Dr. Von Esch’s research, teaching, and service focus on providing more equitable educational opportunities for culturally and linguistically diverse students often referred to as “English learners (ELs).” Her research focuses on examining more deeply what rigorous teaching and learning look like for EL students in mainstream classrooms as more complex than “best practices,” and how teachers learn to become culturally and linguistically responsive educators who are able to recognize and address the social and political realities of teaching CLD students. Her current work focuses on three areas: (1) integrating language instruction into the content areas, with a current emphasis on science and math, (2) school- and classroom-embedded professional development and teacher education pedagogy, and (3) teacher education that balances both critical and practice-based perspectives.
