Maria R. Coady is Irving and Rose Fien Endowed Professor and Associate Professor of ESOL/Bilingual Education at the University of Florida, USA. She has worked extensively in rural multilingual settings. She is director of Project STELLAR (Supporting Teachers and Educators of English Language Learners Across Rural Settings) and has taught English in the USA and abroad. She has also directed a rural biliteracy development project, Libros de Familia, with multilingual families.