Doctoral programs can serve as an optimal opportunity for candidates to engage in tasks and activities to transform them and their schools. The paradigm shifts in such preparation involve moving from sitting and getting to making and taking. Most importantly, it requires building leadership skills and styles necessary to bring about desired change in schools. As such they should put key principles and conceptual frameworks to effective practice. Accreditation bodies and professional groups have set forth a philosophical base to create and implement effective programs. Based on such principles and a model of a collaborative effort between two California State University (CSU) campuses, this article highlights some of the strategies and techniques used in working with cohorts of doctoral programs. Implications for implementing doctoral programs using cohort models are drawn.