Samuel Aguirre is the Senior Director of the Consortium and State Relations Department at WIDA. His team engages and supports WIDA Consortium member states to ensure successful implementation of all WIDA products and services. The Consortium and States Relations team also engages and facilitates state expertise within WIDA to deliver high quality products and services for multilingual learners and their educators. Sam’s life experiences as an immigrant and language learner in the U.S., work as a classroom educator, advocate working with culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and director of multilingual student services at a state education agency provide a strong foundation for his role at WIDA. Sam joined WIDA in fall of 2019 as director of WIDA Español and transitioned to his current role in August 2024.

Sam holds a bachelor’s degree in Bilingual Bicultural Elementary Education from Northeastern Illinois University and a masters in Second Language Studies with a concentration in Engaged Language Policy and Practice from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. Sam is currently completing a doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction with a concentration in Bilingual Education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

E-mail: saaguirre@wisc.edu

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Explore how digital-age teaching strategies can transform learning for multilingual and multicultural students in this engaging podcast. We’ll uncover the advantages of flipped learning and discuss how to design equitable approaches that meet the needs of diverse learners. Dive into practical methods for balancing the six language domains—listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and visually representing—within innovative, tech-enhanced curricula.

Learn how to craft assessments that foster critical thinking and creativity, and discover the power of virtual communities in enhancing collaboration between students, parents, and educators. Finally, we’ll examine how schools can create holistic digital ecosystems that ensure equitable access while celebrating the linguistic richness of all students. Perfect for educators, administrators, and advocates committed to inclusive, forward-thinking education!

Links:

Digital-Age Teaching for English Learners and Appendices & Resources

David Rogers supports the work of Dual Language Education of New Mexico-DLeNM whose mission is to promote the effective design and implementation of dual language education in New Mexico, and beyond.

In his thirty-five years as an educator, David has served as an education volunteer and program coordinator in Peace Corps Paraguay, South America, a bilingual special education teacher in South Bronx, NY, and as a dual language classroom teacher, bilingual program coordinator, and school principal in the South Valley of Albuquerque. In 1996 David and his colleagues helped to organize the first La Cosecha Dual Language Conference, which was hosted by DLeNM, where David served from 1999 until 2022 as its first Executive Director.

David is an advocate for culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and has provided leadership support for advocacy groups like Transform Education New Mexico and NM Hispanic Education Advisory Council, and NCEL.

David is husband to dual language educator Rosie González-Rogers, and together they have four bilingual/multicultural daughters and call Albuquerque, New Mexico their home.

www.dlenm.org

https://www.lacosechaconference.org/

Dr. Jobi Lawrence has almost three decades of experience working across all levels in the field of education and as a parent to three grown adult children. From her early career at the local level as a classroom teacher, to serving as the Title III Director at a state education agency, to her role at the national level as the Director for the National Clearinghouse of English Language Acquisition (NCELA) to her current role as the Director of Product Development and Strategic Partnerships for UCLA-CRESST (The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing), (supporting ELPA21) she brings a wealth of knowledge and experience in working with students and families. Dr. Lawrence has developed and delivered professional development, publications, guidance documents, and toolkits for use with a variety of education stakeholders to meet the needs of diverse students and their families. She has conducted program evaluations in more than 300 (urban, suburban, and rural) schools across the country over the past 30 years.

Connect with Dr. Lawrence on LinkedIn and check out her podcast called Assets.

You can also find her article titled Being True to Form at this link.

Okhee Lee is a professor in the Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development at New York University. She is committed to advancing research, policy, and practice that promote STEM and language learning for all students, particularly multilingual learners. Lee was a member of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) writing team and served as leader for the NGSS Diversity and Equity Team. She also was a member of the Steering Committee for the Understanding Language Initiative at Stanford University. Her work involves integrating science, language, and computational thinking with a focus on multilingual learners. Her latest work addresses justice-centered STEM education with multilingual learners by integrating multiple STEM subjects, including data science and computer science, to address societal challenges using the case of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the early 1990s, her research has been funded by the National Science Foundation.

Lee brings research and policy to practice. Her team developed a yearlong fifth-grade science curriculum called Science And Integrated Language, or SAIL, that translates contemporary science standards into classroom practice with multilingual learners. The curriculum is in a field trial at New York City Public Schools with funding from the National Science Foundation. Using the SAIL curriculum, Lee’s team published teacher resources in collaboration with the New York State Education Department. In addition, her team published teacher resources in collaboration with the National Science Teaching Association and made them available across the country and internationally.

Lee provides leadership for major organizations and institutions across multiple fields, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Educational Research Association, Center for Applied Linguistics, National Academy of Education, National Association for Research in Science Teaching, National Science Foundation, New York State Boards of Cooperative Education Services, New York State Education Department, and New York City Department of Education.

For more information, please visit:

https://www.nyusail.org/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okhee_Lee

https://wikitia.com/wiki/Okhee_Lee

https://www.okheelee.com/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmptRBGO6G6yl4Ph0n7Pr_w/featured

https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/people/okhee-lee

Latest Article: Transforming STEM by Focusing on Justice

Michael Rodríguez is the Executive Director of Dual Language Education of NM (DLeNM). For six years, he served as the organization's director of operations, heading up and expanding its Program Design and Leadership Development offerings while supporting schools, districts, and state agencies across the country to create quality, sustainable dual language programs. During his fifteen years as a school administrator, he helped to establish and operate three different dual language programs in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque areas. In his current role, Michael leads an experienced team of dual language educator-trainers who provide professional development in support of quality instruction for language learners and effective dual language program design. DLeNM is also host to the country’s largest dual language conference annually, in New Mexico.

Azul Cortes (Huasteco/Tepehuan) is the Director of Heritage Languages at DLeNM. With Master’s degrees in Bilingual, Secondary and Special Education, Azul is passionate about language, community and cultural identity. He is currently a Doctoral Student at UNM’s Language Literacy and Sociocultural Studies with his research focusing on the maintenance and revitalization of the heritage language through cultural Identity. Azul has worked as a Clinical Research Educator at the University of New Mexico’s College of Education Elementary Education in the area of Teacher Preparation and in numerous indigenous communities with linguistically and culturally diverse youth through the Bureau of Indian Education and in México. He continues to work with grassroots organizations, La Plazita Institute in Albuquerque and Homeboy Industries in East Los Angeles who dedicate services to adjudicated youths and young adults. Current work highlights language maintenance and revitalization efforts through an indigenous lens that centers culture and language as the voice of the community and the land in which they reside.

You can contact Michael Rodriguez and José "Azul" Cortés via their LinkedIn Accounts:

Michael Rodriguez

José "Azul" Cortés

or email:

micahel@dlenm.org

azul@dlenm.org

Liz Howard is an associate professor of bilingual education in the department of Curriculum and Instruction. Her current research focuses on the development of sociocultural competence among dual language students in the U.S. and Costa Rica, and she was recently awarded a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to investigate the development of sociocultural competence among dual language students and its relationship to equitable bilingualism and biliteracy outcomes. Previously, she has served as the principal investigator or co-PI of three large-scale, federally funded studies of the literacy development of Spanish-English bilinguals – a recently completed study of argument writing among Latino 4th grade students, a cross-linguistic vocabulary intervention for middle schoolers, and a longitudinal study focusing on cross-linguistic influences on the spelling development of students in the upper elementary grades. She was also the co-PI of a faculty learning community designed to build the capacity of teacher education faculty members to support pre-service teachers’ learning about emergent bilinguals. Prior to coming to UConn, she was a senior research associate with the Center for Applied Linguistics (CAL) in Washington, DC, where she directed a number of projects related to dual language education and biliteracy development, including the longitudinal CREDE Study of Two-Way Immersion. In addition, she has worked as a bilingual elementary school teacher in California and Costa Rica, and has also taught adult ESL and literacy courses as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica.

Shera Simpson is a dynamic educator, administrator, coach, and entrepreneur deeply committed to advancing the field of dual-language education. She is the co-author of the groundbreaking book, "Dual Language Tandem Teaching: Coordinating Instruction across Languages through Cross-linguistic Pedagogies," the first installment of a transformative three-part series reshaping the landscape of bilingual instruction. A respected presence at prestigious dual-language conferences nationwide, including La Cosecha, CABE, and the Southern New England Regional Dual Language Conference, Shera delivers compelling presentations that motivate educators to explore innovation and cultivate cross-linguistic collaboration in their classrooms. As the co-founder of Dual Language Connections, LLC, a woman-owned consulting firm, Shera is on a mission to empower teachers and schools, equipping them with the essential tools and strategies needed to enhance relationships and elevate instruction across languages. Beyond her influential consulting work, Shera is a co-founder of "Outside The Box (OTB) Learning Laboratory," an innovative dual-language, community-based alternative educational center situated in Brasilito, Costa Rica. Her visionary leadership has created a nurturing space where students thrive, immersing themselves in the richness of bilingualism and community engagement. Originally from South Carolina, Shera has called Costa Rica home for over a decade, residing there with her partner and daughter. When not immersed in her professional pursuits, she finds joy in learning more about the world through travel, embarking on adventurous hikes, and savoring the serenity of the beach.

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Heather Graham is currently the Multilingual Coordinator for Bethany Public Schools in Oklahoma. She has previously worked as a School Counselor, and recently was presented the opportunity to transition into the Multilingual world. Her Multilingual Program is small but rapidly growing. She has enjoyed learning about her students, teachers, and families and hopes to continue to bring awareness and inclusion to the students with whom she works.