Early Career Teaching Institute

Mariana Castro serves as the current Deputy Director and the Interim Director of Business Services at WCER. She brings over 30 years of experience in education to her research and development work. Her extensive service to the field of education includes curriculum and instruction, language development, teacher preparation and professional learning. In her research, Mariana integrates her background as an educator, her passion for working with multilingual children, youth and their teachers, and her commitment for social justice. Mariana started with WIDA in 2006 as a professional learning delivery... Read more

Marguerite is a 6th-grade ELA teacher at Akira Toki Middle School in Madison. She has just completed her 15th year in education and her second as a building-based mentor for MMSD. In addition to her role as a classroom teacher, she is also a UW cooperating teacher and a school based coordinator. Marguerite continues to enjoy her role as an educator who collaborates with new and pre-service teachers as they transition into their own classrooms.

UW-Madison 2013 (Secondary Math Education)
Math Teacher at Madison West 2013-2022
Data Reporting Specialist 2022-Present

Peter Kirschmann is an Outreach Learning Design Specialist at PLACE. Peter is a designer, educator, and maker interested in creating opportunities for learners to tinker, design, and create personalized and socially meaningful projects. Most recently, Peter was a learning designer in the MIT Playful Journey Lab and was a founding curriculum design team member and instructor at the High Meadows Graduate School of Teaching & Learning. He has designed and facilitated creative learning experiences at various informal learning spaces, including the Science Museum of Minnesota, The Field Museum, and... Read more

I am currently a Vilas Distinguished Achievement Professor of Learning Sciences (Educational Psychology Dept.) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I hold faculty appointments in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, the Psychology Department, and the Wisconsin Center for Educational Research (WCER). I am also a member of the UW Cognitive Science Cluster and the Delta Program steering committee. I served as Chair of the Learning Sciences program from 2004 - 2010.
My research is largely rooted in cognitive, embodied and social perspectives on learning and instruction in STEM fields (s... Read more

I am passionate about public education, empowering educators, and supporting one another.