Paula Cushanick

Paula is an educational consultant with Seidlitz Education, specializing in bridging research and classroom practice to support emergent bilingual students. Her work centers on helping educators move beyond surface-level technology use to design instruction that intentionally develops language alongside content learning.

With experience as a classroom teacher and instructional leader, Paula supports teachers, coaches, and district leaders in implementing practical, research-based strategies that make language development visible, interactive, and meaningful in every classroom. She is particularly passionate about ensuring that technology enhances—rather than replaces—high-quality instruction for multilingual learners.

Paula’s research focuses on the relationship between educational technology use and English language development. Her dissertation, Comparison of Levels of Usage of Summit K–12 and Language Acquisition of Emergent Bilingual Students, examines how the quality of implementation impacts language growth more than time spent on digital platforms. She translates these findings into actionable practices that educators can immediately apply.

A frequent presenter at local and national conferences, Paula is known for her engaging, “micro-keynote” style that connects research to real classroom moves. Her work emphasizes language-rich instruction, purposeful technology integration, and culturally sustaining practices that honor students’ linguistic assets.

She holds a doctoral degree focused on language acquisition and educational technology and remains committed to supporting educators in creating classrooms where all students can access, engage with, and thrive through language.