Astrid Sierra

Astrid Sierra is a transnational teacher educator and a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Teaching, Learning, Policy, and Leadership at the University of Maryland, specializing in Applied Linguistics. Before joining the program, she worked as a bilingual and ESOL hybrid instructor, as well as a teacher educator, in both K-12 and higher education settings. Her research broadly focuses on the language and education of marginalized communities. Drawing from critical, humanizing, and culturally sustaining pedagogies, Astrid explores issues related to teacher preparation and professional development to better support bilingual and ESOL teachers. She is particularly dedicated to promoting social justice and equitable education through collaborative, interdisciplinary approaches.

Astrid has been involved in various projects that engage multilingual families and foster early literacy development. Her work includes collaboration with mentors and professors on National Science Foundation (NSF) and Spencer-funded projects, where she has supported mathematics, literacy, and parent engagement initiatives, as well as the development of bilingual educators in dual language bilingual education (DLBE) schools.