Elsa Cardenas-Hagan

Affiliation

Valley Speech Language and Learning Center

Biography

Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan is a bilingual speech and language pathologist, certified teacher, certified dyslexia specialist, certified academic language therapist and a qualified instructor. Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan is the President of the Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Brownsville, Texas and a research associate with the Texas Institute for Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics at the University of Houston. Elsa has spent the last 25 years working in national research projects sponsored by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, the Institute of Education Sciences, a research arm of the United States Department of Education and the Office of Special Education Programs. Each national project was related to the development of language and literacy skills among multilingual learners. Elsa has also worked with teams of researchers to address multitiered system of supports for English learners. Literacy briefs and resources from the project are provided online at no cost. Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan is currently the Chairperson of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities, a Past-Vice- Chairperson of the International Dyslexia Association. She has also served as a board member of the Academic Language Therapy Association, Southwest Regional Education Laboratory and Texas Comprehensive Center at the American Institutes for Research. Elsa has written many scholarly articles, curricular programs, and book chapters related to the oracy and literacy development among multilingual learners.