About me
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 specialist and since then has held positions coordinating, managing and directing Professional Development, the Standards Department, and as a researcher focused on language development. She has also lead the development of WIDA Standards and related initiatives for early years and K-12 in English and Spanish.
