Paula Markus

ESL Coordinator | Toronto School District
Photo of Paula Markus

Paula Markus is the former ESL Coordinator for the Toronto District School Board (District), home to about 40,000 English language learners (ELLs). In this interview with Colorín Colorado, Paula provides some background on immigrant populations and ELL education in Canada, discusses her role in helping to craft Ontario's official ELL policy document, and shares some of the approaches to ELL instruction and assessment that differ from the U.S.

In addition, she helps her neighbors to the south brush up on Canadian trivia with her "O Canada!" quiz. We learned a lot — and bet you will too, eh?

Related Resources

Learn more from Paula about how ELL education works in Ontario her article on ELL Policy and Support in Ontario, Canada.

You can also see Paula's interview on our YouTube Channel!

 

Biography

Paula Markus received her MA in TESOL from Georgetown University, and began her career in education as a secondary school ESL teacher. Since 2001, Paula has been the Coordinator of ESL Programs for the Toronto District School Board. She has worked extensively in ESL curriculum writing for the Ontario Ministry of Education, and has delivered ESL teacher training courses at the University of Toronto, York University and Queen's University.

Acknowledgements

This interview was filmed with the support of the Carnegie Corporation as part of Colorín Colorado's ELL and Policy project.