ACADEMIC ADMISSIONS & REQUIREMENTS, POLICIES, AND PROCEDURES
Admission Requirements:
- All admitted students are expected to have had at least one course in child development at the upper division level and at least 200 hours of supervised classroom experience with children from birth through eight years of age, or the equivalent.
- Applicants to the Early Childhood Special Needs program should have had prior experience with children with disabilities.
- Specific criteria for admissions are available from program faculty. The program adheres to Department of Education and Graduate School admissions standards and procedures.
- The Graduate Program in Early Childhood Education reviews applications on a rolling basis, deciding on admission as candidates complete their files. Beginning February 1, decisions are made regarding financial aid. Please contact Program Coordinator for further information.
To Apply:
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Write or call the Coordinator of the Early Childhood program for an interview date to discuss program options.
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File an application for admission with the UNH Graduate School.
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Send transcripts, Graduate Record Examination scores, and letters of recommendation to the Dean of the Graduate School.
Financial Aid: Information on assistantships and full-time scholarships is available in the Early Childhood program office. Applications for part-time scholarships are available from the Graduate School office. Applications for loans and work-study are available from the Financial Aid office. Deadlines for application and financial assistance are published in the Graduate Catalog.
REQUIRED COURSE WORK
All students take:
EDUC 941 Diversity and Child Development
EDUC 942 Sociocultural Perspectives on Teaching and Learning
EDUC 943 Changing Contexts in Early Education
EDUC 944 Inclusive Curriculum for Young Children
EDUC 948 Leadership and Advocacy for Early Childhood Education.
Early Childhood candidates must also take at least one course from the Special Needs option (see below).
Early Childhood Special Needs candidates take the above courses, plus:
EDUC 860 Introduction to Young Children with Special Needs;
EDUC 947 Curriculum for Young Children with Special Needs: Evaluation and Program Design
EDUC 949 Supporting Families of Individuals with Exceptionalities.
Required courses are offered once each academic year. Required courses are very rarely offered during summer sessions.
ELECTIVE COURSE WORK
Students will elect a minimum of six additional credits (four for those choosing the Special Needs option) in consultation with their academic advisor. In special circumstances, students with prior advanced course work may request the required courses be waived and other electives substituted.
Suggested Course Sequences
Early Childhood Education
YEAR I
Fall Semester
EDUC 941 Diversity and Child Development
EDUC 943 Changing Contexts in Early Education
Elective
Spring Semester
EDUC 942 Sociocultural Perspectives on Teaching and Learning
EDUC 944 Inclusive Curriculum for Young Children
Elective
YEAR II
Fall Semester
Special Needs Course
EDUC 900B, Internship and Seminar
Spring Semester
EDUC 948 Leadership and Advocacy for Early Childhood Education
EDUC 901B Internship and Seminar
EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION with the SPECIAL NEEDS OPTION
YEAR I
Fall Semester
EDUC 860 Introduction to Young Children with Special Needs
EDUC 941 Diversity and Child Development
EDUC 943 Changing Contexts in Early Education
Spring Semester
EDUC 942 Sociocultural Perspectives on Teaching and Learning
EDUC 944 Inclusive Curriculum for Young Children
EDUC 947 Curriculum for Young Children with Special Needs:
Evaluation and Program Design
YEAR II
Fall Semester
EDUC 900B, Internship and Seminar
Elective
Spring Semester
EDUC 901B Internship and Seminar
EDUC 948 Leadership and Advocacy for Early Childhood Education
EDUC 949 Supporting Families of Individuals with Exceptionalities
CONCLUDING EXPERIENCES
Students may elect to take the comprehensive written and oral examination or write a research thesis to fulfill the concluding experience requirement. Guidelines for the comprehensive examination and the research thesis are available from program faculty. Those electing the thesis option may count thesis credit hours to fulfill elective requirements.
Guidelines for Graduate Portfolio
RATIONALE
By the end of the graduate program in Early Childhood, students should be able to provide evidence of their professional development in a variety of ways. Regardless of whether students elect the research thesis option or the written comprehensive examination, additional means for demonstrating professional knowledge and competencies will be provided through the presentation of a graduate portfolio.
The purpose of the graduate portfolio is to provide a flexible and highly individualized opportunity for each student to demonstrate her/his evolving understanding and mastery of the discipline of early childhood education as well as the ability to carry out multiple roles as teacher, leader, and advocate.
PROCEDURE
All students will develop, maintain, and submit a graduate portfolio reflecting their professional growth and development during their participation in the graduate program in Early Childhood. Early in a student's program, preferably in EDUC 943 (Changing Contexts in Early Education), students will begin to collect portfolio entries that are both illustrative of and essential to their understanding of their own development. The portfolio will be shared periodically throughout the graduate program. Formal and informal feedback from faculty and fellow students will contribute to the emerging portfolio.
CONTENTS
Categories for portfolio entries include examples of theoretical as well as practical knowledge demonstrating your growth and development. Each entry will be accompanied by a brief written caption explaining its purpose and meaning. These reflective commentaries will be more than descriptive, and should reflect thoughtful analysis and interpretation.
While some take the view that portfolios only represent one's best work, our view is that a collection of evidence documenting change, sources for change, and other indications of professional growth and development is equally valuable. Thus samples might include exemplary as well as unsuccessful attempts at tasks of personal significance, evidence of critical and constructive feedback, and evidence of other professionally meaningful experiences.
Additional types of entries include samples of children's work, teacher developed plans and materials, videotaped teaching episodes, and reflections on your own teaching. One required entry will be a 3-5 page (typed, double-spaced) professional statement that combines personal and formal knowledge about development and the field of early childhood.
Comprehensive Examination
FORMAT AND SOURCE OF QUESTIONS
The written component of the comprehensive examination will include two parts--a time-limited, closed-book section consisting of two questions and a take-home, open-book section consisting of two questions. These questions will come from both students and faculty. Each student will receive an individualized examination; that is, the four questions posed will vary somewhat from student to student.
Midway through the semester in which students are planning to graduate, they will submit four or five questions to their program advisors. At least one question from a student's list of questions will be selected for that student's time-limited section of the exam. Remaining questions will be generated by program faculty. Faculty may also select from the total set of student-submitted questions to complete each student's individual exam (the final wording of which may be modified).
CLOSED-BOOK SECTION
About five weeks prior to the end of the semester, students will come to Morrill Hall by 8:00 am (on a predetermined date) to pick up their time-limited, closed-book exam packets. These packets will contain two questions, to be answered in no more than four hours.
The first question in this part will be framed as a hypothetical situation. Students will be expected to respond to the situation, perhaps in the form of a letter or statement to be addressed to a particular audience, and address both the knowledge base relevant to the issue at hand and the strategies for action necessary to rectify the situation. The second question will address a specific aspect of knowledge in the field of early childhood and early childhood special needs. The focus of at least one of these questions will be drawn from the student's list of questions.
Upon completion of the time-limited portion of the exam, students will submit their responses to the Department receptionist. At that point, they will be given the two take-home questions, to be completed and returned in one week.
TAKE-HOME SECTION
The take-home part of the written exam will consist of two questions to be answered at home, using whatever resources are appropriate (except collaboration). Each response will be 3-5 pages in length (typed double-spaced), not including references. These two questions will both focus on the translation of theory into practice . Students will be asked to explicate a particular theoretical model in the field of early childhood, suggest ways that the model can be applied in early childhood settings, and describe ways to evaluate the effectiveness of the model.
Exam questions will address issues that cut across ages, settings, and abilities. Students in the Early Childhood Special Needs option will be expected to demonstrate knowledge/expertise related to that subdiscipline in their responses.
Thesis Guidelines
INITIAL STEPS
Students may elect a thesis option as a culminating experience for the M.Ed. in Early Childhood. In order to choose this option, the student must:
- demonstrate the requisite academic skills necessary for successful completion of the thesis in a timely fashion;
- obtain approval from her/his assigned advisor;
- ocate an available and appropriate thesis advisor.
Once these steps have been accomplished, the student will
- define a question or topic suitable for extensive investigation in consultation with the thesis advisor.
- identify at least two additional graduate faculty to serve as a thesis committee; and,
- request that the academic advisor initiate the process of appointing the committee through the Graduate School.
DEVELOPING A PROPOSAL
The thesis proposal must be approved by the full thesis committee prior to initiation of the investigation. The essential elements in the 10 - 20 page proposal, written in consultation with the thesis advisor, include:
- statement of the problem;
- review of relevant literature (theoretical, empirical, practical);
- statement of hypotheses or guiding questions to be addressed in the investigation;
- description of methodology including purposes and procedures, subjects and setting, data collection methods and instruments, data analysis strategies; and
- significance of the study, including potential implications for early childhood education.
Upon completion of the thesis proposal, the student will distribute drafts of the proposal to the full committee, incorporating their feedback into the final version. The student will then make an oral presentation before the full committee. Upon approval of the proposal, the student will proceed with the investigation.
One semester prior to graduation, students will meet with their advisors to review the organization and content of the portfolios. The final portfolio presentation will occur either (a) as part of the oral defense of the research thesis, or (b) as part of the oral component of the comprehensive examination.
CONTENTS
Categories for portfolio entries include examples of theoretical as well as practical knowledge demonstrating your growth and development. Each entry will be accompanied by a brief written caption explaining its purpose and meaning. These reflective commentaries will be more than descriptive, and should reflect thoughtful analysis and interpretation.
While some take the view that portfolios only represent one's best work, our view is that a collection of evidence documenting change, sources for change, and other indications of professional growth and development is equally valuable. Thus samples might include exemplary as well as unsuccessful attempts at tasks of personal significance, evidence of critical and constructive feedback, and evidence of other professionally meaningful experiences.
Additional types of entries include samples of children's work, teacher developed plans and materials, video-taped teaching episodes, and reflections on your own teaching. One required entry will be a 3-5 page (typed, double-spaced) professional statement that combines personal and formal knowledge about development and the field of early childhood.
THESIS HOURS
Following approval of the proposal, the student will register for EDUC 899 Master's Thesis. The total number of credit hours for the thesis will vary from 6 to 10, and may count as elective credits in the student's program of study. The number of credit hours and the distribution of those credits over one or more semesters will be determined in consultation with the thesis and academic advisors.
THESIS CRITERIA
A primary determination in the selection of a thesis topic will be its relevance to contemporary issues in the field of early childhood and its potential for contributing to improved practice. A range of appropriate thesis topics and methodologies are acceptable, including qualitative and quantitative approaches to empirical investigation. Data collection may rely primarily on a field-based investigation or the synthesis of existing knowledge leading to new understandings.
THESIS APPROVAL
The student will work closely with the thesis advisor during the investigatory and writing stages of the thesis. Additional committee members will be advised of new issues or changes that arise as a result of the thesis investigation. At such point that the thesis advisor acknowledges that the writing has reached a final draft stage, copies of the thesis will be shared with other committee members for final suggestions. When all committee members have indicated at least a tentative approval of the thesis in written form, a date will be established for an oral thesis defense.
At the defense, the student will make a formal presentation summarizing the original intent of the thesis investigation and the results. Following committee member comments and suggestion, as well as approval of the oral defense, the student will complete all final changes to the thesis, whereupon it will be submitted to the Graduate School.
The Graduate School Thesis Manual will provide additional details regarding the thesis format, citation guidelines, submission dates and procedures.
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