Michelle Benegas, Ph.D.
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Professional Background
Michelle Benegas is an associate professor of TESOL and program director for K-12 ESL licensure program at Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. A former secondary English Language Development (ELD) teacher, her career began in a newcomer high school. She completed her Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction - Second Languages and Cultures at the University of Minnesota in 2015. From 2016-2022, Benegas was the principal investigator of the ELM (English Learners in the Mainstream) Project, a $1.4 million National Professional Development grant initiative from the US Department of Education - Office of English Language Acquisition. Based on the research foundations of the ELM Project, Benegas and Amy Stolpestad co-founded the School Wide English Learning (SWEL) Professional Development Series with TESOL International Association. Click here to see Benegas' CV.