Rate My Professor Mikel Cole

Mikel Cole serves as Associate Professor of bilingual/ESL education and Bilingual/ESL Specialization Lead in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Houston College of Education, a position he has held since joining the faculty in 2020. He earned a B.A. in Philosophy from Baylor University in 1997, an M.Ed. in Elementary Education from Chaminade University in Honolulu in 2002, and a Ph.D. in Language, Literacy, and Culture from Vanderbilt University in 2012, where his dissertation focused on the effectiveness of peer-mediated learning for English language learners. Prior to UH, Cole was an Assistant Professor of Literacy, Language, and Culture at Clemson University. His earlier career spans a decade in K-12 teaching, including roles as a Montessori teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he worked with Native American and Spanish-speaking students; ESL instructor in Taiwan; 5th-grade science and math teacher at Poe Elementary in Houston ISD; and adjunct professor of TESOL at University of Houston-Downtown from 2002 to 2003. Cole's interest in education began with tutoring peers at his Arkansas elementary school and advanced through hands-on experiences that shaped his commitment to multilingual learners.

Cole's research centers on multilingual learners and emergent bilingual students in K-12 settings, with particular emphasis on developing translanguaging and culturally sustaining pedagogies that leverage students' linguistic and cultural strengths, teacher preparation for equitable instruction, and the intersections of language policy with classroom practices. His scholarship, cited over 1,499 times, includes key publications such as Translating the statistical representation of the effects of education interventions into more readily interpretable forms (2012); Speaking to read: Meta-analysis of peer-mediated learning for English language learners (Journal of Literacy Research, 2014); Rompiendo el silencio: Meta-analysis of the effectiveness of peer-mediated learning at improving language outcomes for ELLs (Bilingual Research Journal, 2013); The pumpkins are coming…vienen las calabazas…that sounds funny: Translanguaging practices of young emergent bilinguals (2018); and co-edited book Flying Kites: Narratives of Prison Literacies in Essays and Art (2022). Cole has earned the University of Houston Teaching Excellence Award for 2022-23, the AERA Bilingual Research SIG Dissertation Award (First Place, 2013), and selection as a Fulbright Specialist to mentor Romanian doctoral students in academic writing and research skills in 2025. His work bridges scholarship and practice, informing revisions to teacher preparation programs and enhancing instruction in local school districts.