Alison L. Bailey is Professor of Human Development and Psychology in the Department of Education at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a faculty partner with the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards and Student Testing (CRESST). She is a co-author of the Language Development chapter in the new APA Handbook of Educational Psychology with Anna V. Osipova and her previous books include The Language Demands of School (2007), Formative Assessment for Literacy K–6 (2008), and Spanish-Language Narration and Literacy (Cambridge, 2008). She serves on the English language proficiency assessment technical advisory board of the California Department of Education, the WIDA multi-state consortium for language proficiency instruction and assessments, and various commercial test publishers.

Anna V. Osipova is a faculty member within the Division of Special Education and Counseling at California State University, Los Angeles. Her professional experience includes working with students with disabilities within the context of public schools and individualized educational therapy sessions. She also works as an editorial assistant for Learning Disabilities Research and Practice and has served as a reviewer for Language Assessment Quarterly and Teaching Exceptional Children. She is the author of many presentations and a recipient of several graduate education awards, including a year-long Graduate Mentorship Award from the University of California, Los Angeles, to conduct the research for the present volume with Alison L. Bailey.