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Childhood Special Education (On Campus or Online)

MSEd, EdM

  • Program Overview

    The Childhood Special Education program prepares students to be model teachers in specialized settings.

    This program is for teachers and prospective teachers like yourself, wishing to work with children with variations in grades 1 through 6. In this program, you have the opportunity to work in a range of special education settings. This includes children from diverse racial, ethnic, socioeconomic, and linguistic backgrounds. You will think specifically about designing accessible curricula and differentiated experiences for 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 or a Master of Education (for those students with a prior master’s degree in education), and requires 36 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.

    Graduate students in a class listening

  • Admissions & Tuition

    This program has options to begin in the fall, spring, and summer.

    The summer and fall applications are currently open.

    Students may apply for either the online or on campus options, and once selected, must remain in that modality until the completion of the program. Due to the cohort nature of the online program, students are not permitted to transfer into the online program once they have begun coursework in an on campus program.

    Application Deadlines

    • Applications are reviewed in rounds to ensure you receive a timely decision.
    • You will have five business days after the application deadlines to finish providing any missing required materials. Incomplete applications will be moved to the next round for consideration.
    • In some cases, applications submitted after the final deadline will be reviewed on a space available basis.
    • We strongly encourage you to submit your application as early as possible. This guarantees the most timely admissions decision and the broadest consideration for scholarships and financial aid.

    Summer 1 & Summer 2 (On Campus) | Summer Long (Online)

    Round Application Deadline Materials Deadline Decisions Release
    1 January 2, 2026 January 7, 2026 February 4, 2026
    2 February 1, 2026 February 6, 2026 March 2, 2026
    3 March 1, 2026 March 6, 2026 April 2, 2026

    Fall (On Campus and Online)

    Round Application Deadline Materials Deadline Decisions Release
    1 February 1, 2026 February 6, 2026 March 2, 2026
    2 March 1, 2026 March 6, 2026 April 2, 2026
    3 April 1, 2026 April 6, 2026 May 4, 2026

    Admissions Criteria

    In addition to meeting other admissions requirements, to be eligible for admission to the Childhood Special Education program you must:

    • Hold a valid New York State certification in Childhood Education, Grades 1-6 or Early Childhood Education, Birth – Grade 2. If you are certified in Early Childhood Education, Birth – Grade 2, there may be additional Childhood tests you need to take to become certified in working with Students with Disabilities, Grades 1-6.

    Please review How to Apply for full details on the application process, admissions criteria, and application requirements.

    Tuition

    At Bank Street, tuition is charged per credit. The Childhood Special Education program requires 36 credits for completion. Read more on our Tuition page

    Financial Aid

    The majority of Bank Street students receive some type of financial aid. We strongly recommend applying early and submitting your FAFSA at the time you apply for the broadest consideration for scholarships and financial aid. Read more on our Financial Aid page

    Technology Requirements

    Students participating in the online program must secure access to the following required technology for all online courses:

    • A personal computer with:
      • Broadband Internet access
      • Speakers, microphone, and camera
      • Headphones, if participating from a public or shared space
      • An updated version of the Chrome or Firefox browser and a free Zoom account
    • For Supervised Fieldwork: A recording device (such as a smartphone, laptop, iPad, or camcorder) suitable for use in classrooms

    These are required components of your program. It is your responsibility to ensure you have access to each item on this list. Bank Street does not provide or lend access to these devices and platforms.

  • Curriculum & Courses

    View the coursework for this program.

     

  • Supervised Fieldwork

    Our unique supervised fieldwork program is designed to support your integration of theory and practice. You will:

    • Be supervised by your advisor, a core graduate faculty mentor and experienced teacher.
    • Participate in a weekly conference group of 5-7 students and your advisor.
    • Reflect on a lesson with your advisor once each month.
    • Meet individually with your advisor once each month.
    • Complete projects to help you take a deeper look at the setting and students you work with.

    You will work in a classroom setting as a full-time head teacher or assistant, or as a student teacher (3 days each week):

    • As a student teacher you will be placed in one special education setting within grades 1-6.
    • As a working head or assistant teacher you will use your own classroom as your fieldwork.

    New York State requires all graduate students in this program to have a supervised fieldwork experience in a special education or inclusion setting. Student teachers fulfill this experience through their placement in the fall or spring. Working teachers and assistants may need to enroll in an additional fieldwork placement, where they will be placed by Bank Street in the appropriate setting to fulfill their degree requirements.

  • Certification & Careers

    Certification

     

    When you successfully complete the program, you will receive a master’s degree and be eligible for New York State certification in Students with Disabilities, Grades 1-6, provided you complete all other State certification requirements. Read more on our Certification page

    Careers

    After graduation, students pursue a range of career opportunities including:

    • Teaching in general education, special education, or inclusion classrooms in public, charter, and independent schools.
    • Tutoring or working as learning specialists in schools or in private practice.
    • Working in special education teacher support services (SETSS) roles.
    • Working as a special education coach or consultant.

    Students at Bank Street have full access to our robust Career Services, including the CareerConnect job site, opportunities to attend job fairs and workshops, and connections to our alumni network nationwide.

  • Faculty

Kiera Nemsick graduated from Bank Street in May 2023 and works as a second grade teacher in a general education classroom at PS 234—The Independence School in downtown Manhattan—a position she found through a Bank Street Career Fair
Meet our alumni
If I had to pick, I’d say one thing that Bank Street does really well is provide forums for discussion and community-building. I really valued the Conference Group that happened in coordination with our fieldwork experiences. A small group of classmates met once a week to share the highs and lows of our lives as teachers and graduate students.
Kiera Nemsick - Childhood Special Education '23
Meet Kiera Meet Our Alumni

The Bank Street Experience

GSE alum, Jared Slater ’16, talks about the Bank Street experience.

  • Transcript
    Transcript Prompt: What drew you to Bank Street? Jared: It was really a fluke that I found out about Bank Street. Somebody mentioned, er, I was applying, they said, you should look at Bank Street. Went to the website. And when I started reading about I was like, this is very different from everything else I had looked at. And when I moved into the application process, that process was extremely different. How much writing is required just to apply to the program and how much reflection you have to do before you’re even a student there, was very appealing to me. And it was so different than the other institutions, I was like, this… is something special. Prompt: Can you talk about a big takeaway from your coursework at Bank Street? Jared: One of the biggest impacts was looking at the structures in place instead of looking at kids when there’s some sort of issue. Like when a kid is struggling, instead of looking at the kid and saying well the kid is the problem, I think the work that Bank Street has taught me to look at is, well, what am I doing as a teacher and was is the structures of the classroom doing that are making things hard for the kid. So you can look at those and change those instead of trying to change the kid. Prompt: What words best describe Bank Street? Jared: Inspirational. Empowering. And I think I’m required to say reflective, because if I don’t say reflective they take my degree back. (laughs) Prompt: What advice do you have for new teachers? Jared: When a lesson doesn’t go as planned, I’ve heard other teachers put that fault on the kids. And I know from my experience at Bank Street, it’s not the kids’ fault, it’s my fault. So I have to reflect and say, what did I do that I could have done better, why weren’t the kids engaged? It’s not the kids’ fault, it’s something that I have to think about my work.

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