Doctor of Education in Pre-K–12 Leadership

Faculty

• Dr. Bill Preble

  

  Professor of Education
  Office: Tower Hall, Third Floor
  Phone: 603.731.8548
  Email: wpreble@nec.edu

  Awards
  2021–2023: Recipient of Gates Foundation Grand Algebra Challenge Grant Awards to support Math Literacy for minoritized middle and high school students using near-peer mentoring and game-based instruction.

  2019–2020: Invited by the University of Pennsylvania, Graduate School of Education, Coalition for Excellence and Equity to share school climate and youth voice research with over 200 school districts from the Mid-Atlantic region.

  2015–2020: Invited to serve as a member of the International Youth Voice Symposium; to develop a youth voice research agenda and to advocate for developing youth-adult partnerships in education, teacher training, and educational reform.

  2015: Faculty of the Year Award Recipient, New England College

  Expertise
  National expert on school culture and climate, youth voice, and leadership for equitable school reform

  Recent Publications
  Preble, W. and Campbell, R, et.al. “Every Educational Philosophy Is Best.” New England College Journal of Applied Educational Research (2022)

  Preble, W. and Fitzgerald, C. “Increasing Access to Math Learning for ALL: NEC’s Flagway Math Literacy Initiative.” New England College Journal of Applied Educational Research (2020)

  Preble, B. and Locke, S. “Democratic Thinking and Student-Centered Pedagogy: Bringing Equity, Autonomy and Purpose to Online Learning.” Handbook of Research on Student-Centered Strategies in Online Adult Learning Environments (2019)

  Research Interests

  • School Climate and Culture
  • Youth Participatory Action Research
  • Educational Equity
  • Youth Voice and Leadership
  • Math Literacy and Identity

   

  Educational Background
  Doctor of Education, University of Maine
  MEd in Social Studies Education, University of Washington
  Bachelor of Arts, New England College

  Bio
  Bill graduated from New England College in 1975, after completing his student teaching in England. He began his teaching career at Conway Elementary School and then served as a Migrant Education Teacher supporting students who had recently immigrated to Augusta, Maine, from Southeast Asia.

  Bill spent over a decade as a middle school Social Studies teacher at Maranacook Community School in Readfield, Maine. While teaching at Maranacook, he helped develop one of the nation’s first US-Soviet Youth Exchange Programs, with his students, called Project S.A.M.E., in memory of his student Samantha Smith. Samantha had famously traveled to the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War to urge the US and Soviet governments to halt the nuclear arms race that was threatening humankind. He and several of those students continue to apply leadership lessons they learned from Samantha Smith.

  While working on his doctorate, Bill’s dean invited him to develop and serve as Director of a new statewide youth voice and leadership program called the University of Maine Aspirations Project (UMAP). The program would empower Maine students and their adult partners to improve success for all students, by bringing more engaging, student-centered pedagogy into Maine schools. The UMAP program became a model that was later used by the Maine Department of the Attorney General to develop the Maine Civil Rights Teams Project, which continues in over 100 Maine schools today.

  In 1992, Bill returned to the Maranacook School District to become Principal of Readfield Elementary School for three years, until he took his position among the faculty at NEC.

• Dr. Debra Nitschke-Shaw

  

  Senior Professor, Education
  Phone: 603.428.2322
  Email: dnitschke@nec.edu

  Expertise and Awards
  NEC Tenure

  • Senior Professor of Education, 2016 to present
    Professor of Education, 2000–2016
  • Associate Professor of Education, 1997–2000
  • Assistant Professor of Education, 1991–1997
  • Instructor in Education, 1985–1991

   

  Awards

  • Campus Compact Faculty Service Award, April 2007
    Ehrlich Award, one of 10 finalists, 2002
  • New England College Alumni Award, 2000
  • New England College Teacher of the Year, 1999
  • Campus Compact for New Hampshire Faculty Service-Learning Award, 1998

   

  Educational Background
  PhD in Human Development, Special Education, Fielding Graduate University
  MA in Human Development, Fielding Graduate University
  Specialist in the Assessment of Intellectual Functioning (SAIF) Certification, Rivier College
  MEd in Special Education: Developmental Disabilities and Learning Disabilities, Keene State College
  BA in Elementary Education and General Special Education, New England College

  Research Interests

  • Teacher Education
  • Service-learning and community service
  • Teacher leadership
  • Working with students with diverse needs
  • Qualitative research
  • Evaluation of effective teaching

   

  Bio
  Debra came to New England College as a student in 1971 and graduated in 1975. At that time, NEC did not have a certification in special education. She worked with the Director of Teacher Education and the New Hampshire State Department of Education to create the special education licensure program and get it approved by the Bureau of Credentialing in the State of New Hampshire. After graduation, she taught students with special needs at the Dame School in Concord, New Hampshire, and later taught kindergarten at the same school and at the Henniker Community School. Throughout her tenure teaching special education and kindergarten students, she hosted a number of student-teachers and taught as an adjunct faculty member at NEC. In 1985, she became a full-time Instructor at NEC, teaching courses in special education, reading, assessment, language arts, and curriculum and instruction. She supervised many students in the field as her passion is to help individuals become the best teachers they can be

  She has held many positions at NEC, including Director of Academic Advising; Interim Director of Academic Advising and the Support Center; Director of the Project Pericles Grant; Dean of Undergraduate Programs and Faculty; Chair of Knowledge, Growth, and Action Collegium; Director of Teacher Education; Director of Graduate Programs in Education; Director of Teacher Certification and Field Placement; and Associate Dean of Education. She, along with Dr. Carlton Fitzgerald and Dr. Bill Preble, helped create NEC’s doctoral program. Debra’s passion is working with individuals who want to help students be successful in all they do. She is also passionate about helping doctoral students develop their dissertations; her focus is on qualitative research. She thoroughly enjoys helping doctoral candidates create their research questions, develop their research methodologies, collect data that helps them answer their questions, and complete their dissertations. She is the dissertation chair for many NEC doctoral students.

  She has been a consultant for Campus Compact of New Hampshire in the work they did regarding partnership development and the integration of service-learning into higher education and K–12. She has received a number of grants to support that work. In addition, throughout the United States and in New Hampshire, she presented at national conferences and provided professional development helping educators in kindergarten through higher education develop courses that include service-learning as a pedagogy. She is committed to helping others see the power service has and how individuals can meet academic goals through service to others.

• Dr. Gavin Henning

  

  Professor, Higher Education; Director of MS in Higher Education Administration and Doctorate of Education Programs
  Office: CEI 205
  Phone: 603.428.2444
  Email: ghenning@nec.edu
  Professional website: gavinhenning.com

  Expertise and Memberships

  Awards
  2023 George D. Kuh Outstanding Contribution to Literature and/or Research Award from NASPA—Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education

  Expertise

  • National expert on assessment in higher education, specialty in student affairs assessment
  • Past president of ACPA-College Student Educators International
  • Past president of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education
  • Founding president of Student Affairs Assessment Leaders, an international grassroots professional association for individuals practicing student affairs assessment

   

  Published Books

  • The Impact of Sense of Belonging in College: Implications for Student Persistence, Retention, and Success (2022), one of the 25 bestsellers for the publisher that year
  • Reframing Assessment to Center Equity: Theories, Models, and Practices (2022), also a top 25 book for the publisher in 2022
  • Design Thinking Assessment in Student Affairs: A Primer (2021)
  • Student Affairs Assessment: Theory to Practice (2016)
  • Coordinating Student Affairs Divisional Assessment: A Practical Guide (2015)

   

  Educational Background
  PhD in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, University of New Hampshire
  MA in Sociology, University of New Hampshire
  MA in College and University Administration, Michigan State University
  BA in Psychology and Sociology, Michigan State University

  Research Interests

  • Assessment
  • Equity-centered assessment
  • Sense of belonging
  • Retention/persistence

   

  Bio
  Gavin is a college student educator with a reputation as an organizer, collaborator, and catalyst for educational change. His professional mission is to generate applied scholarship, bridge theory to practice, create systems and processes, and teach higher education professionals to foster college student learning and success. He has advanced this mission during his 20+ years in higher education in positions including professor, assessment practitioner, and student affairs educator. In his current positions at NEC, Gavin helps prepare the next generation of professionals to improve educational organizations. Gavin frequently consults and presents regionally, nationally, and internationally on the topic of assessment. His scholarship includes over 100 peer-reviewed presentations and over 90 invited presentations and keynotes regarding assessment. In addition, he has published articles and books on assessment including Student Affairs Assessment: Theory and Practice with Darby Roberts that serves as the foundational text for assessment courses in many higher education graduate programs. He has been recognized for his contributions to student affairs and higher education by receiving ACPA’s Annuit Coeptis award and Diamond Honoree awards.