ester de jong

Ester de Jong is a Professor in ESOL/Bilingual Education and the Director of the School of Teaching and Learning at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. She was born and raised in the Netherlands and came to the United States to pursue her doctoral studies. Prior to coming to the University of Florida, she worked with Spanish-English and Brazilian-Portuguese bilingual programs as the Assistant Director for Bilingual Education and ESL programs in Massachusetts.

At the University of Florida, she teaches courses on bilingual education, second language education, and language policy. Her research focuses on dual language education, language-in-education policy, and preparing general education teachers to work with bilingual learners. Her book, Foundations of Multilingualism in Education: From Policy to Practice published by Caslon Publishing, considers a principled approach to school, program, and classroom decision-making for bilingual learners. Dr. de Jong is a former President of TESOL International Association (2017-2018).