Dr. Drew S. Fagan is an internationally distinguished scholar, educator, and advocate for multilingual learners and all stakeholders connected to these learners' success. Having been in language education for more than two decades, his professional philosophy is that for multilingual learners to be successful, all stakeholders connected to these learners must come out of their siloes and collaborate. As such, he ensures that all of his work connects with higher education and P-12 academes across disciplines, departments and ministries of education, state- and federal-level policy makers, governmental agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.
Currently, he is Clinical Professor of Applied Linguistics and Language Education, Director of the Ed.D. in School System Leadership Program- Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) and Dual Language Education Specialization, and Coordinator of the TESOL Teacher Leadership M.Ed. and TESOL Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Programs. Prior to this, he worked as an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher and teacher educator in PreK-12, higher education, and adult education settings across the United States, Japan, China, Spain, and Mexico, and was the first English Teaching Assistant (ETA) Fulbright Fellow to the Slovak Republic.
He has authored numerous publications in language learning and education peer-reviewed research and practitioner-oriented journals and edited books, as well as reports and monographs with professional associations and state departments of education. He is the co-author the Maryland TESOL Handbook for Educators of English Learners and A Guide to School for Families of English Learners (English, Amharic, Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish). Presently, Dr. Fagan is Co-PI for the inter-institutional, interdisciplinary Maryland Initiative for Literacy and Equity (MILE) Grand Challenges Grant.
Outside of university collaborations, Dr. Fagan works closely with many professional entities. He currently serves on the Institute of International Education's (IIE) National Screening Committee for the U.S. Student Fulbright English Teaching Assistant Program (2024-2027). He is also a member of the TESOL International Association's Board of Directors (2025-2028). Prior, he was the 2022-2023 President of the Maryland TESOL Association, during which he established the first-ever state-wide Maryland TESOL Mentorship Program. Dr. Fagan also collaborates with policymakers in the Maryland Legislature, the Maryland State Department of Education, and the Maryland Higher Education Commission to enact change for laws, teacher certification policies, public school assessment and accountability standards, and higher education programming related to multilingual learners' access to education.
(Awards & Honors since being at the University of Maryland; contact me for anything prior)
2026- Distinguished Public Service Award- American Association for Applied Linguistics (AAAL)
2025- Regents Faculty Award for Excellence in Public Service- University System of Maryland Board of Regents
2023- Distinguished Alumni Early Career Award- Teachers College, Columbia University
(additional University of Maryland Press Release)
2023- Teacher of the Year- TESOL International Association & National Geographic Learning
(additional University of Maryland Press Release, San Diego State University Alum Press Release)
2022- Excellence in Teaching Award- University of Maryland, College of Education
2018- Provost's Excellence Award for Professional Track Faculty for Service- University of Maryland, Provost Office
2017- Distinguished Outreach/Partnership Award- University of Maryland, College of Education
TESOL INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
1. Member, Board of Directors (2025-2028)
Member, Governance Committee
Board Liaison for Interest Sections- International Teaching Assistants (ITAs), Refugee Concerns, Social Responsibility
2. Coordinator & Chair- Opening Workshop Session for TESOL Advocacy Action Days (2024)
3. Coordinator & Chair- LGBT PLN Convention Session (2024)
4. Focus Group Member and Invited Reviewer, TESOL Research Directions 2023-2027
MARYLAND TESOL ASSOCIATION
1. Offices Held
Immediate Past-President (2023-2024)
**President (2022-2023)**
First Vice President (2021-2022)
Second Vice President (2020-2021)
Chair, Teacher Education Interest Section (2019-2020)
Chair-Elect, Teacher Education Interest Section (2018-2019)
2. Co-Developer and Inaugural Board Liaison (2022-2024 ): Maryland TESOL Association Mentorship Program
3. Board Liaison (2022-2023): Maryland TESOL 2023-2026 Strategic Plan Committee
4. Chair- 2021 Maryland TESOL Association Conference- Theme: Breaking Through, Pushing Forward Together
MARYLAND STATE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
1. Multilingual Learner Education Lead, Accountability and Assessment Task Force (2024-2025)
2. Higher Education Representative, Language Access Policy for Families and Community Engagement Development Committee (2023-2024)
3. Lead English Learner Advocate, Blueprint for Maryland's Future- Workgroup on English Learners in Public Schools (2021-2022)
4. English Learner Stakeholder Representative, Maryland American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) Fund Application Stakeholder Engagement Committee (2020-2021)
5. English Learner Education Advisor, Maryland Together: Maryland's Recovery Plan for Education COVID-19 Response and the Path Forward Committee (2020)
6. English Learner Education Advisor, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) State Plan External Stakeholders Committee (2016-2019)
NOTE: Given the extensive and diverse work I do and stakeholders I collaborate with, this section includes varied forms of recent scholarship production (contact me for anything prior):
Fagan, D.S. (forthcoming). Foreword. In L. de Oliveira & J. Gui (Eds)., Discourse analysis in practice: Perspectives and lessons. Emerald Publishing.
Fagan, D.S., & McKechnie, J.D. (forthcoming). Launching a multilingual learner immigrant-based school counseling program: A multidisciplinary partnership venture. In L.C. de Oliveria & C.W. Morris (Eds.), Humanizing school counseling for multilingual learners: Equity, collaboration, and transformation. Routledge.
Pentón Herrera, L., Fagan, D.S., & Lyons, S. (Eds.). (forthcoming). Language teacher associations, professional development, and learning across spaces [Special issue]. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching.
Fagan, D.S., Pentón Herrera, L.J., & Lyons, S. (in press). Affordances of innovative language professional development and learning resources through language teacher associations: Insights from educators of English as an additional language. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching. https://doi.org/10.1080/17501229.2025.2482762.
Fagan, D.S., Lyons, S., Pentón Herrera, L.J. (2026). Local language teacher associations and educator professional development and learning: The case of the Maryland TESOL Handbook. In C. Coombe, L.C. de Oliveira, & A.S.M. Rafi (Eds.), Professional learning and development in global language education contexts (pp. 191-200). Routledge.
Maryland State Department of Education (2025). Language Access Policy for Family and Community Engagement.
Maryland State Department of Education (2025). Assessment and Accountability Task Force Report.
Fagan, D.S. (forthcoming- 2026, April). Employing language expertise in the space of public service [Keynote]. San Diego State University Linguistics Colloquium. San Diego, CA.
Fagan, D.S. (Chair), Valle, R., Lin, C.-C., Johnson, K., & Hakemian, J. (forthcoming- 2026, March). Intersectional identities within and beyond TESOL: Continuing the conversation [Invited Intersection Panel- Supporting Students with Disabilities Interest Section, Bilingual-Multilingual Education Interest Section, & LGBT Professional Learning Network]. TESOL International Association Convention. Salt Lake City, UT.
Fagan, D.S. (forthcoming- 2026, January). At the coupling of research and public service: Augmenting scholarly outlets for applied linguists [Invited Seminar]. American Association for Applied Linguistics Distinguished Public Service Award Seminar. Virtual.
Fagan, D.S. (2025, October). Forging multilingualism forward: An interdisciplinary undertaking [Keynote]. Georgia TESOL Association Fall Conference. Athens, GA. https://georgiatesol.wildapricot.org/page-1863789
Fagan, D.S. (Chair), Kanney, M., Wimbush, C., Lee, J., Wilson, A., & Hintz, S. (2025, March). Straight from the source: K-12 administrators' journeys as TESOL students [Refereed Panel]. TESOL International Association Convention. Long Beach, CA.
Giraldez, R. (Moderator), Bryan, K.C., de Oliviera, L., Fagan, D.S., & Hakemian, J. (2025, March). Intersectional identities within and beyond TESOL: Leaders' experiences and perspectives [Invited Intersection Panel- Program Administration and Supporting Students with Disabilities]. TESOL International Association Convention. Long Beach, CA.
Hauber-Özer, M. (Moderator), Mua Mbi, M., Bliss, B., & Fagan, D.S. (2025, March). Migration policy and English learners [Invited Intersection Panel- Adult Education and Social Responsibility and Refugee Concerns]. TESOL International Association Convention. Long Beach, CA.
Rashed, D., Fagan, D.S., Suarez, D., Bai, Y., Moser, A., Reece, K., & Johnson, Z. (2025, February). In their own voices: Mentor-mentee growth in the Maryland TESOL mentorship program [Invited Panel]. TESOL International Association’s Teacher Education Interest Section Webinar Series. Virtual.
"Building a Better Future for Maryland's Students" (Emily Schuster, Interviewer). University of Maryland, College of Education News, September 2024.
"EdTerps advocate for education policy in Annapolis." (Emily Schuster & Maison Holcomb, Interviewers). University of Maryland, College of Education News, April 2024.
"Academia willing to help with Blueprint education reform plan." (William J. Ford, Interviewer). Maryland Matters, April 11, 2024. Republished in The Southern Maryland Chronicle and MoCo360.
Maryland House Bill 0569: Credit for All Language Learning (CALL) Act (Sponsored by Delegate Jared Solomon). Testified on February 13, 2024. **BILL SIGNED INTO LAW BY GOVERNOR MOORE APRIL 25, 2024.**
Current Grants:
University of Maryland Grand Challenges Institutional Grant
Title: The Maryland Initiative for Literacy and Equity (MILE)
PIs: DJ Bolger
Amount Awarded: $3,000,00.00
Period of Grant: March 1, 2023- February 28, 2026
My Role: Co-PI
Current Projects:
1. Developer (final approval 2021 from Maryland Higher Education Commission) and Director (2022-2032)- Doctorate of Education Program in School Systems Leadership- Specialization in TESOL and Dual Language Education: Focuses on school- and district-level administrators to address and make school system change for multilingual learners from the "top-down".
2. Developer (final approval 2015 from Maryland Higher Education Commission) and Director (2017-present)- TESOL Post-Baccalaureate Certificate Program (Prince George's County Public School Teachers 2017-2028; Anne Arundel County Public School Teachers 2018-2023): Introduces non-ESOL PreK-12 teachers to working with English learners across disciplines in their classrooms from the "bottom-up".
The following are courses I teach in various programs (*created/+curriculum revision):
Applied Linguistics and Language Education Certificate, Master's, Ph.D. Programs:
School System Leadership Ed.D. Program
*TLPL 888- Apprenticeship in Education: School Leaders and Multilingual Learner Programming