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 a book chapter in two 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.
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 supervises 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 serves on the Envoy Editorial Board (2015-current). In 2017, the Kansas Music Educators Association inducted her in their Hall of Fame, a lifetime achievement recognition.