Dr. Shelly Cooper has been an active music educator for 38 years. As a researcher and general music specialist, she has presented at numerous local, state, and national music and general education conferences and in-service workshops. At the University of Nebraska at Omaha she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music education and coordinates the Nebraska Kodály Certification Program.

Cooper has choral arrangements published with Hal Leonard and Colla Voce Music, and is a contributing author for the Silver Burdett music textbook series (2005) and Interactive music Powered by Sliver Burdett with Alfred (2012). Her co-authored textbook titled, Becoming a Music Teacher, is published with Oxford. She served as the editor of General Music Today for 8 years.