S4/E5: What Is Working in Multilingual Education with Dr. Margarita Calderón: Part 1

On this episode of Highest Aspirations, we feature part 1 of a 2 part series with Dr. Margarita Calderón, former Professor Emerita and Senior Research Scientist at Johns Hopkins University and author of several publications about multilingual education. During our conversation, we address the following questions: Why is it that many students are not receiving the Seal of Biliteracy after being on track for the recognition during their primary school years? How can we ensure that English learners and dual language learners are given the opportunity to engage in rigorous content area courses? Why is focusing on Tier 2 vocabulary, or connectors and transition words, so important to developing reading comprehension skills? How can a whole-school approach to professional development help content teachers infuse academic language into their lessons? Why are we still not seeing the progress we’d like in the areas of reading and writing for English learners and how can we to improve? For the past ten years Dr. Calderón, has been an Expert Consultant for the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights helping States such as Massachusetts and school districts come into compliance. As President of Margarita Calderón & Associates, Inc., Dr. Calderón and her team of 10 Associates conduct comprehensive professional development and coaching on ExC-ELL in many schools, districts, and state-wide Institutes throughout the country internationally (e.g., Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South America).  She was Co-Principal Investigator with Robert Slavin on the 5-Year Randomized Evaluation of English Immersion, Transitional Bilingual, and Two-Way Bilingual elementary programs funded by the Institute for Education Sciences/U.S. Dept. of Education. The Carnegie Corporation of New York funded a five-year empirical study to develop Expediting Comprehension for English Language Learners (ExC-ELL). Its purpose is to train math, science, social studies, language arts, ESL and special education teachers for integrating language, literacy and content in ALL classrooms. Another program, Reading Instructional Goals for Older Readers (RIGOR), was developed for Newcomers with Interrupted Formal Education. She developed the evidence-based Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (BCIRC) program for dual language instruction which is included in the What Works Clearinghouse. Currently, Dr. Calderón collaborates with George Washington University on a Title III five-year grant to implement and further study “A Whole-School Approach to Professional Development with ExC-ELL.” Other research has been funded by the U.S. Department of Education, U.S.Department of Labor, National Institutes of Child Health and Development, TexasEducation Agency, school districts, and State Departments of Education. She collaborated on longitudinal studies with Diane August, Maria Carlo and Catherine Snow on the National Study of Students Reading in Spanish and Transfer of Skills. Dr. Calderón has over 100 publications, including her most recent collaborative work featuring other well known experts in multilingual education, Breaking Down the Wall: Essential Shifts for English Learners' Success.