Our Team
Meet Our Team at REACT
Our teams bring together expertise, experience, and a shared commitment to equity in assessment. Scroll through to learn more about our Dynamic Assessment Team, our Equity Review Team, and the leadership guiding this work. Each member plays a key role in ensuring accurate, culturally responsive, and impactful outcomes for the learners we serve.
Dionna Latimer-Hearn
Speech-Language Pathologist, Educational Consultant,Public Scholar
Education Director/Team Lead
Nationally and internationally recognized educational consultant, scholar, and speaker, Dr. Latimer-Hearn centers African American English, justice, and equity in education. As founder of REACT Initiative, Inc., host of The Culture We Speak Podcast, and administrator of the Respect the Dialect platform, she combines linguistic expertise, lived experience, and visionary leadership to help educators and institutions reimagine possibility for culturally and linguistically diverse students.
Dynamic Assessment Team
A dedicated group of REACT experts driving innovative approaches to equitable assessment practices. This team brings together diverse skills and perspectives to ensure culturally responsive evaluation and support for all learners.
Mary Mitchell
Clinical Associate Professor,
Speech-Language Pathologist
Karen Davis
Associate Professor,
Speech-Language Pathologist
Franklin Bender
Consultant,
Speech-Language Pathologist
Yasmine Forghani Soong
Research and Administrative Assistant
Equity Review Team
A dedicated group of REACT experts examining standardized assessments through an equity lens. This team ensures fair, culturally responsive evaluation practices while paving the way for systemic improvements in education.
Chastidy Russell
Special Educator
Mandy Ross
Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Amy DeLuca
Bilingual Educator
In collaboration
Supporting Educational Equity
REACT was honored to partner with Ventris Learning, LLC on this
initiative. Drawing on our expertise in culturally and linguistically
responsive practices, our team conducted an equity review and
developed this Dynamic Assessment Resource to support educators
and students using the Assessment of Literacy and Language (ALL™)
Why This Work Matters
Supporting Fair and Responsive Assessment for Every Learner
Assessment decisions can shape educational opportunities, access to
services, and long-term outcomes for children. When evaluation
practices fail to account for linguistic and cultural diversity, students may
be misunderstood, overlooked, or inappropriately identified. Dynamic
assessment offers an alternative approach that focuses on learning
potential rather than static performance alone.
The Challenge
- Diverse learners are often assessed using tools not designed for their linguistic backgrounds.
- Traditional assessment approaches may not fully capture student strengths.
- Assessment outcomes can influence educational access and support services.
Our Response
- Equity-centered review of assessment practices
- Culturally and linguistically responsive resources
- Dynamic assessment guidance for practitioners
Static assessments offer a snapshot of performance under uniform
conditions, but they do not always capture how learners develop when
support is provided. Dynamic assessment complements these measures
by examining responsiveness to mediation, offering insight into learning
potential alongside observed performance.
National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), 2024 Reading Assessment, National Center for Education Statistics (NCES)