Dr. Nicole K. Ramsey

Assistant Professor & Director of Music Education

An active music educator and scholar, Nicole K. Ramsey has been a member of the Music Department faculty at Drake University since 2022. She teaches courses in music education, vocal methods, elementary/general music methods, assessment, and supervises music student teachers. She also advises undergraduate and graduate research and independent studies and serves as Faculty Advisor for Drake’s student chapter of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). Dr. Ramsey coordinates Drake’s music education program as Director of Music Education.

Dr. Ramsey specializes in preservice music teacher preparation, particularly in the choral and general music settings. She received her Ph.D. in Music Education from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she taught music education courses and supervised student teachers as a Graduate Teaching Associate. She also served as Assistant Director of the Spartan Voices choral ensemble at UNC Greensboro. Additionally, she holds her B.M. in music education and her M.M. in music education, also from UNC Greensboro. Prior to her career in higher education, Dr. Ramsey was the Director of Vocal Music at Walter Hines Page High School in Greensboro, North Carolina, where she taught four choral ensembles, AP music theory, musical theatre, supervised an extra-curricular pop A cappella Club, and served as Music Director for the spring musicals.

In her recent research and scholarly work, Dr. Ramsey has examined the leadership development of music educators in K-12 and higher education settings. She is particularly interested in exploring the intersections of personal and professional identities in music teacher preparation and leadership, especially for individuals from populations that are marginalized in those fields. Other recent research topics include music teacher identity development, professional development in preservice music teachers, collegiate professional organization involvement, social justice activism in music teacher education, and generational differences in music education. Her publications appear in scholarly journals such as the Journal of Research in Music Education, Contributions to Music Education and Visions of Research in Music Education, among others, and she has presented nationally and internationally for the International Society for Music Education (ISME), the International Symposium on the Sociology of Music Education (ISSME), the Research in Music Education (RiME) international conference, the European Association for Music in Schools (EAS) international conference, the Society for Music Teacher Education (SMTE) national symposium, the National Association for Music Education (NAfME) Music Research and Teacher Education National Conference, the Desert Skies Symposium on Research in Music Education, and the Visions of Research in Music Education Conference. She also regularly presents research and best practices sessions at state music educators associations.

Dr. Ramsey is active in several music education organizations and conferences, including the Society for Music Teacher Education, where she currently serves as Facilitator of the Music Teacher Identity Development ASPA, and the Desert Skies Symposium on Research in Music Learning and Teaching, where she currently serves on the national advisory board. Dr. Ramsey is also active at the state level, serving on the Board of Directors of the Iowa Music Educators Association as the Mentor Co-Chair and on the Mentor Committee of the Iowa Alliance for Arts Education. She holds professional memberships and is actively involved in many other professional organizations as well, including the National Association for Music Education, the International Society for Music Education, the American Choral Director's Association, the College Music Society, the Pi Kappa Lambda National Music Honor Society, and is a Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity alumna.