Graduate Certificate in
Music Education for Special Needs Students
Gain research-based knowledge in music education to enrich learning for K-12 students with special needs and those gifted intellectually. This program is the only complete online graduate certificate that features the work and research of world-renowned specialist Dr. Alice Hammel. Hammel is the author of three books, numerous articles, and presentations around the world.
Dr. Hammel, along with Professor Janet Knighten and Dr. Suzanne Kucharczyk, will teach you the most current research in working with all ages of students with special needs and diverse learning styles in the music classroom. Through coursework, you can learn to work effectively with students identified under the Individuals With Disabilities Act as needing accommodations, modifications or adaptations in order to succeed in the music classroom.
100%
Online
15
Credit Hours
Including a Practicum
1 - 2 YRS
Estimated Time
to Complete
GRE
Waived
What Are the Benefits?
If you are a currently practicing music educator, a pre-service music educator, or someone who has a music degree that teaching privately, this certificate will provide you with significant knowledge of:
- Behaviors and characteristics of students with special needs in music education,
- Adapting, accommodating, and modifying curricular delivery and outcomes for students,
- “Winding” delivery of instruction to efficiently reach and teach all students of all levels in the same classroom,
- Understand the dynamics of special needs students on families,
- Gain current research and content knowledge on how to include all students in the classroom environment.
What You Will Learn
- Develop a deeper understanding of the unique characteristics of students identified under the federal program IDEA and how music can meet those needs
- Demonstrate knowledge of public-school education and the challenges in providing equal opportunity for all students
- How to meaningfully engage with special needs students in the K-12 music classroom
- How to adopt a student-centered paradigm and create inclusive classroom environments
- Identify teacher and student dispositions and qualities when teaching students who are intellectually gifted or twice exceptional
Courses
Coursework can be completed in one or two years:
- MUED 5743 - Characteristics of Special Needs Students in the Music Classroom
- MUED 5753 - Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs
- MUED 5763 - Practicum in Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs
- SPED 5733 - Inclusive Practices for Diverse Populations
- SPED 5783 - Professional and Family Partnerships
| Tuition / credit hour | $437.54 |
| Fee / credit hour | |
|---|---|
| Library | $4.41 |
| Network & Data Systems | $12.10 |
| Off-campus | $30 |
| Online Facilities | $2 |
Tuition and fees per credit hour reflect fall 2023 rates for students studying completely online. If an online student takes a course on campus, tuition and fees will differ.
Certificate programs are not eligible for financial aid.
Alice Hammel
Dr. Alice Hammel, Virginia Music Educators Association Outstanding Educator (2018),
is a widely known music educator, author, and clinician whose experience in music
is extraordinarily diverse. She is a member of the faculty of James Madison University,
and has many years of experience teaching instrumental and choral music in public
and private schools. Dr. Hammel has put these varied experiences to great use while
compiling a large body of scholarly work. She is a co-author for four texts: Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs: A Label-free Approach, Teaching Music
to Students with Autism, Winding It Back: Teaching to Individual Differences in Music
Classroom and Ensemble Settings, and Teaching Music to Students with Special Needs:
A Practical Resource. Dr. Hammel is President Elect of the Council for Exceptional
Children – Division for the Arts.
How to Apply
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- Graduate School
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