Dr. Elena Izquierdo
Associate Professor
The University of Texas at El Paso
Dr. Elena Izquierdo is faculty at the University of the Texas at El Paso in Teacher Education (UTEP), and the Program Area Chair for Bilingual/Biliteracy at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. Dr. Izquierdo is the previous Chair of the Teacher Education Department and an Associate Professor in the College of Education.
Dr. Izquierdo is on the Executive Board of AMME. In addition, she is a member of the Hispanic Leadership Council (HLC) that serves to support Hispanic students and educators at both the state and federal level, as well as with and through various education and industry associations.
During her tenure as President of the Texas Association for Bilingual Education (TABE) she advocated for and represented ELLs on issues pertaining to educational equity. During 2007-2008 she served as Vice President on the (NABE) Executive Board of the National Association of Bilingual and as Publications and Professional Development Chair. She has served as President of the SouthWest Association for Bilingual Education.
Dr. Izquierdo is a linguist by training, Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and Bilingual Education, Georgetown University, 1994, and an educator in practice. She was an administrator for 13 years and during this time she served as the principal of a nationally recognized Two Way Dual Language school in Washington, D.C. where all children, grades Pre-K through 6th, learn in two languages. In addition during her tenure in Washington D.C. she was director for Language Minority Affairs where she led the district into federal compliance in services to language minority communities after the district was under OCR mandate. A comprehensive Corrective Action Plan was developed to address all aspects of schooling for English Language Learners.
Dr. Izquierdo’s research and professional specializations focus on Two Way Dual Language Education; Biliteracy; the education of English language learners (ELLs); and in supporting districts in rethinking and reforming schooling practices in their efforts to close achievement gaps for Bilingual/ELL students.