Margarita Calderón is professor emerita senior research scientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Education. Since 2004, she has been conducting research studies funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. She has conducted longitudinal studies on English learners’ language and literacy development in elementary, middle, and high schools, and is now focusing on professional development designs for adopting evidence-based instruction.

The author of more than one hundred articles, chapters, books, and teacher training manuals, Dr. Calderón's most recent professional book is Teaching Reading to English Language Learners, Grades 6–12. She also developed RIGOR (Reading Instructional Goals for Older Readers), a series of intervention resources for older students reading at preliterate–Grade 3 levels. RIGOR is being used in New York City, Boston, Houston, Louisville, Salt Lake City, and other major cities.

Dr. Calderón has worked as an ESL high school teacher, a professional development coordinator for San Diego State University, and a bilingual director for the University of California at Santa Barbara. She presents frequently at conferences of major education organizations, including the International Reading Association, Teachers of English as a Second Language, and National Association of Bilingual Educators.

Born in Juárez, Mexico, Dr. Calderón was educated in Mexico and the United States, receiving her BA in English and MA in linguistics from the University of Texas at El Paso, followed by a PhD from Claremont Graduate School in Pomona, California.