This study reports the progress of a project in a teacher education program designed to deliver professional development to rural teachers through an online format addressing ESOL (English for speakers of other languages). Funded by a Professional Development Grant from the OELA (Office of English Language Acquisition) of the United States Department of Education, the project was conceived in response to a number of factors, commencing with the perceptions of teacher candidates in the program that they had not received sufficient coursework or field experience to prepare them to teach the growing numbers of ELLs (English language learners) they were encountering in their internship classrooms. While this signaled the need for curriculum revision, it also pointed out the need to improve the clinical classroom. Project LEAP (Leading Exceptional Annual Progress) was crafted to provide in-service teachers with professional development in ESOL, so that services to ELLs in the region would be improved and so that clinical placements for teacher candidates would model and support best practices for a diverse student body. Ongoing inquiry is reported, reflecting both baseline data and interim findings for the project. (Contains 2 tables.)