Practical strategies for multilingual learning, with Diane August, Ph.D.
In this episode, Diane August, Ph.D., shares her journey and expertise supporting multilingual learners, focusing on her transition from a Spanish language teacher to a widely recognized expert in literacy and language acquisition for multilingual students. August recounts her initial teaching experiences, her realization of the need for better support for language development, and her subsequent pursuit of a Ph.D. and further research efforts to deepen her understanding of second language acquisition and content integrated language teaching. August emphasizes the foundational importance of supporting multilingual learners through asset-based approaches, bilingual programming, and research-based instructional strategies, advocating for educational policies and practices that recognize and leverage the linguistic and cultural assets of multilingual learners from the very early grades all the way through the later grades.
Meet our guest(s):
Diane August, Ph.D.
Diane August, Ph.D., is a principal at D. August and Associates, where the team works to improve educational outcomes for multilingual learners through technical assistance to states and districts, experimental research, and policy work. August is currently a co-principal investigator at the Center for the Success of English Learners, one of two federally-funded centers focused on outcomes for secondary level multilingual learners. She is also a co-principal investigator for a National Professional Development Program grant funded by the Office of English Language Acquisition.
Her prior positions include managing researcher at the American Institutes for Research, senior research scientist at the Center for Applied LInguistics (CAL), and senior program officer at the National Academy of Sciences. She also worked as a classroom teacher, school administrator, congressional legislative assistant, grants officer for the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Director of Education for the Children’s Defense Fund. She received her Ph.D. in education and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in psychology at Stanford University, and has been published widely in journals and books.
Meet our host, Susan Lambert
Susan Lambert is the Chief Academic Officer of Elementary Humanities at Amplify, and the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast. Her career has been focused on creating high-quality learning environments using evidence-based practices. Lambert is a mom of four, a grandma of four, a world traveler, and a collector of stories.
As the host of Science of Reading: The Podcast, Lambert explores the increasing body of scientific research around how reading is best taught. As a former classroom teacher, administrator, and curriculum developer, Lambert is dedicated to turning theory into best practices that educators can put right to use in the classroom, and to showcasing national models of reading instruction excellence.
