Cynthia Björk is an experienced educator and consultant with expertise in culturally diverse education settings from early childhood through adulthood. She has extensive experience developing innovative coaching models and building educator capacity to support culturally relevant programs. Björk has worked in a variety of roles including as an independent consultant, classroom teacher, staff developer, and principal consultant.

1. CYNTHIA LINNEA BJÖRK
720.480.9390 | cynthiabjork@ymail.com
Insightful, multifaceted coach, professional developer, educator with extensive expertise
serving innovative programs in linguistically, culturally diverse education contexts.
AREAS OF EXPERTISE
 Special focus in linguistically and culturally diverse education settings spanning ECE thought adults.
Includes Bilingual education, Biliteracy, language immersion, English Learners (EL/ELL), ESL,
Native/American Indian/First Nations multilingual-multicultural education settings in urban and rural
contexts
 Coach, consultant and professional developer Vision-to-Practice Alignment in school improvement
projects supporting research based, culturally relevant education programs
 Facilitate development of innovative, culturally relevant coaching models; facilitate building of
coaching-mentor teams and developing infrastructures for coaching and co-teaching.
 Facilitate collaborative development of innovative instructional frameworks to support culturally
relevant education programs
 Co-author: Co-Author: Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners Professional
Development Materials, articles, Dynamic Coaching Guidebook, Success in Early Literacy Guidebook
 Licensed, experiencedclassroom educator: Credentials in State of Colorado and Connecticut. As DPS
Teacher was Highly Qualified in Elementary Education, Bilingual Education and Art. Was also qualified
by DPS as Bilingual, Spanish and English Literacy Specialist.
 Fluent in Spanish, French, familiarity with Navajo, Cree, Lakota, Hindi, etc.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2012 -present Independent Consultant, Coach
2014-present based in CT; 2012-2014 Based in Colorado and Tse’zhini, Navajo Nation
Consulting, coaching, support for Vision-to-Practice Alignment. Recent successful completion of
Three-year project centered in Native Hawaiian community: Keiki Steps, Early Childhood Education
Program, Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture (INPEACE) Project involved:
development of culturally relevant coaching model design, developing a team of coaches, coaching
of leadership and building educator capacity for co-teaching, for receiving coaching as well as
awareness of Indigenous Ways of Knowing & Learning. Please see letter of recommendation
2015-present Part-time Substitute Teacher, Glastonbury Public Schools, Glastonbury, CT
Part-time substitute teacher at all levels including with emphasis in French, Spanish, ESL.
Scheduled by special requests by teachers/students.
2006-2012 PrincipalConsultant, Multilingual
McREL:Mid-continent ResearchforEducationand Learning,Denver,CO
Consulted with clients to determine needs; created responsive proposals; and implemented
professional development and coaching for schoolwide reform to help increase capacity to
raise student achievement by applying research-based strategies and practices. Special focus
in linguistically-culturally diverse settings: ELL and Native contexts serving programs in low
SES and linguistically-culturally diverse settings. Provided technical assistance to state
departments and schools as part of REL team. Presented at national, international and
district level conferences. Served in numerous education settings in US, Saipan, Québec,CA.
 Led development of innovative coaching model based in Vygotskian theory, Indigenous Ways
of Knowing & Learning and Apprenticeship. Designed and led training for teams of coaches,

2. built staff capacity for Tribal Head Start teams in Native Nations/communities and other
diverse education settings, including large urban and rural settings.
 Site leader for one site and Coach/ Professional developer ERF Grant, for all sites in Early
Childhood sites in Tribal Head Starts (Rocky Boy, Chippewa Cree Nation and Mandan, Hidatsa,
Arikara (MHA) Nation) and other linguistically-culturally diverse contexts using Scaffolding
Early Learning strategies developed by Tools of the Mind co-author, Dr. Elena Bodrova.
 Led development of unique framework for trilingual-tricultural education in First Nations
setting in Quebec, Canada. (Cree-French-English)
 Site leader, professional developer for 2 -year professional development effort in Kayenta
Unified School District, Navajo Nation, to assist Navajo/Diné teachers serving Navajo/ Diné
students classified as ELLs through a unique culturally-relevant research-based approach.
Served teacher staff, as well as principal and building coach
 Led CITW-ELL professional development to support public schools serving linguistically
diverse with special focus on Native learners in various regions. Please see Supervisor letter of
recommendation
2004-2006 DistrictInstructional Staff Developer
Denver Public Schools, Denver CO
Coached & led collaborative work groups for staff, school leadership teams, and district
coaches. Facilitated workshops in schools; Provided in-class coaching on ELL and Bilingual
Literacy. Supported OCR compliance support at school level and compliance-based training
from central office level to uphold federally mandated compliance measures for serving
diverse learners. Supported curriculum development initiatives; led use of data, supported
school-community partnerships in large urban school district. Please see AsstSuperintendent-
Supervisor letter of recommendation
2001-2004 Instructional Staff Developer Title VII/Liaison and On-site Graduate Instructor
Denver Public Schools, Denver CO
Provided multi-level, school-wide support for school improvement with pioneering
instructional program. Provided ongoing principal support, workshops, presentations and in-
class coaching in multiple schools with various instructional programs. This highly successful
grant partnership with large research University served multicultural and English Language
Learners in low SES schools. Facilitated use of data through data dialogs, data-driven
instruction, facilitated progress monitoring. Documented efforts for grant compliance,
reporting to federal monitors.
 Taught onsite graduate courses, coached and instructed classroom teacher participants in ELL
endorsement program and study abroad/teacher collaboration component in Puebla, Mexico
through University of Colorado. Please see Supervisor letter of recommendation
1999-2001 DistrictLiteracyCoordinator & Title I Coordinator
Adams County 14 School District Commerce City, CO
Co-designed district model for Bilingual/ESL instruction. Facilitated district professional
development for staff, principals. Coordinated Title I grant, supervised District Literacy
Coaches.
1996-1999 Title I Bilingual LiteracySpecialist/Coach
Denver Public Schools, Denver CO
District-level liaison and literacy specialist focused on both English and Spanish Literacy in
Bilingual and ELL program schools. As Literacy Interventionist, taught first graders in Success
in Early Reading (SER) program, based on the work of Marie Clay.
1994-1996 BilingualElementaryClassroom Teacher
Denver Public Schools, Denver CO

3. Classroom teacher; Title I Reading Interventionist. Mentor/Clinical Teacher for UCD Initial
Teacher Education Program. Bilingual host for National Science Foundation grant- interactive
on air program. Taught in Bilingual Spanish-English classrooms, grades 2-3, 4-5
1992-1994 Student Support Services: StudentAdvocate, Peer Coach and Tutor
Center for Learning Assistance, University of Colorado at Denver Denver, CO
Provided workshop, advocacy and peer coaching in service of serving immigrant /diverse/ low
income students
EDUCATION
M.Ed. Education, Linguistic Transition dissertation focus, Regis University, Denver,CO, 1999
TeacherLicensure Elementary in Colorado and Connecticut
B.A. French/Art,Art History, University of Colorado, Denver,CO,1987
SIT TESOL– School for International Training ESL Certificate, Intensive - Denver,CO 2004
OTHEREXPERTISE
 Speak, read, write fluently: Spanish & French (some Swedish)
 Extensive experience with linguistically and culturally diversity
 Special expertise in KnowingSelf & Others, social-emotional skills, and communication skills forindividual
growth and buildingstrongteams usingvarious tools.
References available
EXAMPLES OF PUBLICATIONS & PRESENTATIONS
Björk, C., Bodrova, E., Day-Hess, C., Germeroth, C., Mazzeo, D., & Isaacs, S. (2012). Dynamic
coaching: Scaffolding earlylearning. Unpublishedmanual,Mid-continent Researchfor
Education and Learning,Denver, CO.
Bodrova, E., Björk, C., Day-Hess, C., Germeroth, C., Mazzeo, D., & Isaacs, S. (2012). Scaffolding
earlylearning: Strategiesfor success. Unpublishedmanual, Mid-continentResearch for
Education and Learning,Denver, CO.
Hill, Jane D., Björk, C. (2008)ClassroomInstructionThat Works with EnglishLanguage
LearnersProfessional Development Materials:1) Facilitator’s Guide, 2) Participant’s
Workbook
Björk, C., Germeroth, C., & Mazzeo, D. (2012, June). Dynamic coaching: Facilitatingsystematic
change in earlychildhood settings. Break-outsession at the 19th NationalInstitute for Early
ChildhoodProfessional Development, Phoenix, AZ.
Germeroth, C., Mazzeo, D., Cherasaro,T., Bodrova, E., & Björk, C. (2012, June).Assessing early
literacyskillswith a play basedprogress monitoring tool. Poster presented at Head Start’s
11th National ResearchConference, Washington,DC