Literacy Across Languages

Beth Bevars is a library director in the Finger Lakes region of New York and a literacy advocate focused on supporting families and educators through community literacy hubs. Marion Waldman comes from educational publishing and works to expand access to evidence-based literacy resources through partnerships with libraries, publishers, and literacy organizations. Together, they support libraries ac...

Yoshito Darmon-Shimamori is the founder of Library 4 Multilinguals, an author dedicated to empowering multilingual and multicultural children, and the host and organizer of the annual online conference, the Grand Multiliteracy Event. Drawing on his own bilingual upbringing, over 14 years of classroom experience, and his everyday life as a parent raising multiliterate children, he supports families...

Shifa Saltagi Safadi is the National Book Award-winning author of Kareem Between, the Amina Banana series, and several picture books, including The Gift of Eid. Born in Syria and raised in the United States, she is a bilingual Arabic-English speaker, a former English teacher, and a former reviewer of Muslim children’s books through her blog, Muslim Mommy Blog. She is passionate about helping child...

Brandon Cardet-Hernandez is an educator and leader whose career spans roles as a teacher, turnaround principal in the South Bronx, and leader within the New York City Department of Education, where he served as senior advisor of education to Mayor Bill de Blasio. As the son of immigrants and a former multilingual learner, his work is grounded in expanding opportunity and access for students throug...

Dr. Ana Taboada-Barber is a professor of education at the University of Maryland whose research focuses on reading comprehension and motivation in emergent bilingual and bilingual students. A former ESL teacher, her work examines how cognitive and motivational factors influence literacy development, with particular attention to Spanish-speaking English learners in the United States and South Ameri...

Amy Siracusano is the founder and owner of Know Better, Do Better Literacy, LLC, and brings 25 years of experience in public education, including roles as a classroom teacher, Title I teacher, vice principal, and literacy specialist for the Board of Education. She is an international literacy consultant, adjunct professor in the Reading Science Advanced Certificate Program at Brooklyn College, and...

Renae Skarin is an educational linguist with more than three decades of experience across K–16 education, dedicated to serving multilingual and English learners through classroom teaching, curriculum and program development, and classroom research. Outside of her professional work, she enjoys spending time in nature, gardening, and being with her horse and donkey. In this episode, Renae Skarin exp...

Sally Baer is an educator with more than 22 years of teaching experience whose work has spanned elementary teaching, reading specialization, English language learning, and multilingual education. Her professional journey, including National Board Certification and doctoral study, is grounded in reflective practice and a deep commitment to improving outcomes for multilingual learners and other hist...

Dr. Katie Toppel has 20 years of experience in education across preschool through university settings. She currently serves as a K–5 English language development specialist in Oregon, supporting multilingual learners through co-planning, co-teaching, and small group instruction. She is a member of the SIOP author team and co-authored the sixth edition of Making Content Comprehensible for Multiling...

Dr. Eugenia F. Krimmel is a nationally recognized multilingual learner educator, author, and instructional coach with more than 30 years of experience advancing equitable literacy instruction for multilingual learners across K through 12, higher education, and adult education settings in the Middle East, Europe, Canada, and the United States. She is the author of Accelerating Newcomer Literacy , f...

Dr. Timothy Rasinski is a professor of literacy education at Kent State University and director of its award-winning reading clinic. He has written more than 200 articles and authored, co-authored, or edited more than 50 books and curriculum programs on reading education, including work with Teacher Created Materials, Shell Education, and Scholastic. His scholarly interests include reading fluency...

Kelly Aldinger is a resource specialist for the New York Capital Region’s RBERN, Regional Bilingual Education Resource Network, and a TESOL adjunct professor at Siena University, supporting districts, schools, and educators in strengthening programs and practices for multilingual learners. Previously, she served as an English as a New Language educator in upstate New York working with K through 12...

Michelle Posner is a bilingual speech language pathologist who has worked in the field since 2006. Inspired by her younger brother’s autism diagnosis and the harm caused when her family was advised to stop using Spanish at home, she centers communication, inclusion, and support for neurodivergent individuals. Michelle is an Ashkenazi Jew whose family fled Russia and Poland during the Holocaust, fo...

Valentina Gonzalez is an accomplished teacher, educator, author, and national speaker with more than 25 years of experience dedicated to supporting multilingual learners and the educators who serve them. She has served as a classroom teacher, district facilitator for multilingual programs, professional development specialist, and educational consultant. She is widely recognized for designing and l...

Courtney Morgan is an assistant professor of teacher education and coordinator of the elementary education program at Brevard College in Western North Carolina. She is a National Board Certified teacher and founder of the All Access Classroom, where she partners with schools and districts as a keynote speaker and professional development facilitator. Before entering higher education, she spent 19...

Dr. Timothy Shanahan is a distinguished professor emeritus at the University of Illinois at Chicago and a former first grade teacher who previously served as director of reading for the Chicago Public Schools. He is the author or editor of more than 300 publications, including Leveled Reading, Leveled Lives published by Harvard Education Press in 2025. His research emphasizes connections between l...

Lucía Rocha-Nestler is the founder and CEO of Hola Books, an educational publishing company dedicated to building strong, joyful Spanish literacy through research-based, Spanish-first materials. A former dual-language teacher with over 20 years of classroom experience, Lucía brings deep expertise in bilingual literacy development, curriculum design, and professional learning. She is a first-genera...

Dr. Carrie McDermott Goldman is an associate professor, consultant, coach, and mentor focused on instructional practices, curriculum development, and program design for multilingual learners. She serves as the Interim Director of Graduate, Post-Graduate, and Professional Studies Programs, TESOL/bilingual program coordinator, and director of the CR-ITI ESOL/bilingual grant at Molloy University wher...

Dr. Susan B. Neuman is a professor specializing in early literacy development from pre-K through grade 2. She is editor of The Handbook on the Science of Early Literacy and The Handbook on the Science of Literacy in Grades 3-8. Dr. Neuman's research focuses on building knowledge networks through content-rich instruction, with particular emphasis on vocabulary development, oral language, and ensuri...

MaryKate DeSantis is the founder of Left Side Strong LLC and a passionate advocate for evidence-based literacy instruction. With experience as a special educator, reading specialist, and literacy coach in urban schools, she brings a teacher-centered approach to her work. MaryKate has served as faculty at the MGH Institute of Health Professions in the Speech-Language Literacy Lab and currently coll...

Andrea Bitner is a K-12 English language teacher, reading specialist, and passionate advocate for multilingual learners. With 26 years of experience, she supports students and teachers across multiple districts while also providing professional development nationally. Andrea is the author of two books about multilingual learners—Take Me Home and When Niagara Falls—and publishes a weekly newsletter...

Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld is a professor and author of over 30 books on multilingual education, including the Growing Language and Literacy series. Born and raised in Hungary, she grew up multilingually and has been an educator for over 25 years. Andrea is passionate about collaborative teaching models, asset-based approaches to multilingual education, and creating equitable learning environments wher...

Dr. Douglas Fisher is Professor and Chair of Educational Leadership at San Diego State University and a leader at Health Sciences High & Middle College. He was inducted into the Reading Hall of Fame in 2022. Doug has published extensively on leadership, reading and literacy, differentiated instruction, and curriculum design, including The Teaching Reading Playbook and his newly published book,...

Maya Valencia Goodall is co-creator of OL&LA (Online Language and Literacy Academy), co-founder of Lingual Learning, and co-creator of Lexia English. She continues to shape the field of education as a leader in the design and enhancement of the Online Elementary Reading Academy at CORE Learning. Maya is dedicated to ensuring every student receives the literacy and language instruction they nee...

Dr. Claude Goldenberg is Professor Emeritus at Stanford University, where he focused on promoting literacy development and academic achievement among English learners. He has taught from first grade through university level and now shares research-based knowledge through articles, blogs, podcasts, and webinars to help all students develop high levels of literacy in English and other languages. In...