Mary Catherine Breen (aka Nino)

Mary Catherine Niño is Associate Director for Project ENLACE, a school-university professional development partnership aimed at increasing English language learner achievement at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas. Dr. Niño was a secondary English, Social Studies, and Reading teacher for ten years in Texas before entering educational leadership. She holds undergraduate and graduate degrees in English and graduate degrees in Educational Leadership. Realizing the need for a stronger development of content teachers’ knowledge of second language acquisition processes, she worked with faculty at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, Texas to foster this knowledge in pre-service teacher curriculum and in professional development school sites. Responding to the changing demographics of her students, Dr. Niño developed a responsive curriculum approach which incorporated student experience, interest, language needs, and content into a cohesive approach to student learning. From this work, she has developed quality professional development for pre-service and in-service teachers and principals. Dr. Niño continues to consult with area schools, model teaching in classes, working with area ESL coaches and teachers, and sharing her experiences as a content teacher integrating language development into core curriculum.