Ivannia Soto is Associate Professor of Education at Whittier College, where she specializes in second language acquisition, systemic reform for English language learners (ELLs), and urban education. She began her career in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), where she taught English and English Language Development to a population made of up 99.9% Latinos, who either were or had been ELLs. Before becoming a professor, Dr. Soto also served LAUSD as a literacy coach and district office administrator. She has presented on literacy and language topics at various conferences, including the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), the California Association for Bilingual… Association (CABE), the New York State Associate for Bilingual Education (NYSABE), and the National Urban Education Conference. As a consultant, Soto has worked with Stanford University�s School Redesign Network (SRN) and WestEd, as well as a variety of districts and county offices in California, providing technical assistance for systemic reform for ELLs and Title III. She is the co-author of The Literacy Gaps: Building Bridges for ELLs and SELs, her first book with Corwin Press, and the author of a variety of articles on providing appropriate instructional access for ELLs.
June Hetzel , professor and dean of the School of Education at Biola University,nbsp;grew up in the culturally and linguistically rich basin of the San Francisco Bay Area in the Franklin McKinley School District in south San Jose. Her childhood background shaped her passion for access for all learners. Her teaching experiences in Los Angeles and Orange Counties, Africa, and Thailand have provided her withnbsp;insight into working with elementary andnbsp;secondary studentsnbsp;and adults in multilingual, multicultural settings. Additionally, she has enjoyed travel throughout Europe and on a trip to Oxford University, presented "The Three Literacy Gaps and Title III of NCLB," co-authored with… Ivannia Soto-Hinman, at the Oxford Round Table at Harris Manchester College, Oxford University, upon which the book The Literacy Gaps nbsp;is based. In partnership with Ivannia Soto-Hinman, the model has been refined for ELLs and SELs, developing into its current form. With 30 years in education, Hetzel remains passionate about literacy. She facilitates local volunteer tutoring partnerships and she and her husband, Geoff, enjoy leading teams of literacy teachers overseas to work with English language learners. A long-time member of the International Reading Association and the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, Hetzel has authored many literacy resource books and currently freelances for Purposeful Design Publications, serving as a content editor for two textbook series, including the English as a Foreign Language series. She earned her MS in reading education from Cal State Fullerton and her PhD from Claremont Graduate University.