Saturday Advanced Professional Learning Institute (SAPLI)

Associate Professor Doris Baker the chairs the Master of Bilingual Education program at The University of Texas at Austin. Prior to pursuing her doctorate from University of Oregon in educational leadership, she taught Spanish in the department of romance languages there.

Dr. Baker’s research interests are focused on developing effective interventions and assessments to foster the academic success of English learners and students who speak Spanish as their native language.

Currently, Dr. Baker’s area of research is centered on developing vocabulary interventions using technology to improve the science and social studies knowledge and understanding of second grade Latino English learners. She also recently completed a study by working with parents to help them support their children’s academic growth at home.

The University of Houston's Associate Research Professor Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan is also a bilingual speech language pathologist and a certified academic language therapist. She holds a doctorate degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of Houston.

She is the president of Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Brownsville, Texas. She also co-founded Brownsville READS!, a nonprofit literacy and serves as the vice president of the International Dyslexia Association, chairperson of the State Dyslexia Board and board member of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities.

Her research interests include the development of early reading assessments for Spanish-speaking students in addition to the development of reading interventions for bilingual students.

Associate Professor Lillian Durán earned her Ph.D. in educational psychology from the University of

Minnesota and is currently the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs at the University of Oregon's Department of Special Education and Clinical Sciences. She holds a B.A. in elementary education from Antioch College and a M.A. in education and human development from the George Washington University.

Her research focuses on improving instructional and assessment practices with pre-school aged dual language learners (DLLs).

Prior to her work in higher education she worked for nine years as an early childhood special education teacher both in Prince George’s County, Maryland, and in rural south-central Minnesota.

Vanderbilt University's Associate Professor of Mathematics and Science Education, Nicole M. Joseph, is the founder of the Tennessee March for Black Women in STEM, which brings Tennessee community together and raises awareness of the gendered racism as well as the STEM experience for Black women and girls.

Dr. Joseph advances Inclusive Excellence research and practice around issues related to access, equity and achievement for underrepresented students. Her work focuses particularly on social justice for African American females in math education.

Using intersectionality, she illuminates problems and possibilities in the evolution of race work in STEM, including structural, pedagogical, and environmental spaces.

Assistant Professor Paul Polanco from The University of Texas at Arlington is originally from the Dominican Republic. He holds a Ph.D. in bilingual education from Southern Methodist University. His research focuses on how bilingualism serves as a tool to develop educational, economic, and social outcomes for Hispanic students in the United States.

As a former bilingual elementary teacher in an urban setting, Dr. Polanco understands the challenges teachers face when teaching diverse learners in the classroom. He brought his classroom experiences to graduate school and worked on an IES grant on the development of an intelligent tutoring system to teach vocabulary in-depth to Hispanic second graders. He has also taught various master’s level courses on bilingualism and effective teaching practices, and has presented his research and publications at several national and international conferences.

Professor Sharolyn Pollard-Durodola earned her Ed.D. from the University of Houston in curriculum and instruction, focusing on second language acquisition and bilingual education. Prior to UNLV, she served as an associate professor of literacy at the University of Denver's Morgridge College of Education.

She has research and experience in English language and literacy inventions and professional development practices for teachers of English language learners.

Sharolyn has goals to further develop UNLV's English language learning program into a nationally competitive program and to continue expanding collaborations between the university and Clark County School District to improve language and literacy practices.

Assistant Professor Tracy Spies from UNLV's Department of Early Childhood, Multilingual and Special Education is fluent in Spanish and focuses on English language learning. With a master's degree in educational leadership from Sam Houston State University and a doctorate degree in Hispanic bilingual education from Texas A&M, Dr. Spies has fifteen years experience as a teacher and principal.

Tracy has been very involved in community service working in the areas of hunger and ELL. Her research agenda includes:

• Second language acquisition

• The effects of the second language on the native language

• Effective teacher pedagogy in native and second language

• Dispositions of school leaders identified as successful with English language learners