Debbie Zacarian, Ed.D. & Associates, LLC is a woman-owned consulting firm that partners with schools, districts, state and federal agencies, universities, and organizations to strengthen policies, systems, and practices for multilingual learners and students facing adversity. Grounded in our credo of achievement through access and engagement, our mission is to help educational communities create meaningful and lasting change so that students, families, educators, and leaders can thrive.
Certified as a Women Business Enterprise (WBE) in Massachusetts and New York.
Debbie Zacarian
Dr. Debbie Zacarian is an internationally recognized leader in strengths-based education, specializing in inclusive systems, leadership, and policy that improve outcomes for multilingual learners and students facing adversity. With more than 30 years of experience as a district administrator, university faculty member, and leader of an educational service agency, she integrates research, policy, and practice to help schools and organizations create meaningful and lasting change.
Her background in clinical psychology, educational policy, research, and administration informs an approach grounded in the ways students, families, educators, and leaders experience systems. As founder of Zacarian & Associates, she partners with schools, universities, and organizations worldwide to design and implement high-impact professional learning, strategic initiatives, and policy frameworks. Through keynotes, workshops, mentoring, and consulting, she helps educators and leaders apply research in practical ways to strengthen teaching, learning, and student outcomes.
A best-selling author, Dr. Zacarian has written influential books, journal articles, and policies focused on educational equity, inclusion, and belonging. Her work is grounded in the belief that every learner, especially multilingual students and those facing adversity, deserves not only equitable opportunities but also a sense of connection, purpose, and respect. Through her writing and speaking, she equips educators and leaders with practical tools to create strengths-based systems where all students can thrive.
Her professional books include:
- Uplifting Multilingual Learners: A Strengths-Based Approach to Empower Students Navigating Adverse Childhood Experiences (forthcoming, 2027; co-written with Andrea Honigsfeld)
- Identity Safe Spaces at Home and School: Partnering to Overcome Inequity (co-written with Becki Cohn-Vargas)
- Transforming Schools for Multilingual Learners: A Comprehensive Guide for Educators, 2nd edition
- Beyond Crises: Overcoming Linguistic and Cultural Inequities in Communities, Schools, and Classrooms (co-written with Margarita Espino Calderón and Margo Gottlieb)
- Responsive Schooling for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students (co-written with Ivannia Soto)
- Teaching to Empower: Taking Action to Foster Student Agency, Self-Confidence, and Collaboration (co-written with Michael Silverstone)
- Teaching and Supporting Students Living with Adversity (Quick Reference Guide) (co-written with Lourdes Alvarez-Ortiz)
- Breaking Down the Wall: Essential Shifts for English Learners’ Success (co-written with Margarita Espino Calderón, Maria G. Dove, Diane Staehr Fenner, Margo Gottlieb, Andrea Honigsfeld, Tonya Ward Singer, Shawn Slakk, and Ivannia Soto)
- Teaching to Strengths: Supporting Students Living With Trauma, Violence & Chronic Stress (co-written with Lourdes Alvarez-Ortiz and Judie Haynes)
- In It Together: How Student, Family, and Community Partnerships Advance Engagement and Achievement in Diverse Classrooms (co-written with Michael Silverstone)
- Mastering Academic Language: A Framework for Supporting Student Achievement
- The Essential Guide for Educating Beginning English Learners (co-written with Judie Haynes)
- Transforming Schools for English Learners: A Comprehensive Framework for School Leaders
- Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas (co-written with Judie Haynes)
Policy and Leadership Contributions
Dr. Zacarian has contributed to state, district, and national initiatives focused on multilingual learners, inclusive systems, and educational equity. Her work includes developing policies governing language education and instruction for urban, suburban, and rural school districts nationwide; consulting with state education and early childhood agencies; and authoring Serving Multilingual Learners: Laws, Policies, and Regulations (2nd ed., 2025) for Colorín Colorado.
For more than a decade, Dr. Zacarian served on the faculty of the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She also founded and directed the Center for English Language Education and Advancing Student Achievement at the Collaborative for Educational Services and served as the founding director of Amherst Public Schools’ bilingual and English learner programming. Under her leadership, Amherst Public Schools received local, state, and national recognition for its work with multilingual learners.