Our Experts
Advising from industry professionals

Our Instructional Advisory Board members are nationally recognized for their expertise in the field of English Language Learning. Ellevation seeks input from these expert partners for useful rubrics, additional activities to facilitate student learning, realistic lesson implementation, course corrections, and suggestions for how to connect Strategies and Activities to content areas.

Tim Boals

Executive Director
WIDA

Dr. Tim Boals is Executive Director of WIDA. He holds a Ph.D. in curriculum from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with an emphasis in the education of ELLs. His background includes language education, educational policy for ELLs, and Spanish language and literature.

Jana Echevarria

Co-Author, Researcher
SIOP

Jana Echevarría, Ph.D., is Professor Emerita at California State University, Long Beach where she was selected as Outstanding Professor in 2005. She has taught in elementary and secondary in special education, ESL, and bilingual programs. A founding researcher of the SIOP Model, Dr. Echevarria's research focuses on effective instruction for English learners, including those with learning disabilities. Her publications include over 60 books, book chapters, and journal articles. She has presented her research in the U.S. and internationally, including at Oxford University (England), Wits University (South Africa), Harvard University (U.S.), Stanford University (U.S.), University of Barcelona (Spain), and South East Europe University (Macedonia) where she was a Fulbright Specialist. Currently she serves as the ELL expert for the U.S. Department of Justice on the Lau v. SFUSD case.

John Seidlitz

Founder
Seidlitz Education

John Seidlitz is an independent educational consultant and the author of Sheltered Instruction Plus: A Guide for Texas Teachers of English Learners; Navigating the ELPS: Using the New Standards to Improve Instruction for English Learners; and a contributing author for The SIOP® Model for Teaching History-Social Studies for English Learners.

He is the co-author of numerous publications including the 7 Steps to Developing a Language-Rich Interactive Classroom®. Mr. Seidlitz has been a member of the SIOP® National faculty and guest lecturer for many regional and national language development conferences.

He taught social studies and ESL, served as a secondary ESL program coordinator, and held the position of education specialist at ESC Region 20 in San Antonio, Texas. In 2005, Mr. Seidlitz founded Seidlitz Education which is dedicated to the mission of Giving Kids the Gift of Academic Language™.

Jeff Zwiers

Senior Researcher
Stanford University

Jeff Zwiers is a senior researcher at Stanford University. He supports the Understanding Language Initiative and collaborates with teachers, instructional coaches, and school systems to improve the education of academic English learners. He co-directs the Academic Language Development Network, which focuses on accelerating students' literacy, language, cognition, and conversation skills. He has also written books and articles on these topics. His current work, supported by a National Professional Development Grant, focuses on developing teachers’ practices for fostering students’ academic language and literacy across disciplines.