Valerie Hales received her Master’s Degree in Education from the University of North Dakota with an emphasis in reading. She spent several years working for a private reading clinic in the testing and teaching of struggling readers. She began as a teacher in the public schools in 1985 where she taught grades K-8 for 18 years. She participated in a Fulbright Teacher Exchange to England in 1993. Beginning in 1998 her work shifted to that of a teacher educator with Brigham Young University’s teacher intern program. She has coordinated the ESL endorsement program for inservice teachers through the CITES Office (Center for the Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling) of Brigham Young University in partnership with five school districts and supervises the practicum experience required for the TESOL K-12 minor of BYU preservice students. She assisted in the initial design and development of the TELL Project, taught these courses on the BYU campus and prepared facilitators to teach the courses.She has been worked on the committed that development of the initial standards for ESL endorsed teachers through the Utah State Office of Education.