Professors design Leadership in English Acquisition Pedagogy (LEAP) Program in response to the changing demographics of CT schools.
LEAP addresses the needs of the state of Connecticut by providing teachers with the knowledge and skills to meet the learning needs of English Learners
— — Anne E. Campbell, PhD
This fall the Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions (GSEAP) launched new Master of Arts programs designed for practicing K-12 educators to support English Learner (EL) students in the classroom. The LEAP Program, which stands for Leadership in English Acquisition Pedagogy, was developed in response to the need for educators with a background in TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) and bilingual education in the state of Connecticut.
The Program is the result of collaborative research conducted by Fairfield professors Anne E. Campbell, PhD, associate professor and director of TESOL and Bilingual and Multicultural Education, and David Aloyzy Zera, PhD, associate professor of special education and language development. “LEAP addresses the needs of the state of Connecticut by providing teachers with the knowledge and skills to meet the learning needs of English Learners in their classes” explained Dr. Campbell
What makes the Program unique is the focus on leadership. LEAP is designed to prepare educators to serve as leaders in their schools who can offer guidance to fellow mainstream teachers to better support ELs’ academic learning and English acquisition in the classroom. “An integrated program such as this, that trains candidates with the content knowledge of second language acquisition, and sharpens their ability to support ELs’ academic development and serve in a leadership role, is necessary given the changing demographics of our schools,” said Dr. Zera.
Campbell and Zera have been crusading to improve education since 2002 through the pursuit of federal teacher-training grants. To date, their efforts have secured more than $4 million dollars toward educator-training which has resulted in the impact of thousands of children in the State.
LEAP offers three new program track options in Elementary and Secondary Bilingual Education and TESOL, and candidates may elect to earn a Master of Arts or Sixth Year Certificate. Additionally, certified bilingual candidates will be eligible for a cross-endorsement in bilingual education. To learn more about the LEAP Program, please contact Dr. Anne E. Campbell at acampbell@fairfield.edu , or Dr. David Aloyzy Zera at dzera@fairfield.edu . The Office of Graduate Admission may also be contacted at gradadmis@fairfield.edu .
