Education
School of
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Principals are an essential part of school reform: principals who can actually supervise, evaluate and lead fledgling young teachers to high levels of expertise.
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working with teachers alone. It’s the whole enchilada: principals, superintendents, community leaders, parents and support staff. And actually, the whole enchilada starts with early childhood education for 3- and 4-year-olds. Heath: That’s why we need an early childhood education center here at SNHU. We need universal preschool. McQuillan: I agree. We know now, after years of research, that the most critical period of learning, brain maturation, development and language acquisition in children is from birth until kindergarten. And yet we don’t have any public school districts or states focused on 3- and 4- year-olds like they focus on high schools. It’s stunning – and yet, as a matter of public policy, that’s where the game is won. Mark, if you could bring one innovation to the School of Education, what would it be? McQuillan: If we could build a threeyear, competency-based program for students to receive a bachelor’s degree, and then complete a master’s degree in the fourth year while working full-time in the districts and earning a partial salary, that would be a breakthrough. It would be similar to SNHU’s three-year, competency-
– Mark McQuillian based degree in business administration. At other universities, these so-called residency programs last five or six years, but that’s very expensive. If we split the cost with the school districts during that fourth year, the students get a master’s degree for a lower price than a typical four-year college education. Everybody wins. Heath: That’s in the spirit of what university President Paul LeBlanc is trying to do: reduce the cost of education loans for our students. So you’re getting four years, a master’s degree, excellent preparation, and almost a surety that you’re going to be hired by a school district if you do a good job. It’s the best of all worlds. McQuillan: Fortunately, at SNHU we have the support of the president and provost to experiment, and innovate, and bring our innovations to scale. That’s what makes this job so attractive.
The Extra Mile | Spring 2012 | 15