Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership

The Alice P. Naylor Outstanding Dissertation Award was established in 2009 by former doctoral program director, Dr. Jim Killacky to honor the legacy of Professor Emerita Dr. Alice Naylor. Dr. Naylor retired in 2008 after 33 years as a faculty member in the Reich College of Education. Dr. Naylor served as a Director of AppState’s Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership. The Naylor award was created to honor the quality of research and scholarship in the program. 

Dissertation committee chairs can nominate students each academic year. The nominations are reviewed by a faculty committee based on established criteria. The award recognizes a doctoral graduate who, through their dissertation work:

-- Advances knowledge in the field of educational leadership, broadly defined;

-- Integrates intellectual traditions, theoretical frameworks, and research findings;

-- Makes innovative use of methods, extending the approaches available for conducting research;

-- Impacts educational practice, or develops theory or perspective that impacts practice, especially for underserved and marginalized communities.

The 2024 Naylor winners will be announcement at this year's Doctoral Symposium held on November 7-8, 2024.

Dr. Dramaine Freeman

Dr. Freeman's dissertation illuminates how Black men experience anti-Blackness within their personal and professional lives. He examines the experiences of Black leaders through an asset-based perspective to begin building a holistic support network to increase representation and open new pathways to leadership roles for younger Black men and boys.

Dissertation Title: BlackCrit Case Study Analysis That Explores The Influence Of Societal Perceptions Of Black Men On Black Male K-12 Leaders

Framed Award

Committee Members:

Dr. Ashley Carpenter, Chair
Dr. Chris Osmond, Member
Dr. Will Sheppard, Member

Dr. Gwynne Shoaf 

Dr. Shoaf’s dissertation employs theoretical concepts of power/knowledge to analyze everyday texts and encounters involved in autism diagnosis and intervention. She inspires educators to adopt an affirmative view of difference and to view people with autism, and their families, as whole beings full of potential.

Dissertation Title: Problematizing The Deficit Discourses Of People With Autism And Autism Parents: A Poststructural Analysis Of Subjectivity And Power/Knowledge

Framed Award

Committee: