Elsa Cárdenas Hagan

Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan is a bilingual speech language pathologist and a certified academic language therapist with a doctorate in curriculum and instruction. She is the director of the Valley Speech Language and Learning Center in Brownsville, Texas, and works with the Texas Institute for Measurement Evaluation and Statistics at the University of Houston. Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan's research interests include the development of early reading assessments for Spanish-speaking students and the development of reading interventions for bilingual students.

In addition, Dr. Cárdenas-Hagan is the cofounder of Brownsville READS!, a nonprofit organization to promote literacy. She also currently serves as Chairperson of the National Joint Committee on Learning Disabilities and is the Past Vice- Chairperson of the International Dyslexia Association.