2026 Multilingual Special Education Virtual Symposium:
Perspectives and Practices
to Transform Learning Landscapes
DATES: April 16 & 17, 2026
COST:
General Registration: $395 USD
Canadian Educators: $395 CAD
Graduate Students: $45 USD
Event Description
Assessment is the focus of our 6th annual virtual symposium! This two day virtual event is designed for educators, practitioners, and school leaders who work at the dynamic, complex intersection of multilingual education and special education. Leading scholars and experienced practitioners will present research-informed assessment approaches, highlight key elements of authentic assessment, and showcase a wealth of resources, while embedding opportunities for interaction throughout our two days together. During this collaborative learning experience, we will explore strength-based, dynamic, and culturally-sustaining ways to redesign and optimize learning environments, while amplifying the voices of multilingual learners with special educational needs. All sessions will take place synchronously live with handouts and resources provided. Edited videos of the sessions will be available for registered participants to access after the close of the symposium.
Featured Speakers
Professor - University of Alberta
Johanne Paradis is a Professor in the Department of Linguistics and an Adjunct Professor in Communication Sciences and Disorders at the University of Alberta. Her research is concerned with bi/multilingualism in children with typical development and in children with neurodevelopmental disorders, in particular children learning English-as-a-second language from immigrant and refugee families. Her research topics include how to conduct appropriate language assessments with bi/multilingual children and what to expect in the bi/multilingual development of children with disorders. Dr. Paradis has published more than 95 journal articles and chapters on bilingual children and is first author of Dual Language Development and Disorders, 3rd Edition, Brookes Publishing (2021). Dr. Paradis is the recipient of the 2020 National Achievement Award from the Canadian Linguistic Association.
Co-founder and lead developer of WIDA
Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D., co-founder and lead developer of WIDA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, collaborates in crafting standards frameworks and their derivative resources. Her other professional endeavors include designing linguistic and culturally sustainable curriculum, language policy, and classroom assessment for K-12 multilingual learners. Having been appointed to national and state advisory boards, in 2025, she was inducted into the inaugural class of the Multilingual Education Hall of Fame. A prolific author/co-author, Margo has produced over 125 books and publications, her most recent, Collaborative Assessment for Multilingual Learners and Teachers: Pathways to Partnerships (with A. Honigsfeld, 2025) and Academic Languaging: Engaging Multilingual Students in Content Area Learning (with Ernst-Slavit, 2026).
Education Specialist, Illinois Resource Center
Michele is an accomplished educator with over 15 years of experience in classrooms, bringing content to life through innovative instructional practices. Her background also includes teaching graduate courses for EL Methodology, leadership experience in Sheltered Instruction Program implementation and design, and coaching work with teams of educators PreK-12. She provides professional development in academic language support and differentiation (math, literacy, writing), technology integration, co-teaching models, formative assessment, and material/curriculum adaptation for culturally and linguistically diverse schools.
Symposium Organizers and Hosts
Co-President-Paridad
Symposium Co-Host
Cristina collaborates with educators on developing culturally and linguistically sustaining multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS); mathematics; literacy across the content areas; multilingual education; engaging parents, special education, and supporting Pre-K educators who serve Multilingual Learners. Cristina has taught at the elementary, middle school and university levels in the US and Mexico. At present, Cristina teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in the areas of Biliteracy, Assessment, and Foundations of Language Minority Education.
Speech Language Pathologist-
Symposium Co-Host
Theresa began her career on the Pacific island of Saipan, in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands where she worked with multilingual students and families in home, school, and medical settings. She coordinated a team of speech-language pathologists to develop culturally and linguistically responsive assessment and intervention practices for Pacific Islanders. Upon returning to Canada, Theresa worked in schools in the highly diverse Toronto area, while providing professional development and writing collaboratively on multicultural, multilingual topics in education. She has been working with local First Nations to design and implement programs and services for children in preschools and schools in home communities.
Cristina's & Theresa's Work Together
Cristina and Theresa's collaborative work melds the fields of multilingual education and special education into a framework for culturally and linguistically responsive practice for educators and practitioners in schools. Their solution-seeking process is featured in Special Education Considerations for English Language Learners: Delivering a Continuum of Services , 2023 (3rd Ed). They have collaborated on a volume in the Oxford University Press Key Concept Series for Language Learners, Focus on Special Educational Needs (2018) as well as: Welcoming Bilingual Learners with Disabilities into Dual Language Programs with Fred Genesee and John Hilliard (2022), and a chapter in ¡QUE BUENO! A History of Advocacy and Care for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Education (2023).
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