2025 Hybrid Conference: Activating the Power of Leadership for ML Success

Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld

Professor

Molloy College

Andrea Honigsfeld, EdD, is professor in the School of Education and Human Services at Molloy College, Rockville Centre, New York, where she teaches graduate courses related to cultural and linguistic diversity. Before entering the field of teacher education, she was an English-as-a-foreign-language teacher in Hungary (secondary and adult) and an English-as-a-second-language teacher in New York City (elementary and adult). She also taught Hungarian at New York University. She was the recipient of a doctoral fellowship at St. John’s University, New York, where she conducted research on individualized instruction. She has published extensively on working with multilingual learners and collaborative instructional practices. She received a Fulbright Award to lecture in Iceland in the fall of 2002. Over the past 20 years, she has been presenting at conferences across the United States, Great Britain, China, Denmark, Japan, Thailand, Sweden, the Philippines, and the United Arab Emirates. She frequently offers professional learning opportunities, primarily focusing on effective differentiated strategies and collaborative practices for ELD and bilingual/dual language specialists and general-education teachers. She coauthored over 60 articles and chapters and coauthored or coedited over 30 books, 11 of which are national bestsellers. See https://andreahonigsfeld.com for more information on Andrea's work.

• 10:00 - 10:45 AM, Feb 19, 2025 Regency VI & VII

  Keynote Presentation

Dr. Merica Clinkenbeard

Director of English Language Development

Springfield Public Schools

Dr. Merica Clinkenbeard is currently the Director of English Language Development for Springfield Public Schools, in Springfield, Missouri. She is knowledgeable in compliance, instructional strategies, and professional learning, and contributes valuable connections within the field.

Merica has over 20 years of experience in the educational field at the local and state level. She is a certified K-12 Spanish and ESL teacher with a research focus on professional learning to promote language proficiency within the content. Prior to her current role, Merica worked at Missouri State University as an English Learner Instructional Specialist for the state. She has a B.A. in International Studies, a M.A. in Education, and a doctorate in instructional leadership from Lindenwood University.

She is the Vice President of the National Association of English Learner Program Administrators (NAELPA) and also serves as co-chair for the NAELPA Professional Learning committee.

• 11:00 - 11:50 AM, Feb 19, 2025 Regency VI & VII

  Leading Change for Multilingual Learners: Activating Teacher Leaders and Administrators to Create System-Wide Impact

Diep Nguyen, Ph.D., serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Applied Linguistics. Dr. Nguyen earned her Ph.D. in Educational Studies and her M.A. in French Literature from Ohio State University. She received her B.S. in Secondary Education from West Virginia University.

Dr. Nguyen has over three decades of experience in teaching, research, and leadership in PreK-12 schools and institutions of higher learning (IHEs) and a proven record of organizational management and thought leadership in bilingual/multilingual education.

Before joining CAL, Dr. Nguyen served as the Director of Educational Learning Research and Practice and subsequently as Senior Director of Research and Outreach for the WIDA Consortium at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she led a team of researchers and Professional Learning specialists to provide the WIDA ELD standards and professional resources to educators serving multilingual learners across the consortium.

• 2:40 - 3:30 PM, Feb 19, 2025 Techwood

  Centering Multilingual Learners to Ensure Equity in Literacy Instruction: Integrating Research, Policy, and Practice

With over 20 years of experience as an EL teacher, coach, and administrator, Mary DeSimone specializes in providing professional development worldwide, equipping educators with the skills to effectively support English learners.

• 11:00 - 11:50 AM, Feb 19, 2025 Spring

  Supporting Leadership: Building Capacity for Effective ML Instruction

Dr. Joan Lachance

Associate Professor/Educational Consultant

UNC Charlotte

Dr. Joan Lachance is an Associate Professor of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. She directs the TESL graduate programs and undergraduate TESL Minor. She is the co-author of the National Dual Language Education Teacher Preparation Standards and the Director of the CAEP Specialized Program Association in Dual Language Education called “EMMA: Education for a Multilingual Multicultural America.” She received her undergraduate degree in Secondary Education, Modern Languages and Linguistics from Florida International University. With Spanish as the language of program delivery, she completed graduate coursework to earn her master’s degree in School Counseling from Pontifical Catholic University in Poncé, Puerto Rico. Dr. Lachance completed her doctoral work in Curriculum and Instruction, with an emphasis on Urban Education, Literacy, and TESL at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Dr. Lachance’s research agenda and professional learning via her consultancies encompasses dual language teacher preparation, academic literacy development, and authentic assessment with multilingual learners. Her work has resulted in numerous publications including articles, book chapters, technical reports, and state-level curriculum guides since joining UNC Charlotte. She serves on several journal editorial boards and is a board member of the Multistate Association for Bilingual Education, Northeast (MABE). With the publication of a forthcoming Corwin book, she is specializing one aspect of of her professional consultancies with collaboration and co-teaching for multilingual learners in the dual language context. She is also working to support dual language education for the preservation of Native American languages, currently and most-honorably collaborating with a K-8 school serving the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians [EBCI].

• 11:00 - 11:50 AM, Feb 19, 2025 Techwood

  Project SEMBRAR: Transforming DLBE Teacher Preparation

Michael Rodríguez is the newly-appointed Executive Director of Dual Language Education of NM (DLeNM). For the past six years he has served as the organization's director of operations, heading up and expanding the Leadership Development trainings while supporting schools, districts and state agencies across the country to create quality, sustainable dual language programs. Throughout his career as an administrator, he has helped to establish and operate three different dual language programs in New Mexico.

• 11:00 - 11:50 AM, Feb 19, 2025 Techwood

  Project SEMBRAR: Transforming DLBE Teacher Preparation

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 (www.dlenm.org) in New Mexico, and beyond. He is part of the EMMA Advisory Leadership and Project SEMBRAR's Grant Administrator.

• 11:00 - 11:50 AM, Feb 19, 2025 Techwood

  Project SEMBRAR: Transforming DLBE Teacher Preparation

Elise White Diaz

Educational Consultant

Seidlitz Education

As a consultant with Seidlitz Education, Elise travels across the country to assist state education agencies and districts in fostering language development and cross-cultural connections. Before joining Seidlitz Education, she served in various collaborative roles in a high-performing district in North Texas (language acquisition specialist, instructional coach, professional development presenter). Elise specializes in empowering educators to serve newcomer students from hard places, and looks forward to her forthcoming book, Discover, Connect, Respond: A Practical Approach for Trauma-Informed Education.

• 2:40 - 3:30 PM, Feb 19, 2025 Regency VI & VII

  Overcoming Collaboration Challenges to Effectively Support ML Success

• 2:40 - 3:30 PM, Feb 19, 2025 Spring

  Building Multilingual Programs Through Multi-level Collaboration

Dr. Julie Sugarman

Associate Director for K-12 Education Research

Migration Policy Institute

Julie Sugarman is Associate Director for K-12 Education Research at MPI’s National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy, where she focuses on multilingual learner education and helps stakeholders understand complex research and policy issues, improve program design, and evaluate program effectiveness.

At MPI, Dr. Sugarman has published analyses on topics such as federal policy supporting immigrant-background and English Learner (EL) students, school funding, federal and state data systems, and assessment and accountability. Additionally, she has published numerous research reports on how state and federal policies impact the educational options of newcomers who arrive in U.S. schools in high school. She has been an active contributor to policy efforts in the field, including as a member of the Public Policy Professional Council of TESOL International Association and as an advisor to the executive board of the National Association of English Language Program Administrators. She has also provided expertise to the Office of English Language Acquisition at the U.S. Department of Education; the Council of Chief State School Officers; the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; and numerous state and local education agencies and community-based organizations.

• 2:40 - 3:30 PM, Feb 19, 2025 Techwood

  Centering Multilingual Learners to Ensure Equity in Literacy Instruction: Integrating Research, Policy, and Practice