Saint Paul Public Schools' Chief Academic Officer receives national award
Wednesday, April 04, 2007 11:19 AM
Valeria Silva
Saint Paul, Minn. -- Valeria Silva, Chief Academic Officer for Saint Paul Public Schools (SPPS), is the recipient of the 2007 University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Excellence in Leadership Award. Silva leads the academic administration of one of the nation's most successful urban school districts.
Silva, who hails from Santiago, Chile, is nationally recognized for her leadership as the SPPS Director of English Language Learner programs, from which she was promoted to Chief Academic Officer in December 2006. She has served as a principal, assistant principal, curriculum coordinator, specialist and teacher. Silva also teaches administration and educational instructional strategies at the University of Minnesota, where she is pursuing her doctorate in Education Administration.
The Department of Education Policy and Administration at the University of Minnesota nominated Silva for the award noting her leadership in helping to reduce the achievement gap between English language learners (ELL) and native-speaking students. The nomination also highlighted Silva’s presentation to the U.S. Department of Education and a national magazine article detailing the success of the SPPS ELL program.
The University Council for Educational Administration is a consortium of 67 major research universities with doctoral programs in educational leadership and policy.