Identifying and Serving Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Gifted Students (PDF)

Dr. Lezley Collier Lewis is an educational consultant, author, and statewide expert on second language acquisition. Dr. Lewis received a Doctorate of Educational Administration from Texas A&M University and a Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Texas Tech School of Law. She has been instrumental in developing, instituting, and sustaining innovative, educational programs focused on English language learner (ELL) success. Dr. Lewis developed one of the first two-way, dual language programs instituted in Texas in the early 1990s and continues to work with school districts to streamline resources and create and sustain successful ELL programs.With more than 20 years in education, Dr. Lewis has worked in a variety of capacities in both the public and private sectors. She has served as a strategist for school districts implementing systemic change through strategic planning. Her teaching background includes P-16, bilingual/ESL education, secondary world language, and public school district-level administration. However, her greatest accomplishment is that of being a parent of a public school teacher.

Annie Rivera, M.Ed., is an educational consultant in bilingual and ESL instruction, professional development, and program development for rural, suburban, and urban school districts and campuses. Her teaching background includes transitional bilingual, dual language, ESL, and regular education classroom instruction at the elementary and secondary levels in both private and public schools in Texas and abroad, as well as at the college level. In addition, Rivera has also served as instructional specialist and district-level coordinator for bilingual/ESL programs. Proud of her Korean heritage, native-Texan roots, and families in Latin America, Rivera describes herself as being tri-lingual, tri-literate, and tri-cultural. She is also a product of a gifted program, FLES program, and heritage language school. This identity and her personal experiences give her not only a