Dr. Mayra C. Daniel associate professor in the Department of Literacy and Elementary Education at Northern Illinois University serves as the Bilingual ESL Coordinator for NIU's College of Education. Her research focuses on preparing teachers to work with bilingual and multilingual populations in the United States and in Latin America. Prior to her work with teachers in post-graduate programs she worked to help learners (at levels K-12) from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds to transition and adapt to the cultural norms of life in schooling within rural communities in the state of Illinois. Kouider Mokhtari is the Anderson-Vukelja-Wright Endowed Professor Literacy Education at the University of Texas at Tyler Texas where he engages in research teaching and service initiatives aimed at advancing literacy instruction and increasing students' literacy achievement outcomes. His research focuses on the acquisition of language and literacy by first and second language learners with particular emphasis on children adolescents and adults who can read but have difficulties understanding what they read. Kouider's research has been featured in various literacy research and practice journals. His book Preparing Every Teacher to Reach English Learners (Harvard University Press) was presented the 2013 American Association of Colleges For Teacher Education (AACTE) Outstanding Book Award. He was also the recipient of the 2014 International Reading Association John C. Manning Public School Service Award. . Language: English