Barbara Marler

Affiliation

Marler Consulting & Advisory

Biography

Recently retired from work in Illinois public schools, Barbara Marler has 40+ years in bilingual/ESL education as a national-level consultant in ESL/Bilingual/Dual Language education, cabinet-level administrator, and K-8 teacher. In the 1990s, Dr. Marler conceptualized and supervised a separate-site Title VII Newcomer Program in the northwest suburbs of Chicago that served as a model for the state and the nation. As a result, she served as a liaison and advisor to the Illinois State Board of Education and Illinois public schools in the early 2000s on the topic of newcomers. More recently, Dr. Marler led her former district in the development of an overlay of newcomer services in response to a sudden influx and since retirement has been consulting with multiple districts and entities on the topic of newcomers and supportive infrastructures designed to meet their needs. A published author in MTSS & SPED for Multilingual Learners, Barbara has led multiple districts to create more culturally and linguistically responsive and relevant MTSS processes for multilingual learners, improving equity and reducing instances of both under- and over-representation in Special Education. Known for her ability to led both incremental and transformative change, Dr. Marler also specializes in the areas of ESL/Bilingual program design, manageable program evaluation protocols for TBE/TPI programming, and mentoring of new administrators in leadership roles within ESL/Bilingual/Dual Language education. Dr. Marler holds a doctorate in Educational Change Leadership and has licenses in the superintendency, general supervision, elementary education, and ESL.