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Academic Programs

Childhood Special and General Education Dual Certification (On Campus or Online)

MSEd

  • Program Overview

    The Childhood Special and General Education Dual Certification program prepares students to be model teachers in diverse settings.

    This program is for prospective and current teachers who wish to work with children in grades 1 through 6. As a student in this program, you will have the flexibility to work in a range of settings and engage all children. This includes children from diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds. This also includes children with a variety of social, emotional, behavioral, physical, and cognitive variations. You will:

    • Construct developmentally responsive learning experiences that encourage all learners to follow their curiosities.
    • Create accessible curricula so all learners can explore literacy, literature, mathematics, science, arts, and social studies content.
    • Develop a strong social justice focus in order to advocate for and with children and families.
    • Plan for dynamic and collaborative partnerships with families and school professionals.
    • Engage in critical explorations of yourself, others, and the wider world.

    This program culminates in a Master of Science in Education and requires 52 credits. This program is offered either on campus or fully online.

    Due to the cohort nature of this program, students are not permitted to transfer into the online program once they have begun coursework in an on campus program.

    Learn more about the online program

    Advisor and graduate student meeting

  • Admissions Requirements

    In addition to the main admissions criteria, there are additional requirements needed to apply for this program:

    This program has an on-campus and a fully online option. For both tracks, you will engage in the use of technology. Particularly for the fully online program, you will be asked to use a range of technological tools. You must have a dedicated computer or tablet and stable Internet access. You will be expected to become familiar with the online tools, reach out to ask for support as you navigate the technology, and strengthen your presence and skill set in the online environment.

  • Coursework

  • Supervised Fieldwork/Advisement

    Supervised fieldwork/advisement lies at the heart of a Bank Street education. Through sustained experiences in the field, supervision from core faculty, and close collaboration with peers, our graduate students develop the ability to connect theory to practice and to reflect deeply on their own growth as educators. In this program, you will:

    • Be supervised by your advisor, a core graduate faculty mentor and experienced teacher, who will virtually visit you in your classroom once each month.
    • Participate in a weekly conference group of 5-7 students and your advisor. This will take place synchronously on Zoom if you are part of the online program.
    • Reflect on a lesson with your advisor once each month. This will take place synchronously on Zoom if you are part of the online program.
    • Meet individually with your advisor once each month. This will take place synchronously on Zoom if you are part of the online program.
    • Construct artifacts to help you take a deeper look at the setting and students you work with.

    You will work in classroom settings as a head teacher or assistant (full-time), or as a student teacher (3 days each week).  In our online programs, all advisement happens virtually via Zoom either in your classroom or by recording your practice.

    • As a student teacher we will place you in two settings throughout the year. You will experience 2 age bands (grades 1-3 and grades 4-6), general and special education, and a public, high-needs environment.
    • As a working head or assistant teacher you will use your own classroom as your fieldwork. We will place you in a different setting during the spring or summer semester to give you additional experience in a second setting.
  • Career Opportunities

    Childhood Special and General Education graduates go on to:

    • Teach in general education, special education, or inclusion classrooms in public, charter, and independent schools.
    • Tutor or work as learning specialists in schools or in private practice.
    • Work in special education teacher support services (SETSS) roles.
  • Faculty

  • Certification

    When you complete the Childhood Special and General Education program you will be eligible for your:

    • Initial certification in Childhood General Education: for those who meet experience requirements and pass state assessments.
    • Initial certification Teaching Students with Disabilities, grades 1-6: for those who meet experience requirements and pass state assessments.

    After teaching for three years you will be eligible for professional certification.

Danielle Quick, Bank Street Graduate School of Education '22, MSED in General and Special Education
Meet our alumni
Everything changes all the time, right? Sometimes by the next lesson you have to teach. By self-reflecting, I learned to look deeper—to identify something I wanted to change, see the reasons why, and figure out the supports that I needed to make it happen.
Danielle Quick - Childhood Special and General Education '22
Meet Danielle Meet Our Alumni
Meet our alumni
I think about my journey often. I’ve found that the Bank Street name carries a lot of weight, both in and out of the classroom—the merit of the programs, the investment in our children, the holistic style of engaging in a way that is open and accessible to all children.
Janai Gilkes - Childhood Special and General Education '20
Meet Janai Meet Our Alumni
Rachael Beseda
Meet our alumni
I do my best work when I focus on the strengths of students, staff, and parents. I won’t lie, my first few years of teaching were hard, but Bank Street prepared me to take on the challenge. In the dual general and special education program, classes are small and the approach is progressive. It fit who I am perfectly.
Rachael Beseda - Childhood Special and General Education '12
Meet Rachael Meet Our Alumni
Esther Gottesman, Bank Street Graduate School of Education 2018, Childhood General and Special Education
Meet our alumni
What I do now as a public school teacher comes very naturally from the studies I did at Bank Street. We use culturally responsive, place-based learning that includes investigations of the neighborhood and our school, reflecting and responding to the community.
Esther Gottesman - Childhood General and Special Education '18
Meet Esther Meet Our Alumni
Grad student working on a computer

Learn More About Our Online Program in Childhood Special and General Education

Our 100% online courses provide the flexibility you need to balance work and school. Sustained on-site experiences supported by core faculty supervision and close collaboration with peers connect theories learned in online courses to practice in real-world classroom settings.

This powerful combination of online learning and hands-on application allows you to develop the tools to truly engage children, providing a learning experience that pushes boundaries and positively impacts students, families, and their communities.

Visit the online program page

The Bank Street Experience

GSE alum, Chiara DiLello ’16, talks about the Bank Street experience.