Vivian Felicio received her B.A. in Portuguese and English Languages and literature from the University of Sagrado Coração (USC) São Paulo, Brazil, and her M.A. in Teaching English as a Second Language (MATESL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). Currently, she is a Ph.D. student in the College of Education at University of Illinois in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction. Through her work as a research assistant, Ms. Felicio worked on the Improving Bilingual and ESL Education grant funded by the United States Department of Education. In this role, she participated in professional staff development projects at local elementary and middle schools and the infusion of instructional methods for linguistically diverse students into content area curriculum. Ms. Felicio was also a teaching assistant for CI 415, a course designed for pre-service teachers enrolled in the elementary teacher education program. The course focused on issues related to appropriate educational programs and pedagogical techniques for linguistically and culturally diverse students.