Karen D. Thompson

I research how curriculum and instruction, teacher education, and policy interact to shape the classroom experiences of multilingual students in K-12 U.S. schools. I frequently collaborate with education agencies in researcher-practitioner partnerships to analyze longitudinal data about multilingual students in novel ways that inform policy and practice. I also lead a variety of projects focused on preparing teachers to effectively educate multilingual students. My work has been supported by the U.S. Department of Education, the Spencer Foundation, and the Central Valley Foundation. Before entering academia, I spent more than a decade working in public schools as a bilingual teacher, after-school program coordinator, and school reform consultant.