Dora Díaz-Albarran is a Ph.D. candidate in Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Texas at Austin, focusing on bilingual/bicultural education. She has over 15 years of experience in bilingual education as a teacher and assistant principal in the Austin area. As a former dual language educator, her research interests include teacher preparation, family engagement, communities funds of knowledge, and critical theories and literacies in K12 settings. She advocates for rigorous, high-quality instruction that is culturally and linguistically relevant. Díaz is committed to empowering students and families through inclusive practices that honor their lived experiences, languages, and cultural identities.
Sylvia Celedón-Pattichis (Supervisor)Focuses on language and cultural influences on teaching and learning mathematics, particularly equity issues involving Latinx students mathematical thinking, the simultaneous learning of English as a second language and math and preparing teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students.
Luis Urrieta (Committee Member)Follows trends around cultural and racial identities, agency, migration, and social movements in education.
Paty Abril-Gonzalez (Committee Member)Studies long-term relationships with Latinx bilingual students and teachers using arts-based biliteracy approaches to affirm and amplify silenced perspectives, build connections, and develop bilingualism and biculturalism.
This Story Matters Teacher Corps Author, This Story Matters Teacher Corps Cohort, National Council for Teachers of English(2024)
Invited Cohort Member, Task Force on Teaching Current Events within ELA Contexts, National Council for Teachers of English(2024)
Elementary Leadership Cohort Invited Founding Member, Classroom Corridors, National Council for Teachers of English(2024 - Present)
Graduate Student Advisory Council Member, Graduate Student Advisory Council, The University of Texas at Austin(2024 - Present)
Proposal Coach, National Council for Teachers of English Conference Proposals, National Council for Teachers of English(2024)
Proposal Reviewer, National Council for Teachers of English Conference Proposals, National Council for Teachers of English(2024)
McNair Scholar Mentor - University of Texas, McNair Scholars, The University of Texas at Austin(2024 - 2025)
Díaz, D. (2025). Biliterate writing from the start: The literacy squared approach to asset-based writing instruction, by Butvilofsky, Sandra, Kathy Escamilla and Susan Hopewell. Bilingual Research Journal. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/15235882.2025.2489993.
Díaz, D. (2023). No justice in the shadows: How America Criminalizes Immigrants: by Alina Das. Diaspora, Indigenous, and Minority Education, 18(3), 230231. doi:https://doi.org/10.1080/15595692.2023.2202390.
Texas New Scholars Continuing Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin (2025 - 2026)
National Council for Teachers of English Conference Package, National Council for Teachers of English (2024 - 2026)
Graduate School Full Package Recruitment Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin (2023 - 2027)
McNair Fellowship, The University of Texas at Austin (2022 - 2023)
Mary Cornelia Gregory Award, The University of Texas at Austin (2022 - 2023)
Cultivating change: Latinx teachers, retention, and LatCrit insights in central Texas., Tejas Foco for the National Association for Chicana/o Studies Conference, Lubbock, TX (2025)
Imagining new possibilities: The intersection of art and AI in elementary education, National Association for Bilingual Education, Atlanta, GA (2025)
Exploring identity & building community with students and families through arts-based literacy, National Association for Bilingual Education, Atlanta, GA (2025)
Biliteracy teacher education testimonios: Bridging disciplines in bilingual education and literacy relationship through collage, National Association for Bilingual Education, Atlanta, GA (2025)
The Sustainability of Latinx teachers in a Texas Urban School District: A Chicana Feminist Analysis, National Association for Chicana/o Studies, Albuquerque, NM (2025)
Nurturing our roots: Analyzing Latinx teachers' experiences in central Texas through pláticas, National Association for Chicana/o Studies, Albuquerque, NM (2025)
Cultivating change: Latinx teachers, retention, and LatCrit insights in central Texas, American Educational Research Association, Denver, CO (2025)
Young voices for change: First-grade dual language students use AI to share their creative vision for how they would make the world a better place., National Council for Teachers of English, Denver, CO (2025)
Teaching for Belonging: Humanizing Early Literacy through Community Cultural Wealth, 15th International Conference on Education and Justice, Los Angeles, CA (2025)
Dreaming together: Building community by telling the stories of our classrooms, National Council for Teachers of English, Denver, CO (2025)
Where are we from?/¿De dónde somos?: Exploring identity & building community with students and families through literacy, Austin Area Association for Bilingual Education, Austin, TX (2024)
Co-construyendo artefactos de alfabetización en aulas de educación temprana, TeCHS 10th Summer Workshop: Engaging Heritage Spanish Learners Beyond the Classroom, Austin, TX (2024)
Exploring identity & building home-school communities through literacy artifacts, Texas Association for Bilingual Education, Round Rock, TX (2024)
Socially just biliteracy teacher and teacher educator preparation through collages and other multimodal testimonios of acompañamiento, National Council for Teachers of English, Columbus, OH (2023)
P-V-R in a 50/50 English-Spanish dual language model, Austin Area Association for Bilingual Education, Austin, TX (2014)
Preview-view-review in bilingual two-way immersion classrooms, National Association for Bilingual Education, Orlando, FL (2013)
