E32 - Our Students: A Schoolwide Approach to Multilingual Literacy

What does it take to move students beyond accurate decoding toward fluent, meaningful reading? In this episode, we welcome Kelly Maxwell and Deiysi Paredes-Monjaras, co-creators of Elevating Fluency, to explore why foundational literacy skills and language comprehension must develop together. Drawing on their experiences as a struggling reader and a multilingual learner, Kelly and Deiysi discuss the importance of connecting phonics to vocabulary, using visuals without promoting guessing, and recognizing how home language knowledge shapes reading development. They also examine the difference between decoding difficulties and cross-linguistic transfer, the unique demands of Spanish literacy instruction, and how intentional instructional shifts can help multilingual learners become confident, capable readers. Kelly Maxwell and Deiysi Paredes-Monjaras are reading interventionists and co-creators of Elevating Fluency, a K–5 structured literacy supplemental program designed to connect word recognition with language comprehension. Kelly currently serves as a literacy coach and reading interventionist at a dual language elementary school. Deiysi taught first-grade Spanish in a dual language classroom for 13 years and now serves as a Spanish literacy interventionist, biliteracy coach, and dual language specialist. Together, they bring decades of practical expertise to helping students become confident, skilled readers.

How can educators distinguish expected language differences from signs of a language disorder? In this episode, Dr. Ellen Kester explores how contrastive analysis helps teachers understand the influence of students' home languages on English literacy development. She discusses predictable cross-linguistic patterns, the importance of explicit instruction grounded in students' existing linguistic knowledge, and the role of dynamic assessment in preventing inappropriate special education referrals. Throughout the conversation, Dr. Kester challenges deficit-based interpretations of multilingual learners' language use and emphasizes how an assets-based approach can strengthen literacy instruction, assessment, and educational equity. Dr. Kester founded Bilinguistics to meet the speech and language needs of children from diverse backgrounds. She provides workshops around the United States and beyond on bilingualism, assessment of bilingual students, and effective intervention practices with diverse populations. Dr. Kester has served as adjunct faculty at The University of Texas at Austin teaching courses in language development, assessment and intervention of language disorders, early childhood intervention, preschoolers with special needs, and measurement. Her research and clinical work address the important issue of differentiating bilingual children with typical development from those with language impairment, and identifying appropriate goals for intervention with bilinguals.

We're revisiting our very first interview on Literacy Across Languages! In this episode, Dr. Jana Echevarría joins us to discuss effective instructional strategies for multilingual students who are learning to read. The conversation highlights the interdependence of language and literacy, the need for collaboration among educators, and the importance of building language, literacy, and knowledge in tandem. Dr. Jana Echevarría is Professor Emerita at California State University, Long Beach, where she was selected as Outstanding Professor. She is co-creator of the SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) Model and a leading researcher in effective instruction for multilingual learners. Dr. Echevarría was inducted into the California Reading Hall of Fame in 2016 and has served as an expert on English learners for the U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. She is also an author on a research-aligned reading program, Emerge!, published by McGraw-Hill.

Dr. Marisa Ramirez Stukey joins Mary and Katherine to explore reading comprehension as an outcome of multiple systems working together rather than a single skill. Their conversation examines how educators can look beneath apparent comprehension difficulties, use students’ home languages and knowledge as resources, and support meaning making across the word, sentence, and discourse levels while keeping language, identity, and cultural context at the center.

Dr. Ingrid Heidrick joins Mary and Katherine to explore how educators can use district-adopted literacy curricula while making intentional adjustments for multilingual learners. The conversation examines language demands, background knowledge and comprehension, foundational literacy, oral language development, instructional routines, and the gradual release of scaffolds. Throughout the episode, Ingrid emphasizes teacher knowledge and agency in integrating language development across content areas and the school day. Dr. Heidrick is the founder of Advocating for Emergent Bilinguals Through Language and Literacy, or AEBLL, a New York City-based educational consultancy. A linguist specializing in bilingualism, adolescent literacy, and reading disabilities, she partners with schools and districts to advance outcomes for emergent bilinguals, students with disabilities, and all learners through evidence-based language and literacy instruction that sustains students’ cultural and linguistic identities. She is also the curriculum designer of Linguistics for Teachers, an online professional learning course, and a certified Orton-Gillingham practitioner whose work focuses particularly on adolescent multilingual learners developing foundational language and literacy skills while accessing rigorous academic content.