Master of Arts in Teaching Music
Frank Martignetti, PhD
Assistant Professor and Director
Phone: 203-396-8425
Email: Martignettif@sacredheart.edu
Master of Arts in Teaching Music (no longer accepting students during 24-25 Academic Year)
Sacred Heart's 39-credit Master of Arts in Teaching Music (MAT) with certification provides the skills and knowledge you need to be marketable in the job market and successful in the profession. The flexible program schedules courses on weekday evenings and can be completed in as little as thirteen months. Benefit from top tier professional preparation as well as the Isabelle Farrington College of Education & Human Development's forward-thinking and culturally responsive approach to preparing teachers.
Sacred Heart's expert faculty apply their experience as music educators, performers, and scholars to prepare candidates for a rewarding and exciting career in music. A summer start enables program completion in 13 months; a fall start takes approximately 18 months.
A tuition-paid internship or yearlong school-based residency integrates and extends the traditional student teaching timeline, providing additional experience and mentoring. Candidates are placed in a local district for one year (as opposed to the traditional 12-week student teaching placement), serving as instructional assistants and completing their student teaching, all while pursuing their coursework in evening classes. Applicants complete an eight-week placement student teaching in either elementary school or middle school, and an eight-week placement student teaching in a middle school or high school.
Applicants who hold an undergraduate degree in music are invited to apply for the SHU's Master of Arts in Teaching Music program. Prospective music educators looking to build on their undergraduate education and professional experience can attain their Connecticut initial teacher certification in music while earning their MAT at Sacred Heart University.
Learning Outcomes
Candidates will be equipped with the professional knowledge and skills required to be an effective music educator.
Graduates will:
- Reach today's students through a deep understanding of the diverse field of music education, how it has evolved, and what could be in the future
- Foster healthy, productive classroom communities and support the learning needs of all students
- Create meaningful, significant music learning experiences for students that systematically develop their musical knowledge and skills
- Develop and refine skills in lesson planning, assessment, differentiation, score study, conducting, rehearsal technique, secondary instruments, and more
Career Outlook
Graduates will be attractive candidates for employment as music educators in public, private, and parochial PreK-12 schools and prepared to become leaders in their buildings and districts in the future. The skills and knowledge developed in this program will also make graduates more skilled teachers in nonprofit community music contexts as well as the private studio.
Practicing music teachers work in a wide and ever-expanding variety of contexts:
- Elementary classroom music
- Secondary general music classes including music technology, keyboard, guitar, music theory, music history, and interdisciplinary collaborations
- An evolving array of large and small ensembles including choral, wind band, string, jazz, gospel, rock, and other groups
Degree Requirements
Program Requirements - 39 credits
Requirements List - 39 credits
Choose either EDM 510 OR ED 569
| ED 523 | Culturally Sustaining Education | 3 |
| ED 553 | Educational Psychology | 3 |
| ED 566 | Creating Positive Secondary Classroom Environment | 3 |
| EDM 508 | Teaching Large Ensembles | 3 |
| EDM 510 | Music for All Learners | 3 |
| EDM 512 | Music in the Elementary School | 3 |
| EDM 514 | Music in the Secondary School | 3 |
| EDM 516 | Technology in Music Education | 3 |
| EDM 518 | Curriculum & Assessment in Music | 3 |
| EDM 522 | Student Teaching: Music Education | 6 |
| EDR 510 | Content Area Reading Instruction (Grades 7-12) | 3 |
| ED 569 | Introduction to Exceptionalities | 3 |
Additional Requirements - 3 credits
In addition to the courses listed above, take 3 of the following:
| EDM 500 | Group Instruction: Voice | 1 |
| EDM 501 | Group Instruction: Percussion | 1 |
| EDM 502 | Group Instruction: Woodwinds | 1 |
| EDM 503 | Group Instruction: Brass | 1 |
| EDM 504 | Group Instruction: Strings | 1 |