Center for Applied Linguistics

AERA 2025 Annual Meeting Presentations—Instructional Quality in Collaborative Teaching: What Factors Support or Impede It?
2025-04-24
Instructional Quality in Collaborative Teaching: What Factors Support or Impede It?
Date & Time: April 24, 2025 | 1:45–3:15 p.m MT
Location: The Colorado Convention Center, Floor: Meeting Room Level, Room 711
Presenter(s): Sarah Howard
Description:
Co-teaching is a prominent instructional model used to provide integrated language and content learning for EL-designated multilingual learners (Kibler et al., 2023), and scholarly attention is often paid to the structures and quality of teacher collaboration itself (e.g., Yoon, 2023). While this work is valuable, it does not address the resulting instructional quality that students experience, which Darling Hammond describes as the “sine qua non” (Levin, 2020, para. 2) of any reform effort. We draw upon observational and interview data to identify co-taught lessons featuring high-quality instruction (as conceptualized in Walqui & Bunch, 2019; WestEd, 2020), and then identify the collaborative communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991) and ecological factors (van Lier, 2004) influencing these classrooms. We also compare these instructional, collaborative, and ecological features to those found in lessons lacking features of high-quality instruction. Data are drawn from 40 co-taught middle and high-school lessons that were observed across three districts and in multiple content areas. Data also include 28 teacher and 33 school and district administrator interviews. Each lesson is treated as an individual case within a multiple case study design (Stake, 2006). Observational data (i.e., fieldnotes, audio-recordings, and lesson documents) were used to establish the instructional quality of each lesson, and both observations and interviews were used to identify the collaborative community of practice among co-teachers and the ecological factors shaping their collaboration. Analysis followed an inductive/deductive design (Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006), with initial inductive coding and memoing followed by alignment of themes to above-mentioned theoretical frameworks, with adaptations to the frameworks as appropriate. Initial analyses suggest that a relatively limited number of lessons fully met our criteria for high-quality instruction, conceptualized according to characteristics of academic rigor, high teacher expectations, quality teacher/student and peer interactions, an integrated language focus, and quality curriculum (WestEd, 2020). Those that did, however, were supported by collaboration among co-teachers that featured extensive planning and ongoing communication, equitable sharing of responsibilities, and thoughtful syntheses of both teachers’ pedagogical approaches. These teachers also benefited from school and district ecologies in which administrators were knowledgeable, co-planning was prioritized, and co-teachers taught a limited number of other courses. Our analysis suggests that lessons without high instructional quality typically lacked the collaboratives and ecological supports found above. However, certain instructional patterns—such as rapid curricular pacing, limited peer interaction, a lack of teacher relationships with students, and disconnected language activities—were found even when collaboration and ecologies were strongly supportive. These patterns suggest that although structural support for co-teaching at the secondary level is critically important, an emphasis on instructional quality reveals multiple notable disjunctures in co-teaching, even when structures and support for collaboration are present. These are wide-ranging, from issues of content coverage/pacing to approaches to language pedagogy to opportunities for interaction and relationship-building. Such patterns suggest important areas of professional learning for language and content co-teachers, and for further research to understand how collaborating teachers can develop this pedagogical expertise together.

AERA 2025 Annual Meeting Presentation—Teachers’ Development of Critical Consciousness around Multilingual Families
2025-04-25
Teachers’ Development of Critical Consciousness Around Multilingual Families
Date & Time: April 25, 2025 | 9:50–11:20 0.m MT
Location: The Colorado Convention Center, Floor: Meeting Room Level, Room 711
Presenter(s): Sarah Howard
Description:
Fundamental to teachers’ culturally relevant instructional practices is their knowledge of students and families (Gay, 2010; Ladson-Billings, 2014), but teachers typically receive little preparation in how to meaningfully engage with multilingual families and communities (Green, 2018; Jones, 2020). Aligned with recent calls to learn from and build on multilingual families’ dynamic literacy practices (Paulick et al., 2020), this case study explores the experiences of in-service dual-language teachers participating in a professional learning initiative designed to build their critical consciousness around family literacy. We address the question: How did participating teachers develop critical consciousness around multilingual families’ literacy practices through participation in this program? This intrinsic case study (Stake, 2006) focuses on a cohort of dual-language teachers (N = 4) from Applegate School District (pseudonym) who participated in an online university ESOL and Dual Language endorsement program that included coursework as well as a teacher-designed and district-specific family literacy project. This district was selected because of its long-standing dual-language programming. Data include two teacher focus groups (at the program’s beginning and end), an interview with their district facilitator, and teachers’ online course discussions and submissions. Researchers read data for inductive themes around family literacy, which they aligned with the critical consciousness principles for dual-language teachers (Dorner et al., 2022). To capture change over time for individual teachers and the district cohort, data were also coded to capture stages of development, as articulated in Harro’s (2000) cycle for liberation, which outlines intrapersonal, interpersonal, and systemic changes educators experience as they develop critical perspectives. Initial analyses suggest that dual-language teachers engaged in critical intrapersonal and interpersonal development through course discussions that asked them to historicize their own and their students’ family language practices, conversations that were marked by a strong sense of solidarity among teachers and with the multilingual families they served. Although some teachers could already embrace discomfort and listen critically, all showed evidence of further developing these skills through assignments and activities that asked them to engage directly with multilingual families to better understand their literacy practices. Finally, many dual-language teachers planned future systemic changes to help their schools affirm multilingual families’ identities, interrogate power by calling out inequitable circumstances, and center the translingual practices of families and communities. However, multiple teachers were ambivalent about the teacher-designed and district-specific family literacy project, which was created to support systemic change, suggesting the challenges involved in developing critical consciousness in ways that support systemic changes to better serve multilingual families. From a theoretical perspective, this analysis demonstrates the promise of applying critical consciousness and cycle for liberation frameworks to multilingual family literacy together to better understand the development of critical consciousness over time. This study also highlights successful areas for university endorsement programs aiming to develop critical consciousness for dual-language teachers around multilingual family literacy through intrapersonal self-reflection, engagement with peers, and direct experience with multilingual families. At the same time, it underscores variation in teachers’ uptake of these ideas, particularly when participating in systemic change.

AERA 2025 Annual Meeting Presentation—Developing a Classroom Assessment System in Science: Centering Educators' and Multilingual Students' Voices
2025-04-25
Developing a Classroom Assessment System in Science: Centering Educators’ and Multilingual Students’ Voices
Date & Time: April 25, 2025 | 1:30 – 3:00 p.m MT
Location: The Colorado Convention Center, Floor: Meeting Room Level, Room 403
Presenter(s): Keira Ballantyne, Brittany York, Amy Burden, Ivanna Anderson
Description:
The Multilingual Multimodal Science Inventory (M2-Si) is a classroom assessment designed to showcase what students know and can do in science, not merely what students know and can do in science in English. This study focuses on the development and pilot testing of M2-Si classroom activities, evaluating the implementation of activities in classroom contexts in collaboration with students and educator-researchers (ERs).
Theoretical perspectives encompass assessment, multilingualism, and science education.
Assessment is a sociocultural practice rooted in cultural, social, and educational contexts (Shohamy, 1998; Chalhoub-Deville and Tarone, 1996). Experts suggest traditional content area assessments may not meet multilingual learners’ (MLs) needs (ELL Working Policy Group, 2011, 2015; Robinson-Cimpian et al., 2016; Menken, 2008).
Multilingualism is an asset that students bring to their learning. Students thrive when their full cultural and linguistic identities are welcomed into the classroom (Alim & Paris, 2017; Arias, 2022; Bucholtz, 1999; Esteban-Guitart & Moll, 2014; Gay, 2010; Moll et al., 1992; Rymes & Pash, 2004; Wortham, 2006). Learners understand, generate, and communicate about content using their full linguistic repertoires, including translanguaging practices (García, 2009; García, Johnson, & Seltzer, 2016; Schissel et al., 2018).
While research shows that diverse teams produce more impactful science (Powell, 2018), ML students continue to be underrepresented in science and engineering (NASEM, 2018). We ground our approach in local contexts. Assessment activities are aligned with relevant science standards and reviewed using a modified NGSS science task screener tool.
Our study proceeds in two methodological phases. First, 15 grade 3–5 ERs attended a science education conference and activity development workshop, including PD around science, assessment, and multilingualism and multiliteracies. The research team developed 2 example activities, and ERs developed 14 draft assessment activities.
Next, 11 ERs pilot-tested these 16 activities, for a total of 54 implementations. Data include a total of 16 videos, 30 observational notes, 54 ER reflections, 29 student interviews, and notes from 8 PLC meetings. Student participants (n = 279) include 62 current and 33 former MLs and 16 other multilingual students.
Preliminary results suggest that educators can implement the activities with modifications and that activities are engaging for ERs and students. “Suddenly my students who don’t speak any English were engaged, making connections to their life of what they had seen in their home country, and sharing their thoughts and experiences excitedly with the class.” There is evidence of students using multiple linguistic and multimodal resources, and some evidence that educators can use results to adjust instruction. “This activity opened my eyes to other ways to assess student understanding of concepts other than just formal assessments on paper.”
Beyond the significance of these results to the project at hand, we wish to highlight the significance of this methodological approach to constructing a statewide assessment. Our assessment centers validity for multilingual learners, welcoming students to bring their full linguistic and multimodal communicative repertoires into play. We include the voices of educators as critical designers and researchers in the work and incorporate feedback from student voices as a key design element.

AERA 2025 Annual Meeting Presentation—Design Principles for Opportunity and Thriving: Centering Multilingual Learners in Formative Assessment
2025-04-26
Design Principles for Opportunity and Thriving: Centering Multilingual Learners in Formative Assessment
Date & Time: April 26, 2025 | 11:40 a.m. – 1:25 p.m MT
Location: The Colorado Convention Center, Floor: Meeting Room Level, Room 403
Presenter(s): Amy Burden, Ivanna Anderson, Keira Ballantyne, Brittany York
Description:
We present the process for selecting design principles that undergird a four-year classroom-based multilingual, multimodal assessment e-portfolio system created for North Carolina public schools. In addition to describing the modes of inquiry grounded in systems theory, we present each principle and its significance within the communities impacted by the work. We provide the steps the team undertook to work across diverse communities and organizations to remedy and repair traditional deficit assessment models. These design principles and the assessment system being developed from them center on multilingual students, their families, and their science educators but will benefit all learners in this context. Attendees will receive this set of principles, which can serve as a blueprint for designing effective assessments.

MEDLI 2025
2025-07-01
Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education: Biliteracy through Authenticity
Date & Time: July 1, 2025 | 10:40 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. PST
Location: Lotus A
Presenter(s):

Analleli Hernandez

Description:
How can the Guiding Principles of Dual Language Education inform classroom instruction? Biliteracy for today and the future depends on our ability to embrace the authentic practices and lived experiences of students. This session will connect linguistic spaces and cultural resources of bi/multilinguals with research-based principles and instructional strategies that advance the core goals of dual language education. Leave with concrete examples to create learning environments where students’ dynamic identities thrive.

CAL SIOP for Dual Language Programs: Developing Academic Language and Content in Two Languages
2025-07-08
July 8–10, 2025
Learn SIOP methods for meeting the three pillars of dual language education: bilingualism and biliteracy, high academic achievement, and sociocultural competence!
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CAL SIOP for Trainers: Intermediate Institute
2025-07-14
July 14-17, 2025
Take your expertise in the SIOP Model to the next level and build the skills needed to lead high-quality professional development sessions in your school or district. Designed for educators with prior SIOP experience who are ready to grow as trainers and facilitators, join us for a collaborative learning experience that will deepen your understanding and expand your impact.
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CAL SIOP for Instructional Coaches: Advanced Institute
2025-07-21
July 21-24, 2025
Deepen your expertise in supporting teachers with implementation of the SIOP Model through job-embedded coaching and professional learning. Designed specifically for instructional coaches who want to strengthen their ability to provide sustained, site-based support, join us for this interactive online offering.
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Spanish-English Biliteracy Instruction (¡en español!): Advanced
2025-08-06
August 6–7, 2025
Pon tus conocimientos sobre las similitudes y diferencias entre el español y el inglés en práctica para crear actividades diseñadas para fomentar el desarrollo de la conciencia metalingüística
This new institute is designed to help participants deepen their knowledge about similarities and differences between Spanish and English and enhance their biliteracy instruction and coaching in programs where content is delivered in Spanish and English, such as dual language and transitional bilingual education programs.
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CAL SIOP for Dual Language Programs: Developing Academic Language and Content in Two Languages
2025-09-22
September 22–25 and 29–30, 2025
Learn SIOP methods for meeting the three pillars of dual language education: bilingualism and biliteracy, high academic achievement, and sociocultural competence!
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WIDA Conference 2025 Presentation - The New WIDA ACCESS Writing Scoring Rubric for Grades 1-12
2025-10-28
The New WIDA ACCESS Writing Scoring Rubric for Grades 1-12
Date & Time: October 28, 2025 | 1:15 p.m. PT
Presenter(s):

Tanya Bitterman

Description:
Do you want a better understanding of how the WIDA ACCESS Writing test is scored? Come to this workshop to hear about the new WIDA Writing Scoring Rubric for grades 1-12, which was developed to align with the 2020 Standards Framework and will be used for ACCESS scoring this year. In this session you will learn about how student responses and educator input were involved in creating the new rubric and get a chance to try scoring with the new rubric yourself.

WIDA Conference 2025 Presentation: “A Peek Behind the New Kindergarten ACCESS"
2025-10-29
“A Peek Behind the New Kindergarten ACCESS”
Event: WIDA Conference 2025
Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2025
Location: Room B
Time: 2:45 p.m.
Session Format: Workshop
Presenters:

Regina DiBella (CAL)
Christy Shepherd (CAL)
Beth DeVito (WIDA)
Marcy Olson (WIDA)

Description:
Curious about the new WIDA ACCESS for Kindergarten (K ACCESS) test? Join this session to preview what’s changed and learn some tips on administering the redesigned assessment. We’ll use the new rubrics to practice scoring actual student speaking and writing responses. You’ll leave with a better understanding of the updated Kindergarten ACCESS and how to prepare for administering the test.

Carolina TESOL Conference 2025 - Multilingual Multimodal Activities, Amplifying Voices
2025-11-06
“Multilingual Multimodal Activities, Aplifying Voices”
Event: Carolina TESOL 2025
Date: Thursday, November 6, 2025
Session Format: Presentation
Presenter:

Amy Simpson-Burden

Join us to explore multilingual, multimodal activity creation, amplifying student voices and stories. This interactive session shares building blocks for these assessments, developed with NC educators and piloted in NC classrooms, empowering elementary teachers to create engaging, culturally appropriate learning experiences.

NCSTA 2025 Conference Presentation: Let's See What Multilingual Kids Can Really Do: Making Science Assessment Serve Your Students Needs.
2025-11-07
“Let’s See What Multilingual Kids Can Really Do: Making Science Assessment Serve Your Students Needs”
Event: North Carolina Science Teachers Association (NCSTA) Conference
Location: Winston 3A
Date: Friday, November 7, 2025
Time: 2:40 p.m.
Session Format: Presentation
Presenters:

Silvia McDonald, NCDPI, ML/Title III Consultant, M2-Si Principal Investigator
Keira Ballantyne, CAL, VP of Programs and Development, Co-Principal Investigator
Amy Burden, CAL, M2-Si Test Development Manager
Brittany York, CAL, M2-Si Senior Research Assistant

Description:
M2-Si–a collaborative project between NCDPI and the Center for Applied Linguistics–brings interactive science activities to multilingual students and their families. These activities meet students where they are while assessing content aligned to the 2023 NC Science Standard Course of Study and proficiency statements. We invite you for a first look at our innovative e-portfolio infused with multilingual and multimodal supports that will be available statewide! You’ll leave with classroom-ready resources and best practices for implementation.

La Cosecha Conference 2025- Leveraging Students’ Whole Linguistic Repertoires to Enhance their Bilingualism and Biliteracy Development
2025-11-12
“Leveraging students’ Whole Linguistic Repertoires to Enhance their Bilingualism and Biliteracy Development”
Event: La Cosecha 2025
Date: Wednesday, November 12, 2025, 8:00 am – 3:00 pm
Session Format: Pre-Conference Institute
Presenter(s):

Igone Arteagoitia (CAL)

Description:
This session will provide participants working in Spanish-English dual language programs with the opportunity to enhance their pedagogical language knowledge by examining similarities and differences between Spanish and English as they relate to:

Pragmatics (language use at the discourse level)
Syntax (sentence structure)
Morphology and the lexicon (word parts and vocabulary)
Phonology and orthography (sound-letter correspondences)

At the end of the session, participants will be able to: 1) identify systems and structures of Spanish and English; and 2) use methods for teaching similarities and differences between the two languages that promote students’ metalinguistic awareness. Practical classroom-based instructional strategies and opportunities to put them into practice will be embedded throughout the session.
REGISTER

La Cosecha Conference 2025 Presentation - Lessons Learned from CAL Dual Language Bilingual Education Program Reviews
2025-11-13
“Lessons Learned from CAL Dual Language Education Program Reviews”
Event: La Cosecha 2025
Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025, 9:10 – 10:00 am
Session Format: Presentation
Presenter(s):

Igone Arteagoitia (CAL)

Description:
CAL conducts reviews of dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programs using the Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education (Howard et al., 2018) as the theoretical framework and the third pillar of Sociocultural Competence as the compass. This session will report on key themes related to commonalities found across programs reflecting each of the seven strands outlined in the Guiding Principles. Participants will learn of practices that are common across programs, including those that lead to effectively educating students to meet the three pillars of DLBE and recommendations for improvement.

La Cosecha 2025 Conference Presentation: Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education: Updating for Authenticity and Innovation
2025-11-13
“Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education: Updating for Authenticity and Innovation”
Event: La Cosecha 2025
Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025, 10:50 – 12:10 pm Location: Nambe/Navajo Room
Session Format: Presentation
Presenter(s):

Analleli Hernández (CAL)
Diep Nguyen (CAL)
Ester de Jong (University of Colorado Boulder)

Calling all dual language education stakeholders! It’s been over seven years since Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education (GPDLE), edition 3 was published and it’s time for an update to this important, widely used resource. Join the Center for Applied Linguistics for a session to help shape the future of the next edition! This initial feedback-focused session will invite participants to share their experience using GPDLE to implement quality dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programming and reflect on what needs to be updated and included for the next generation of DLBE programs.

VATESOL 2025 Conference Presentation - "Bless Your Heart" Leadership Strategies in Virginia's Low-Incidences EL
2025-11-13
“Bless Your Heart” Leadership Strategies in Virginia’s Low-Incidences EL Programs”
Event: VATESOL 2025
Date: Thursday, November 13, 2025
Session Format: Presentation
Presenter:

Kia Johnson

This session presents findings from a qualitative study exploring how EL program leaders in Virginia’s low-incidence districts navigate language program implementation amidst limited resources, shifting demographics, and compliance pressures. Drawing from interviews and EL program handbook analysis, the session introduces the Bless Your Heart (BYH) Leadership framework, a contextually responsive model grounded in distributive justice and adaptive leadership theory.

Multilingual Illinois 2025 Statewide Conference Presentation: Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education: Updating for Authenticity and Innovation
2025-12-04 08:00 - 17:00 UTC
“Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education: Updating for Authenticity and Innovation”
Event: Multilingual Illinois 2025 Statewide Conference
Location: South Pavilion 1
Date: December 9, 2025
Session Format: Presentation
Presenters:

Analleli Hernández (Center for Applied Linguistics)

Description:
Calling all dual language education stakeholders! It’s been over seven years since Guiding Principles for Dual Language Education (GPDLE), edition 3 was published and it’s time for an update to this important, widely used resource. Join the Center for Applied Linguistics for a session to help shape the future of the next edition! This feedback-focused session will invite participants to share their experience using GPDLE to implement quality dual language bilingual education (DLBE) programming and reflect on what needs to be updated and included for the next generation of DLBE programs.
