Gladys Yacely Aponte

Gladys Yacely Aponte, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Scholar
Children's Equity Project, Arizona State University

Gladys’s work and research focus on examining and disrupting racist colonial ideologies that shape the schooling experiences of emergent bilingual children. She recently earned a PhD in Urban Education from The Graduate Center, City University of New York (CUNY). She also holds a master’s degree in childhood bilingual and special education from Bank Street Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in childhood education from CUNY Hunter College. Her dissertation, which was supported by the National Academy of Education/Spencer and The Dominican Studies Institute, examined how fourth grade dual language bilingual children navigate the raciolinguistic stigmatization of Kiskeyanxs. Her commitment to advancing the educational experiences of linguistically marginalized students stems from her personal experience as the daughter of immigrants from Kiskeya and a former “English Language Learner” in New York City public schools. Prior to pursuing a doctoral degree, Gladys was a dual language bilingual teacher in New York City public schools. Her lens has also been shaped by her close work with teachers of multilingual students in her previous roles as a research assistant with the CUNY-New York State Initiative on Emergent Bilinguals (CUNY-NYSIEB), an induction mentor at Columbia’s Teachers College, and an instructor and advisor in the TESOL and Bilingual Education programs at CUNY City College and Bank Street Graduate School of Education.