Rate My Professor Aliza Fones

Aliza Fones is an Associate Professor of TESOL and Project UNITED Project Director in the Department of Languages and Literatures at the University of Northern Iowa. She earned her PhD in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Washington between 2011 and 2017. Prior to her faculty appointment, Fones served as a K-12 English language learner teacher and held a postdoctoral scholar position at the University of Iowa in the Department of Teaching and Learning. She joined the University of Northern Iowa in August 2019 as an Assistant Professor and has since been promoted to Associate Professor.

Fones' research specializations center on applied linguistics and TESOL, with a focus on professional learning communities for teachers of emergent bilinguals, teacher agency in high school English language learner settings, equity for multilingual students, and transnational funds of knowledge in social studies. Her key publications include 'Possibilities and Limitations From Two Urban High Schools: Understanding the Work of Professional Learning Communities for Emergent Bilingual Equity' published in the Journal of Education in 2024; 'Creating Accessible and Equitable Learning Opportunities for Teachers of Multilingual Learners' in TESOL Journal in 2025, co-authored with Shelby Miller and Carmen Durham; 'Beyond the "English Learner" Frame: Transnational Funds of Knowledge in Social Studies' co-authored with Dafney Blanca Dabach in 2016; and 'Discourses of Exclusion: Immigrant-Origin Youth Responses to Immigration Debates in an Election Year' co-authored with Dafney Blanca Dabach, Natasha Hakimali Merchant, and others in 2017. In 2022, Fones co-directed with Carmen Durham a five-year grant of nearly $1.5 million from the U.S. Department of Education for Project UNITED, the University of Northern Iowa Teacher Education for Diverse Learners initiative. This project addresses the shortage of ESL-endorsed teachers in Iowa by providing tuition scholarships, professional development, and partnerships with area education agencies to support pre-service and in-service educators in rural and urban districts, enhancing equitable learning opportunities for multilingual students. Fones' contributions have advanced teacher preparation and community engagement in TESOL, with her works accumulating 173 citations across 10 research outputs.