August 28, 2023
Congratulations to Javier Vega, an ESOL (English for speakers of other languages) teacher at St. James Middle! On June 5, WIDA—an organization that designs and implements proficiency standards and assessments for English-language learners—named Javier as one of 20 teachers nationwide to serve as a WIDA Fellow for the 2023-24 school year.
The WIDA Fellows program brings expert teachers and WIDA professional learning specialists and researchers together in a collaborative effort to enhance the development of WIDA professional learning and other resources. WIDA Fellows serve as classroom implementation experts and critical friends to the WIDA professional learning design team.
Additionally, the WIDA Consortium selected Javier as one of 10 teachers nationwide to participate in the WIDA ACCESS Test Cultural Sensitivity Review Committee for Middle and High School. Annually, more than 2 million English language learners nationwide take the ACCESS test. As a member of the committee, Javier will review items on the test to ensure they do not favor any group of students over another or have the potential to upset test-takers.
Javier says he is honored to represent HCS and “to bring a local voice to a national and internationally respected organization.”
