Aída Walqui has extensive experience in the academic development of students who are learning subject matter via the medium of a second language. Her professional experience spans from elementary to secondary education as well as university teaching, and work in several countries. At WestEd, she developed the Quality Teaching for English Learners, an initiative that promotes deep learning for English Learners. Walqui has an MS in Sociolinguistics from Georgetown University and a Ph.D. in Education from Stanford. She was a high school teacher at Alisal High School in Salinas, California for six years, an experience that defined her present work.