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Advancing Language and Literacy for English Learners

Advancing Language and Literacy for English Learners

Advancing Language and Literacy for English Learners (ALL4ELs) is a research and development project at Siena College's Department of Education supported by a grant from the National Professional Development (NPD) program through the U.S. Department of Education, Office of English Language Acquisition. Over the course of five years, we will engage four cohorts of in-service teachers, school leaders and preservice teachers as TESOL Scholars. We are eager to explore a new strategy, Academic Language Instruction for All Students (ALIAS), with both teachers and school leaders learning about the knowledge building instructional cycle.

Gretchen Oliver, Ph.D.

ALL 4ELs PI

Gretchen Oliver is the Co-Director of TESOL Programs and an Assistant Professor of Education at Siena College.  Prior to this, Dr. Oliver was a Visiting Assistant Professor (2018-2019) and the Project Coordinator and Lead Field Researcher (2013-2017) for a U.S. Department of Education grant-funded research and professional development project at the University at Albany.  She also worked for many years as a K-12 French teacher (1999-2011) and a French Lecturer and University in the High School Liaison (2011-2013) at the University at Albany. 

Dr. Oliver’s research interests focus on the ways in which secondary mathematics and science teachers and English as a New Language (ENL) specialists engage English language learners (ELLs) in meaningful learning experiences, while attending to the linguistic demands of these content areas, and how they use culturally responsive teaching practices in the process.  She studies the collaboration between these general education teachers and ENL specialists, and how they use co-teaching to support ELLs in the mainstream classroom. She has also researched the ways English to speakers of other languages (ESOL)-focused leadership practices support ELLs and their teachers.

Karen Gregory, Ph.D.

ALL4ELS Co-PI

Karen Gregory is the Co-Director of TESOL Programs and an Assistant Professor in the Education Department at Siena College. Dr. Gregory has prior experience as an ELL Specialist in the Albany City School District, where she taught English as a New Language to newcomer refugee and immigrant high school students, and co-taught science and social studies. She also worked for many years as a high school Spanish teacher, and was a lead researcher in the Just for the Kids~NYKids research group in the School of Education at the University at Albany, SUNY.
Dr. Gregory’s research is focused on content-based/ integrated instruction for English learners, models of professional development, and whole school improvement. Dr. Gregory contributed to the TESOL Encyclopedia of English Language Learning, and has published in several journals, including NYS TESOL Journal, The Journal of School Leadership, and the Journal for Leadership and Instruction, as well as several book chapters on TESOL pedagogy and school improvement.

Alison Fisk, M.Ed.

ALL4ELs Project Manager

Alison Fisk is the Project Manager of ALL4ELs, Advancing Language and Literacy for English Learners. Before joining the ALL4ELs team, Alison was a Supervisor for Clarkson’s MAT TESOL program, the Education Director at TriVillage Nursery School, an Adjunct Instructor at The College of Saint Rose, and a steering committee member and site instructor for TASS (Teaching All Secondary Students), an embedded professional development and coaching initiative through the Vermont Higher Education Collaborative. Prior to these endeavors, Alison was a high school English and social studies teacher.