As an experienced educator, you know that student success depends on the ability to read, write, listen, and speak well. With our online master’s degree in literacy, you’ll learn how better to teach effectively to all students, including English language learners, in a variety of content areas. And with the skills you gain, you’ll also help your students develop skills they'll need wherever they go, in school and in life.
Our program helps you integrate reading and writing into lessons plans, use technology in the classroom, and match readers and text. You’ll study coursework that features the latest education theories and approaches, including topics like:
Cultural responsiveness
Linguistics
Content literacy
Writing
Assessment
In your capstone course, you’ll also explore professional development strategies to prepare you for the next step in your career. When you finish this program, you’ll be ready to implement effective literacy strategies that help students from all backgrounds thrive in school.
Perspectives on Literacy, Learning, and Teaching
Culturally Responsive Teaching
Essential Linguistics
Literature and Learning in the K-8 Classroom
The Teaching of Writing (K-12)
Content Literacy
Assessment for the Classroom Teacher of Literacy
Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages
Literacy: Building Strengths, Addressing Needs
TESOL: Literacy and Literature
New Role for the Classroom Teacher of Literacy
During your program, you'll be part of an advising team. Your academic advisor will provide guidance on a broad range of topics, including university policies, course selection, registration procedures, and any state testing requirements. Your faculty advisor will provide professional mentorship.
Our Language and Literacy program prepares you to:
Understand the components of language and language acquisition.
Apply knowledge about cultural values and beliefs to student learning.
Plan, implement, and manage ESL and content instruction.
Use resources and technology effectively.
Assess students for learning disabilities versus language differences.
The Double Lynx Scholarship pays big.
Every student who earns an undergraduate degree from Lesley is eligible to receive 12 graduate credits toward any master's degree we offer, 100% free. That's potentially over $16,200.
Teachers who can incorporate instructional models like the 5E Model into their classrooms help students build a strong foundation of knowledge through active participation.
Teachers who can successfully incorporate technology-based approaches like flipped learning into their classrooms are at the forefront of modern education.
Every student who earns an undergraduate degree from Lesley is eligible to receive 12 graduate credits toward any master's degree we offer, 100% free. That's potentially over $16,200.
Teachers who can incorporate instructional models like the 5E Model into their classrooms help students build a strong foundation of knowledge through active participation.
Teachers who can successfully incorporate technology-based approaches like flipped learning into their classrooms are at the forefront of modern education.
All Lesley University educator licensure programs comply with current Massachusetts educational requirements, as specified. In addition, Massachusetts participates in the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC) Interstate Agreement, which makes it possible for an educator to have their Massachusetts license/s recognized across the United States. Depending on your professional goals, where you reside or plan to teach, and the licensure structures that exist within that state, there are diverse pathways to licensure that may be relevant. In accordance with Lesley University’s institutional participation in SARA (State Authorization Reciprocity Agreement) and with federal regulations, Lesley University strongly encourages prospective applicants who intend to pursue licensure in a state other than Massachusetts review the Lesley University Licensure and Credentialing page for more information.
Graduate Programs
95%
of our 2019 graduating class is employed or furthering their education.
Online Literacy Program in Top 50
College and program ranker Intelligent.com rates our program #41 and Best Job Placement Rate.
Average salary for teachers in Massachusetts (2023-2024), according to the National Education Association.
#1
Superintendents and other hiring managers across Massachusetts prefer to hire Lesley graduates, reporting that they are best prepared to enter the classroom on day one. (Source: Radius Global Market Research)
Top Schools
Massachusetts ranks as the best state to be a teacher, with some of the highest performing schools and best salaries in the country, according to US News.
The degree employers are looking for.
Lesley graduates go on to rewarding careers in public and private schools, charter schools, and beyond. That's because our programs are ranked #1 for preparing teachers with the skills Massachusetts employers are seeking, including:
Putting theory into practice with an emphasis on instruction and assessment.
Reflecting on lesson effectiveness and sharing best practices to improve student learning.
Your degree is an investment, and we're committed to ensuring its value. That's why we offer the best teacher education in Massachusetts at competitive tuition rates.
We are committed to providing you with opportunities to support your academic goals. Federal aid and a variety of other options can help make your education more affordable.
Next steps to apply
Ready to get started? We're here to make the application process as smooth as possible. Just answer a few quick questions, and get your customized application guide.
"The creative impulse, like love, can be killed, but it cannot be taught. What a teacher or librarian or parent can do, in working with children, is to give the flame enough oxygen so that it can burn. As far as I'm concerned, this providing of oxygen is one of the noblest of all vocations." - Madeleine L'Engle, A Circle of Quiet
Dr. Mary Ann Cappiello is a Professor of Language and Literacy in the Graduate School of Education at Lesley. Prior to that, she served as a curriculum facilitator for English Language Arts and Social Studies at the middle level, and she taught English Language Arts and Humanities at the middle and high school level in New York and New Hampshire.
At Lesley, she teaches courses in children's and young adult literature and literacy methods, including a specialized course in nonfiction for children and young adults. She also mentors the content literacy and children’s literature courses and advises doctoral students. Previously, she served as program director of the Collaborative Internship Program, a residency-based teacher preparation program in its fifth decade.
Mary Ann has been a guest on public radio and a consultant to public television, and her work has appeared in The Reading Teacher, English Journal,Language Arts,The Dragon Lode, School Library Journal, and School Library Connection. She champions the use of biography in the K-12 classroom at The Biography Clearinghouse. Previously, Mary Ann reviewed children's and middle-grade books for Language Arts and blogged about children's and young adult literature for over a decade at "The Classroom Bookshelf," a School Library Journal blog. Mary Ann was also a consultant on the PBS kids' show "Molly of Denali." Read more about her participation.
Erika Thulin Dawes is chair of the Language and Literacy Department and Professor of Language and Literacy in the Graduate School of Education at Lesley University. Erika also serves as the program director of the graduate Early Childhood Education program.
A former elementary classroom teacher, reading specialist, and district literacy administrator, Erika now teaches and mentors courses in early childhood literacy, children's literature, and elementary literacy methods. Prior to Lesley, Erika taught literacy methods courses at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Along with Mary Ann Cappiello, she is the co-author of Teaching with Text Sets (Shell, 2012) and Teaching to Complexity: A Framework for Evaluating Literary and Content-Area Texts (Shell, 2014) and a forthcoming book with Stenhouse Publishers in 2019. She is a co-author of a book on writing instruction, Learning to Write with Purpose: Effective Instruction in Grades 4-8 (2009), and the author of ancillary materials for the well-established textbook Charlotte Huck's Children's Literature, now in its tenth edition, authored by her mentor Dr. Barbara Kiefer. In 2016, Erika was appointed chair of the Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children committee of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), for a two-year term.
She blogs about children's and young adult literature currently at "The Classroom Bookshelf," and reviews children's and middle grade books for Language Arts.
Dr. Enriquez teaches a variety of courses for the Language & Literacy and PhD in Educational Studies programs. A former English Language Arts teacher and literacy staff developer, she bridges her work with teachers and students through collaborative, humanizing, ethnographic, and critical research in high-needs urban populations to examine literacy instruction in school contexts. Specifically, her scholarship focuses on reader response; children’s literature for social justice; critical literacies; intersections of literacies, identities, and embodiment; and the teaching of writing.
Grace’s work has been published in a variety of national and international refereed journals and books. She also serves on national literacy committees and editorial review boards. She is the recipient of the CHLA Diversity Research Grant, the CLA Research Award, and the NCTE Research Foundation Grant. Currently, she is the Children's Literature Feature Editor for The Reading Teacher, as well as co-author of the weekly blog, The Classroom Bookshelf.
Stephanie Spadorcia, Ph.D., is the Associate Dean in the Graduate School of Education and the Director of the Teacher Residency Programs. Her research and teaching focus on literacy instruction for students across the disability continuum; assessment of reading and writing; and using technology to support literacy instruction. She has published articles and book chapters, and presents nationally. She does work in schools to provide literacy instruction for all students, and the role of assessment in a literacy program.
Stephanie also co-facilitates Leadership Enrichment and Development with other members of the Lesley community. This work focuses on leadership identity development for self-identified women in a higher education setting. She is a member of the International Leadership Association’s Research Women’s Leadership Colloquium focused on intersectional approaches to leadership development. Currently, she co-facilitates a Mastermind Series focused on feminist self- and peer- mentoring leadership development for the International Leadership Association.
Laura Schall-Leckrone teaches in and leads the graduate Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and Bilingual Education (TESOL/BE) programs at Lesley. Prior to completing her doctorate, she worked for seventeen years as a bilingual teacher, Spanish teacher, and K-12 curriculum director in city and suburban public schools. Her scholarship and collaborative work in teacher education and educational linguistics seek to bridge knowledge production in K-12 schools and higher education to improve learning opportunities for multilingual learners.
Her research includes a focus on equipping history teachers to teach critical literacies; practitioner research in TESOL and bilingual teacher preparation; and a linguistic ethnography of a K-6 multilingual school in a gateway community.
Along with recent graduates of the masters’ in TESOL and Bilingual Education program, Laura recently received a President’s Innovation Challenge grant to support the creation of a Bilingual Educator Leadership Network (BELN). Read more about the BELN collaborative
Laura also was one of the speakers at the annual 2021 June Fox Lecture focused on Inquiry in Educational Equity with colleagues Grace Enriquez and Nettrice Gaskins. Read more about this event.
Dr. Victoria Gill is a poet, practitioner-scholar, former teacher of English at the middle school level, and former team leader of professional learning communities. She obtained her doctorate in Reading, Writing, and Literacy from the University of Pennsylvania. She is also the co-founder of @LanguageLegacies, an educational social media account on Instagram created with colleague Dr. Río Lopez from New Mexico State University, to resist against language loss within their families and communities.
Dr. Gill investigates the intersections of language, identity, and power as they relate to literacies and pedagogies in ways that create pathways for teachers to build inclusive classrooms that center historically excluded perspectives and voices. Her research examines how students' learning and teachers' teaching can be impacted by understanding and using the theory of Intersectionality with aims for equity and agency with a focus on Children’s and Young Adult Literature. Her current literacy research project analyzes award-winning Asian American picture books and explores the quality of intersectional ethnic representations.
All graduate students are reviewed for merit scholarships through the admissions process and are awarded at the time of acceptance. Other forms of financial aid are also available. Review all graduate tuition and fees, and what they cover. Tuition and fees are subject to change each year, effective in the Summer term.
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Ready to get started? We're here to make the application process as smooth as possible. Just answer a few quick questions, and get your customized application guide.
