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Dr. Ivannia Soto
Dr. Ivannia Soto is Professor of Education and Director of Graduate Programs at Whittier College, where she specializes in language acquisition, systemic reform for English language learners (ELLs), and urban education. She began her career in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), where she taught English and English Language Development to a population of 99.9% Latinos, who either were or had been multilingual learners. Before becoming a professor, Dr. Soto also served LAUSD as a literacy coach, as well as district office and county office administrator. She has presented on literacy and language topics at various conferences, including the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), the California Association for Bilingual Association (CABE), the American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the National Urban Education Conference. As a consultant, Soto has worked with Stanford University’s School Redesign Network (SRN), WestEd, and CABE, as well as a variety of districts and county offices in California, providing technical assistance for systemic reform for ELLs and Title III. Recently, Soto also directed a CABE bilingual teacher and administrator program across California.
Dr. Soto has authored and co-authored twelve books, including The Literacy Gaps: Building Bridges for ELLs and SELs; ELL Shadowing as a Catalyst for Change, a best seller that was recognized by Education Trust-West as a promising practice for ELLs in 2018; From Spoken to Written Language with ELLs; the Academic English Mastery four-book series; Common Core Companion Book Series for English Language Development four-book series; Breaking Down the Wall; and Supporting Cultural and Linguistic Diversity: A Framework for Responsive Schooling. Together, the books tell a story of how to equitably engage and include multilingual learners by ensuring that they gain voice and an academic identity in the classroom setting. Soto is Executive Director of the Institute for Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teaching (ICLRT) at Whittier College, whose mission it is to promote relevant research and develop academic resources for ELLs and Standard English Learners (SELs) via linguistically and culturally responsive teaching practices.
Dr. Steven Dorsey
Dr. Steven A. Dorsey, Executive Leadership Coach, Equity, for the San Diego County Office of Education, has been an educational leader and professional for the last 27 years as a teacher, Assistant Principal, Principal at all three levels, as well as a District Director position and Project Director at Los Angeles County Office of Education. Equity has always been a priority, assuring that schools have a commitment to ensure that every student receives what he, she, or they needs to succeed, as defined by Nogera & Blankstein (2016). Prior to education, Dr. Dorsey worked as Deputy Sheriff and was a member of the Gang Unit and part of California Prison Gang Task Force. He completed his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at California State University at Fullerton (CSUF). Dr. Dorsey is also a Board Member for Method Schools Independent Study Charter Organization that operates in San Diego, Riverside, and Los Angeles Counties. He has also taught Organizational Leadership for the Educational Leadership Department at CSUF. Steven has also been a Keynote speaker for the California School Boards Association, Panorama SEL Summit, and OWLS Learning Summit for Odysseyware. Dr. Dorsey is committed to equity and to developing students’ innovative problem-solving skills to truly succeed in today’s global world.
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