January 2025

Crissa Stephens, an independent scholar, has been named this year’s recipient of the TIRF James E. Alatis Prize for her 2024 American Educational Research Journal article “Invisible Policy Brokers: The Political Roles of Interpreters in Educational Policy Negotiations With Language Minoritized Mothers” (American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 61, No. 3, pp. 439–473).

The James E. Alatis Prize for Research in Language Policy and Planning in Educational Contexts is awarded annually by the International Research Foundation for English Language Education (TIRF) to recognize an outstanding article or chapter published in English that addresses some aspect of language policy or planning in education. TIRF seeks to influence the formation and implementation of language education policies, recognizing the importance of indigenous languages and cultures and of English as an international language.

Stephens’s bilingual research centers around language policy and social identity. Her collaborative, community-based research is about access to speaking, listening, and being heard in interactions and in institutions such as public schools. Additionally, through her work in international and U.S.-based education in K–12, adult ESL, and higher education, Stephens has impacted policies and practices in support of multilingual access. She created teacher-training infrastructure as an English language fellow in Chilean Patagonia and has initiated, developed, and participated as a principal investigator on language education initiatives. Her research provides a roadmap for policymakers, researchers, and educators to build a more socially and linguistically just system.

“To me, receiving this award means joining a cohort of peers and colleagues whose work has challenged and inspired me over the years,” Stephens said. “I am humbled to be part of this powerful legacy with the support of an organization which has supported vital work in language education around the world. I hope this opportunity will amplify the voices of my collaborators—the language-minoritized mothers who knew what they wanted and needed from the school system to support their children’s educations—and that it will draw more attention to language access policies in schools as a crucial facet of equity in a multilingual world.”

To read Stephens’s article, ungated, click here.