Dr. Helen K. Foster serves as the Superintendent for California Central Valley's Coalinga-Huron Unified School District. In addition to two bachelor’s degrees in speech and drama as well as in chemistry, and two master’s degrees in environmental engineering and educational administration, Helen K. Foster holds a Doctorate of Educational Administration from St. Mary’s College of California.
St. Mary’s Ed.D. program through the Kalmanovitz School of Education is designed to allow professionals in educational roles to enhance their leadership skills. The educational system in the US today faces many challenges that require capable leaders. Funding is often limited and the achievement gap between students of varying race, gender, and socioeconomic status continues to widen. Leaders must find creative solutions to address diversity in the classroom and help each and every student succeed.
The educational doctorate program has graduated twelve groups of students thus far. Diversity of the cohort is a major aspect of the program’s learning environment, as the students--whose average age is 48-- bring their own unique set of experiences into the classroom. In general, the program has been composed of about equal numbers of men and women, with almost half of them being students of color.
Further, St. Mary’s College values social justice and community principles, and the Ed.D. curriculum encourages students toward reflection. It works from the premise that those who look at themselves and their own value set will be better able to build the skills to apply communication and creativity to the problems they face in their role in the educational system.
