Professional Development Staff
Mariana Castro
Director of Professional Development
LADDER Project Director
FLARE Assessment Framework Team
Phone: 608-263-3976
Email:
mcastro@wisc.edu
Mariana Castro helps states build capacity through trainings, workshops, the dissemination of information, and the implementation of language standards across their curricula. She also delivers professional development and represents WIDA at state and national conferences.
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Jen Aleckson
Professional Development Coordinator
Phone: 608-890-1812
Email:
jaleckson@wisc.edu
Jen Aleckson organizes Professional Development activities within the Consortium alongside the PD Manager. She collaborates with state and local education representatives to project and implement short and long-term PD goals.
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Don Bouchard
Senior Professional Development Consultant
Phone: 207-839-4180
Email:
dbouchard@wisc.edu
Gorham, ME
Don Bouchard has forty-four years of experience in ESL/EFL teaching, curriculum and administration. Don founded the University of Southern Maine's Master's degree program in Literacy Education and ESL, and has been an ESL professional development specialist for the Portland Public Schools.
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Margot Downs
Senior Professional Development Consultant
Phone: Coming soon!
Email:
mdowns@wisc.edu
Margot Downs' interest is in using WIDA's comprehensive instruction and assessment system to meet student needs by building strong collaborative relationships between educators of all disciplines. Margot brings to the professional development team 20 years of experience which includes ESL/EFL K-12 teaching, curriculum development, and teacher training.
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Leslie Grimm
Professional Development Outreach Specialist
Phone: 608-890-4522
Email:
lgrimm@wisc.edu
Leslie Grimm's focus at WIDA is to provide high quality professional development to consortium states while serving as the professional development team's link to the ACCESS for ELLs test development team and supporting WIDA's other ongoing PD projects as needed. She has been teaching ELLs in multiple capacities for the past 12 years.
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Susana Ibarra Johnson
Professional Development Consultant
Email:
sijohnson@wisc.edu
Albuquerque, NM
Susana Ibarra Johnson, a former Bilingual Education elementary school teacher, is now specializing in Spanish literacy and second language acquisition methodology as a WIDA Consultant. The third daughter of a family of eight migrant workers, her understanding and devotion reaches beyond her academic training to her own experience of learning English as a second language.
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Maureen Keithley
Senior Professional Development Consultant
Phone: 502-742-7510
Email:
keithley@wisc.edu
Louisville, KY
Maureen Keithley's prior experience as a mainstream teacher, ESL teacher, district Title III coordinator and at the State Education Agency equips her to have a multi-dimensional approach when providing technical assistance and professional development to WIDA states.
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Bob Kohl
Senior Professional Development Consultant
Email:
rkohl@wisc.edu
Madison, WI
Bob Kohl dedicates his expertise to the implementation of WIDA's comprehensive assessment system. He spends much of his time traveling to deliver professional development about the ACCESS for ELLs, the WIDA ACCESS Placement Test (W-APT), assessment data, ESL curriculum and instruction, and No Child Left Behind requirements.
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Lorena Mancilla
Professional Development Outreach Specialist
SALSA Program Manager
Phone: 608-890-4260
Email:
lmancilla@wisc.edu
Lorena Mancilla has seven years of experience as an ELL educator in Illinois. She is the project manager for the SALSA grant and will serve as the professional development team's link to the ACCESS for ELLs test development team, as well as supporting WIDA's other ongoing PD projects as needed.
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Melissa Paton
Professional Development Outreach Specialist
Phone: 608-890-3501
Email:
mpaton@wisc.edu
Melissa Paton's fifteen years of teaching experience have been devoted to working solely with students with diverse linguistic backgrounds and to helping all teachers build their capacity for developing students' language acquisition. Her focus at WIDA is to bring the WIDA ELP Standards to life in the classroom. She also works closely with the FLARE project.
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Selena Stern
Administrative Specialist
Phone: 608-263-4220
Email:
sstern2@wisc.edu
Selena Stern coordinates and provides administrative support for WIDA activities pertaining to Professional Development. This includes planning and organizing WIDA conferences and workshops, and completing travel and consultant reimbursements for staff and WIDA partners. Selena studied general courses at UW-Madison and has four years of administrative experience with the University.