"Dr. Joy was wonderful!! She clearly had mastery of her material and presented it in a way that was not only informative but also enjoyable. She answered all our questions thoughtfully and helped me to gain a better understanding of why, and more importantly how, the WIDA standards should inform every aspect of my lesson planning.”

— Teacher

"In my career as an educator (30 years), I have never been as challenged or learned so much from an Institute. In the field of the education of English Language Learners, there is so little that is cutting edge. WIDA is in touch with the future and is doing more than I could have ever imagined to "professionalize" the field with integrity, in-depth knowledge and forward thinking research.”

— Independent Consultant

"Our school district, Richfield Public Schools, hired Tamara King to facilitate a professional development for our ESL and other teachers on transforming the WIDA standards. She collaborated with me before-hand to tailor the PD to our specific needs. Many teachers commented that they liked her presentation style, they felt she was personable, and also appreciated her expertise in ESL. They requested we hire her for our next WIDA PD needs, and we most definitely will. I highly recommend Tamara King to work with any district on integrating WIDA standards.”

— District ESL Coordinator

"As an ESL teacher I was familiar with many of WIDA's resources before attending the Certification Institute, but this course taught me effective ways to share information about the English Proficiency Standards, the W-APT, ACCESS and score reports, and so much more. I am now confident that I can be a valuable resource in my district to help other teachers and administrators understand the ELP Standards and assessments related to them. "

— ESL Teacher

"I highly recommend the WIDA Certification Institute to anyone looking to expand their knowledge on WIDA's resources and in turn share this knowledge with others. I feel that I walked away with a stronger knowledge base on the English Language Proficiency Standards and MPI's, ACCESS for ELLs, and W-APT. I definitely feel more confident in sharing this knowledge with others and look forward to future certification opportunities! Thank you, WIDA! "

— Independent Consultant

"The Certification Institute provided me the opportunity to collaborate with educators from various states. We shared ice breaker activities, breakout activities, and we even had the opportunity to share scheduling (agenda) ideas. Most importantly, we had the opportunity to look at the content of our presentations and provide feedback to each other on how we could make the content more accessible to educators and administrators with little to no background knowledge with WIDA's resources. Plus, WIDA has provided us an online resource site for the members of our "class" to continue collaborating and sharing facilitation ideas."

— Independent Consultant

"Professional learning by Linda Iza is cutting edge and demonstrates a depth of knowledge in learning, WIDA standards and resources that results in excellent presentations. Linda's professionalism and ability to communicate complex information in a fun interactive environment always results in teachers' requesting she return for additional trainings. Her attention to detail on supporting materials and friendly delivery provide great transfer of instructional content into classrooms. The professional learning Linda provided in our district raised our second language program to a new level. "

— ESL Director