Claire E. Sylvan

Claire E. Sylvan, Delegate-at-Large

Claire serves as Senior Strategic Advisor at Internationals Network for Public Schools and co-Director of Deeper Learning Equity Fellowship. Since 1978, Claire has worked with and on behalf of multilingual learners, particularly adolescents, in diverse roles and settings including community organizing, teacher preparation, bilingual public middle and high schools, and policy/advocacy venues.  In 2004, after working over a quarter of a century in the New York City public schools, Claire founded Internationals Network.  Since then, the network has expanded its work, from 4 schools in New York City to 18 schools in New York State, and 11 others in California, Virginia, Maryland, Minnesota, and Washington DC, serving more than 9000 multilingual immigrant students.

Claire is an outspoken advocate for multilingual learners and has served on local, state and national policy bodies. Claire’s research and writings span heritage and native language development programs as well as educational designs, pedagogies and practices that build on adolescent immigrant learners’ assets in multilingual classrooms and schools.  Claire serves as chair of the NYSABE Advocacy Committee, providing guidance to the development of position statements while deepening and broadening NYSABE’s ties with key policymakers.

Claire attended McGill University and Brooklyn College as an undergraduate and completed her doctorate at Teachers College, Columbia University.  Claire has been a member of NYSABE since 1984 and is honored to serve NYSABE as a Delegate at Large.