Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Educational Equity Maria Coady Elected to the National Association for Bilingual Education Executive Board

Maria Coady, the Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Educational Equity in the NC State College of Education, has been elected to serve on the executive board of the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE). 

The only national professional organization of its kind, the NABE is a nonprofit that works to advocate for the educational equity and academic excellence of bilingual and multilingual students by improving instructional programs and practices for linguistically and culturally diverse children, providing bilingual and dual language educators with high-quality professional development opportunities and securing funding for dual language programs across the country.

Coady will serve a three-year term on the executive board as the eastern region representative. 

“I am delighted to be selected to serve on the executive board of the National Association for Bilingual Education,” Coady said. “This is an especially exciting time to be serving on the board for many reasons, including the fact that we have just formed a North and South Carolina affiliate of NABE, called CarABE, which will be hosting its inaugural conference with the Southeast Regional TESOL conference in November. In addition to that, this is an exciting time to work nationally in bilingual education with the growth in dual language immersion programs in the eastern region and across the U.S.”

Coady has spent the past two decades studying ways to prepare educators for linguistic diversity in their own regions and school districts, with a particular focus on multilingual learners in rural settings. 

She has done work in multiple states – including Florida, Alabama, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and North and South Carolina – related to bilingual education and hopes to begin her three-year term on the NABE executive board by listening and learning about all of the work happening in bilingual education across the eastern region. 

“As a regional group, I aim to represent these states and have a strong voice on policies to support bilingual learners,” she said. “I bring to the conversation my work in rural multilingual communities, and my goal is to elevate those students, families and education in national policies and programs.”

Coady will officially be sworn in to her new role on the executive board during a ceremony this June in Puerto Rico.