Show Notes
This week's guest is the incredible educator, author and speaker Andrea Bitner. A true champion for kids, Bitner has 26 years of experience in public education. In her career she has instructed K–12 students from around the world, and today she serves as an English Language Learner educator in Philadelphia. She is the author of two books sharing powerful stories about EL students and educators: Take Me Home and When Niagara Falls. Andrea also co-authored The Impact of Influence – Volume 3: 100 No-Nonsense Things ALL School Leaders Should STOP Doing, and contributed to Culture First Classrooms and other works by Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld. Recognized by the state of Pennsylvania for her innovative teaching, she was featured in Pennsylvania State Education Association (PSEA)'s The Voice for her work with EL learners. A true dynamo in the space, she tirelessly provides a free newsletter to thousands of educators across the country each week, filled with tips, tricks, and resources for their teaching toolboxes.
More from Leading Multilingual Learning
Today we welcome three guests for one incredible conversation. Andrea Honigsfeld, Maria Dove, and Carrie McDermott Goldman are all professors at Molloy University. They are longtime collaborators and co-authors of the new Corwin book Wait, Don't Just Translate: Multidimensional Strategies for Emergent Multilingual Learners. Together they bring more than 70 years of experience teaching multilingual learners — from ESL classrooms in New York City to teacher preparation programs to district-level coaching. Andrea is a Fulbright Scholar and the author of more than 27 books. She and Maria co-developed the collaboration and co-teaching model that's used in schools across the country. And Carrie brings expertise in culturally responsive pedagogy and the intersection of multilingual and special education services. Their new book tackles a question that's only gotten more urgent in the age of AI translation: when does translating help our newcomer students, and when does it actually hold them back?
Today's guest Dr. Piedad Kaye has spent 40 years working in multilingual education – as an educator, researcher, and district leader. Most recently, Piedad served as Director of Bilingual, ESL, and Foreign Language Education for Mannheim School District 83 outside Chicago, where she helped build an asset-based bilingual and biliteracy program. Her research has focused on bilingual education, biliteracy, and the professional development of bilingual and ESL educators. And this past school year, Piedad retired after four decades in the field – which makes this a particularly special moment to have her with us. She has spent a career thinking about what multilingual learners deserve, what educators need in order to serve them well, and what it actually takes to build those systems in practice. And if you're listening to this episode, please subscribe to our newsletter! Just visit medleylearning.com/podcast to get all our latest drops, all the resources we discuss on the show, and so much more.
Today's guest is a true gem of the Gem State. Jill Ayabei is the Federal Programs Coordinator for the Multilingual Division at West Ada School District — the largest district in Idaho, serving nearly 39,000 students from 91 countries who speak 85 languages. Jill has led West Ada's multi-year initiative to build an integrated co-teaching model for multilingual learners, moving the district away from a magnet school pull-out approach toward a model where ML specialists and content teachers co-plan, co-deliver, and co-assess instruction together. She was recognized for her work on the grant proposal that secured the Idaho EL Enhancement Grant, first awarded in 2023 and renewed through 2029.
In this episode we welcome special guest Melissa Lambert. Melissa is a senior district and state-level education leader with more than two decades of experience advancing outcomes for multilingual learners. She partners with state education agencies and districts nationwide to align curriculum, assessment, professional learning, and implementation systems around strong Tier 1 instruction. She is currently the Executive Director in the Office of School Leadership & Engagement for Yonkers Public Schools – New York's fourth-largest school district, serving over 23,000 students across 39 schools. A former teacher, founding principal, central-office administrator, and consultant, Melissa specializes in translating policy, research, and high-quality instructional materials into practical, scalable systems.
Today we welcome on two very distinguished guests. Mario Palma is the founder of Palma Multilingual Educational Solutions and a former Vice President of Multilingual Teaching & Learning at American Reading Company. He has 25+ years of experience across public health and public education, starting as a bilingual teacher in New York City and moving into national-level work helping districts design and strengthen ESL, bilingual, and dual language programs. Jordan Montalvo works alongside Mario as the Director of Research and Innovation at Palma Multilingual Educational Solutions. She is also an instructor at Western Washington University, supporting incoming bilingual teachers. She previously worked at Amplify, supporting their dual language education and curriculum development. Jordan has taught in self-contained dual language and early elementary ELL classrooms and served as a Dual Language Program Facilitator in Everett Public Schools.