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The Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program is dedicated to optimizing the leadership skills of early childhood administrators in order to make meaningful differences in the lives of young children and families.

   

Related Links

Please visit the following websites to acquire more information about our community partners:

Clayton Early Learning

Temple Hoyne Buell Foundation

For information regarding the current 2007-2008 Buell Fellows or a schedule of events from the July 2007 Retreat, please visit www.du.edu/buell.

 

Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program

The Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program (BECLP) is an academic certificate and concentration in Education Administration in the field of Early Care and Education. This program is targeted to meet the needs of experienced and emerging administrators in early care and education settings. 

The vision for Buell is to promote quality in the early care and education system in Colorado by identifying, nurturing, and building leadership capacity in existing and future early childhood leaders. A committed, visible, diverse cadre of early childhood leaders will be developed and awarded degrees to meet the challenges of achieving high quality ECE programs for infants and young children in Colorado, especially those who are at risk of failure due to socio-economic and language barriers.

Full scholarships are available for all admitted students.

Please take a moment to learn about our inaugural cohort, the program features (below), and application process.

Candidate Requirements

This program is designed for professionals with:

  • A Bachelor's degree
  • At least three years of experience in the field of early care and education
  • The ability to secure release time to attend the five day summer retreat in July (Thursday through Monday) and 10 Friday evening/Saturday all day sessions during the academic year

Program Components

BECLP includes 25-quarter credit hours consisting of these components:

  • Standards Based: A rich set of literature based and field validated standards drive the content and design of the program. Standards are drawn from NAEYC, DEC, ISLLC, and the expertise of leaders in the field.
  • Cohort Structure: A cohort provides the opportunity to develop lasting relationships, and a support base for continued professional growth and learning. Diversity in the cohort will be sought and valued.
  • Summer Leadership Symposium and Retreat: A child development symposium will be held with nationally recognized early childhood experts to develop skills in communication, collaboration, and reflection on evidence-based practices and leadership issues in early care and education.
  • Integrated Courses - In-depth and applied coursework that focuses on seven types of leadership essential for the preparation of administrators in early care and education:

     *Strategic *Political *Collaborative *Symbolic

*Professional Learning  *Pedagogical  *Reflective

  • Reflective Discussion Webinars: Weekly on-line discussions will provide practice in leadership skills and connect the course content with real-life experiences.
  • Mentorship: Each student will be paired with an existing leader in early care and education for ongoing support.
  • Capstone Project: The program will culminate with the presentation of a yearlong action research project related to optimizing early care and education outcomes and significant, sustainable leadership.

Contact Us

If you are wondering if this program is the right one for you, please call Wendy Bickford, Program Coordinator at 303-871-2379 or email wbickfor@du.edu.

To speak to someone about applying to the Buell Early Childhood Leadership Program, please call or email our Admissions Office at 303-871-2509 or 1-800-835-1607, edinfo@du.edu.