A free, comprehensive professional development program that scaled from a 20-person synchronous pilot to a nationwide asynchronous platform: without losing quality.
84%
Alumni attribute career growth to Fellowship
98%
Satisfaction rate
$3.40
Return per $1 invested
100%
Alumni still in education
TL;DR
I designed and scaled IMV's flagship program from a 20-person synchronous pilot to a national asynchronous platform serving bilingual educators across 180+ districts. The pivotal product decision: shifting from synchronous to asynchronous delivery in Cohort 4: produced a massive scale-up while maintaining 98% satisfaction. Every interviewed alumnus is still in education.
01 · Context
The problem I set out to solve
The United States faces a critical shortage of qualified bilingual educators: at a moment when multilingual learners represent the fastest-growing student population. Dual-language programs have surged from roughly 1,000 in 2010 to more than 3,600 across 44 states. But the pipeline hasn't kept pace: bilingual educators remain in short supply in 26 states and Washington, DC.
The barriers run deeper than headcount. Heavy workloads stretch bilingual educators thin. Professional development is overwhelmingly lecture-based, one-size-fits-all, and disconnected from real classroom practice. Educators of color and those from immigrant backgrounds face added hurdles in certification, advancement, and recognition.
The insight
The educators who reflect the linguistic and cultural backgrounds of their students are the least likely to receive the targeted support they need to stay and grow. This isn't a pipeline problem: it's a support infrastructure problem.
02 · Strategy
How I framed the opportunity
Rather than building another lecture-based PD program, I designed a practice-based, self-paced learning experience that asks educators to implement what they learn in their own classrooms and reflect on the results: creating a continuous cycle of learning, application, and growth.
Foundational decision
Free to all. Accepts all applicants. Stipend included. This wasn't a pricing strategy: it was a design philosophy. If you're building for bilingual educators who are already stretched thin, the first barrier to remove is cost. The second is gatekeeping. The third is inflexibility.
Why The Mundo Verde Way as the framework?
The Fellowship curriculum is built directly on The Mundo Verde Way: the instructional framework developed over 12+ years at DC's first green charter school. This wasn't a theoretical framework designed by consultants. It was a proven approach forged in a real bilingual school with real students. Building the Fellowship on this foundation meant we weren't inventing pedagogy: we were scaling what already worked, with the practitioner credibility to back it up.
Bilingual by design, not by translation
Full English and Spanish language tracks: not a translated English product. No comparable national bilingual educator PD program offers a complete Spanish-language experience. If the educators you serve live and teach in two languages, your product must do the same. The bilingual design also serves as a mirror: Fellows see themselves reflected in the content, which most PD never offers them.
Competitive positioning
Every interviewed Fellow across all four evaluated cohorts reported that the Fellowship was more helpful than any other PD they'd experienced. They consistently cited three reasons: the content is practical and immediately actionable, the format is flexible rather than rigid, and the experience is personalized and deeply respectful of educators' time and intelligence. That last point is the differentiator most PD providers miss: respect for the learner.
03 · Architecture
Program architecture
An approximately eight-month blended learning experience structured around four content modules, each designed as a developmental cycle moving from theory to practice, reflection to leadership. Fellows are organized into "Crews" by time zone and language preference.
Module 1
Hands-On & Inquiry-Based Learning
Centering inquiry, student voice, and experiential learning. Structured questioning, learning through play, fieldwork, and celebrations of learning as vehicles for language development.
Module 2
Language Acquisition & Bilingual Ed Principles
How multilingual students acquire language and how dual-language programs can be structured for equity and rigor. Language input, oral development, biliteracy, and language separation.
Module 3
Differentiation for Language Learners
Scaffolding techniques, flexible grouping, tiering, extending, reflection and goal-setting, and data-driven instruction to ensure equitable access for all learners.
Module 4
Dual Language & Special Education
Supporting multilingual learners with special needs. Systemic inequities in identification practices, the RTI framework, family engagement, and equity-driven decision-making.
Learning cycle per module
Build Understanding
→
Examine Applications
→
Implement in Classroom
→
Performance Task
→
Digital Portfolio
→
Celebrate
The Crew model
Fellows are organized into Crews by time zone and language preference (English or Spanish). At scale, a 200-person cohort risks feeling anonymous. Crews create small learning communities where Fellows actually know each other, hold each other accountable, and build professional relationships that sustain them beyond the program. The Crew is the unit of belonging.
Performance tasks & feedback design
Each module culminates in a performance task rated on a developmental rubric with individualized feedback from IMV coaches. Fellows implement strategies in their own classrooms, document evidence of learning, and receive specific feedback on their growth. The digital portfolio (built on Wakelet) becomes a lasting professional artifact they carry beyond the Fellowship.
Technology skills as a byproduct
Through the blended digital experience, Fellows organically develop technology fluency as they engage with the platform, create digital portfolios, and use tools like Flip, Loom, and Wakelet. IMV provides tech support including hotspots and tech literacy sessions. The tech skills aren't a learning objective: they're a natural consequence of the design.
04 · The key innovation
Designing for the margins, not against them
In Cohort 3, I watched participants drop out: not because they weren't engaged, but because they couldn't comply with the arbitrary demand of one fixed day, one fixed time, every week. The ones who stayed were logging into Zoom sessions from their cars between food delivery shifts, or multitasking with children on their laps, or joining from a second job. They were doing everything they could to be there.
That was the moment I realized: I couldn't and shouldn't design against the grain of their reality. These are bilingual educators working multiple roles, supporting families, navigating systems that weren't built for them. A synchronous schedule with fixed times wasn't "rigor": it was a structural barrier dressed up as one.
One of our core design principles is Create for the Margins: when you design for those most underserved, you create something that works better for everyone. That principle demanded a pivot. The shift to a flexible, self-paced model meant Fellows could complete coursework any day of the week, at any time that worked for their lives: with guardrails for progression, but no arbitrary scheduling gatekeeping.
Fellowship evolution across five cohorts
Cohort
Timeline
Participants
Key evolution
Cohort 1
Jan–May 2021
~20
Synchronous, English only
Cohort 2
Aug 2021–Feb 2022
~20
Added Spanish language track
Cohort 3
Oct 2022–Apr 2023
18
Expanded to 24 sessions, 7 months
Cohort 4
Oct 2023–May 2024
250
Flexible async model: massive scale-up; grad credits added
Cohort 5
2024–2025
300
Continued async scale; blended model refinement
Why this worked
The risk was real: going flexible could sacrifice the community and accountability that made the synchronous cohorts special. The Crew model was the structural answer: small, language-matched peer groups that preserved belonging within a much larger cohort. Guardrails kept progression on track without dictating when or where Fellows had to show up. On the end-of-Fellowship survey, Fellows rated the training platform as effective or very effective, with 85% saying "very effective."
Course correction: blended model
The data told me fully async wasn't the final answer: it was a step. The next iteration introduces a blended model with mandatory live sessions, preserving the flexibility Fellows value while restoring the community connection of live interaction. Good product work means knowing when your own innovation needs refinement.
05 · Process
How I built it
Jan 2021: Cohort 1 (Proof of concept)
Launched synchronous, English-only. ~20 educators. Validated the core curriculum: four modules built on The Mundo Verde Way. Established that practitioner-led content resonated far more than typical PD.
Aug 2021: Cohort 2 (Bilingual expansion)
Added full Spanish language track. Not translation: parallel design. Proved the bilingual-by-design thesis: educators engaged more deeply when the content reflected their linguistic reality.
Oct 2022: Cohort 3 (Format deepening)
Expanded to 24 sessions across 7 months. 18 completers. Independent evaluation by Abt Global confirmed 100% said it was more helpful than other PD.
Oct 2023: Cohort 4 (The pivot)
First asynchronous model: 250 participants. Massive scale-up from Cohort 3. Added graduate credit option. 87% said Fellowship exceeded expectations. This was the moment the product proved it could scale.
2024–2025: Cohort 5 (Continued scale)
300 participants. Continued async scale with blended model refinements. Fellowship serving educators across 180+ districts nationwide.
Hardest problem I solved
Maintaining coaching quality at scale. In Cohort 3 with 18 Fellows, every participant received deep, personalized feedback. At 250 and 300 participants, that model breaks. I redesigned the coaching system around performance rubrics with calibrated, structured feedback: keeping individualization while making it operationally sustainable. 98% of Cohort 4 coaching participants found coaching helpful.
Cross-functional team & my role
I led program vision, curriculum architecture, the async pivot strategy, and the overall product roadmap. Laura Rainey led digital learning design on LearnWorlds. Jay Michney and Sandra Gutiérrez served as coaches and evaluators. The broader team handled content development, quality assurance, and the educator experience. Kristin Scotchmer provided strategic oversight. I also managed grant-aligned development to meet U.S. Department of Education requirements.
A window into the product
See Module 3 in action
Step inside a case study session from Module 3 of The Fellowship: a window into how the curriculum moves teachers from theory to real classroom decisions.
Two independent evaluations by Abt Global (2022 and 2024) confirm impact across satisfaction, skill development, classroom application, and long-term retention.
98%
Satisfaction rate
100%
Alumni still in education
84%
Attribute career growth to Fellowship
$8K
Savings per participant in turnover
$3.40
Return per $1 invested. Driven by reduced teacher turnover (~$8,000 in savings per participant), increased educator retention, and sustained improvements in instructional quality. Over $425,000 saved in teacher turnover costs.
87%
Cohort 4: exceeded expectations
100%
Would recommend to a colleague
98%
Improved equity understanding
85%
Rated platform "very effective"
Long-term impact (2–3 years post-completion)
Focus groups with Cohort 1 and 2 Fellows: two to three years after completing the program: confirmed that all participants continued to implement strategies from all four modules. They reported strengthened student relationships, increased participation and confidence, improved bilingual skills and academic achievement, and a stronger sense of belonging in their students. This is the evidence that matters most: lasting change in classroom practice.
The content of this program in particular was much more relevant and executable in the classroom and made more of a difference than other professional development did.
— Fellowship Alumna
I felt supported. They sent weekly emails to provide us with a snapshot of the sessions and reaffirm that if we need time or help we could reach out. I felt like they wanted me to do well.
— Fellowship Alumna
07 · What's next
The complete learning loop
The most transformative growth path lies in connecting the Fellowship to the IMV Coach. This creates something no other educator development program offers: a closed-loop system where theory, simulation, classroom practice, and AI-powered feedback reinforce each other continuously.
The integrated learning loop (vision)
Learn Theory (Async Modules)
→
Practice in Simulation (IMV Coach)
→
Implement in Classroom
→
AI Feedback (IMV Coach)
→
Reflect & Grow (Portfolio)
↩ Continuous cycle
Growth roadmap
Deepening the Fellowship
Deepen Evidence of Impact
Video-based performance tasks where Fellows record themselves implementing strategies. Triangulated growth measurement engaging principals and administrators to move beyond self-reported data.
Expand Reach
Adding a French language track for francophone bilingual educators, with additional languages to follow. Building an alumni network and continued learning community beyond the program.
08 · Reflection
What I learned building this
The biggest lesson: scale and quality aren't inherently in tension: but they require different designs. The synchronous cohorts were beautiful: intimate, high-touch, deeply personal. They also served 20 people. To reach hundreds of educators nationwide, I had to redesign the entire experience: not just put recordings online, but rethink what creates quality when you can't be in the room.
The answer was structural. The Crew model recreated intimacy at scale. The performance tasks preserved rigor. The coaching rubrics maintained personalization. And the Celebration of Learning kept the emotional stakes that make completion feel like an achievement, not a checkbox. None of this happened in one version: it took five cohorts of deliberate iteration.
What I'm proudest of isn't the 98% satisfaction or the $3.40 ROI. It's that 100% of the alumni we've spoken with are still in education: and 84% say the Fellowship helped them advance. The product is keeping teachers in classrooms. That's the metric that matters.