Aída Walqui 

Overview

For the past 5 decades, Aída Walqui has dedicated her professional life to improving the expertise of teachers and educational leaders, with a focus on deepening and accelerating the achievement of students who study academic content via a second language. She directs WestEd’s IES-funded National Research and Development Center to Improve the Education of English Learners in Secondary Schools.  

Walqui also initiated the Quality Teaching for English Learners (QTEL) initiative at WestEd. QTEL focuses on the development of the expertise of teachers and educational leaders to support elementary and secondary English Learners’ conceptual, analytic, and language practices in disciplinary subject matter areas. Under her leadership, QTEL has been funded by federal and private institutions to develop and research professional development tools and processes that support the academic success of English Learners.  

Previously, Walqui taught at the University of California, Santa Cruz in the Division of Education and at Stanford University’s School of Education, where she coordinated the CLAD teaching credential. 

Education

• PhD in education, language, literacy and culture program, Stanford University 
• MS in sociolinguistics, Georgetown University 

Select Publications

Walqui, A., & Bunch, G. C. (2019). Amplifying the curriculum: Designing quality learning opportunities for English learners. Teachers College Press.  

Honors, Awards, and Affiliations

In 2016, Walqui was selected by the International TESOL Association as one of the 50 most influential researchers in the past 50 years in the field of English language teaching.