Ryan W. Pontier

A former 2nd and 3rd grade dual language teacher in Texas and Florida, Dr. Ryan Pontier is Associate Professor of Bilingual Education and TESOL. His research works toward equitable education for emergent bilingual students with foci including teachers’ instructional practices in support of bi/multilingual students, teachers’ language ideologies, and teacher preparation. Dr. Pontier serves as Principal Investigator for a 5-year $2.5M National Professional Development Grant from the Office of English Language Acquisition in the U.S. Department of Education. Creating Translanguaging Classrooms (TLC) trains PreK-2nd grade general education teachers and paraprofessionals in Miami-Dade and Broward County Public Schools to create and sustain multilingual learning environments and pedagogies. Dr. Pontier is also co-Principal Investigator for Project Supporting Educators Educating Diverse Students (SEEDS), a 4-year $1.55M Augustus F. Hawkins Centers of Excellence Program grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Project SEEDS supports the creation of a teacher residency-like model that recruits, trains, and sustains diverse teacher candidates and paraprofessionals to work in hard-to-staff Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Previously, Dr. Pontier won a Spencer Foundation Conference Grant to realize the Conference on Emerging Hispanic-Serving School Districts, which served as an opportunity to bring together a diverse group of school-based professionals.