ELLAS is an educational consulting firm focused on educational excellence and systems change for English Learners including those with learning difficulties or disabilities. We offer English Learner leadership, advocacy, and support services.
Dr. Linda Cavazos is a professional development/technical assistance provider and researcher with 30 years’ experience in education supporting the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse learners. She has provided capacity building and technical assistance support and coaching at the national, state, regional, and local levels through delivery of high-quality professional development, evaluation, data analysis, and creation of tools and resources. Dr. Cavazos earned her doctorate in Multicultural Special Education from The University of Texas at Austin.
Dr. Alba A. Ortiz is a Professor Emerita, Department of Special Education, in the College of Education, at The University of Texas at Austin. A nationally recognized expert on the education of English Learners with language and learning disabilities, Dr. Ortiz’s areas of expertise include culturally and linguistically responsive Multi-tiered System of Support and Response to Intervention, second language acquisition, language assessment, and programs and services for ELs with language/learning disabilities. Dr. Ortiz is the 2021 recipient of the Council for Exceptional Children’s Romaine Mackie Leadership Award recognizing her contributions to improving the education of English Learners, including those with disabilities.
Elena is a bilingual educator with a master’s degree in Literacy Education from New York Universit
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Noelia is a bilingual educator and school/district leader with a master’s degree in Curriculum and
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Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan, Ph.D., is a Senior Advisor for ELLAS Consulting. She is a bilingual speech-lang
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Anna is a licensed bilingual Dyslexia Reading Therapist with 30 years of experience in education. Sh
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Dr. Parra is a bilingual technical assistance and professional development consultant with a doctora
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Dr. Mendez Perez is a bilingual speech language pathologist with a doctorate in Multicultural Specia
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Dr. Romero is a bilingual school psychologist with a doctorate in School Psychology from the Univers
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Dr. Rosas is an accomplished bilingual educator with a doctorate in Multicultural Special Education
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Dr. Schembari coaches nationally on issues related to teacher quality and school improvement. Specif
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James R. Yates is a Senior Advisor for ELLAS Consulting. Dr. Yates is the John L. & Elizabeth G
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Feng Liu, Ph.D., is a statistician and methodologist with a doctorate in Educational Technology/Rese
FULL BIOWe customize consulting services to support English learners. We match our services to fit your context and specific needs. Our experts can assist you in monitoring and reviewing your program implementation. They can help solve or avoid potential problems. They can participate in communities of practice and provide on-demand advising.
We interview key stakeholders and review your existing school/district data, practices, and procedures to collect information to determine your school or district needs. We provide a report with recommendations based on data analysis so you can prioritize your needs.
We provide professional development so educators have the knowledge and skills to meet the needs of English Learners. We also provide intensive professional development to build capacity of local school and district personnel who can then train and support school and district staff to enhance services for English Learners, including those with learning difficulties or disabilities.
We conduct systematic reviews of programs and services provided English Learners and the outcomes of these. Evaluations focus on the status of current programs and services, their effectiveness, and barriers and facilitators to achieving stated local, state, and national education agency goals and objectives.
We assist with preparing for and developing proposals to obtain financial and other resources to support projects, school improvement, and other professional activities from sources such as federal and state governments, foundations, and corporations.
"ELLAS would give us the professional development, allow us time to implement it in the classroom, come in and model it for us, observe us following the professional development, and then we would get feedback. I think that is probably the most effective way of professional development because it’s in the job!"
Professional Development with Follow-up Support
"I really like how ELLAS brought the professional development to exactly what we need."
Customized Professional Development
"We [school staff] felt more successful and definitely more supported. Due to the support and coaching, we have grown as a team, as teachers, and our kids are showing the benefits as well!"
Supportive
"ELLAS job-embedded professional development helped us improve what we were doing with our students and make it more effective, so we were using our time better, so there was less time in transitions, less instructional time lost, and then making the most of the blocks of time that we did have."
Job-embedded Professional Development
"Now, I want all professional development to be like what we have with ELLAS. I want somebody to come in my room show me how to do it then we can talk about it and then I can do it and they can watch. I mean that’s like the best case scenario. ELLAS set a very high bar for any other professional learning."
Excellent Training
"I had acquired all this knowledge, all this learning, but when ELLAS came in and gave us the professional development, it just affirmed everything and then some, because it really was explicit in showing us, teaching us how we are supposed to teach reading to English Learners. I already had some knowledge, but ELLAS just made it more explicit, and easier to implement and that’s very helpful!"
Explicit
"The information we were given through feedback, planning and observations was always supportive of our teaching. We were able to work new content into our schedule in a meaningful, effective way and then receive feedback on how to continue improving."
Continuous Improvement
"I have just been very happy with all the help that ELLAS have provided us. It’s really opened up our eyes to teaching reading to English Learners and just overall learning as a teacher."
Improved Reading Instruction for ELs
The ELLAS team is committed to providing expert guidance on the education of English Learners. We are highly experienced, skilled bilingual and biliterate professionals who have served in instructional and administrative roles in general education, special education, bilingual education programs and dual language education. We have supported teacher educators, administrators, and state directors working with culturally and linguistically diverse groups of students. We are committed to improving the academic outcomes of English learners in every school setting.
Evidence-based practices for English Learners with learning difficulties or disabilities that suppor...
To be effective, MTSS for English Learners must incorporate culturally and linguistically responsive...
Understanding and implementing science of reading strategies in biliteracy contexts is important to ...
Most MTSS/RTI frameworks do not include screening and progress monitoring of oral language developme...
Determining whether English Learners have disabilities is difficult because English Learners acquiri...
English Learners are disproportionately represented in special education, but can be proportionately...
Vocabulary instruction must be guided by an understanding of what words are important to teach and t...
Different students learn differently. English Learners are learning language and content simultaneou...
Explicit instruction involves teaching a specific skill or concept in a highly structured manner usi...
Students benefit from small group instruction to help them learn, process, and practice new skills, ...
Understanding second language acquisition can help teachers provide effective instruction for Englis...
Culturally and linguistically responsive practice (CLRP) involves seeking out knowledge of students�...
Equity is achieved when educational practices, policies, curricula, resources, and school cultures a...
English Learners do best when their families are engaged in their children's schooling. Learn w...
Become familiar with the LLAREL, a framework for maintaining a longitudinal language and literacy as...
Parent/Family Trainings
We identify barriers to parental engagement and offer parent and family training, in English and/or Spanish, to inform, and increase parental awareness and support participation in their children’s schooling.