SLECEYLA1 - Early Literacy Leadership Academy (ELLA) - Year One

A Rice University Leadership Certificate program specifically designed for early childhood teachers. The Early Literacy Leadership Academy (ELLA) is a rigorous two year certificate program designed to bring together early childhood professionals from public, private and charter school settings who are committed to serving as teacher leaders from their classrooms. Teachers selected to participate in ELLA experience a unique combination of three semesters of monthly seminars and mentored learning plus one semester of independent study, with all four semesters supported by online learning. Participating ELLA teachers will also join in an exclusive summer immersion in their first year of programming followed by the opportunity to teach at Creative Writing Camp their second summer in the program. ELLA teacher leaders study child development theory and research-into-practice literacy strategies that promote listening, speaking, reading, writing, and reasoning in year one. Year two brings a specialization in early literacy leadership where participants focus on best practices in leadership and sharing this information with others at their campuses. Teachers completing all requirements of the ELLA program will receive a Leadership Certificate from Rice University. SLC’s Classroom Storytelling or Developing Oral Language programs are a pre-requisite to participating in ELLA.