Progress and Status of California's English Learners: Where We Are and Where We Need to Go 

Dion Burns

Dion Burns is a Senior Researcher at the Learning Policy Institute, where he conducts quantitative and qualitative research on issues of educator diversity, whole child education practices, and equitable resources and access. His recent research has included work relating to students experiencing homelessness, students in foster care, the educator workforce, and community schools. Before joining LPI, Burns was a Research Analyst at the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education, where his work included research into teaching quality, educator professional collaboration, and student-centered schools. He is a coauthor of the book Empowered Educators: How High-Performing Systems Shape Teaching Quality Around the World (Jossey-Bass). Burns has also worked in international education diplomacy with roles in Latin America and South Korea, in higher education policy in New Zealand, and as a teacher in Japan. He received a Master of Arts in International Comparative Education from Stanford University and a Master of International Relations from Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. He holds additional graduate- and undergraduate-level qualifications in mathematics, physics, and economics.

Linda Darling-Hammond 

Linda Darling-Hammond is the President and CEO of the Learning Policy Institute and the Charles E. Ducommun Professor of Education Emeritus at Stanford University, where she served as the faculty sponsor of the Stanford Teacher Education Program, which she helped to redesign. Darling-Hammond is past President of the American Educational Research Association and recipient of its awards for Distinguished Contributions to Research, Lifetime Achievement, and Research-to-Policy. She led the Obama education policy transition team in 2008 and the Biden education transition team in 2020. In 2022, Darling-Hammond received the Yidan Prize for Education Research in recognition of her work that has shaped education policy and practice around the most equitable and effective ways to teach and learn. Darling-Hammond started her career as a public high school teacher; has helped to found several schools; and has consulted widely with federal, state, and local policymakers and educators on strategies for improving education practices. She received an EdD from Temple University (with highest distinction) and a BA from Yale University (magna cum laude).

Martha Hernández

Martha Hernández is the Executive Director for Californians Together, a coalition of 25 statewide professional, parent, and civil rights organizations focused on improving schooling for English learners by promoting equitable educational policy. Her work focuses on biliteracy with an expansion of the California Seal of Biliteracy and the implementation of Proposition 58 and the California English Learner (EL) Roadmap. Hernández’s 42 years of public school experience includes serving as the Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services for the Fillmore Unified School District; as Curriculum Director for the Ventura County Office of Education; and as a district administrator, principal, staff developer, and bilingual and special education teacher in various districts. She has served on numerous state advisory committees, including the Instructional Quality Commission, the English Learner Progress Indicator Workgroup, and the EL Roadmap Advisory Committee. 

Anya Hurwitz

Anya Hurwitz is President and Executive Director of SEAL (Sobrato Early Academic Language), an educational nonprofit working to ensure all multilingual learners in California learn, thrive, and lead. She has a long-standing commitment to creating the conditions for public schools to center students’ assets and meet their diverse needs. Hurwitz has worked for over 25 years in education as a teacher, a school system administrator, and within the educational nonprofit sector. She spent the early part of her career in New York City, where she helped start a small secondary school in the Bronx and then joined the NYC Department of Education as a Network Leader for a diverse group of 24 schools, from preschool through early college. In 2010, she moved to Northern California and began working in the educational nonprofit sector supporting district and school leaders to plan and implement strategic reform efforts. Hurwitz joined the SEAL team as Deputy Director in 2014 and became Executive Director in 2017. She has a doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of California, Berkeley.

Jonathan Kaplan

Jonathan Kaplan is a Senior Policy Advisor and Researcher at the Learning Policy Institute. His work focuses on school funding and policy issues in California as well as research and policies to support multilingual learners. Before joining LPI, Kaplan conducted research on education and tax policy issues for 17 years as a Senior Policy Fellow with the California Budget & Policy Center. There, he authored various studies on educational policy and funding in California, including analyses of how state and federal policies impact public K–12 and postsecondary education and how California’s K–12 school funding compares to that in other states. Earlier in his career, Kaplan taught history and law for nearly a decade in California public high schools, where he supported the development of biliteracy for multilingual learners. Kaplan earned an MA in Education and a Bilingual, Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development (BCLAD) teaching credential from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a BA in History from Yale University.

Cindy Kazanis

Cindy Kazanis serves as the Director of Analysis, Measurement & Accountability Reporting Division at the California Department of Education (CDE), where she oversees the implementation of the California School Dashboard and DataQuest and directs the process for sharing education data with researchers. During her 2-decade tenure at the CDE, she has held various leadership positions and led the implementation of the student-level data system, transitioned the compliance monitoring process to a web-based system, and ensured California’s public schools had the necessary technology and bandwidth for computer-based testing. Kazanis holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from Syracuse University and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and History from George Washington University. She is the proud mother of two native Greek-speaking children. 

Efrain Mercado Jr.

Efrain Mercado Jr. is the Director of California Policy and Senior Policy Advisor at the Learning Policy Institute, where he leads LPI’s work related to policy issues in California and supports work on assessment and accountability issues at the federal level. Before joining LPI, Mercado was the Legislative Advocate and Liaison Coordinator for the California Teachers Association (CTA), advancing CTA’s priorities with state agencies and partner organizations and managing its legislative portfolio regarding credentials, professional development, assessment, and accountability. Prior to joining CTA, he was Director, Education at Children Now, where he led efforts around state policy decisions related to the System of Support, English learner issues, assessments, and accountability with the California Department of Education and State Board of Education. Mercado also previously served as the Senior Policy Director for the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association and supported the Common Core State Standards at the National Association for State Boards of Education and ASCD. He has a background and expertise in policy development, supporting educators, and developing partnerships to promote college and career readiness for all students. Mercado holds a BA in U.S. History from the University of California, Riverside.

Sarah Novicoff

Sarah Novicoff is a PhD candidate in Educational Policy and Economics of Education at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. Her research uses mixed methods to understand how state policy can improve the educational experiences of students from traditionally underserved backgrounds (e.g., English learners), with a specific focus on early literacy. Novicoff is a recipient of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Dissertation Grant and of the Stanford Graduate Fellowship, and has been named an Emerging Education Policy Scholar by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Her work has been published in the American Educational Research Journal and Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. Prior to graduate school, she was a 6th-grade social studies teacher in South Los Angeles. Novicoff holds an MA in Economics from Stanford University and a BA in History with honors from Brown University, where she graduated magna cum laude.

Heather Price

Heather Price is a Research Manager at the Learning Policy Institute. She has extensive research experience in the fields of sociology of education, education policy, and mixed methods research. Price publishes on domestic and international educational policy issues, from the teaching profession and school leadership to school climate and organization to school segregation and educational equity. Her recent book, The Fractured College Pipeline (Teachers College Press), shows the multiple structural barriers to college preparation programming that exacerbate educational inequities across American high school students. Price serves as the Chair to Questionnaire Expert Group for the OECD’s Teaching and Learning International Survey. She sits on the editorial board for the journals School Effectiveness and School Improvement and Studies in Educational Evaluation, and she reviews proposals for the National Science Foundation. Previously, Price held positions at the Institute for Racial Justice and Marian University and taught math and social studies in alternative middle schools in Milwaukee Public Schools. Price received a PhD in Sociology from the University of Notre Dame and an MA in Sociology, BA in Ethnic Studies, and BS in Secondary Education from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee.

Eduardo Reyes

Eduardo Reyes is the Superintendent of Chula Vista Elementary School District, the largest TK–6 school district in California. He is passionate about fostering a successful, challenging, and nurturing educational experience while promoting the joy and importance of learning for all children. Reyes began his career as a financial analyst before transitioning into education. He has spent 30 years in education, beginning as a teacher and serving as a site and district administrator for the past 25 years. Reyes has championed safe, inclusive, and supportive school environments for students, staff, and parents alike, and as an instructional leader, he has maintained a focus on student achievement, working collaboratively with stakeholders to help children realize and maximize their individual potential. Reyes earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, a master’s degree in Business Administration, an educational specialist degree in Education, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership. 

Francisco Romo

Francisco Romo is the Senior Director of Educational Services at Delhi Unified School District in Merced County, CA. He previously held multiple roles at the Merced County Office of Education, most recently as Director of Continuous Improvement. Romo also served as State & Federal Programs Coordinator and as Coordinator for English Learning Services at Merced County Office of Education. He also previously served as the Academic Services Director at the Golden Plains Unified School District in San Joaquin, CA. His journey brought him back to where he began his educational career: Delhi Unified, where he taught for 12 years and served as Associate Principal for 4 years. Romo attended California State University, Stanislaus, where he earned a BA in Liberal Studies; a Bilingual, Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development (BCLAD) authorization; and an MA in Educational Technology.

Karla Ruiz

Karla Ruiz serves as a Senior Program Officer with Sobrato Philanthropies’ English Learners Program, where she helps advance statewide, regional, and ecosystem grantmaking strategies to uplift and center multilingual students and families in local and statewide policy and systems-change efforts. In her work at Sobrato and other philanthropic institutions, she has worked to infuse family and community engagement, narrative change, and coalition and capacity-building as core to a systems-change approach. Ruiz holds a BA in Public Policy Analysis with a concentration in Sociology from Pomona College and a Master in Public Administration from the University of Southern California’s Sol Price School of Public Policy. As a multilingual learner born and raised in Los Angeles County to Salvadoran parents, she is a proud champion for multilingual learners across the state.

Patrick Shields

Patrick Shields is the Executive Director of the Learning Policy Institute. Shields brings to LPI more than 25 years of experience managing large-scale social science research projects. Prior to joining LPI, he was the Executive Director of SRI Education, where he also served as Research Director for Teaching and California’s Future, a 15-year initiative to track the quality of the teacher workforce, which contributed to legislation to ensure high-quality teaching for all of California’s students. Shields has also overseen many National Science Foundation- and foundation-supported studies of STEM opportunities for disadvantaged children, including serving as the co-principal investigator of the Science Activation Lab, a national research and design effort to dramatically strengthen learning. Shields received a PhD and an MA in Educational Policy from Stanford University, an MA in Educational Administration from Columbia University, and a BA in Romance Languages from Amherst College. He recently served on the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Strengthening Science Education through a Teacher Learning Continuum.

Ed Taylor

Ed Taylor is Principal at Delhi High School in the Delhi Unified School District in Merced County, CA. He has spent the past 25 years as an educator and administrator in the Central Valley, teaching 6th through 8th grades in Tracy, CA, for 12 years before becoming a school administrator at the elementary, middle, and high school levels. Taylor has worked in several districts throughout the Central Valley, including Tracy Unified, Jefferson, Stanislaus Union, Newman-Crows Landing Unified, and Stockton, before coming to work for Delhi Unified. He earned a BA in Speech Communication from California State University, Fresno, a Multiple Subject Teaching credential from San Joaquin Teachers College, and an MA in Educational Leadership from the University of the Pacific.