Far too often, educational leadership doctoral programs fail to develop competent researchers and ensure that they graduate with a doctoral degree. Using the conceptualization of the ideal practitioner-scholar, this article describes how action research and cohort structures can help to develop school leaders who are competent, confident, and capable researchers. Specific examples of existing action research and collaborative cohort strategies are provided as well as recommendations for how doctoral programs can be organized better to measure their success in developing practitioner-scholars. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)