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Professional Development for PreK–12 Teachers, Community Educators, and School or District Leaders

The Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) provides educators with professional development that addresses critical content areas in teaching and learning. Building upon our reputation for preparing experts in teacher education, our offerings apply culturally responsive and innovative approaches to help educators ensure that learners reach their full potential. Some offerings can be taken for graduate credit or Professional Development Points (PDPs). 

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Current Offerings

On-campus offerings take place on the Lesley University campus in Cambridge, MA, near Porter Square (accessible by the Red Line or the commuter rail). For information about the Center coming to your district or school, please contact us.

Opportunities to Advance Professional Skills

Micro-Badges

A micro-badge documents mastery of a specific topic and/or skill set to apply to your professional practice. Taken for graduate credit or PDPs, they focus on a discrete area of study, providing opportunities to explore the theory behind practice to design more effective curriculum and apply teaching strategies to meet the needs of all learners. A micro-badge from Lesley is an accessible and affordable way to engage in advanced professional study.

To find out more about how micro-badges can be applied to certificate and master's programs in the Graduate School of Education, contact CAPS@lesley.edu.

Certificate Programs

At Lesley, we offer an array of 12- to 18-credit (4 to 6 courses) graduate certificates, some fully online and some on campus or remote. If you are a school district and would like to offer one of these to your educators, please contact us.

See the full list of certificates on the Certificate Programs page.

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How to Register for Courses

Elevate is a new online registration system used for continuing education and other services. Even if you have taken courses at Lesley previously, you will need to create a new account for Elevate, which you can use for future courses offered through this system. Start by going to the catalog(link is external), and choose the course(s) you want to take. 

Some courses are offered for credit or for Professional Development Points, so look carefully at the descriptions for the right one. Once you're ready to check out, click on your cart, and you'll be prompted to set up an account. If you have a Lesley email, username, and password, use those. You can use this account for future courses available through Elevate (different from registration via Self-Service).  If you need help, contact IT@lesley.edu or 617-349-8770. 

After entering your personal information, the system will prompt you for payment. If your district/site is sponsoring payment, it is reflected as a discount on the registration page or via a code provided by the center or sponsor. Follow screen to the payment portal.

Once registered, you will receive an email from CAPS@lesley.edu with your Elevate username and portal link. If you’ve never applied to, or taken classes at Lesley, you will also receive an email from Information Technology (IT) with your Lesley Account credentials for Blackboard/myLesley and Self-Service. 

Note: Not all professional studies courses use Blackboard. Your instructor will inform you how to access and participate in the course.

Download course and Blackboard registration information [PDF].

Contact the Center