Barbara Medina

Contact Information

Professional/Academic Experience

Dr. Barbara M. Medina has served K-12 students and educators throughout her career. She holds a doctorate in Educational Policy from the University of Colorado, Boulder. 

From her first position as a educator serving students in a rural migrant summer program to her leadership at the Colorado Department of Education as Assistant Commissioner she has been actively involved at the district, state and national levels in the areas of language and literacy for diverse populations, focusing on equity for cultural and linguistic diverse students and their families.

• Dr. Medina began her career as a social studies classroom teacher. She has served in various roles in her 37-year career in Public Education.
• Coordinator of Secondary Second Language Programs in Boulder Valley Schools, Boulder, CO
• Professor and Chair of the Department of Teacher Education at Adams State University, Alamosa, Colorado.
• Assistant Commissioner Colorado Department of Education, Director of the Office of Language, Culture, and Equity at the Colorado Department of Education (appointed 2006).
• Director of English Language Acquisition, Denver Public Schools.
• She is currently affiliated as a consultant with MPI, (Migration Policy Institute, Washington DC) as an MPI Associate on migration policy issues, the education of immigrant and refugee students, teacher professional development for students learning English as a second Language.
• Dr. Medina teaches part-time as an Adjunct faculty for the University of Northern Colorado, Center for Urban Education, Lowry campus she teaches paraprofessionals studying to become teachers.

Dr. Medina has served on several boards including CASE (Colorado Association of School Executives and Education Specialists), Diversity and CAES, CABE (Colorado Association of Bilingual Education). Dr. Medina served two terms on the City of Denver’s Denver Human Rights Council, Appointed by Denver Mayor’s Hickenlooper and Mayor Hancock to the Latino Commission.