Summer Institute 2008: ESL and Literacy
June 26 - 28, 2008

Heide Spruck Wrigley

Heide is Senior Researcher for Language, Literacy and Learning with LiteracyWork International, a small independent social science research firm based in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Her adult ESL research includes a five-year U.S. study on “What Works for Adult ESL Literacy Students” and the U.S. National English Literacy Demonstration Program for Adults with Limited English Proficiency, a qualitative study that focused on promising practices in 7 successful programs.  She is currently a fellow with the Center for Immigrant Integration Policy, a non-partisan, foundation funded think tank in Washington, D.C.  She has examined many aspects of adult ESL literacy, including family literacy, pre-employment and workplace literacy, and the integration of technology into literacy teaching.

Heide has also directed a number of related projects. She carried out a study focused on language and employment for low literate adults on the U.S. - Mexico border for the Department of Labor and was research director for a 4-year Canadian National Demonstration Project on Youth Literacy, funded by the Literacy Secretariat of Canada. 

Her international experience includes teacher training in China, evaluations for the Peace Corps in Poland, and an evaluation of EFL teacher training in Egypt. She holds European citizenship and is associated with LESLLA, an international organization of researchers whose work focuses on the second language acquisition of adults who’ve had few educational opportunities in their home countries.

Heide has written books and reports and given numerous key notes at international conferences worldwide, including in Beijing, Vancouver, London, Dublin, and Auckland,.  She holds a Ph.D. in Education with a specialization in language, literacy, and learning, and a Master’s Degree in Applied Linguistics.

View Helen Casey's bio.

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