Contact Us
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Graduate Admissions212-875-4404
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Interim Chair, Teaching & Learning Programs212-875-4474
Childhood Special and General Education Dual Certification (On Campus or Online)
MSEd
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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. -
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.
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Coursework
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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, assistant teacher (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.
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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.
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Faculty
Pamela JonesSupervised Fieldwork Advisor & Course Instructorpjones@bankstreet.edu 212-875-4660Nesta MarshallSupervised Fieldwork Advisor & Course Instructornmarshall@bankstreet.edu 212-875-4559Sean O’SheaSupervised Fieldwork Advisor & Course Instructorsoshea@bankstreet.edu 212-875-4486Susie RolanderSupervised Fieldwork Advisor & Course Instructorsrolander@bankstreet.edu 917-751-3415Jessica WontropskiInterim Chair, Teaching & Learning Programsjwontropski@bankstreet.edu 212-875-4474 -
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.
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.
The Bank Street Experience
GSE alum, Chiara DiLello ’16, talks about the Bank Street experience.
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TranscriptTranscript Prompt: What makes you feel like a Bank Street Teacher? Chiara: I feel like a Bank Street teacher every time I’m kind of walking around my room, maybe with a clipboard, jotting down notes of what people are doing, or asking somebody about a math problem, like, “How do you know that?”, “What do you think?” Um, or looking at a piece of art with kids and saying, “What do you see that makes you say that?” Um, I feel like a Bank Street teacher in my setting every time we look at artifacts, like digital ones online or we go on a fieldtrip—every time we go on a fieldtrip, I feel like a Bank Street teacher. Prompt: Can you talk about a course you took at Bank Street that still impacts you today? Chiara: When you sit in Developmental Variations and learn about different kinds of minds and different strengths that in a school would get called “disabilities,” I mean that’s something that really changes how you see people, and possibly also yourself. And how are you going to meet people as people and meet people where they are. And by people I mean students, I mean kids. When we say social studies as the core of the curriculum for learners with special needs, that’s gotta be true. That’s a wonderful, amazing thing to make true because it becomes the backbone of everything else, and that’s where you build community and where you learn about the world and bring your own thinking and opinions to bear, and you use evidence, and you practice writing, and you look at art and artifacts and maps, and it just weaves everything into this really integrated experience. Prompt: Why did you come to Bank Street? Chiara: I came to Bank Street for Special Education because of that model of thinking, what do people bring, what do individuals bring to the classroom. Not, what box am I gonna put a kid in because of what they can or can’t do, but how am I going to make my classroom a place where all learners can thrive? Prompt: What does “advocating” mean to you? Chiara: It’s the combination of, how are we advocating for students? So, the students we teach and the students we are as grad students. How are we teaching students to advocate for themselves? And then, how are we also—I’ve seen the school do this more when I was a graduate student and since graduating—but how do we also make a place for ourselves in the world of education, which people are constantly trying to reinvent and prescribe things for, how do we get out there and say, actually, what can take you very far—we’re not going to say it’s right for everyone everywhere—but what can take you very far is this idea that children are whole people and they can do great things when you put life in front of them. And take them on their way, and help them grow through all of those things that they encounter. Advocating for that is something that I really love about Bank Street and I want to spread that around.