K-12 Literacy Conference

S2024, Closing Keynote

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Closing Remarks

Christopher Lehman, Founding Director of The Educator Collaborative.

He is an award-winning educator, international speaker, literacy consultant, and New York Times best-selling author. He holds degrees from UW-Madison, NYU, and Teachers College, Columbia University. Chris has been a middle-school teacher, high-school teacher, literacy coach, and staff developer. He sits on the Board of Directors of the National Center for Families Learning, is a past Chair of the NCTE Middle Level Section, and past member of the NCTE Executive Committee. He has served as column editor for NCTE’s peer-reviewed journal, Voices from the Middle, and his articles and interviews have appeared in many journals and publications including the International Literacy Association’s Reading Today, in EdWeek, and in Education SmartBrief. He has supported schools and districts across the United States and around the world in developing robust, research-based, effective literacy curricula and practices.

Closing Keynote

Tracey Flores and María Fránquiz are co-authors of Cultivating Young Multilingual Writers.

Tracey Flores is an associate professor of language and literacy at the University of Texas at Austin. Flores is a former English language development (ELD) and English language arts (ELA) teacher. She is the founder of Somos Escritoras/We Are Writers, a writing and art workshop for Latina girls (grades 6–12) that invites them to share and perform stories from their lived experiences using art, theater, and writing as a tool for reflection, examination, and critique of their worlds. In addition, Flores is the co-chair of the Latinx Caucus of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE). Recently, she was named the 2019 Promising Researcher by the NCTE Standing Committee on Research.

María Fránquiz is a professor in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin. She is an internationally recognized language and literacy scholar with thirty-plus years’ experience as a teacher, teacher-educator, researcher, and administrator. She has coedited two books and authored numerous peer-reviewed articles, academic handbooks, edited books, and special topics journals. Among her professional service contributions are trustee of the NCTE Research Foundation, mentor and director of Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color, and 2022–2023 NCTE president.

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