NMABE 2009 Conference Dates
Have Changed!

Secretary of Education Veronica García recently announced a change in the testing window for the administration of New Mexico's tests. The NMELPA will be carried out in March and the Standards Based Assessments testing window will end the last part of April. Because this places the State Bilingual Conference right in the middle of the testing window, the NMABE Board was forced to seek an alternate date. The state conference will now be held on Sept 24-26, 2009.

37th Annual NMABE

State Bilingual Multicultural Education Conference

September 24-26, 2009

Embassy Suites Hotel
Albuquerque, NM

Keynote Speakers

Dr.Barbara M. Medina

Dr. Barbara M. Medina is the Assistant Commissioner for Innovation and Transformation at the Colorado Department of Education (CDE). She oversees the Office of Language, Culture and Equity, the Office of Accreditation/Regional Services, the Office of On-Line Learning and the Office of School Choice. She served as Chair of the Department of Teacher Education at Adams State College and also coordinated high school second language programs for the Boulder Valley School District. Recognized as a dynamic speaker, Dr. Medina's scholarly interests include research in the areas of language and literacy for diverse populations, cultural and linguistic diversity and second language acquisition.

Regis Pecos

Mr. Pecos, born and raised at Cochiti Pueblo, has spent much of his professional life advancing the interests of American Indian citizens at the tribal, state and national levels. He served as the Executive Director of the NM Office of Indian Affairs for sixteen years. He became the first American Indian to be appointed as a member of the Board of Trustees for Princeton University in 1996. In 1999, he received New Mexico ‘s highest honor, as he was named New Mexico ‘s Distinguished Public Servant. Currently, Mr. Pecos is the Chief of Staff for Speaker of the House, Ben Lujan.

Featured Speakers

Dr. Jeff Zwiers

Dr. Zwiers teaches at Stanford University, works as a New Teacher Center mentor in urban schools, and has participated in international work promoting student engagement, critical thinking, language development and formative assessment. He has published books and articles on reading, thinking and academic language development. His most recent book entitled Building Academic Language: Essential Practices for Content Classrooms (2008), focuses on Grades 5-12.

Dr. Sheila Hyde

As Assistant Secretary for Quality Assurance and Systems Integration of the NMPED, Dr. Sheila Hyde organized the first-ever ELL summit, scheduled for June of 2009. She will speak about the systemic outcomes of this critical call to action for ELL students in the New Mexico public schools.

James J. Lyons, ESQ

Mr. Lyons has been an advocate for minority students over a span of nearly forty years – as a staff member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, as the Carter administration’s point person to handle legislation affecting civil rights and equal opportunity, as Legislative and Policy Counsel to the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE) from 1982 – 1998, and as its Executive Director from 1992 – 1998. Currently, he is the Washington Representative for the Alliance for Multilingual, Multicultural Education (AAME).

Patricia Latham/Adrian Sandoval

Patricia and Adrian have over 44 years of combined experience in the areas of education leadership, teacher training and development, literacy across content areas, and sheltered instruction -- all within the field of Bilingual Education. Their technical assistance to the schools of the state through the CESDP at New Mexico Highlands University has been invaluable. Their presentation will focus on using the new ELD Standards to support the language proficiency levels of ELL students across all content areas.