Cultivating a Language and Content Focus for English Learners

Ms. Stack is an international English language consultant, curriculum writer and teacher trainer. In her role as a founding member of Stanford’s Understanding Language initiative, Ms. Stack worked to enrich academic content and language instruction for ELs. She made explicit the language and literacy skills required to meet the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) and Next Generation Science Standards. In 1991-92, Ms. Stack was President of TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), an international association of English-language teachers. Ms. Stack has worked in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) as an elementary and secondary English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher. She has coauthored a number of textbooks for secondary ELs. After leaving the classroom, Ms. Stack was in charge of the Mentor Teacher program and then became the director of ESL/ELD Secondary Programs. She also taught Second Language Acquisition and Methods and Materials classes at Stanford University and San Francisco State University. She has written ESL standards for students and teachers, curriculum writing and teacher training. Her awards include, among others, the Exceptional Educator award from the California Lottery and Legislature (2005) and Heinle Lifetime Achievement Award (2004). She also won the TESOL James E. Alatis Award (2003) for outstanding service to the English as a Second Language Teaching profession. Ms. Stack received her BA in Sociology from Dominican College and her MA in Education from California State University

Jane Roy is the EL content lead for the SIA 2.0 initiative. She has worked as an educational consultant on standards-based education since 2011, providing expert consulting services to OCTAE on several national initiatives. She recently provided content expertise and development support for the Preparing Adult English Language Learners for Challenging State-Adopted Content Standards project, 2015-2018. While working on the project, Ms. Roy participated in the process that resulted in the identification of the ELP Standards for Adult Education (2016). Ms. Roy has created professional development materials designed to promote and explain the ELP standards and how to begin using them. Ms. Roy has supported numerous states in their efforts to implement standards-based instruction. Ms. Roy’s educational experience includes teaching, program management, curriculum development and teacher training and support in ESL — both in the US and overseas. More recently, Ms. Roy directed the Intensive ESL Program at South Dakota State University and taught online courses for South Dakota’s K-12 ESL certification program. Ms. Roy previously worked with the National Institute for Literacy and the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, DC. She has also developed English proficiency assessment tests and facilitated professional development workshops for state and national initiatives. Ms. Roy holds a MAT in ESL from Georgetown University.

Susan Pimentel has led the Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education’s (OCTAE’s) standards-based reform and program improvement initiatives for the past 15 years. She has been the principal consultant, developer and trainer for OCTAE’s multi-year, continuing Standards-in-Action (SIA) initiative since 2011.

At the University of California, Berkeley, Dr. Asturias oversees the Center for Mathematics Excellence and Equity (CeMEE) at the Lawrence Hall of Science. Previously, he served as Deputy Director of the Mathematics and Science Professional Development at the University of California Office of the President. Dr. Asturias provided oversight for the English Language Development Professional Development Institutes (ELD-PDI). His work has focused on incorporating the language of math with explicit language goals, vocabulary routines and other supports into rigorous math lessons. Previously, Dr. Asturias served as the Director of the New Standards Portfolio Assessment Project and the Mathematics Unit for New Standards. That project was a national effort to develop national standards and assessments. He led the development team of experts, involving many states and teachers, resulting in two assessment systems: The New Standards Portfolio and the Reference Examination. Dr. Asturias was also a member of the writing group for the NCTM Assessment Standards for School Mathematics. He has many years of experience designing and implementing professional development for math teachers who teach English learners (ELs). As an English learner, Dr. Asturias has helped to develop several nationally recognized resources for various entities. These include the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Council of Great City Schools and English Language Success Forum. Dr. Asturias earned an M.D. from the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, Guatemala City and Bilingual Teaching Credentials from the California State University, Los Angeles.

At NCTM, Chonda Long oversees the development, implementation, delivery and evaluation of standards-based professional development programs. She leads NCTM’s webinar program, professional learning services and preconference workshops. Ms. Long served as a mathematics trainer and coach on OCTAE’s SIA initiative, where she provided to state teams implementing their state-adopted standards. She also helped to develop and identify training materials for the states’ in-person and online use. Ms. Long was a member of the SIA development and support team that facilitated the filming of adult educators teaching standards-aligned lessons in mathematics. She developed supplementary materials to accompany the classroom videos to help adult educators understand and implement the demands of the standards’ key instructional shifts. Subsequently, OCTAE invited Ms. Long to provide SIA training to other states through the LINCS National Professional Development Center. She has also served as a subject matter expert on OCTAE’s Advancing Mathematics Teaching and Learning in Adult Education initiative. Before joining NCTM, Ms. Long was a high school math teacher in Fairfax County Public Schools, VA. She holds a BS in Mathematics from Howard University and an M.Ed. in Curriculum Instruction and Ph.D. in Education from George Mason University.