Department/College/UnitSocial Sciences Division

TitleProfessor

AffiliationFaculty

Other UCSC Campus AffiliationCrown College
Stevenson College

Web SiteLink

Primary Office LocationMcHenry Library
McHenry 3159 (see my personal website for directions)

Additional Location(s)McHenry Building, Room 3159

Office HoursBy Appointment in all quarters

Mail StopEducation Department

Biography, Education and Training

Kip Téllez (retiring Summer 2025) is Professor in the Education Department at UCSC, where he served as Chair from 2007-2014.  Prior to coming to UCSC, he taught elementary and high school in east Los Angeles county. His instructional focus has always been on teaching multilingual Learners. An interest in educational linguistics led him to earn his PhD at the Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, CA. After graduate school, he began his first academic position at the University of Houston, where he taught courses on methods and theories of second language education and teacher education and policy, while also working to initiate three two-way dual immersion programs in the Houston/Galveston area. Arriving at UCSC in the summer of 2000, he has continued his research on language teaching and learning, while also teaching the English Learning Development courses in the Masters/Credential program. His ongoing interests in educational equity and policy analysis have led to several publications. He served as the Editor of Teacher Education Quarterly (2013-2017). 

Summary of Expertise

Topics: Second Language and Bilingual Education, Issues of Equity in Schools, Multicultural Education, Teacher Education and Policy, Assessment of Teaching, Literacy Development

Methodologies: Quantitative Analyses, Interview Methods and the Analysis of Interview Data, and Mixed Methodologies

Teaching Interests

Working with all levels of students at the university (undergraduate, MA, PhD) is very rewarding for me. I truly enjoy helping doctoral students with research design and data analyses. Teaching the MA/Credential students the methods of ELD is also a very important task and a genuine love of mine. And I find the undergraduates here at UCSC to be earnest as well as very sophisticated in their thinking. I always enjoy working with them.  

Selected Publications

• Téllez, K., & Waxman, H. (2006). Preparing quality educators for English language learners: Research, policy, and practice. Mahweh, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
• Téllez, K , Moschkovich, J., &. Civil, M. (Eds.) (2011. Latinos and mathematics education: Research on learning and teaching in classrooms and communities. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
• Téllez, K. (2010). Teaching English language learners: Fostering language and the democratic experience. New York: Routledge. 
• Téllez, K. (2016). The teaching instinct: Explorations into what makes us human. New York: Routledge
• See my website for additional publications