English as a Second Language (5-12)

Meg is a faculty member in the English Language Learning/TESOL programs at Lesley. She specializes in the theoretical and pedagogical foundations of bilingual education, with a focus on Spanish-English paired literacy instruction in elementary Dual Language schools. Her research also investigates issues of culture, race, and power in linguistically diverse settings, specifically Two-Way Dual Language schools.

Meg teaches courses in first and second language acquisition, early language and literacy development, sheltered English instruction, culturally responsive pedagogy, family and community engagement, and qualitative research methods. In professional development settings, Meg works with both monolingual and bilingual teachers to build classroom practices which support emerging bilingual learners’ oral language development as a foundation for biliteracy.  

After learning Spanish as a second language, Meg began her teaching career as a first grade Two-Way Dual Language Spanish immersion teacher. She is a past president and serves on the board of the Multistate Association for Bilingual Education (MABE). She is also a member of the Bilingual Education Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association, and serves on the Massachusetts Board of Education's English Learner and Bilingual Advisory Council.

Education: BA, Vassar College; MA in Applied Linguistics, University of Massachusetts, Boston; PhD in Bilingual Multicultural Education, University of Colorado, Boulder.

Susan joined the Lesley faculty in 2010. Having been described as an "unapologetic evangelical for the cause of technology in schools," her focus remains on working with classroom teachers on appropriate technology integration.

Susan started her professional career as a middle and high school teacher of history and economics. She lived and worked abroad for 10 years in Israel, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic. 

Susan weighs in on ways to prevent bullying in schools.

Education

PhD, University of Alabama

Ana C. Lopez is originally from Ciudad Juarez. Mexico. She employs qualitative research methodologies, and a Critical Race Feminist framework to center lived experience as a valuable root of knowledge. Through critical-self reflexivity and testimonio methodology, Ana's work aims to identify, unlearn. and challenge embodiments of ableism and deficit-oriented narratives around (dis)abilities.

Ana’s dissertation, Testimonios de Maternidad, bears witness to the lived experiences of single mothers who have children with intellectual disabilities with societal ableism, the educational system, and inaccessible infrastructure in Ciudad Juárez Chihuahua. In her last published book, “Y tú, qué hora traes? Unpacking the privileges of dominant groups in México,” she employs critical self-reflexivity to shed light on some of the unchallenged embodiments of oppression through which members of the dominant groups in México reify marginalization. 

Tara Tuck teaches in the language and literacy programs at Lesley.

I have a rather varied background in education, beginning with earning a B.S. in Education from Lesley College (long before it was a university). After teaching first and fifth grade, I earned a M.S. in Speech and Language Pathology from Boston University. As an SLP I started one of the first self-contained special education classrooms for students with severe language disorders. Wanting to help teachers work with these special students in general education classrooms led me to continue as an SLP specializing in inclusion, working in the public schools, presenting workshops for teachers, and teaching at Lesley (on campus and around the country).

I also earned a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Administration, Planning and Social Policy at Harvard, and shortly thereafter moved to Florida to thaw out and continue as a District Inclusion Specialist. I now devote my time to teaching for Lesley and getting the word out about my book, The Joy of Language: The Guide to Language and Learning for Parents and Caregivers. It is my passion to inspire parents and teachers to empower children with the communication skills necessary to become lifelong learners and to make a real difference in the world. We (parents, teachers and children) are all teachers and all learners.

Tara's Joy of Language Facebook page.

Education

BS, Education, Lesley College
MS, Speech and Language Pathology, Boston University
CAS in Administration, Planning and Social Policy, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Laura Schall-Leckrone teaches in the graduate Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and English Language Learners (TESOL/ELL) programs at Lesley. Prior to completing her doctorate, she worked for seventeen years as a bilingual teacher, Spanish teacher, and K-12 curriculum director in urban and suburban public school settings. Her teaching and research center on the preparation of teachers to teach linguistically diverse youth and pedagogy that promotes disciplinary and critical literacies.

Laura is currently engaged in collaborative classroom-based research in a K-6 elementary school supporting the implementation of a one-way (all Spanish speakers) dual immersion kindergarten program in a multilingual community in a gateway city.

Laura was one of the speakers at a 2018 Lesley-hosted dual-language conference sponsored by the Multistate Association for Bilingual Educators, with colleagues Meg Burns and Amanda Wager. Read more about this conference.

Education

BA, Swarthmore College
MAT, School for International Training
PhD, Boston College