Julie Coppola

Assistant Professor of Education
BA, University of Massachusets, Amherst; MS, Georgetown University; EdD, Boston University

Dr. Coppola is Assistant Professor of Education at Boston University where she teaches courses in first- and second-language and literacy development, and coordinates the teacher education programs in bilingual education, teaching English as a Second Language (ESL), and modern foreign language education. Dr. Coppola researches literacy teaching and learning in urban low-income settings with a particular focus on English Language Learners (ELLs). She has conducted extensive site-based professional development programs in language and literacy instruction for communities with large numbers of ELLs, and she has served as a consultant in the development of English proficiency assessments in several states. Dr. Coppola has presented her research on training teachers for linguistically and culturally diverse classrooms and on second language literacy development at state and national conferences. Her work on collaborations between ESL and general education classroom teachers and improving literacy instruction for ELLs has appeared in several books, book chapters, and journal articles. She is past-president of the Massachusetts Association of College and University Reading Educators, and she served on the International Reading Association’s Multilingual Classroom Committee and the Second Language Literacy and Learning Commission. A former classroom teacher, ESL program director, and director of a nationally recognized college awareness program for Latino students, Dr. Coppola currently serves as a member of the IRA’s Language Diversity Committee.