievement in the Data Analysis Cluster of the HSPA and on their attitude towards Mathematics"
Joy Cunningham Brokes
Advisor: Ken Wolff

"The Effects Of Using Diagramming As A Representational Technique On High School Students’ Achievement In Solving Math Word Problems"
Banmali Banerjee
Advisor: Ken Wolff

"Reform in Mathematics Education—Teaching for Social Justice"
Marius Petric
Advisor: Mika Munakata

"The relationship between studying music and mathematics performance on the New Jersey high school proficiency assessment"
Kristi Prokop
Advisor: Ken Wolff

Comprehensives Experience

Guidelines for the comprehensive experience:

Candidates are eligible to commence the comprehensive experience after the completion of 75% of required coursework including MATH 825 and at least one of MATH 820 and MATH 821. The comprehensive experience includes a written portion and a presentation.

Written portion:

Review of the research literature. Candidates prepare an extensive review of the literature related to a specific topic in mathematics education. The review should center on current and relevant literature and must connect theory to research and past research to current research in the field. It is recommended that candidates choose a topic related to their potential dissertation topic. The review of the literature should include a broad perspective on the topic by describing different perspectives and providing comparative analysis. The literature review should be about 30 pages in length and must use follow APA guidelines. In addition to the review of the literature, candidates must address the following overarching questions:

How has the theory underlying your topic evolved through the history of mathematics education? What are the seminal works?
Describe the relevance of your topic to the mathematics classroom. What implications does it have for mathematics learning and teaching?
What are areas for further study?

Integrative essay. The purpose of the integrative essay is to enable students to demonstrate their theoretical and practical understandings of the core competencies of the Ed.D. in Mathematics Education. Through the integrative essay, candidates consider the wide body of literature related to mathematics education and present a survey of the literature in a cogent way. Candidates are given two written prompts chosen by the program director. Candidates have three weeks to prepare responses to the two prompts. Each response should be 8 pages (single spaced) in length.

Presentation

Candidates present their literature review (Part B of their written work) at a 1-hour departmental seminar. The audience for the seminar will include faculty, undergraduate and graduate students and others from outside MSU who may be interested in applying to the doctoral program. Following the 1-hour seminar, the committee remains to ask the candidate questions related to the integrative essay. The committee members (at least three, as is the current policy) will have read the written work prior to the seminar and will meet to discuss the presentation and the responses to questions about the integrative essay after the candidate has left the room.

The quality of the comprehensive experience will be assessed with regard to understanding of the field, clarity of writing, and ability to answer questions. Candidates are encouraged to be taking courses concurrent with their work on the comprehensive experience but may not begin work on the dissertation proposal until the comprehensive examination requirements have been fulfilled.

Timeline:

Candidate prepares literature review in consultation with advisor and committee members.
Candidate notifies advisor and/or program director for written prompts for the integrative essay.
Candidate has three weeks to complete integrative essay.
Candidate submits the integrative essay and the literature review to the committee. The committee chair, in consultation with committee members, sets a date by which responses must be returned to the candidate. Upon approval, a presentation date is set in consultation with the rest of the committee, no earlier than 10 days upon approval.
Candidate gives presentation, as described above.
Committee members pass, recommend revisions, or fail the candidate.

Dissertation

Practice-based dissertation:
This option is suitable for candidates who wish to become leaders in their profession. The dissertation focuses on the development of knowledge related to topics such as curricula, policy, and professional development. For example, under this option, candidates might choose to write a theme-based curriculum, write a policy manual for his/her school district, or create a professional development program. All work must be original and based on current research. To this end, candidates must justify the development of their work through a literature review. Though the development of the module, curriculum unit, policy manual, or program is the main focus of the dissertation under this option, candidates must include a process of formative and summative assessment on their work. This may take on the form of a pilot study, feedback from colleagues obtained through interviews, or some other small-scale review system. The dissertation under this option would inform professionals such as policy makers, classroom teachers, and administrators through publications in practitioner journals, classroom resource books, and conference proceedings. Additionally, candidates are strongly encouraged to present their findings at state, regional, and national conferences.
Research-based dissertation:
This option is recommended for all candidates intending to pursue a career in higher education. The dissertation under this option focuses on the development and execution of a sound research project grounded in the literature. The candidate works closely with the committee members to identify research questions and methods and to analyze results. The research may involve the collection of quantitative or qualitative data, or may employ mixed-methods. Dissertations written under this option should be publishable in research mathematics education journals. Additionally, candidates are strongly encouraged to present their findings at state, regional, and national conferences.