Carlene Thomas

Affiliation

Carlene Thomas Consulting, LLC

Track

Biography

Carlene Thomas is the CEO and founder of an educational consulting company that advocates for equity for emergent bilingual (EB) students and specializes in support for bilingual education and English as a second language (ESL) programs. Carlene also currently advocates at the national level by serving on the executive board for the National Association for English Learner Program Administrators (NAELPA) and on the leadership team for the National Newcomer Network (NNN). Throughout her career, Carlene has been able to impact EB students through multiple perspectives. After teaching as a TESOL professor at a university in Bejing, China, she returned to the states with a clear passion for EB students. In Texas, Carlene has worked in various roles including ESL teacher (in both elementary and secondary school settings), ESL curriculum writer, EB program compliance coordinator, ESL director, regional ESL/migrant educational consultant, and the ESL Program Coordinator for the state of Texas. In her work at the Texas Education Agency, Carlene developed extensive compliance guidance resources, program implementation and evaluation tools, training materials, and comprehensive guidance on instructional practices for EB students. She is dedicated to serving EB students and their families by promoting additive bilingualism within all bilingual and ESL programs.