2025 MABE Dual Language Bilingual Education Conference

Dr. Joan Lachance is an Associate Professor of Teaching English as a Second Language (TESL) at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte where she directs the TESL graduate programs and undergraduate TESL Minor. She is the co-author of the National Dual Language Education Teacher Preparation "EMMA" Standards and the Director of the CAEP Specialized Program Association in Dual Language Education called "EMMA: Education for a Multilingual Multicultural America.” Dr. Lachance’s professional learning sessions, tied to her research agenda, are customized to support collaborative dual language teacher preparation/program development, multilingual literacy practices, and authentic assessment with multilingual learners. With the publication of her best-selling book with Corwin Press, she is focusing her work further to address the crucial, national needs related to collaboration and co-teaching for multilingual learners specifically in the dual language context. Woven into the work, she supports dual language education for the preservation and revitalization of Native American languages, currently and most-honorably collaborating with dual language programs serving the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Indians [EBCI]. Most recently, Dr. Lachance is part of a collective team awarded a unique NPD Grant titled Project SEMBRAR: Sustaining Equity through Mentorship for Bilingual Teacher Recruitment and Retention. As a member of the core leadership team she will collaborate with Dual Language Education of New Mexico and the Multistate Association for Bilingual Education, NE to support dual language teacher preparation. SEMBRAR aims to create pathways to increase the bilingual teacher workforce through targeted mentorship and professional learning. In doing so, Dr. Lachance will collaborate across the nation to more justly serve the growing and vibrant population of multilingual learners so they can be empowered. Finally, Dr. Lachance is thrilled to announce she is co-authoring a second edition of the book titled Educating English Learners for a Transformed World by Drs. Virginia Collier and Wayne Thomas to be published early in 2025.