Professional Learning Curriculum Specialist

WIDA is an educational services organization within UW-Madison’s School of Education that advances language development and academic achievement for multilingual children in early childhood and grades K-12. We provide educators worldwide with high-quality language standards, assessments, professional learning, and research.

About the role

The Professional Learning Curriculum Specialist is located within WIDA’s Educator Learning, Research, and Practice (ELRP) department and reports to the Assistant Director of Professional Learning Curriculum. This role develops, adapts, facilitates, and continuously improves research-based professional learning content and instructional resources that support educators serving multilingual learners. The position implements practice-centered and evidence-based approaches to professional learning, facilitates engaging learning experiences for diverse audiences, and collaborates across teams to ensure the quality, accuracy, and relevance of professional learning offerings.

This role contributes to WIDA’s professional learning content across formats including virtual, in-person, and self-paced workshops, and educator instructional resources, with a focus on supporting Spanish-speaking educators. The position regularly facilitates professional learning in both English and Spanish and serves as a subject matter expert for Spanish-language professional learning initiatives. Travel is required up to 20% of the time; candidates must live within 90 miles of a major US metropolitan airport. The position is eligible for fully remote work as assigned by the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A Dell PC laptop will be issued for use in this Windows-based environment.

Responsibilities

• Develop, adapt, and facilitate research-based professional learning content and instructional resources for educators serving multilingual learners.
• Recommend and implement practice-centered and evidence-based approaches to professional learning.
• Facilitate engaging learning experiences for diverse audiences in both English and Spanish.
• Collaborate across teams to ensure the quality, accuracy, and relevance of professional learning offerings.
• Contribute to professional learning content across formats, including virtual, in-person, and self-paced workshops, and educator instructional resources.
• Serve as a subject matter expert for Spanish-language professional learning initiatives.
• Travel up to 20% of the time for work-related purposes.

Requirements

• Minimum 3 years of US teaching experience serving multilingual learners in PreK-12 environments.
• Bilingual and biliterate in Spanish.
• Experience developing and facilitating professional learning related to multilingual learners in both English and Spanish.
• Experience developing materials and resources used to support the professional development of educators.
• Knowledge of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and andragogy/adult learning theory.
• Experience collaborating, co-planning, and co-facilitating with other staff; ability to effectively communicate and problem-solve with colleagues and supervisors.
• Excellent organizational skills and ability to work independently and manage workload to meet deadlines and expectations.
• Bachelor’s degree or advanced degree in education or a related field.

Preferred Qualifications

• ESL and/or Bilingual Education license or endorsement (e.g., ESL/TESOL/ESOL/ENL/Bilingual). Foreign language or world language certifications do not meet this requirement.
• Experience implementing English Language Development (ELD) and/or Spanish Language Development (SLD) standards and ability to discuss their relationship to educational practice in PreK-12 environments.

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package, including generous paid time off.
• Competitively priced health, dental, vision, and life insurance.
• Tax-advantaged savings accounts.
• Participation in the nationally recognized Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) pension fund.

Pay

Minimum $70,000.00 annually, commensurate with qualifications and experience.