Laura Alvarez

Dr. Laura Alvarez is an Assistant Professor of Teacher Education and Bilingual Education at Saint Mary’s College of California’s Kalmanovitz School of Education. With 20 years of experience as an elementary/middle school teacher, researcher, and teacher educator, her work focuses on multilingual students’ language/literacy development in disciplinary contexts. She co-managed the NSF-funded Stanford Integrated Science and Language Project (2019-2023), developing inquiry-based science curricula for language development.

• Education: PhD in Educational Linguistics (Stanford University), MA in Education (Mills College)

Her research emphasizes immigrant youth education, bilingual program efficacy, and science education for multilingual learners. She has published extensively in journals/conferences and authored/co-authored two books on newcomer students and Latino language learners.

No scientific awards explicitly listed. However, her NSF project highlights significant grant activity. Advising experience includes mentoring pre-service teachers through Saint Mary’s Teacher Education programs. She collaborates with Stanford University researchers and maintains ties to Oakland Unified School District classrooms.