Laura Ascenzi-Moreno

(She/Her)

Professor of Bilingual Education & Bilingual Program Coordinator Brooklyn College

Dr. Ascenzi-Moreno, Professor of Bilingual Education & Bilingual Program Coordinator, is dedicated to the development of teachers able to work with diverse populations. She worked in a dual language, bilingual program as a teacher (K-2) and coach. Her research focuses on emergent bilinguals’ literacy development and equity.

Contact

718-591-5000 ext 3757

Positions

Professor, Childhood, Bilingual and Special Education, Brooklyn College
Bilingual Program Coordinator, Childhood, Bilingual and Special Educatin, Brooklyn College

Academic Interests

Translanguaging, Literacy, Bilingual Education, Teacher Education, Emergent Bilinguals, Reading, Writing, Elementary School, School Leadership, School Improvement, Assessment

Education

Ph.D. , CUNY Graduate Center – 2012 (Urban Education)

Program, Bank Street College of Education – 2004 (Bilingual ESL and Teacher Leadership Program)

M.A., Harvard Graduate School of Education – 1999 (Individualized Studies in Education)

B.A., Swarthmore College – 1994 (Anthropology and Education)

Publications

Peer Reviewed Articles:

Radke, S., Vogel, S., Hoadley, C., Ma, J & Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2022). Emergent bilingual middle schoolers’ syncretic reasoning in statistical modeling. Teachers College Record. Peer Reviewed Paper. https://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=24053

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2022). “Those books are not mirror books to me:” Learning from children about how to do identity through reading in a dual language bilingual classroom. Journal of Children’s Literature. Acceptance Rate: 8%

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. & Seltzer, K. (2021). “Always at the bottom:” Uncovering raciolinguistic ideologies in the assessment of emergent bilinguals as readers. Journal of Literacy Research, 53(4), 488-490 Acceptance Rate: 8%

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. & Quiñones, R. (2020). Bringing bilingualism to the center of guided reading instruction. The Reading Teacher, 74(2), 137– 146. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1922. Acceptance Rate: 20%

Ascenzi-Moreno, L., Güilamo, A., & Vogel, S. (2020). Integrating coding and language arts: A view into sixth graders’ multimodal and multilingual learning. Voices from the Middle. 27(4), 47-52.

Vogel, S., Hoadley, C., Castillo, A., & Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2020). Languages, literacies, and literate programming: Can we use the latest theories on how bilingual people learn to help us teach computational literacies? doi: 10.1080/08993408.2020.1751525

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. & Vogel, S. (2019). Pushing the field and practice: Ofelia García’s reflective and responsive approach to educational innovation. Journal of Multilingual Education Research, 9(16). 

Vogel, S. & Hoadley, C., Ascenzi-Moreno, L. & Menken, K. (2019). The Role of Translanguaging in Computational Literacies: Documenting Middle School Bilinguals’ Practices in Computer Science Integrated Units. In Proceedings of ACM SIG Computer Science Education (SIGCSE’19). Minneapolis, Minnesota. 1164-1170. 

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (July 2018) Emergent bilingual readers through the lens of possibility: A translanguaging perspective on formative reading assessment.  Language Arts Journal, 95(6), 355-68.

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. & Espinosa, C.M. (2018). “Opening Up Spaces for their Whole Selves:” A Study Group’s Exploration of Translanguaging Practices in Writing.  New York State TESOL Journal. 

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2017). From deficit to diversity: How teachers of recently-arrived emergent bilinguals negotiate ideological and pedagogical change.  Schools: Studies in Education.

Ascenzi-Moreno, L.  (2016). An exploration of elementary teachers’ views of informal reading inventories in dual language bilingual programs.  Literacy Research and Instruction, Published on-line May 4, 2016.  DOI: 10.1080/19388071.2016.1165318

Ascenzi-Moreno, Hesson, S., & Menken, K.  (2016).  School leadership along the trajectory from monolingual to multilingual. Language and Education, 30(3). DOI: 10.1080/09500782.2015.1093499

Ascenzi-Moreno, L., Espinosa, C., Ferholt, S., Loeb, M., Lugo-Salcedo, B. & Traugh, C. (May 2008). Learning about literacies from descriptive inquiry:  The Cypress Hills Community School Study Group” Language Arts Journal, 85 (5), 392-400.  

Books:

Espinosa, C., & Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2021) Rooted in Strength: Using Translanguaging to Grow Multilingual Readers & Writers. New York: Scholastic.

Invited Chapters:

Vacca, R., Ascenzi-Moreno, L., Vogel, S., & Hoadley, C. (2023). Translanguaging with middle grade emergent bilinguals in computer science: Participants’ perceptions of co-design. Peer-reviewed chapter in (Re)imagining the Future of Translanguaging Pedagogies in Classrooms through Teacher-Researcher Collaboration. Ed. Carey-Shepard & Tian. Peer Reviewed Book Chapter. 

Ascenzi-Moreno, L., Espinosa, C., & Lehner-Quam, A. (2022). Move, Play, Language: 

A Translanguaged Multimodal Approach to Literacies with Young Emergent Bilinguals.  In Multimodal Literacies for Young Emergent Bilinguals: Speaking Back to Print-Centric Practices. Ed. Sally Brown & Ling Hao.

Espinosa, C., Ascenzi-Moreno, L. Kleyn, T., & Sanchez, M. (2020). Transforming teacher education at CUNY. In Multilingual Students, Translanguaging and CUNY NYSIEB, ed. City University of New York New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals Team. 

Espinosa, C., Ascenzi-Moreno, L., Vogel, S. (2020). Building on strengths: Translanguaging and writing. In Multilingual Students, Translanguaging and CUNY NYSIEB, ed. City University of New York New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals Team. 

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2020). Leveraging the ‘learning edge’: Translanguaging, teacher agency, and assessing emergent bilinguals’ reading. In Multilingual Students, Translanguaging and CUNY NYSIEB, ed. City University of New York New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals Team.

Seltzer, K., Ascenzi-Moreno, L. & Aponte, G.  (2020). Translanguaging and early childhood education: Insights from the CUNY-NYSIEB project. In Inclusion, Education, and Translanguaging: How to Promote Social Justice in (Teacher) Education.  Ed. Jenna Strzykala.

Vogel, S., Ascenzi-Moreno, L., and García, O.  (2018) An expanded view of translanguaging:  Leveraging the dynamic interactions between a young multilingual writer and machine translation software.  Book: “Pluralism for Contexts.”

García, O. and Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2016).   “Assessment in school from a translanguaging angle.” Gegenwärtige Sprachkontakte im Kontext der Migration. Eds. R. Bekcert, J. Luth, S. Ptashnyk, P. Wolf Farré and M. Wolny. Heidelberg, Germany: Winter Verlag. 

 

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2015).  “How Can We Make Meaning of Content Assessment Data Generated by the Common Core State Standards and Use It to Inform and Improve Instruction?”  In Eds. G. Valdez, K. Menken and M. Castro. Common Core and ELLs/Emergent Bilinguals: A Guide for All Educators. Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing. 

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (October 2014).  Review of Educating English Language Learners in an Inclusive Environment.  Patricia Hinchey and Youb Kim.  Education Review.

 

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2014).  “What strategies will help administration and staff cope with conflict in diverse environments?”  In Nemeth, K. (Ed) Young Dual Language Learners:  A Guide for PreK-3 Leaders. Philadelphia: Carlson Publishing.

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2014).  “What kinds of data are needed to track and plan for ELLs PreK-3?”  In Nemeth, K. (Ed) Young Dual Language Learners:  A Guide for PreK-3 Leaders. Philadelphia: Carlson Publishing.

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. & Flores, N. (2012).  A Case Study of Bilingual Policy & Practices at the Cypress Hills Community School.  In García, O., Octu, B., & Zakharia, Z. (Eds). Bilingual Community Education & Multilingualism.  Bristol, UK:  Multilingual Matters.

Curriculum Guides:

Espinosa, C., Ascenzi-Moreno, L., & Vogel, S. (2016).  A Translanguaging Pedagogy for Writing: A CUNY NYSIEB Guide for Educators.  

Ascenzi-Moreno, L., Kleyn, T., & Menken, K. (2013).  CUNY-NYSIEB Framework for the Education of Long Term English Language Learners: 4-12.  New York: CUNY-NYSIEB.

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. & García, O.  (2012).  “How to Use This Translanguaging Guide:  The Collaborative Descriptive Inquiry Process.”  In Celic, C. & Seltzer, K. Translanguaging:  A CUNY-NYSIEB Guide for Educators.  New York: CUNY-NYSIEB.  

Blog Posts & Media:

Espinosa, C.M. & Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2022). Translanguaging: Inviting the whole child into the classroom. Ethical Schools Podcast. https://ethicalschools.org/about-us-2-3/

Espinosa, C.M. & Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (May 27, 2022). What is the one best thing a principal can do to support his/her teachers, and why is what you are suggesting so important? Ed Week’s Classroom Q & A. Blog Post.

 

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2022). Responsive adaptations: Equity in the assessment of emergent bilinguals. Literacy Today, 39(3), 14-15. 

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (September 13, 2021). Book review of, “Playing with Language” by Dr. Marcy Zipke. In Teachers’ College Record. https://www.tcrecord.org/Content.asp?ContentId=23841

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. (2021). Language ideologies and practices in classroom reading assessment. New York State TESOL Blog. https://nystesol.org/nys_tesol_blog.php 

Ascenzi-Moreno, L. & Espinosa, C.M. (June 28, 2021). What is the single most effective instructional strategy you have used to teach English Language Leaners? Ed Week’s Classroom Q&A. 

https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-four-educator-recommended-approaches-for-teaching-english-language-learners/2021/06 

Contact:

lascenzimoreno@brooklyn.cuny.edu