Rita Brusca-Vega

Affiliation

National Association of Educational Translators and Interpreters of Spoken Languages

Biography

Rita is Professor Emerita at Purdue University Northwest and currently a board member and Course Coordinator for NAETISL. She began her teaching career serving students with mild and intense special education needs. She has worked as an inclusion consultant in addition to having over 30 years in higher education. Rita is a frequent presenter on special education and EL issues, a successful grant writer, and past director of multiple federally funded projects that have ranged from preparing bilingual and ESL teachers and paraprofessionals to become special educators to improving language access in schools. She is a former chair of the Illinois State Board of Education’s Joint Subcommittee on Bilingual Special Education and currently develops curriculum and coordinates professional development for NAETISL.