Recognizing an Innovator in Bilingual Education

Assistant Professor Leah Durán is the recipient of the 2019 Urquides Laureate Award for her outstanding contributions in bilingual education on behalf of children. Experience teaching elementary school in bilingual and ESL classrooms in Texas drove Durán’s research to explore the relationship between language, literacy, and young children’s learning, with a focus on bilingual Latina/o children.

Durán served as the Richard Ruiz Scholar in Residence in Guanajuato, Mexico, a position that involved both teaching and public scholarship. At the national level, she participated in the Advocacy Working Group of the Bilingual Special Interest Group AERA. At the university level, she co-chairs the COEBE committee, which has been working to establish an endorsement program of bilingual study for local in-service teachers.