The Mission:

2026 Summer Institute

June 15 & 16

Owensboro Convention Center

Registration is NOW OPEN!

The Kentucky Coalition for English Learners 2026 Summer Institute will take place on Monday & Tuesday, June 15th & 16th, 2026. We will gather once again at the Owensboro Convention Center in Owensboro, Kentucky.

We are pleased to announce our “Keynote” speakers for the Institute:

• We are elated to welcome back our dear friend and colleague, Dr. Carol Salva! She will be sharing from her research on supporting the persistence of SLIFE, or students with limited or interrupted formal education. Dr. Salva's book, Boosting Achievement: Reaching Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education is now in it's second edition!
• We are pleased to welcome the 2024 National Teacher of the Year, Missy Testerman. Ms. Testerman is a staunch advocate for public education, students, families and her fellow teachers. Ms. Testerman served as a first and second grade teacher at Rogersville City Schools in Rogersville, Tennessee for 30 years before taking advantage of Tennessee's "Grow Your Own" EL endorsement initiative, which enabled her to teach English Learners at her school.

We are very pleased to welcome two other national experts to the 2026 Summer Institute:

Dr. Claude Goldenberg will be with us on Tuesday June 16 to discuss the "Science of Reading" for emerging multilingual students. Claude served on the National Literacy Panel for Language Minority Children and Youth. He is a sought after expert on reading instruction for MLs/ELs. He currently publishes a Substack, We must end the reading wars.... now, which is free to all users. Claude's message is critically important, and we are so glad he can be with us!

Elise White Diaz will provide an all day session in trauma-informed instruction for MLs/ELs. Elise spoke at the Summer Institute in 2023, and her message was very inspiring. She has dedicated her career to empowering students who face significant educational barriers. We are so grateful for her return to the 2026 Summer Institute!

The rest of the Summer Institute will feature speakers from KDE and, as always, Kentucky educators and specialists who are doing amazing work. The program will be final soon, and we'll be back in touch.

Click the button below to register.