Sustaining EL success through teacher leaders with Dr. Michelle Benegas

About this episode

Dr. Michelle Benegas discusses building sustainable support systems for English learners through empowered teacher leaders.

In this episode of Highest Aspirations, Sandra Medrano-Arroyo speaks with Dr. Michelle Benegas about building sustainable, schoolwide support for ELs. Michelle shares insights on empowering teacher leaders, creating effective infrastructure for multilingual learner programs, and strategies for strengthening both direct and indirect support. Listeners will learn how to foster collaborative, capacity-driven approaches that help educators expand their impact and ensure lasting success for all ELs. Key questions we address: 1. How can schools build sustainable, schoolwide systems to support ELs beyond individual classrooms? 2. What role do teacher leaders play in strengthening EL programs and educator capacity? 3. How can schools ensure effective support for ELs across direct, integrated, and indirect learning environments? For additional episode and community resources: Download the transcript here . Order Dr. Benegas’ book Language of Identity, Language of Access Visit T⁠ ESOL’swebsite Register for IMPACT 2025 ! Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, The Community Brief For additional free resources geared toward supporting English learners, ⁠visit our blog . Michelle Benegas, Ph.D…

People in this episode

Host: Sandra Medrano-Arroyo

Guest: Dr. Michelle Benegas

Topics covered

• English learners
• teacher leadership
• multilingual learner programs
• sustainable support
• collaborative approaches

Keywords

• EL success
• teacher leaders
• schoolwide support
• educator capacity
• multilingual learners

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: TESOL International Association, Hamline University

Books & works: Language of Identity, Language of Access

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