School of Education, Room 247-B
University of Colorado Boulder
Boulder, CO 80309
Lorenso Aragon is an assistant research professor and the Assistant Director of the BUENO Center for Multicultural Education. He teaches graduate courses in the Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity program area.
Dr. Aragon’s research interests revolve around encouraging upward mobility for public school paraprofessionals. As a result of participation in the programs that he has developed, over 165 paraprofessionals from throughout Colorado have earned their elementary teaching license with endorsements in bilingual education and English as a Second Language. Of this number, 32 paraprofessionals have gone on to earn a Master’s degree in Educational Equity and Cultural Diversity (EECD) at the University of Colorado Boulder.
In addition to his work with paraprofessionals, Dr. Aragon’s work has focused on educational opportunities for migrant and seasonal farmworkers, nontraditional students in higher education, adult learners, and teachers of emerging bilingual students. Through the BUENO Center’s High School Equivalency Program that he developed, 300 migrant or seasonal farmworkers from throughout Colorado earn their General Education Diploma each year. He recently worked with Aims Community College to implement an advanced English as a Second Language Program for adult learners. Dr. Aragon is known for developing the Study in Mexico Program in Puebla, Mexico, in which teachers are provided opportunities to teach in elementary classrooms and to learn teaching strategies from teachers in two partner public schools in Puebla.
Dr. Aragon has secured over 30 million dollars through public and private sources to develop and implement programs for teachers of Colorado’s emerging bilingual students. Most recently, he was awarded funding to create a Master’s program in EECD for secondary Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) teachers.
As a result of his work, the Colorado Association for Bilingual Education (CABE) named Dr. Aragon as the 2012 “Administrator of the Year.”
PhD Educational Leadership, University of Colorado Denver
MA Social Multicultural Foundations of Education, University of Colorado Boulder
BA Elementary Education/Bilingual Education, University of Northern Colorado