Bio

Dr. Maria Coady is the Goodnight Distinguished Professor in Education at North Carolina State University and a Professor of Multilingual Education. Her work focuses on Multilingual Learners (ML), rural communities, and the preparation of educators who work with MLs. Prior to that, she was a Professor of ESOL and Bilingual Education at the University of Florida. Dr. Coady received her doctor of philosophy degree (PhD) from the University of Colorado, Boulder, where she studied bilingualism and bilingual education. She was a US Department of Education Title VII Fellow (1998-2001). Her dissertation examined Irish-English bilingual schools, Gaelscoileanna, in the Republic of Ireland. Using a lens of critical place-conscious education, systemic equality, and equity, Dr. Coady examines multilingualism, bilingualism, rural education, bilingual education, teacher and leader education, and language policies. In addition to funding from the US Department of Education, she has been funded by the Ford Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, and the WT Grant Foundation. She is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the NABE Journal of Research and Practice and serves on the Executive Board of the National Association for Bilingual Education. Dr. Coady has consulted for the US Department of Justice and the Office for Civil Rights for ML students and families.

Internationally, Dr. Coady has prepared educators in countries such as China, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Ireland, South Africa, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates. In 2021-22, she served as Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and Social Sciences at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, Poland, with the US Fulbright Commission. Her books include Connecting School and the Multilingual Home: Theory and Practice for Rural Educators (2019), The Coral Way Bilingual Program (2020), Why TESOL (6th ed., 2027, with E. W. Ariza), Early Language Learning Policies in the 21st Century (Ed., with S. Zein, 2021), and Educating Multilingual Students in Rural Schools: Illuminating Diversity in Rural Communities in the United States (with P. Golombek and N. Marichal). Her newest book is Teaching Rural Multilingual Learners: Four Educational Movements for Educators. Equity & Social Justice in Education Series (P. Gorski, Series Editor). Routledge.

Area(s) of Expertise

Multilingualism, bilingualism, rural education, rural Dual Language Immersion (rDLI), multiliteracy, critical place, ML teacher and leader education, ML family engagement.

Publications

• An Action Plan for Rural Multilingual Learner Education , (2026)
• Convergence of Teachers’ Instructional Practices and Perspectives on Translanguaging with English Learners , IAFOR Journal of Education (2026)
• Introduction , (2026)
• The First Movement , (2026)
• The Fourth Movement , (2026)
• The Second Movement , (2026)
• The Third Movement , (2026)
• Handling and loading market-ready turkeys – Focus groups exploring the perspectives of live haul crew workers in the turkey industry , Journal of Applied Poultry Research (2025)
• Trends influencing the future of rural education research in the United States , Handbook on Rural and Remote Education (2025)
• Why place matters in educational equity for rural Multilingual Learners: A call to action , American Educational Research Association (AERA) (2025)