Susan Nestor ’04M always wanted to return to school for a master’s degree in elementary education. She just didn’t realize that only a few short hours after stopping by Albright’s Graduate Office to inquire about the program she’d be sitting in her first class.

“I was in between clients at work and stopped by to inquire about the program. Ironically, the very first class since the inception of the program was beginning that night. I decided it was as good of a time to start than ever,” Nestor says. “I returned to work, finished up with my clients and went to my very first class. I had to borrow a pen and some paper. I signed up officially for classes the following day.”

Nestor, excited about her new endeavor, was part of the first group of students to go through Albright’s master’s degree program in education, the College’s first and only graduate degree program.

The program began in 2002. With 85 students currently enrolled, Graduate Dean Sarel Fuchs, Ph.D., says the program continues and builds upon the success of Albright’s liberal arts tradition in undergraduate education.

Built on a theme of “reflective practice,” she says, “Our goal is to integrate the rich store of experience which our candidates bring with them into a research based investigation of best teaching practice. We seek at the graduate level to ask not only “how” but “why,” to examine current teaching practice and effect positive change.”

Four concentrations are offered: general education (which includes secondary education content areas), elementary education, special education, early childhood education or English as a second language. Candidates can also pursue teacher certification in an area while completing the master’s degree.

Recognizing the value of the liberal arts, a strand of three liberal arts courses is required. Joan Schaeffer ’05M, a special education teacher in Berks County Immediate Unit’s Early Intervention program, appreciated this requirement. “The ‘Reading Rabbit’ course which focused on the writings of John Updike and ‘The Early Modern City’ course taught by Dr. (Barbara) Fahy were particular favorites of mine,” she says.

John Staydt ’04M, a senior design engineer at CyOptics, Inc. in Breinigsville, Pa., with a master’s degree in electrical engineering, was also a member of the first graduating class. Staydt, who says he’s never formally been a teacher but has always found himself in teaching roles, was impressed by Albright’s program. “Dr. Fuchs provided the most common sense approach to graduate students of the five schools I interviewed.”

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“Undergraduate students are
expected to acquire information.
Graduate students are expected
to create new knowledge.”
– Sarel Fuchs, Ph.D., graduate dean

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Schaeffer agrees: “I was impressed with Dr. Fuchs’ enthusiasm for getting the program started…her commitment…and the focus on not only being exposed to different teaching strategies, but also on researching and applying learning theories.”

Research is a big part of the equation, says Fuchs. “Undergraduate students are expected to acquire information. Graduate students are expected to create new knowledge.” A research project is the capstone requirement.

Research topics cover a wide range of areas. Nestor, who is currently working toward her teacher’s certification, investigated the relationships between temperament and measures of stress among elementary teachers, while Schaeffer looked at why some parents opt to retain their child in BCIU’s Early Intervention program during their kindergarten year rather than enroll them in a regular kindergarten program. Staydt took yet another approach. He interviewed superintendents, assistant superintendents and technology directors on the effectiveness of their technology training on creating technology-based curriculum and its delivery to students.

All are excited to be able to touch the lives of children in such a positive way. They’re “the people of our future,” Nestor says.