Campus Directory

Pronouns she/her/ella

Division Social Sciences Division

Department/ College/ Unit Education Department

Title Director of Teacher Education

Affiliation Faculty

Faculty Type Regular Faculty

Areas of Expertise Teacher Education
Bilingualism, Multilingualism
Social Justice
Critical Race and Ethnic Studies
Multiculturalism
Diversity
Education

Primary Office Location McHenry Library
3142

Mail Stop Education Department

Biography, Education and Training

PhD

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Language & Literacy  

Dissertation: "Yo Tengo Algo Que Decir: Promoting critical literacy among emergent bilinguals"                                                                                        

M.Ed.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Bilingual Education                                                                                            

BSc

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Elementary Education

Summary of Expertise

Sandra Lucia Osorio's work focuses on elementary bilingual education, critical and culturally sustaining literacy practices, and raciolinguistic justice in teacher preparation. Key topics include translanguaging and bilingual read-alouds, Latine children's literature and book censorship, emotional justice in literacy education, and preparing preservice teachers, especially Latine and multilingual teachers, to center children's languages, cultures, and lived experiences.

Research Interests

Her scholarship draws on her years as a bilingual and dual language classroom teacher. It examines how young emergent bilingual children make meaning through literacy, and how teachers can build humanizing, culturally and linguistically sustaining classrooms. She studies how children's literature, critical literacy, and testimonio can disrupt monoglossic and deficit ideologies. She also studies how teacher education programs can develop teacher agency for linguistic equity.

Teaching Interests

Sandra Lucia Osorio's teaching centers on preparing future educators to build humanizing, culturally and linguistically sustaining classrooms for young multilingual children. She brings over ten years of experience as a bilingual and dual language classroom teacher to her university teaching. Her courses connect theory to classroom practice and invite preservice teachers to explore their own linguistic and cultural identities as a foundation for their teaching.

Awards, Honors and Grants

Awards       

National Council of Teachers of English NCTE Advancement of People of Color Leadership Award             

Mentor Award from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Black and Latinx Caucuses         

Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice (ITOC) Fellow                                                    

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), Early Childhood Assembly, Professional Dyads and Culturally Relevant Teaching (PDCRT)                                                                                                                                                             

American Educational Research Association (AERA), Critical Perspectives in Early Childhood Education Outstanding Dissertation Award                                                                    

National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) Cultivating New Voices Among Scholars of Color Fellowship

Distinguished Teacher Fulbright Award in Toluca, MX

Grants

(2023, Aug). Erikson Faculty Innovation Fund Grant--Professional Learning Communities. $29,000.

(2021, Jan). Illinois Gateways to Opportunity ECE Credential Competency grant implementation pilot with a team of ISU ECE faculty. $330,000

(2020, July). Illinois Gateways to Opportunity ECE Credential Competency grant with a team of ISU ECE faculty. $45,000

Selected Publications

Book:

Sanden, S., Mattoon, C. & Osorio, S. (2021). Book Talk: Growing Into Early Literacy Through Read-Aloud Conversations.Teachers College Press.

Selected Journal Articles:

Osorio, S.L., Gardner, R. & Rodriguez, S. (2026). Educator Crisis: Emotional Justice and the Future of Literacy. Language Arts Journal, 103, 430-438. DOI: 10.58680/la20261036430

Osorio, S.L., Melendez, L.  Padia, L. and Guadarrama, I. (2026).Cultivating teacher agency for linguistic equity: negotiating dual language and inclusive pedagogy in a preschool centre. Journal of Multilingualism and Multilingual Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2026.2634852

Osorio, S. & Rodriguez. S. (2025). Reading for Justice: Bilingual Read-Alouds as Pathways to Critical Literacy and Emotional Justice in Early Childhood. English  Teaching: Practice and Critique.

Osorio, S. & Rodriguez. S. (2025). Seek, Share, Sustain: Authentic Representations of Translanguaging in Picturebooks. International Literacy Association, Literacy Today.

Rodriguez, S. & Osorio, S. (2024). Censorship in Early Childhood : A Critical Content Analysis of Banned and Challenged Latine Picture Books, Research on Diversity in Youth Literature. https://doi.org/10.21900/j.rydl.v6i1.1400

Osorio, S. (2023). Nuestra Historias: Preservice Teachers Create Texts to Tell Their Silenced Stories., Multicultural Perspectives Journal, 25, 139-147. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2023.2257231

Osorio, S. L. (2021) Misidentification: How Language Proficiency Exams Missed Out on One Child’s Bilingualism. Journal of Latinos and Education. DOI: 10.1080/15348431.2021.1998901

Gardner Price, R., Osorio, S., McCormack, S. (2021). Creating Spaces for Emotional Justice in Culturally Sustaining Literacy Education: Implications for Policy & Practice. Theory into Practice Journal. DOI:10.1080/00405841.2021.1911578

Osorio, S. (2020). Building Culturally and Linguistically Sustaining Spaces for Emergent Bilinguals: Using Read-Alouds to Promote Translanguaging, Reading Teacher, 74, 127-135. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1919

Gardner, R., Osorio, S. L, Carrillo, S. & Gilmore, R.  (2020). (Re)Membering in the Pedagogical Work of Black and Brown Teachers: Reclaiming Stories as Culturally Sustaining Practice, Urban Education Journal, 55, 838-864.https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085919892036

Osorio, S. and Carrillo, S. (2019). When a bully is president: Culturally sustaining pedagogy in a first grade dual language classroom. NCTE ECEA Perspectives and Provocations in Early Childhood Education journal. https://www.earlychildhoodeducationassembly.com/journals.html

Osorio, S. (2018). The Vulnerable Teacher: Working Towards Critical Consciousness in a Second Grade Bilingual Classroom. Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, 12, 107-127.

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.24974/amae.12.1.390

Osorio, S. (2018). No room for silence: The impact of the 2016 presidential race

on a second-grade dual-language (Spanish-English) classroom. Occasional Paper Series #39: Supporting Young Children of Immigrants in PreK-3, 39, 30-42. https://educate.bankstreet.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1314&context=occasional-paper- series

Osorio, S. (2018). Multicultural Literature as a Classroom Tool. Multicultural Perspectives, 20,

47-52. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2018.1408348

Osorio, S. (2018). Towards a humanizing pedagogy: Using Latinx Children’s Literature with Early Childhood Students. Bilingual Research Journal, 41, 5-22.

DOI:10.1080/15235882.2018.1425165

Osorio, S. (2018). Border Stories: Using Critical Race and Latino Critical Theories to Understand the Experiences of Latino/a Children. Race Ethnicity and Education, 21, 92-104. DOI: 10.1080/13613324.2016.1195351

Osorio, S. (2015). “Qué es deportar?” Teaching from students’ lives. Rethinking Schools. Volume 30, pp.28-32.

Selected Book Chapters:

Osorio, S. & Rodriguez, S. (2024). Yo Quiero Ser Una Maestra Bilingüe: Latine Pre-service Teachers’ Language Nepantla Stories. In Y. Medina & E.J. Blair (Eds.). Social Foundations of Education Reader. Critical Essays on Teaching, Learning, and Leading (2nd Ed). Peter Lang Group AG.

Osorio, S. (2022).  Becoming the Teacher I Needed and Never Had.  In A. Broemmel & N. Vines (Eds.), Teacher Reflections on Transitioning From K-12 to Higher Education Classrooms (pp. 171-184). IGI Global.

Osorio, S. (2019). La visión de sí mismos que tienen las/os maestras/os en formación como personas racializadas y culturales. In E.S. Ayala, A.C. Rodríguez, V.C. Cala, & R. Dalouh (Eds.), Educación y convivencia en sociedades transculturales. Arco Libros.

Osorio, S. (2017). “Qué es deportar?” Teaching from students’ lives. In E. Barbian, G.C. Gonzales & P. Mejía (Eds). Rethinking Bilingual Education: Welcoming home language in our classrooms (pp. 31-38). Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools.

Osorio, S. (2016). One Test is Not Enough: Getting to Really Know Your Students.

In W. Parnell & J.M. Iorio (Eds.). Disrupting Early Childhood Education Research: Imagining New Possibilities (pp.170-180). New York: Routledge

Selected Educator Guides:

Flores, T. & Osorio, S. (2021). Using Diverse Books with ELLs: A Guide for Educators 1) Why Diverse Books Matter: Windows and Mirrors, 2) How to Find Diverse Books, 3) Choosing Books for ELLs: Tips for Educators, 4) How to Increase Access to Diverse Books in the Classroom and Community, 5) Mirrors & Windows: Latinx Experiences with Children’s Books. ¡Colorín Colorado! Retrieved from https://www.colorincolorado.org/diverse-books

Flores, T. & Osorio, S.L. (2021). Shake Up Your Shelves Libros Latinos: Educators Guide to Building An Exclusive Bookshelf Representing Latinx Voices. HarperCollins. Retrieved from https://harperstacks.harpercollins.com/blog/celebrate-hispanic-heritage-month-with-books-for-all- ages/

Courses EDUC 214 Contemporary Issues in Education