Dr. Jeff Zwiers is a senior researcher at the Stanford University Graduate School of Education in the Center to Support Excellence in Teaching. His work focuses on improving learning in diverse classrooms, language development, and student interactions.  Dr. Sara Hamerla is an ELL Administrator in the Newton Public Schools. She has taught English as a second language and served as an administrator in public schools in Massachusetts. Her teaching experience also includes teaching history and language arts in Colombia and Ecuador.  In the past several years, she has trained many teachers on how to implement academic conversations.