Charlotte Jackson Alvarez
ESL/ELL Coordinator, Tuscaloosa County Alabama Schools
calvarez@tcss.net

Charlotte Alvarez is an English as a Second Language Specialist for the Tuscaloosa County School System. Prior to becoming an ESL Specialist, she had seven years of experience in the regular education classroom. She has particpated in extensive ESL training and is certified to assess ELLs with ACCESS. She was selected by the Alabama State Department of Education to represent Alabama in the 2007 WIDA Consortium.

Cory A. Buxton
Associate Professor, Science Education
School of Education
University of Miami
cbuxton@miami.edu

Cory A. Buxton is an Associate Professor of Science Education at the University of Miami. His research uses anthropological and sociolinguistic lenses to explore the interactions of culture, language and tool use in urban science classrooms. He also studies the ways in which students, teachers and schools both conform to and resist the current political pressures of high stakes assessment and how such assessments differentially influence "at-risk" and "high-performing" schools. He became interested in teaching science to English language learners while serving as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala. He then taught in urban New Orleans and rural Colorado before receiving his Ph.D. in 2000 from the University of Colorado at Boulder.

Michael Odell
Research Professor
Center for Teaching Excellence in Mathematics and Science
University of Texas at Tyler
modell@uttyler.edu

Michael R.L. Odell is the Director of the School of Education and the Roosth Chair of Science Education at the University of Texas-Tyler. He also directs the East Texas STEM Center, one of seven centers funded by the Texas Education Agency. He has served as a National Space Grant Fellow at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. (1995-97) and as a Faculty Fellow at NASA Kennedy Space Center (2003) in Florida. Currently Dr. Odell is involved in research and development to vertically align high school and college curriculum to improve college readiness of high school students and improve pathways into the STEM disciplines and careers.

Cheryl Mason
Professor, Science Education and Biology
Center for Research in Mathematics and Science Education (CRMSE)
SDSU Director for SDSU-USD Doctoral Program
Associate Director, School of Teacher Education
College of Education
San Diego State University
cmason@mail.sdsu.edu

Cheryl L. Mason is a Professor of Science Education and Biological Sciences at San Diego State University. Mason received her Ph.D. in Science Education and Educational Computing from Purdue University, and her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Biological Sciences from Indiana University. Her teaching experiences include undergraduate and graduate courses in biological sciences, science teaching and learning, and interfacing technology in the science classroom. She has scholarly publications in numerous journals and several books, and has made presentations to various audiences over the past 35 years. Mason is an active member and leader of professional organizations such as ASTE, NARST, NSTA, NABT, AERA, and PDK. Three of the highlights of her career are that she received the Association for Science Teacher Education Outstanding Science Teacher Educator Award, the Perham Indiana Women of Distinction Award, and the first Presidential Award for Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching. Overall, Mason's research focus is on the relationship of cognitive, including visual/spatial thinking skills, and attitudinal factors concerning successful science teaching and learning. She is especially concerned with helping girls and persons of color succeed in the science classroom and scientific community. 

Josephine (Josie) G. Prado
ELL teacher, doctoral student
prado001@bama.ua.edu

Josie Prado worked as an ESL (English as a Second Language) Specialist in a K-12 setting for seven years. Currently, she is pursuing a doctoral degree in Second Language Acquisition and Teaching within the Department of Curriculum and Instruction in the College of Education at the University of Alabama. Her research interests include identity and language learning, and teacher preparation concerning English Language Learners.