2025 Invited Speakers
Kelly Alvarez
Michigan Department of Education
Michigan Department of Education English Learner Update
Join us for updates from MDE regarding EL assessment, funding, and program requirements. This session is designed for program administrators and educators. The session will include a presentation on the initiatives from MDE as well as updated data and time for questions.
Dr. Pam Schwallier with Dr. Madeline Mavrogordato and Suzanne Toohey
Championing Change: Equitable Funding Solutions for English Learners
Over 100,000 English Learners (ELs) attend Michigan schools — that’s 1 in every 13 students! This session offers a roadmap for educators and allies ready to engage lawmakers, communities, and regional partners in a growing advocacy movement for fair, formula-driven EL funding. Learn how other states fund EL programming using weighted models, where Michigan ranks, & how an increased investment would impact our communities.
Ildiko (Ildi) Porter-Szucs, Ph.D., MAT
Eastern Michigan University
Who Cares If Our Students Are Learning?
We are in a moment of unprecedented crisis on so many fronts that many in our field are despairing or even looking for an exit ramp. While at this time it might be unrealistic to be optimistic, it is not unrealistic to have hope. This presentation will focus on finding strength and on taking action to keep this hope alive.
Charlene Polio, Ph.D.
Michigan State University
Using AI to raise linguistic awareness
Most discussions of AI focus on how students (and others) can use AI to gather information, and on the accuracy of that information. Generally, little attention is paid to the language produced by AI. I will start by demonstrating some activities for looking at the language produced by AI and explain how those activities can help students understand some simple principles behind AI. Then, I will show how and why AI can be used to provide language support beyond simply having it revise student work or correcting errors.
