The Maryland Initiative for Literacy & Equity (MILE)

May 31, 2025 • 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM • HJ Patterson Hall, University of Maryland Campus

Theme: Theme: Together We Grow: Connecting and Collaborating in Dual Language Bilingual Education

Keynote Speaker: Dr. Katherine Barko-Alva

“Dual Language Education for all: Creating sustainable language and content learning opportunities through connection, access, and hope”

Dr. Katherine Barko-Alva is an Associate Professor and Director of the ESL/Bilingual Education program at William & Mary’s School of Education. A bilingual scholar and former McKnight Doctoral Fellow, her research focuses on equitable practices in culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) K–12 classrooms and teacher preparation in Dual Language and ESL education. With over 14 years of experience, her work is shaped by her own journey as an English learner. She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Jefferson Teaching Award and the Virginia Latinx Leadership Award in Education. Her latest book, published by Teachers College Press, explores how schools can build trust with CLD families through more inclusive partnerships.

Session 1

• Estrategias de enseñanza digitales con propósito: toma de decisiones para el desarrollo y el aprendizaje en estudiantes bilingües
  Maria del Carmen Teijeiro, Español
• Matemáticas STEM en español que Unen Escuelas y Familias
  Gloriana Raquel Vargas Artavia, Español
• 3 Research-Based Strategies to integrate Language & Content
  Paola Ibarra, Bilingual (Español)
• Building Syllabic Fluency for Spanish Language Learners
  Sara Shoemaker, English
• Equidad e inclusión para nuestros aprendices del español
  Beth Carmichael, Bilingual (Español)
• Dual Language Learner Family & Community Engagement: Applying National Findings in DLBE
  Sandra Barrueco, Bilingual (Español)
• Navigating Tensions between Separation of Languages and Translanguaging
  Elizabeth Howard, English

Session 2

• Immersion with Intention: Building Bilingual Foundations Through Play and Purpose
  Marcela Montoya Hoyos, Belen Quellet, Julieta Juaregui, Bilingual (Español)
• Panel: Capacitando en español para docentes de español: claves y desafíos
  Katia Santana & Lorena Rosario, Maria Gomez & Beth Carmichael, Español
• Language Night is for Everyone!
  Susan Levy, Tessa Arevalo, Bilingual (Español)
• Best Practices focused on developing literacy skills
  Marcela Latorre, Gricell Medley, Bilingual (Español)
• Collaborating with students through Social Emotional Learning - the Dual Language Bilingual Education Connection
  Guillermo Brown, Bilingual (Español)
• Historias de familia: De la oralidad a la escritura
  Jasmin Guerrero, Bilingual (Español)
• One Table, Many Dishes: Food as a Cultural Path to Equity
  Philimena Owona, French

Session 3

•  
• Bridging in a 3rd grade math classroom
  Jose Patiño, Bilingual (Español)
• SIM, pasos para enseñar a decodificar en español
  Patricia Donati, Español
• Estrategias de enseñanza cooperativista en un salon bilingüe
  Nancy Cintron Anaya, Carmen Fernandez, Joyce Wilderrama, Bilingual (Español)
• Panel: Leveraging Resources and Partnerships to Grow a Dual Language Program
  Erin Lowry, Ashley Pickering, Patty Silver, Katie Vaselkiv, Lauren Watson, English
• Small Group Planning in Spanish: Comprehension
  Noelia Gomez Alvarez & Cristian Palacios Cordoba, Bilingual (Español)
• Facilitating Comprehensible Input with Icons and Gestures
  Jennifer Tony, English
• Learning Solutions for Bilingual Educators: Unveiling Grant-Funded Opportunities
  Jennifer Kouakeu, English

Collaborative Conversation Topics

• How do we welcome, serve and support African American students/families in our various types of bilingual education programs? ¿Cómo recibimos, servimos y apoyamos a los estudiantes y familias afroamericanas en nuestros diversos programas de educación bilingüe?
• How can we ensure equitable and high-quality instruction in BOTH languages? (not prioritizing one language over the other) / ¿Cómo podemos garantizar una instrucción equitativa y de alta calidad en AMBOS idiomas? (sin priorizar un idioma sobre el otro)?
• What can we do to improve bilingual teacher recruitment and new bilingual teachers’ professional development? / ¿Qué podemos hacer para mejorar la contratación y el desarrollo profesional de docentes bilingües que son nuevos?
• How do we best support students with special needs in our bilingual programs? / ¿Cómo podemos apoyar de la mejor manera a los estudiantes con necesidades especiales en nuestros programas bilingües?
• What are powerful instructional practices to teach writing to bi/multilingual students in bilingual programs? What has worked for you? What else do we want to try? / ¿Qué prácticas pedagógicas son eficaces para enseñar escritura a estudiantes bilingües y multilingües en programas bilingües? ¿Qué les ha funcionado? ¿Qué más queremos probar?
• What are characteristics of relevant and high quality curriculum for bilingual schools? How do we find, adapt or create curriculum with these characteristics? / ¿Cuáles son las características de un currículo relevante y de alta calidad para las escuelas bilingües? ¿Cómo encontramos, adaptamos o creamos un currículo con estas características?
• What does culturally and linguistically responsive literacy instruction look like, considering both Biliteracy research and pedagogies and the Science of Reading? / ¿Cómo se ve la enseñanza de la lectoescritura cultural y lingüísticamente relevante, considerando tanto las investigaciones sobre la lectoescritura bilingüe (biliteracy) y la Ciencia de la Lectura (Science of Reading)?
• How do we welcome, serve and support students who come late (“newcomers”) -both “English speakers” and speakers of the partner language- into our bilingual programs? / ¿Cómo recibimos, servimos y apoyamos a los estudiantes que llegan tarde (“newcomers”) - los angloparlantes y los que hablan la lengua que se enseña en el programa - a nuestros programas bilingües?
• How do we develop equity, culturally responsive and anti-racist lenses and practices in our bilingual education programs? / ¿Cómo desarrollamos ideologías y prácticas equitativas, culturalmente sensible y antirracistas en nuestros programas de educación bilingüe?
• How can we use data to inform instruction in ways that honors our students’ bilingualism/biliteracy and cultures? / ¿Cómo podemos usar los datos para influenciar la enseñanza de maneras que respeten el bilingüismo/biliteracidad y las culturas de nuestros estudiantes?

May 31, 2024 • 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM • HJ Patterson Hall, University of Maryland Campus

Theme: Cultivating Bilingualism, Biliteracy, Academic Excellence, & Critical Multicultural Understanding in Our Schools

On June 1st, 2024, MILE welcomed nearly 100 educators and leaders in Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE) to raise awareness, strengthen partnerships, and share understanding and resources for DLBE excellence and equity.

At the inaugural conference, attendees heard from our keynote speaker, Mayra Canizales Cruz, attended bilingual sessions led by experienced DLBE educators, and participated in collaborative conversations centered around this year's theme, “Cultivating Bilingualism, Biliteracy, Academic Excellence, & Critical Multicultural Understanding in Our Schools.”

Keynote Speaker: Mayra Canizales Cruz

“Linguistic liberations es un derecho”

Mayra Canizales Cruz is a lifelong Dual Language educator and Emergent Bilingual expert and national award-winning instructional leader. She is the founding partner of The Canizales Group and has developed the LEAD-Eres Framework used to prepare Latino/x school leaders for the dual language principalship. Mayra believes that all emergent bilinguals deserve linguistically liberating school models and helps school districts and networks prepare Latino/x leaders for the Dual Language principalship.

Session 1 

• Assessing Bilingual Reading: Understanding (Valid) Uses of CBM-R Assessments in Dual Language Programs
  Dr. Alejandro Pérez Belda, Bilingual
• Empowering Novice Bilingual Educators: Strategies for DLBE Classrooms
  Cody Norton, English
• TALLER: Juego y diálogo en la enseñanza de matemáticas
  Jaime Solano Cardoso y Angeles Itzel Reza, Español
• Translanguage-ando una unidad de 1er grado
  Flor Rivas and Mariana Sanchez, Bilingual
• Panel: Starting New Programs
  Larissa Avellaneda, Autumn Hoffman, Julia Walsh, and Jane Tarwacki, English
• Growing Our Knowledge of Literacies: Varied Languages, Writing Systems, & Strategies to Ease Reading in English for DLLs
  Dr. Anita Pandey, English

Session 2

• Not Just in June: LGBTQIA+ Representation in the Dual Language Classroom
  Serena Keeney-Horsch and Deirdre Beet, Bilingual
• Metalanguage: A Road-Map to Develop Crosslinguistic Lessons That Advance Biliteracy
  Vanessa Chacón Ph.D. and Patricia Seidler, Bilingual
• TALLER: Juego y diálogo en la enseñanza de matemáticas
  Jaime Solano Cardoso y Angeles Itzel Reza, Español
• Bilingüe is Best: Lessons Learned While Developing a Bilingual Foundational Literacy Curriculum
  Jaclyn Pilette and Beth Carmichael, Bilingual
• Estrategias para fomentar el desarrollo del habla y participación del educando
  Euclides Rengifo Cordoba, Español
• IMV Fellowship: Federal Funding for Bilingual Educators Enhancing Student Academic Language Development
  Jennifer Kouakeu and Berenice Pernalete, English

Session 3

• Las novelas gráficas, más allá del dibujo
  Jenny Delgado, Español
• Transformational Coaching in Bilingual Schools: Elementos centrales y herramientas / Key elements and tools
  Sandra Gutiérrez, Bilingual
• Estrategias de dominios de aula usando técnicas de conciencia fonológica / Classroom Management Strategies Using Phonological Awareness Techniques
  Carolina Saenz-Acosta, Bilingual
• Cultivating Critical Consciousness for Teachers of Dual Language Learners
  Génesis Aguilar Chavez, English
• El Puente: Promoción de la conciencia bilingüe en estudiantes de escuela elemental
  Monserrat Gil, Catalina Torres, y Jasmin Guerrero, Español
• Student-Led Collaborative Learning
  Denia Nassar, English

Session 4

• Language Development for ALL! Sensory, Interactive and Graphic supports in Dual Language Classrooms
  Susan Levy and Tessa Arevalo, English
• High-Quality Bi-literacy Strategies for Early-Ed Learners
  Yesenia Padilla and Liza Sanchez, Bilingual
• Centros de alfabetización bilingüe: La importancia del desarrollo de las 4 habilidades lingüísticas a través de centros independientes / Bilingual Literacy Centers: The Importance of Developing the Four Language Skills Through Independent Centers
  Noelia Gomez Alvarez, Bilingual
• Introducción del Uso de de Project by Learning como herramienta de trabajo en nuestro salón de clases bilingüe
  Nancy Cintrón y Joyce Walderrama, Español
• School Leader Panel
  Jessica Morales, Rosa Berrocal, and Elizabeth Pefaure, Bilingual
• Translinguistic Connections: A Closer Look at Phonology and Phonetics
  Dr. Antonio Fierro, Bilingual

Collaborative Conversation Topics

• How do we support students with special education needs in DL programs?
• How do we effectively assess and design/implement intervention in DL programs?
• How do we find and secure authentic and engaging resources for DL programs, particularly in the partner language?
• How do we ensure we are meeting the third goal (socio-cultural competence) in our DL programs, considering the diversity among our teachers?
• How do we teach for biliteracy? particularly focusing on the balance between language and connection across languages?
• How to support bilingual DL teacher professional learning in a context that is focused on English-only PD (both a critical issue and problem of practice)?
• How do we work together to retain, sustain and support work-life balance for bilingual teachers?
• How can school leaders (DL coordinators, admin, instructional leads, coaches) work with district leaders to advocate for and support DL programs?
• How to ensure families buy-in and engage them in planning, developing and sustaining DLBE programs? Particularly how do we engage minoritized/marginalized families?
• How do we incorporate the language/literacy practices, histories, and funds of knowledge of minoritized students (African-Americans, speakers of indigenous languages, non-standard varieties, etc)?

Conference Goals

• Raise the visibility of DLBE in the DMV & elevate voices of communities working toward equity for multilingual learners
• Build a community (network) of educators & leaders committed to DLBE goals
• Collaborate with educator-leaders in the DMV who are developing new programs & sustaining established DLBE programs
• Share promising practices, strategies & experiences with fellow educators to promote equity & quality in DLBE

Values

• Centering our DLBE students & communities
• Building on our students’ & communities’ assets
• Aligning with the goals of DLBE (bilingualism & biliteracy, academic achievement in both languages, sociocultural competence, critical consciousness)
• Engaging in shared learning through active listening & collaboration

Session Expectations

• 45 minutes
• Intended for educators & leaders working in DLBE schools
• Interactive & participatory
• Languages other than English are welcome

Conference Strands

• Leadership
• Sociocultural Competence
• Literacy/Biliteracy
• Program Development
• Content & Language Integration
• Family & Community Engagement
• Bilingual Education Assessment