Dual Certification in General and Special Education

Become an Early Childhood or Elementary School Teacher.
Then Add Your Advanced Certification in Special Education.

Bank Street offers accelerated pathways to earning both general and special education teaching certifications, giving you the insight and skills to reach all students in your classroom, as well as more flexibility around where and how you teach.

Through our combined programs, you complete your general education master’s degree, earn initial New York State teaching certification, and enter the workforce in less than two years. Then, you can add on your special education credentials by completing a streamlined advanced certification program on a timeline that works with your teaching schedule.

Choosing Bank Street

At Bank Street, you will:

  • Learn by Doing: Connect your studies to the real world through intensive fieldwork, expert coaching, and relationship-centered peer groups.
  • Gain a Strong Foundation: Deepen your understanding of child development, with particular attention to social, emotional, and intellectual growth.
  • Advance Equity: Master the evidence-based and culturally responsive practices you need to partner with families, support diverse learners, and bring positive change to your school community.
  • Build Community: Collaborate with experienced educators and connect with a nationwide alumni network that supports your long-term career growth.

Explore Our Pathways to Dual Certification

Early Childhood (Birth–Grade 2)

General Education Master’s Degree
Early Childhood Education (Birth–Grade 2)
33 Credits | Less than 2 Years
Earn your master’s degree and initial certification to begin teaching right away.

Special Education Advanced Certificate
Students with Disabilities Early Childhood (Birth–Grade 2)
12 Credits | 2 Semesters
Add your special education certification while working in the field.

Teacher smiling with two students at sensory table

Elementary Education (Grades 1–6)

General Education Master’s Degree
Elementary Education (Grades 1–6)
33 Credits | Less than 2 Years
Fast-track your path to lead your own elementary classroom.

Special Education Advanced Certificate
Students with Disabilities All Grades (Pre-K–Grade 12)
12 Credits | 2 Semesters
Expand your reach across pre-K–12 with an all-grades special education credential.

Teacher and student looking at whiteboard smiling

Why Bank Street?

Progressive Approach

Grounded in Bank Street’s developmental-interaction approach to teaching and learning, our graduates learn how to foster belonging, creativity, and joy while meeting every child’s needs through culturally responsive, differentiated instruction.

Faculty Modeling & Mentorship

You’ll learn in the same supportive environment you’ll go on to create, guided by faculty and mentors actively who actively model the progressive, inclusive teaching you’ll bring to your own classroom.

A Lifelong Community & Impact

Graduates lead inclusive, equitable classrooms, backed by an enduring network of cohort peers, dedicated faculty, and alumni who remain part of your professional life for years to come. More than 87% remain in the field of education long term.

Meet our alumni
I am bringing my best self, and children know when you care and when you are working with them in a way that recognizes their needs. I know I’m making a major difference in their learning and their lives.
Serniqua Dougherty - Early Childhood Special and General Education '22
Meet Serniqua Meet Our Alumni
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
If you feel this call to be a career changer, you weren't called by accident. You were called for a purpose. What you bring to the table adds to Bank Street’s value. Here, you can break ceilings.
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
Meet our alumni
I learned techniques for hands-on, project-based learning that I use all the time. That's such a throughline at Bank Street in both the School for Children and the Graduate School.
Divya Seshadri - Childhood Special and General Education '19
Meet Divya 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