Indiana

Center for Excellence in Leadership of Learning

An established source of educational innovation and professional development in Indiana, the Center for Excellence in Leadership of Learning (CELL) at the University of Indianapolis commits itself to addressing the unique needs of rural areas through their Rural Early College Network and the Indiana Collaborative for Rural Education. Reneé Cocanower serves as a Senior Project Coordinator supporting Early College at CELL and will serve as one of the RSC Hub contacts. Steve Combs serves as the Director of Early College at CELL and will also serve as an RSC Hub contact.

CELL serves as a hub for advancing education innovation by connecting research with real-world application. Through strategic partnerships and proven practices, CELL supports educators and institutions in strengthening teaching and learning from early education through college, with a focus on long-term student success. In 2022, CELL launched a Rural Teacher Corp, with assistance from RSC’s Catalyst Grant Initiative.

• Rural Early College Network: The Rural Early College Network (RECN) helps rural Indiana high schools implement the Early College High School model in an accelerated time frame. The network and mentoring approaches allows exemplary rural Early College High School programs to support schools seeking to implement high-quality Early College programs and build relationships between cohorts of schools for mutual collaboration.
• Grow Your Own: CELL’s Grow Your Own (GYO) program aims to expand and diversify the teacher pipeline by engaging high school students and paraprofessionals– particularly in rural and Hispanic districts– who are interested in becoming educators but lack traditional credentials. Supported by a New America Foundation grant, CELL is building statewide communities of practice, hosting planning workshops, and promoting work-based learning experiences to help participants thrive in the teaching pathway.
• GRAD Partnership: Cell is an intermediary organization for the GRAD Partnership, a national initiative that encourages and supports communities in efforts to use high quality student success systems that empower schools to graduate all students ready for the future.