I’m a fifth year doctoral candidate in the Department of Education Studies at UC San Diego, where I am the recipient of the Cota Robles Fellowship. Prior to attending UCSD, I worked as an English Language Learner (ELL) teacher both in the US and internationally.

A proud graduate of the Massachusetts public schools, I’ve always enjoyed learning from and working with people from different countries and cultures. After graduating from Smith College, I taught English at a bilingual school in Madrid, Spain for two years. During this time, I also started working as an English instructor for GPI US, a Boston-based summer study program for Japanese high school students. These rewarding experiences proved foundational for my professional trajectory: I realized that my joy of learning about different languages and cultures could translate into a formal career as an English Language Learner teacher, where my work would be dedicated to supporting culturally and linguistically diverse students in developing their English proficiency. Eureka!

With this goal in mind, I enrolled in a Master’s degree program in Bilingual, English as a Second Language (ESL), and Multicultural Education at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. At the same time, I started working in public schools, making my way from an ELL paraprofessional, to a substitute ELL teacher, to finally, a fully licensed ELL teacher. I witnessed first hand the importance of district and school leaders who recognize and value the strengths of multilingual learners–and the dire consequences when such recognition is nonexistent. These experiences have informed my dissertation study, as I currently research how district and school leaders can promote educational equity for multilingual learners within the context of language policy reform.   

I invite you to explore my website to learn more about my research. If you would like to contact me, please send an email to nturriago@ucsd.edu.