Teachers lead the way at the 2024 WIDA Annual Conference

By Hannah Haynes

The WIDA Annual Conference is truly a conference by teachers, for teachers. The 2024 WIDA Annual Conference had nearly 200 presenters and about 75% of conference sessions were facilitated by educators or administrators. More than 1,000 people joined virtually and 1,500 joined in person in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as we gathered for a week of learning, growth and camaraderie.

This was the 11th year of the WIDA Annual Conference. And we had educators from 45 states and territories in attendance! Some teachers have been along for the ride since the beginning, like Maggie Churchill who joined us for her 10th year as a WIDA presenter.

#WIDA2024 marks Maggie Churchill’s 10th year presenting at the WIDA Annual Conference! 🎉 pic.twitter.com/4xLCaum2DP

— WIDA™ (@WIDA_UW) October 17, 2024

“Before we started this conference, I heard from educators out in the field that they wished there was a conference that specifically focused on multilingual learners in PreK-12,” Tim Boals, WIDA founder and director, said as he opened the keynote session. “Now, here we are gathered for the 11th year of a conference that does just that!”

Tangible takeaways

This year’s conference was full of resources, advice and instructional practices for teachers to take back to the classroom.  

One session, “How and Why We Stay: Ingredients for ML Teacher Longevity,” featured two long-time educators, Catriona Moore and Kathryn Gimse, looking back on their careers to find their throughlines for professional resiliency.

They proposed three “ingredients” to their longevity: classroom projects that generate joy and engagement, relationships and connections, and unexpected learning experiences. Catriona and Kathryn argued that these elements come together to create meaningfulness in a career.

During the "Putting the Advancing ALTELLA Toolkit into Practice!" workshop, Madison Leech, Laurene Christensen and Vitaliy Shyyan gave practical advice on how to use Advancing ALTELLA and WIDA resources to support multilingual learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

"This session alone made the entire WIDA Annual Conference worth it," a workshop attendee said.

Leech, who is a school administrator and longtime Advancing ALTELLA expert, showed attendees how to combine elements of the Advancing ALTELLA Toolkit No. 1, the brand-new Advancing ALTELLA Objective Focus Sheet and the WIDA Alternate Proficiency Level Descriptors and Alternate Can Do Descriptors to create and scaffold a lesson plan for multilingual learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities.

Quiara Alegría Hudes’ keynote shows how language is at the center of all we do

The week kicked off with high energy as attendees heard from this year’s keynote speaker, Quiara Alegría Hudes. She is the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of "Water by the Spoonful," author of the memoir “My Broken Language” and screenwriter for the major motion picture “In the Heights.” Quiara grew up in a multilingual home where language “lit [her] up as a child.”

Quiara shared her journey, which was beautifully aligned with the theme of this year’s conference, Bridging cultures, empowering multilingual voices.

“No one in my family spoke the same level of English or Spanish,” she said. “There were other languages that bridged those gaps, like body language.”

Quiara started and ended her speech with a passage from “My Broken Language.” Some of these passages explored her adolescence in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where language, culture and community shaped who she is today.

“If you are fluent in a language, then there is a place where you belong,” she said.

Quiara Alegría Hudes thank you for sharing your journey with language with us. Language is such a personal journey and we need to remember that language represents our family and who we are. We can honor and should honor language. #WIDA2024 pic.twitter.com/znIyQbt1dI

— Laura (Mrs. Heneghan, M.Ed.) (@llmhlaura) October 16, 2024

Quiara dove into pivotal moments of her career. She discussed the creation of “In the Heights,” from writing the book of the musical to being on set during the creation of the film. She spoke about her family and how language is “the best sandbox in the world.” It’s a place she loves to play.

First ever virtual keynote

For the first time, over 1,000 people joined us online and heard a unique keynote just for virtual attendees. The speaker, Jo Napolitano, has spent nearly two decades reporting for the New York Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday.

She shared her and her family’s story, and the impact education had on her.

“Education catapulted me, in just one generation, from one of the lowest castes in the world to the American middle class,” Jo said.

Jo, an immigrant herself, was born in Bogota, Colombia, and was adopted by a blue-collar family in New York. She’s now a reporter at The 74 and has written extensively about refugees and immigrants. She shared some of this reporting in her keynote, including an article on displaced people from Ukraine published in The Guardian and the investigative story “Hundreds of U.S. High Schools Wrongfully Refused Entry to Older, Immigrant Student” in The 74.

Through her own story and the stories she’s helped tell of immigrants and refugees, Jo painted an inspiring picture of the power of education and the importance of advocating for students.

“We need to assume greatness in the kids that come to this country looking for our help,” Jo said. “We need to assume they have talents and help them grow them.”

Closing session and inspiration to take home

The 2024 WIDA Annual Conference closed with two special guest speakers, Trish Morita-Mullaney and Edward Steinman, on the fight for bilingual education in the U.S. They walked attendees through the history of Lau v. Nichols, which affirmed that multilingual students have a right to meaningful participation in educational programs. Edward argued the case in front of the Supreme Court of the United States and Trish wrote a book about it.

Knowing this history is essential. Trish and Edward’s passion for multilingualism and multilingual education was palpable and an inspiring way to wrap up what WIDA hopes was an uplifting week for all who joined us.

Save the date!

We're headed to Seattle, Washington, for the 2025 WIDA Annual Conference and we hope to see you there! Next year’s conference will inspire and energize with the theme Igniting innovation for multilingual learners. So, save the dates: October 27-30, 2025! A curated virtual track will also be available. Watch your email and social media for more details in the coming months.

Submit your #WIDA2025 session proposal

Become a #WIDA2025 presenter and share your expertise with other educators. The window to submit a #WIDA2025 concurrent session and workshop proposal opens on November 18, 2024. Start brainstorming today and check the #WIDA2025 website in November for more info. All proposals are due January 21, 2025.