Christina Hernandez

Affiliation

IDEA Public Schools

Biography

Christina Gómez Hernández, Ph.D., is a first-generation college graduate, an emergent bilingual, and a self-identified XicanA. I passionately advocate for dual language education and Mexican American Studies (MAS). With 25 years of experience in bilingual/ESL education, my roles have included serving as a one-way dual language teacher, campus instructional coach, Emergent Bilingual (EB) coach, specialist, and coordinator. I earned my doctorate in Educational and Community Leadership from Texas State University. My dissertation, titled "The Gibbous and Crescent of la Luna: Emergent Bilingual Educator Experiences in the K-12 Public School System as Student and Educator," focused on the experiences of emergent bilinguals in public schooling as students and as dual language educators. My dissertation allowed me to be awarded the NACCS Tejas Foco 2024 Dissertation Award and the 2024 TABE Outstanding Dissertation Award First Place for my research.