Overview
Elaine Bernstorf serves as Professor of Music Education at Wichita State University. Her degrees include the BME and MME in Special Music Education and a PhD in Communicative Disorders and Sciences. As a faculty member of the School of Music (1993-current), her prior experiences include teaching Elementary General Music and Special Music Education in the Wichita Public Schools (1976-1990), teaching as a summer graduate instructor (1984-1992), and serving as Associate Dean of Fine Arts (2001-2010). As a professor and researcher, Dr. Bernstorf's specializations include elementary vocal music, special music education, early childhood arts education, speech pathology (especially in the areas of voice, fluency, and child language), literacy development, and curriculum development. Dr. Bernstorf is co-author of two editions of the book The Music and Literacy Connection (2004, 2014) published by NAfME (National Association for Music Education) through Roman and Littlefield. She has book chapters in three publications: Exceptional Music Pedagogy for Children with Exceptionalities International Perspectives (2016) edited by VanderLinde-Blair and McCord; Preparing Educators for Arts Integration: Placing Creativity at the Center of Learning (2017) edited by Diaz and McKenna and The Oxford Handbook on Special Music Education and Music Therapy (in press) edited by McCord with co-editors Colwell and Vanderlinde.
Dr. Bernstorf administrated the WSU Kodaly Certification Program (2003-2018) and Fine Arts Summer Workshops (2005-2013). She administers the Special Music Education Graduate Certificate (2018-current). She founded and has supervised several music-based service learning programs including: the WSU speech-language preschools iSLP (2018-2020) and Kaleidoscope (1999-2016); Envision (2016-current) early childhood and community programs; Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation (CPRF) Adult Learning program (2006-current); and consulted with Reading Explorers, Arts Partners, and other service learning programs. Dr. Bernstorf served as Chair for NAfME Exceptional Learners SRIG (2016-2018) and was co-chair for Kansas MEA Special Needs focus area (2013-2016). Bernstorf served as National Board Higher Education Advisor for Organization of American Kodaly Educators (2016-2020), as column coordinator for the Envoy journal Administrator Connections (2014-2020) and served on the Envoy Editorial Board (2015-2023). She currently serves on national committees including the Arts Education Partnership Higher Education Working Group and the Leadership Network for Arts Education & Special Needs. In 2017, the Kansas Music Educators Association inducted her in their Hall of Fame, a lifetime achievement recognition.