Dr. Apolonio Trejo, assistant professor of bilingual education at Our Lady of the Lake University, continues to shine a spotlight on a critical educational equity issue: the underrepresentation of Hispanic English learners in gifted and talented programs.
Since his doctoral dissertation, Dr. Trejo has been deeply committed to researching how systemic barriers often prevent bilingual students from being properly identified and supported as gifted. His expertise recently garnered national attention when he was recognized by Monserrat Garibay, former Deputy Secretary and Director of the Office of English Language Acquisition under President Joe Biden.
Dr. Trejo’s research centers on the unique cognitive advantages of bilingual students, particularly their ability to code-switch and translanguage, which are often misunderstood or overlooked in traditional assessments of giftedness.
“When you start translanguaging, you have learned to manipulate both languages—Spanish and English—and not all students can do that,” Dr. Trejo explained. “That’s when you start getting all this Spanglish, where students make up their own words, because they’re using their entire brain. Not all gifted or high-achievers can do that.”
He advocates for a broader definition of giftedness—one that recognizes cultural and linguistic assets rather than viewing them as deficits. His work encourages educators to see the rich linguistic repertoires of English learners as signs of advanced cognitive development, not obstacles to be remediated.