Garcia's CSULB Ed.D Doctorate Dissertation Praised Sac'to Pols And CSU Brass For Bill Enabling (His And Other) CSU Ed.D Degrees As "Public Policy For Public Good"

+ Garcia's CSULB Ed.D Doctorate Dissertation Praised Sac'to Pols And CSU Brass For Bill Enabling (His And Other) CSU Ed.D Degrees As "Public Policy For Public Good"

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(November 9, 2020, 9:50 a.m.) -- In August 2010, CSULB awarded then-Long Beach Councilman Robert Garcia (elected April 2009) an Ed.D doctorate based on a politically focused dissertation that praises Sacramento elected officials and CSU's administration for a 2005 bill letting CSUs grant Ed.D doctorates previously only awarded by UCs (and for a limited time a joint UC-CSU program) that Garcia was personally using in 2010 to obtain his Ed.D.

Garcia's dissertation -- titled "The California State University education doctorate: Public policy for the public good" (99 pages prior to appendices and references bringing it to 121 pages) notes Garcia's previous advocacy for the bill and acknowledges the problematic issue of offering research on an action in which the researcher (Garcia) had an advocacy history and benefits from the results personally. It sought to address those issues with four sentences in a paragraph titled "Positionality":

As the researcher, I was extremely careful because I am a student in the CSU Long Beach Ed.D. program. While I am not studying the current program, I am still close to the subject that I am examining. I was also involved as an undergraduate student in advocating for the CSU Ed.D. I have developed an appreciation and respect for the program that could have colored my research had I not been careful. I was very aware of these biases and tried my best to ensure that they did not affect my research in any way through triangulation of data, member checks and coding. I sought the assistance of my dissertation chair to ensure proper data analysis.

Garcia's dissertation, submitted in "partial fulfillment of requirements for a Doctor of Education degree (Ed.D) in educational leadership" -- concludes that SB 724 (2005) was "educational reform" although key individuals involved in the legislation and cited in his dissertation declined say this.

An abstract of his dissertation can be viewed on CSULB's website here:

[Abstract text] In 2005, the California Legislature authorized the California State University (CSU) to begin offering doctorates in education. SB 724, authored by Senator Jack Scott, has altered the California Master Plan for Education by eliminating the University of California's monopoly on public doctoral education. The overall objective of this study was to document efforts in the development and passage of SB 724, and to draw conclusions about the bill as a reform for the public good.
The centerpiece of the study is a qualitative examination of the process and passage of SB 724 through interviews and document collection. This case study included 10 interviews of past and present legislators, administrators, staff and other key players who had deep knowledge about SB 724 and its history.
The major findings in this report reveal that SB 724 was crafted to address a series of important public needs including access for students, cost of programs, and a state shortage of educators with doctorates. This report also finds that the dissatisfaction with aspects of the joint program, and its own ambition to offer independent doctorates, drove the CSU to support SB 724. Additionally, the report notes that the University of California was strongly opposed to SB 724 and viewed the legislation as an affront to the Master Plan for Education. Finally, this report concludes that those interviewed do not consider SB 724 a major educational reform, or a reform to the California Master Plan, but an alteration or change.
Recommendations for policy and practice include encouragement for the CSU to seek other independent professional doctorates and for the CSU to create a website to collect all the documents and records about the passage of SB 724 for future scholars and practitioners. Recommendations for future research on evaluation of programs, effects on private institutions, and legislative perceptions and knowledge are also presented.

Garcia's full dissertation can be accessed here. It includes a history of college opportunities, a legislative history and interviews with those involved with SB 724, pro and con.

Garcia's dissertation acknowledges that officials involved with SB 724's passage declined to call it educational reform, but Garcia contends, to support his dissertation's premise, that it was and is reform based on the following reasoning:

"There is no reference to reform or major changes to the Master Plan" but "reform is not historically judged by the institutions affected, but by scholars, governmental organizations, historians and the population at large. SB 724 was an alteration to the Master Plan to meet the needs of a changing workforce. In the future, this change or alteration could be viewed as a reform if it has significant impacts on education."

Garcia credits state lawmakers for what he calls "a pivotal step in advancing the mission of the CSU and reforming higher education for the public good...The CSU now provides an affordable Education Doctorate through a system that ensures access to the underserved citizens of California." His dissertation concludes Sacramento electeds and CSU administrators produced "public policy for the public good" through well-intended actions to advance laudable policies he says may bring future positive results.

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One may wish to compare Garcia's Ed.D scholarship with that of (now incoming First Lady) Jill Biden, who in 2007 earned her Ed.D for dissertation submitted to the University of Delaware she titled Student Retention at the Community College: Meeting Students' Needs. Its abstract states as follows:

This Executive Position Paper (EPP) studies student retention in the community college and Delaware Technical & Community College in particular. The paper focuses on four areas of students' needs: academic, psychological, social, and physical. An overview of the paper is given, and an introduction to Delaware Technical & Community College is presented. First, the nature of the pre-tech (developmental) population is discussed. Then, a literature review offers current research by experts in the field. In addition, the results from pre-tech students, faculty, and advisor surveys and interviews are analyzed. Statistical information underscores the problem of retaining students, and personal accounts from students provide insight as to why students drop out. Overall, problem areas are identified, and recommendations and solutions are offered and encouraged.

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For a comparison of the differing career choices by Robert Garcia and Jill Biden, see LBREPORT.com coverage here.

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Support really independent news in Long Beach. No one in LBREPORT.com's ownership, reporting or editorial decision-making has ties to development interests, advocacy groups or other special interests; or is seeking or receiving benefits of City development-related decisions; or holds a City Hall appointive position; or has contributed sums to political campaigns for Long Beach incumbents or challengers. LBREPORT.com isn't part of an out of town corporate cluster and no one its ownership, editorial or publishing decisionmaking has been part of the governing board of any City government body or other entity on whose policies we report. LBREPORT.com is reader and advertiser supported. You can help keep really independent news in LB similar to the way people support NPR and PBS stations. We're not non-profit so it's not tax deductible but $49.95 (less than an annual dollar a week) helps keep us online.

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