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In the fall of 2019, Sarah Irvine Belson, Executive Director of the IIE, was awarded a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education'sÌý to support the Early Literacy Intervention Leads Program (ELI Leads). This project provided full funding for eight doctoral students in the Ìý. Beyond coursework, the program includedÌýthree residencies, an internship in DC Public Schools, and a problem of practice dissertation focused on a real-world challenge in early literacy and special education.ÌýCheck out the profiles of theÌýLeadsÌýhere.

In the fall of 2020, the program admitted the first four fully funded doctoral students—now Drs. Fernanders, Neat, Nolin, and Rogers—who committed to focusing their dissertations of practice on challenges related to early literacy and special education. Due to immense interest in early literacy intervention, the program admitted an entire cohort of students focused on this topic. Together, these 19 students became Cohort 4 of the EdD program. They took classes together, attended residency weekends together, and became a cohesive group of literacy leaders. The IIE developed a new course for this cohort, EDU 696: Reading Science for School and System Leaders, which included topics such as implementation science, professional development, and data-based decision making, to support these students’ ongoing development as literacy leaders.Ìý

In the fall of 2021, the ELI program accepted the second group of fully funded scholars, Drs. Barnett, Blount, Jackson, and Smith, along withÌý14Ìýother students committed to improving early literacy and special education. The members of Cohort 6, much like those of Cohort 4, have gone on to study problems of practice related to reading coaching, linguistic racism and Black Language, teacher efficacy, special education teacher caseloads, and much more.Ìý

In 2023Ìýand 2024, the members of both cohorts completed their dissertations of practice and have since been contributing to their school and local communities in a variety of ways. For instance, Dr. Jasmine Rogers, a coach and manager at the DC Reading Clinic, has presented her work at the American Educational Research Association conference, the annual conference for the Society for Scientific Studies of Reading, and been featured on numerous podcasts. Another group of recent ELI graduates isÌýhard at work on a book, as each will contribute a chapterÌýthat synthesizes their dissertation of practice.Ìý