Sonia Soltero

Sonia Soltero has over 35 years in the field of dual language bilingual education. She began her career as a dual language teacher in both Tucson Unified School District serving the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, and in Chicago Public Schools, also serving as a dual language program coordinator in both districts. She is professor of Multilingual-Multicultural Education and former chair of the Department of Leadership, Language, and Curriculum, serving for over a decade, as well as director of the Bilingual-Bicultural Education Graduate Program.

Soltero’s scholarly work focuses on dual language bilingual education, biliteracy, and Latino education. Her publications, published in English, Spanish, and French, include numerous articles, book chapters, research briefs, and three books: Dual Language Education: Program Design and Implementation, School-Wide Approaches to Educating English Language Learners, and Dual Language: Teaching and Learning in Two Languages.

Soltero is co-founder and current co-chair of the English Learners Advocacy Council in Higher Education (ELACHE), Board member of Advance Illinois, and member of the National Committee on Effective Literacy and of the Illinois chapter. She has been appointed to numerous state, national, and international commissions and advisory councils and has collaborated with over 100 schools and 40 school districts, as well as governmental education agencies across the United States and internationally.

Education

• PhD, Bilingual Education and Literacy, University of Arizona

Courses Taught

• BBE 402 Designing Language Programs
• BBE 406/316 Sociopolitical & Historical Perspectives in Bilingual Education
• BBE 425/325 Biliteracy Practices in Bilingual Education and ESL
• BBE 466/366 First and Second Language Acquisition
• BBE 524/324 Methods of Teaching ESL
• BBE 530/330 Latinos and Education
• BBE 404 Child Rearing Across Cultures
• T&L 412 Emergent Reading and Language Arts
• T&L 413 Reading and Language Arts in the Middle Grades
• LSE 258 Education and Social Justice

Research Interests

• Dual language and bilingual education; Latino education; Language policy

Selected Publications

• Soltero, S. (2023). A framework for success: Dual language education building blocks. In J.A. Freire, C. Alfaro, & E.J. de Jong (Eds.) The handbook of dual language bilingual education. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
• Herrera, S., Martinez, M., Olsen, L., & Soltero, S. (2022). Early literacy development and instruction for dual language learners in early childhood education. National Committee for Effective Literacy for Emergent Bilingual Students.
• Soltero, S. (2018). Enseignement supérieur réciproque: Immersion bilingual basée sur le contenu au niveau post-secondaire. Dans H. Knoerr, A. Weinberg & C. Buchanan (Dir.) Enjeux actuels de l’immersion universitaire. Presses de l’Université d’Ottawa.
• Soltero, S. W. (2016). Dual language education: Program design and implementation. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
• Soltero, S. & Soltero, J. (2014). Deserción escolar y apoyo a la educación bilingüe entre los mexicanos de Chicago. In C. Leco, M. A. Beltrán-Vocal, T. Martínez Ruiz, and J. Lazú (Eds.) Latin@/American images: Transnational identities. Imágines Latinas y Latinoamericanas: Identidades transnacionales. Universidad Michoacana de San Nicolás de Hidalgo y Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México.
• Soltero, S. W., & Soltero, J. (2017). Citizenship, language, education and poverty among Mexican migrants in Chicago. Ciudadanía, idioma, educación y pobreza entre los migrantes mexicanos en Chicago. CIMEXUS: Revista de Investigaciones.
• Soltero, S. (2018). Dual language higher education: Post-secondary discipline-based bilingual immersion. In H. Knoerr, A. Weinberg & C. Buchanan (Eds.) Current issues in University-level immersion. University of Ottawa Press.
• Soltero, S. W., Garibay-Mulattieri, K. & Vonderlack-Navarro, R. (2019). What every school leader needs to know about English Learners. Illinois School Board Journal.

Professional Organizations

• Board Member - National Association for Bilingual Education Executive Board of Directors
• Board Member - Advance Illinois
• Co-Founder and Co-Chair - English Language Advocacy Council in Higher Education (ELACHE)
• Member - Illinois Early Learning Council, Committee on Linguistic and Cultural Diversity