Featuring Keynote Speaker Alexandra Figueras-Daniel
This year our keynote will focus on Supporting Dual Language Learners in Early Learning. Alexandra Figueras-Daniel is the current Director of Research at Teaching Strategies. Previous to this she served as a Senior Research Scientist in the Dual Language and Literacy Lab in the department of Behavioral Sciences at Teachers College, Columbia University. At the lab Dr. Figueras-Daniel worked on a study examining the effects of a web-based coaching and professional development model to enhance language and literacy supports of preschool classroom teachers of dual language learners in New York City. Prior to joining the lab, Dr. Figueras-Daniel served as an Assistant Research Professor at the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) at Rutgers University where she oversaw the collection of data on various large-scale early childhood education research studies and co-authored the Classroom Assessment of Supports for Emergent Bilingual Acquisition (CASEBA) to measure the quality of language supports for dual language learners in preschool classrooms. In addition, at NIEER, she also participated in ongoing work assisting teachers and districts to implement more well-aligned P-3 systems in New Jersey. Dr. Figueras-Daniel began her career as a preschool teacher in New Jersey’s Abbott program in a dual immersion school. She holds a PhD in Education Policy from the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University.
