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Beyond Crises

Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities in Communities, Schools, and Classrooms

Foreword by Dan Alpert
A Joint Publication with Learning Forward

What are some lessons learned from the pandemic?

We learned that, in times of crises, the humanitarian needs of students, families, and ourselves must be a top priority.

We learned that forming effective partnerships with families and communities is essential to the health and well-being of our children.

We were offered a blunt reminder that a system designed to serve the interests of a privileged few was destined to fail our historically underserved students, especially our millions of multilingual learners.

Above all, we learned that the “normal” many of us have yearned for was never good enough—that we must envision a “better world,” where we build on our multilingual students’ unique assets and cultivate their inner brilliance. Only then will we deliver on their promise.

It’s this “better world,” a world in which communities, schools, and classrooms work together as a “whole-child ecosystem,” Beyond Crises: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities in Communities, Schools, and Classrooms sets out to create. Taking a look from the outside in, Debbie Zacarian, Margarita Calderón, and Margo Gottlieb address three critical arenas:

1. Imagining Communities describes how to design and enact strengths-based family and community partnerships, including the critical importance of identifying, valuing, and acknowledging each member’s assets and competencies, and the ways recent crises have amplified their struggles.

2. Imagining Schools takes an up-close look at policies, structures, and now irrelevant ways of schooling that call for change and how we might reconfigure professional development to ensure every teacher and administrator is dedicated to the well-being and success of our multilingual learners.

3. Imagining Classrooms demonstrates how to optimize learning opportunities—both virtual and face-to-face—so our diverse students grow cognitively, linguistically, and social-emotionally, and accentuate their talents in knowing and using multiple languages in linguistically and culturally sustainable environments.

“Student and family, classroom, school, and local community are not silos unto themselves,” Debbie, Margarita, and Margo insist. “They are part of a larger whole that is interrelated and interconnected and, even, interdependent on each other. By forming stronger alliances, we can realize the power of truly working, socializing, and flourishing together.” Beyond Crises is the first critical step forward.

Full description

Beyond Crises - Book Cover
Product Details
  • Grade Level: PreK-12
  • ISBN: 9781071844649
  • Published By: Corwin
  • Year: 2021
  • Page Count: 256
  • Publication date: February 24, 2021
Price: $35.95

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Author(s) Table of Contents Reviews

Description

What are some lessons learned from the pandemic?

We learned that, in times of crises, the humanitarian needs of students, families, and ourselves must be a top priority.

We learned that forming effective partnerships with families and communities is essential to the health and well-being of our children.

We were offered a blunt reminder that a system designed to serve the interests of a privileged few was destined to fail our historically underserved students, especially our millions of multilingual learners.

Above all, we learned that the “normal” many of us have yearned for was never good enough—that we must envision a “better world,” where we build on our multilingual students’ unique assets and cultivate their inner brilliance. Only then will we deliver on their promise.

It’s this “better world,” a world in which communities, schools, and classrooms work together as a “whole-child ecosystem,” Beyond Crises: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities in Communities, Schools, and Classrooms sets out to create. Taking a look from the outside in, Debbie Zacarian, Margarita Calderón, and Margo Gottlieb address three critical arenas:

1. Imagining Communities describes how to design and enact strengths-based family and community partnerships, including the critical importance of identifying, valuing, and acknowledging each member’s assets and competencies, and the ways recent crises have amplified their struggles.

2. Imagining Schools takes an up-close look at policies, structures, and now irrelevant ways of schooling that call for change and how we might reconfigure professional development to ensure every teacher and administrator is dedicated to the well-being and success of our multilingual learners.

3. Imagining Classrooms demonstrates how to optimize learning opportunities—both virtual and face-to-face—so our diverse students grow cognitively, linguistically, and social-emotionally, and accentuate their talents in knowing and using multiple languages in linguistically and culturally sustainable environments.

“Student and family, classroom, school, and local community are not silos unto themselves,” Debbie, Margarita, and Margo insist. “They are part of a larger whole that is interrelated and interconnected and, even, interdependent on each other. By forming stronger alliances, we can realize the power of truly working, socializing, and flourishing together.” Beyond Crises is the first critical step forward.

Author(s)

Debbie Zacarian

Dr. Debbie Zacarian, founder of Zacarian & Associates, provides professional development, strategic planning, and technical assistance for K-16 educators of culturally and linguistically diverse populations. She has served as an expert consultant for school districts, universities, associations, and organizations including the Massachusetts Parent Information Resource Center and Federation for Children with Special Needs.

Debbie has worked with numerous state and local education agencies and written the language assistance programming policies for many rural, suburban, and urban districts. Debbie served on the faculty of University of Massachusetts-Amherst where she co-wrote and was the co-principal investigator of a National Professional Development grant initiative supporting the professional preparation of educators of multilingual learners. Debbie also designed and taught courses for pre- and in-service administrators and teachers on culturally responsive teaching and supervision practices, multilingual development, and ethnographic research. In addition, she served as a program director at the Collaborative for Educational Services where she provided professional development for thousands of educators of multilingual students and partnered with Fitchburg State University in co-writing and enacting a National Professional Development initiative that supported STEM education. Debbie also directed the Amherst Public Schools bilingual and English learner programming where she and the district received state and national honors.

The author of more than 100 publications, her most recent professional books include: Beyond Crises: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities in Communities. Schools and Classrooms; Responsive Schooling for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students; Teaching to Empower: taking action to foster student agency, self-confidence, and collaboration; and Teaching to Strengths: Supporting Students living with Trauma, Violence and Chronic Stress.

Margarita Espino Calderon
Dr. Margarita Espino Calderón, born and raised in Juárez, is a Professor Emerita/Senior Research Scientist at Johns Hopkins University. Her research and development projects have been funded by the US Department of Education, National Institutes of Health, the US Department of Labor, The Carnegie Corporation of New York, and various State Offices of Education.

 One of her empirical studies “The Bilingual Cooperative Integrated Reading and Composition (BCIRC)” is featured in the What Works Clearinghouse. The Carnegie Corporation of New York funded her five-year study to develop Expediting Comprehension for English Language Learners (ExC-ELL) to train math, science, social studies, language arts, and ESL teachers on integrating language, reading, and content in core content middle and high school classrooms. With a Title III National Professional Development grant, she implemented “A Whole-School Approach to Professional Development with ExC-ELL” in Loudoun County, VA. She replicated this approach in 29 schools in TX and NC. She served on the National Literacy Panel for Language Minority Children and Youth, the Carnegie Corporation of New York Panel on English Language Adolescent Literacy Panel, among other panels and national committees. She has over 100 publications on language, literacy, and professional development.
In 2025, Margarita was inducted into the Multilingual Education Hall of Fame.

Margo Gottlieb

Margo Gottlieb, Ph.D., has been a bilingual teacher, coordinator, facilitator, consultant, and mentor across K-20 settings. Having worked with universities, organizations, governments, states, school districts, networks, and schools, Margo has co-constructed linguistic and culturally sustainable curriculum and reconceptualized classroom assessment, policy, and practice. As co-founder and lead developer of WIDA at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2003, Margo has helped design and contributed to all the editions of WIDA’s English and Spanish language development standards frameworks and their derivative products. She has been appointed to national and state advisory boards, served as a Fulbright Senior Scholar, and was honored by the TESOL International Association in 2016 for her significant contribution to the field. An avid traveler, Margo has enjoyed keynoting and presenting across the United States, territories, and 25 countries. Having authored, co-authored, or co-edited over 100 publications, including 22 books, Margo's 3rd edition of Assessing Multilingual Learners: Bridges to Empowerment (2024) and Collaborative Assessment for Multilingual Learners and Teachers: Pathways to Partnerships (with A. Honigsfeld, 2025) are the latest additions to her Corwin compendium.

In 2025, Margo was inducted into the Multilingual Education Hall of Fame.

Table of Contents

Dedication

Author's Acknowledgements

Foreword by Dan Alpert

Introduction

Part I: Imagining Communities

Chapter 1: Designing and Enacting Strengths-Based Communities

Chapter 2: Sustaining a Whole Child 'Ecosystem'

Chapter 3: Striving for Interdependent, Interconnected Communities

Part II: Imagining Schools

Chapter 4: Imagining Schools Beyond the Crises

Chapter 5: Sustaining Growth and Momentum

Chapter 6: Striving for Interdependence and Interconnections

Part III: Imagining Classrooms

Chapter 7: Designing and Enacting Classroom Change

Chapter 8: Sustaining Momentum and Growth in Classrooms

Chapter 9: Striving for Interconnections

References

Index

Reviews

Quote by Maria Dove, Professor, School of Education and Human Services, Molloy College and Author of “Collaborating for English Learners, Second Edition”: "This timely and unique volume from Zacarian, Calderón, and Gottlieb, three of the most renowned masters in the field of teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students, spotlights the critical need for collaborative relationships between communities, schools, and classrooms to engage in advocacy for equitable educational opportunities for all learners. It guides the reader through a journey of reflection by making connections to one’s own experiences with relationship building as well as identifying action steps to strengthen partnerships. It also invites the reader to imagine ways to be open to change and make things happen! This book is a must read for anyone who works with this special student population.”
"This timely and unique volume from Zacarian, Calderón, and Gottlieb, three of the most renowned masters in the field of teaching culturally and linguistically diverse students, spotlights the critical need for collaborative relationships between communities, schools, and classrooms to engage in advocacy for equitable educational opportunities for all learners. It guides the reader through a journey of reflection by making connections to one’s own experiences with relationship building as well as identifying action steps to strengthen partnerships. It also invites the reader to imagine ways to be open to change and make things happen! This book is a must read for anyone who works with this special student population.”
Maria Dove
Professor, School of Education and Human Services, Molloy College and Author of “Collaborating for English Learners, Second Edition”
Quote by Diane Fenner, President of SupportEd Consulting and author of "Unlocking English Learners' Potential": "Through witnessing the pandemic’s detrimental effects on English learners, I’m left grasping for a silver lining. I need to know how to make sense of what has happened, to learn from the challenges and heartbreak, and to thoughtfully move forward. Beyond Crises comes at just the right time. Through compelling student stories, anecdotes from fierce advocates, and spot-on reflection questions and tools, the authors guide us to reimagine education for ELs."
"Through witnessing the pandemic’s detrimental effects on English learners, I’m left grasping for a silver lining. I need to know how to make sense of what has happened, to learn from the challenges and heartbreak, and to thoughtfully move forward. Beyond Crises comes at just the right time. Through compelling student stories, anecdotes from fierce advocates, and spot-on reflection questions and tools, the authors guide us to reimagine education for ELs."
Diane Fenner
President of SupportEd Consulting and author of "Unlocking English Learners' Potential"
Quote by Andrea Honigsfeld, Associate Dean and Ed.D. Program Director, Molloy College and Author of “Collaborating for English Learners, Second Edition”: "Beyond Crises: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities in Communities, Schools, and Classrooms is just the resource administrators, instructional leaders, and educators in all walks of life need! This timely book by the powerful trio--Debbie Zacarian, Margarita Calderón, and Margo Gottlieb--is destined to pave the way for imagining and re-imagining our communities, schools, and classrooms in a post-crisis world. Their unapologetic call-for-action is to overturn racial, cultural and linguistic inequities—this book will show you how!"
"Beyond Crises: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities in Communities, Schools, and Classrooms is just the resource administrators, instructional leaders, and educators in all walks of life need! This timely book by the powerful trio--Debbie Zacarian, Margarita Calderón, and Margo Gottlieb--is destined to pave the way for imagining and re-imagining our communities, schools, and classrooms in a post-crisis world. Their unapologetic call-for-action is to overturn racial, cultural and linguistic inequities—this book will show you how!"
Andrea Honigsfeld
Associate Dean and Ed.D. Program Director, Molloy College and Author of “Collaborating for English Learners, Second Edition”
Quote by Shawn Slakk, CEO and Educational Consultant, ABCDSS Consulting Consortium: "What a superb and relevant discussion of how we as educators and servants can take our colleagues, our students and their families to the next level. Debbie, Margarita, and Margo have done a great job combining practical, critical practices, and partnerships with perfect examples of why we as educators do what we do. You’ll want to buy two, one for yourself and one to share."
"What a superb and relevant discussion of how we as educators and servants can take our colleagues, our students and their families to the next level. Debbie, Margarita, and Margo have done a great job combining practical, critical practices, and partnerships with perfect examples of why we as educators do what we do. You’ll want to buy two, one for yourself and one to share."
Shawn Slakk
CEO and Educational Consultant, ABCDSS Consulting Consortium
Quote by Ivannia Soto, Professor of Education, Whittier College and Author of "Shadowing Multilingual Learners": "By using voices from communities, schools, and classrooms, Beyond Crisis re-envisions how systems can move away from deficit-based paradigms. The practical and new ways of re-imagining presented in this book highlight and inspire a call to action that encourages strengths-based partnerships to acknowledge assets and competencies within systems. Beyond Crisis is a relevant and responsive book that motivates hope and empathy to address polarizing and chaotic times in our nation."
"By using voices from communities, schools, and classrooms, Beyond Crisis re-envisions how systems can move away from deficit-based paradigms. The practical and new ways of re-imagining presented in this book highlight and inspire a call to action that encourages strengths-based partnerships to acknowledge assets and competencies within systems. Beyond Crisis is a relevant and responsive book that motivates hope and empathy to address polarizing and chaotic times in our nation."
Ivannia Soto
Professor of Education, Whittier College and Author of "Shadowing Multilingual Learners"
Quote by Tonya Ward Singer, Consultant and author of "EL Excellence Everyday" and "Opening Doors to Equity": "Beyond Crisis is the humanizing, empowering book we need right now! Read it for a compelling vision and action steps to move beyond crisis and create the interconnected schools and communities our multilingual learners deserve."
"Beyond Crisis is the humanizing, empowering book we need right now! Read it for a compelling vision and action steps to move beyond crisis and create the interconnected schools and communities our multilingual learners deserve."
Tonya Ward Singer
Consultant and author of "EL Excellence Everyday" and "Opening Doors to Equity"
Price: $35.95

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