Back to school is a time of excitement and new beginnings, but it often brings challenges. Many of our nation’s multilingual learners are anxious about performing well during the upcoming school year, and many of their teachers aren’t sure how to best help them succeed.

Join Dr. José Viana, former Director of the Office of English Language Acquisition, as he hosts a panel of educational leaders from across the nation to discuss strategies to better support our emergent bilingual learners’ academic and linguistic growth.

With the school year just beginning, now is the time to ensure effective student support is in place. Dr. Viana and the panelists will share best practices and examples that can be implemented in your classrooms to improve the student learning experience, as well as student academic success.

Attendees will learn how to:

• Create a welcoming classroom environment
• Use asset-based approaches to learning
• Engage families
• Improve outcomes through differentiated lessons
• Communicate expectations and language goals
• Maintain a positive learning experience

This edLeader Panel will be of interest to K-6 teachers, school and district leaders, and ELL/ESOL specialists. There will be time for questions at the end of the presentation.

About the Presenters

Dr. Supreet Anand has been working in the field of education for more than 25 years. She currently serves as the acting assistant deputy secretary and director for the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA). As the acting director for OELA, she informs policy decisions on English learners (ELs) and supervises OELA’s role in disseminating information on educational research, practices, and policies for ELs through the National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition. Her work also includes supervising the discretionary grant programs under Title III of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). Dr. Anand holds a Ph.D. in education from University of Maryland, College Park; an MS in applied linguistics from Georgetown University, Washington D.C.; and an MA in English literature from Punjab University, India.

Ester de Jong, Ed.D. is currently a professor in the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education program area in the School of Education and Human Development at the University of Colorado Denver. Prior to coming to UC Denver, she served as the director of the School of Teaching and Learning and was a professor in ESOL/Bilingual Education at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. Her research focuses on equity and integration in the context of dual language education and preparing teachers to work with bilingual learners in K-12 schools. Dr. de Jong also served as the president of TESOL International Association from 2017-2018.

Alice García has worked in education and been an advocate for over 20 years. She has taught English at all levels often with a special focus on English learners and is now the Title III director/EL coordinator for the state of Louisiana. She is presently working on her Ph.D. in English education at Louisiana State University where she is studying EL graduation rates. Alice enjoys reading, movies, running, and cycling when not researching EL strategies and trends.

Ignacio Ruiz serves as assistant superintendent of the English Language Learner Division for the Clark County School District in Nevada. He previously held the position of Director of the Language Acquisition Department in Tucson Unified School District in Tucson, Arizona. He holds a master’s degree from Northern Arizona University and a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Prescott College. He brings broad experience in educational leadership where he has held leadership positions including assistant principal, principal, director, and his current role as assistant superintendent.

Ignacio is biliterate in English and Spanish and believes in providing equitable learning experiences for all students. In 2014, he was recognized by Luz Social Services as Administrator of the Year. Ignacio is the president and founder of the Nevada Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents, which began in 2019. He completed the McCourt School of Public Policy in Educational Leadership and Management from Georgetown University.

José Viana, Ed.D. joined Lexia Learning as a senior education advisor, bringing 30 years of experience in education. A former English learner himself, his career began in Miami, Florida where he taught English to speakers of other languages. During his time in the classroom, Dr. Viana strategically incorporated technology through blended learning in order for emergent bilingual students to fully participate and thus accelerate their proficiency in English and ability to meet academic goals.

Dr. Viana was most recently the assistant deputy secretary and director of the office of English language acquisition at the United States Department of Education. In this role, he was responsible for the overall leadership, management, and direction of education for English language learners nationwide. He also oversaw the development and dissemination of discretionary grants, research studies, and resources that guide education practice and policy to meet the needs of our country’s emergent bilingual students.

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Join the Supporting Emergent Bilingual Students community to network with educators, participate in online discussions, receive invitations to upcoming edWebinars, and view recordings of previous programs to earn CE certificates.

Time: 3:00 pm — 4:00 pm EDT

Free!

Registration