Catherine Porter
Professional Development Specialist
ESL, IEL Civics, Citizenship, Assessment, ESL Content Standards
224-366-8635
Current Work
Catherine provides training and technical assistance in the areas of ESL standards, curriculum development, ESL methodology, workforce preparation, IELCE, and citizenship preparation. She is a certified CASAS National Trainer and conducts assessment training for the state.
Past Projects
Catherine recently served as an IELCE coach to several states as part of OCTAE’s Building Opportunities through Integrated English Literacy and Civics Education three-year project. She has extensive experience in curriculum development including co-authoring Community Connections: Education for Involved Communities, an EL-Civics curriculum produced through a federal grant. Catherine facilitated the committees that developed and later revised the Illinois EL-Civics Competencies. In addition, Catherine developed several naturalization modules for ELCivicsOnline, a joint project of the U.S. Department of Education and the USCIS Office of Citizenship. As part of a three-year federal family literacy grant, Catherine co-authored Parents as Educational Partners: A School-Related Curriculum for Language Minority Parents. She has also authored numerous textbooks for adult and secondary English learners.
Experience
Catherine has worked in adult education for over 35 years. She is a former Fulbright lecturer and a past president of Illinois TESOL BE. Catherine has served on the Editorial Advisory Board of the TESOL Journal and as a manuscript reviewer for the Adult Basic Education and Literacy Journal. She holds a master’s degree in Linguistics/TESOL and a degree from the University of Paris IV, Sorbonne.