Karen Beeman, M.Ed.

Co-Founder, Center for Teaching for Biliteracy

Karen Beeman is an education consultant who specializes in biliteracy and bilingual education. Beeman has worked as a classroom teacher, principal of a dual language school in Chicago, consultant with the Illinois Resource Center, and professor at the University of Illinois–Chicago and National Louis University. Biliteracy, how to teach children to read and write in two languages at the same time, is the area that has most captured her passion and is the focus of her work. As a professional developer Beeman works at the national level, providing training for teachers, principals, and other constituents. A simultaneous bilingual born and raised in Mexico City, she is co-author, with Cheryl Urow, of Teaching for Biliteracy: Strengthening Bridges between Languages and co-founder of the Center for Teaching for Biliteracy, an online forum for supporting and connecting educators who teach for biliteracy.

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Cheryl Urow, M.Ed.

Co-Founder, Center for Teaching for Biliteracy

Cheryl Urow began her career as an educator in rural Costa Rica and later in the United States as an inner-city dual-language teacher. Since then she has had the opportunity to provide professional development across the country for schools, districts, and other organizations supporting the education of English language learners. More recently, Urow has focused her professional work on areas related to biliteracy development—the strategic use of languages in bilingual, two-way immersion, one-way immersion and dual language classrooms; authentic strategies for Spanish literacy instruction; and the Bridge between languages. Urow is a sequential bilingual who learned Spanish while serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica. She is co-author, with Karen Beeman, of Teaching for Biliteracy: Strengthening Bridges between Languages and co-founder of the Center for Teaching for Biliteracy, an online forum for supporting and connecting educators who teach for biliteracy.