Using Understanding by Design in the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Classroom

Amy Heineke is an associate professor of Bilingual and Bicultural Education in the School of Education at Loyola University Chicago, specializing in teacher preparation for English learners. She earned a master's and a doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction from Arizona State University, as well as an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University. Coming from a family of educators, Amy started her career as a kindergarten teacher in the Roosevelt School District in Phoenix, Arizona, where she began developing her advocacy and expertise for teaching English learners. In the last 15 years, she has facilitated students' learning in both elementary and secondary classroom settings and supported a wide array of practitioners working with linguistically diverse students in English-medium and bilingual settings around the United States and Latin America.

Jay McTighe brings a wealth of experience from a rich and varied career in education. He served as director of the Maryland Assessment Consortium, a collaboration of school districts working together to develop and share formative performance assessments. Previously he was involved with school improvement projects at the Maryland State Department of Education, where he helped lead standards-based reforms, including development of performance-based statewide assessments. He directed development of the Instructional Framework, a multimedia database on teaching. Well known for his work with thinking skills, Jay coordinated statewide efforts to develop instructional strategies, curriculum models, and assessment procedures for improving the quality of student thinking. In addition to his work at the state level, Jay has experience at the district level in Prince George's County, Maryland, as a classroom teacher, resource specialist, and program coordinator. He also directed a state residential enrichment program for gifted and talented students.