Professional Development Academies in Education

Professional Development Programs in Information Studies

UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies is home to two departments. Each is a leader in their field, helping to pioneer what's next in the Education and Information worlds.

UCLA Ed&IS faculty are at the forefront of their fields, addressing issues of equality, access and social justice in the fields of education and information. Their scholarship has an international reputation for excellence and commitment to addressing the most critical issues facing our society.

An ecosystem of K-12 teaching schools where UCLA partners to develop, study, share, and advance innovative best practices.

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Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion are defining features of UCLA Ed&IS and we embrace them as a source of strength.

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UCLA Professor of Education Mitchell Chang has been appointed Associate Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, effective July 1, 2022. A scholar of the educational efficacy of diversity-related initiatives on college campuses, Chang is the third to serve in the position at UCLA, succeeding current AVC Margaret Shih and inaugural AVC Devon Carbado.  

A UCLA alumnus (’96, Ph.D.), Chang has nearly 30 years experience on campus, as a graduate student and a SEIS faculty member, as well as his professorial appointment in UCLA’s Department of Asian American Studies. Chang has been involved with UCLA’s Rising to the Challenge project, an initiative that was created by Chancellor Gene Block and former Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Emily Carter in response to the George Floyd murder and Black Lives Matter movement. Chang, who is a faculty member in the division of Higher Education and Organizational Change, has been helping to strategize how the University can further diversify its faculty.

Professor Chang, who began his doctoral studies at UCLA in the wake of the 1992 civil unrest, says that this pivotal time in Los Angeles, “… really shaped my work here and certainly gives me a long historical view of how UCLA has approached diversity over the last three decades. I would say that I’ve seen a lot of changes, but there’s certainly more work to do.”

“This was only a few months after the civil unrest in Los Angeles, so that was really still very raw in everyone’s mind, and that experience was still very relevant to classroom discussions. We  spent the first couple of years, in many of my classes, trying to untangle what happened in 1992 following the Rodney King incident and understanding the unrest that took place after that - what that meant, and what contributed to that kind of reaction.”

Chang notes that the 1990s - which were also marked by other events with complex racial implications, such as the O.J. Simpson trial and the effort to ban race-conscious college admissions – provided him with the basis for his dissertation on whether a Supreme Court justice claim that justified the use of race-conscious admissions had empirical standing.

“I tested that claim, whether or not being a member of a student body that is more racially diverse versus less diverse, adds value to students’ learning and experiences while they’re in college, and it turned out that it did,” says Professor Chang. “That got me to many, many more years of work around the educational benefits of diversity.” 

As a faculty member, Chang has seen evidence of this added value in his students’ experiences. He says that diversity has increased at UCLA, not only in the student body, but in the faculty and administration. 

“One of the reasons I feel quite encouraged to join Murphy Hall is because the leadership there has become more diverse,” he says “In terms of representation, UCLA has become much more diverse, generally speaking, and…  [with] the synergy across not only students but faculty, administration, as well as staff, I’ve seen those benefits play out in a lot of different ways, and in the ways that I measured empirically in my studies over the last two decades.”

However, Chang acknowledges that representation is not the only solution, and says he seeks to address the concepts of equity, diversity and inclusion beyond buzzwords.

“We know that empirically speaking, diversity not only contributes to representation that we see visually but also contributes to shifts in culture,” he says. “This is one of the reasons I want to get back into this work at the local and practical level. The approaches that universities have taken have generally not been very clear, and it's been criticized for window dressing.”

Chang also notes that respect for dissenting opinions is something that he wants to see develop.

“That’s always been one of the benefits of diversity: the claim that greater racial diversity contributes to being exposed to a wider range of viewpoints and perspectives,” Chang says. “It enhances our own worldview and enriches our lives in so many different ways not only intellectually but also culturally. But the inclination these days, given the political climate, is to dig deeper into our own perspectives and opinions and continue to, in this digital age, live in our own echo chambers, rather than take a risk and try to convince people who don’t share our opinions, or to try to understand better what animates those opinions and perspectives. 

“I don’t think that demonizing others who don’t agree with us is healthy for a democratic society. I still haven’t given up on the idea that we can learn from people who don’t share our perspectives and opinions. We don’t have to agree with them, but we can learn more from them, and it’s important to nurture a kind of educational environment that helps us facilitate this.”

Chang, who served on the Moreno Report implementation committee at UCLA says that one of the key recommendations of the historic report was to create an office devoted to addressing issues of discrimination and harassment on campus. He says that while areas such as the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies have made great gains toward diversity and inclusion, he would, as associate vice chancellor of EDI, like to focus on other quarters on campus where not much progress has been made.

“My first intellectual project will be to identify where those pockets are in UCLA that haven't seen expected gains in terms of something as basic as a shift in representation, then try to understand better what's going on,” he says. “I think at UCLA, we've been able to pull up some of those departments and units that have been sort of sitting in the middle, but by doing this, we’ve created a greater gap with those that are really struggling near the bottom. In fact, I think we’ve created kind of a skewed bi-modal distribution, to put it into statistical terms. 

“I’m curious to see if we can actually lift the bottom,” Chang says. “And I’m wondering, if we continue to neglect those pockets of the University that have not made measureable gains, they’re going to become even more disaffected and disconnected from [the Rising to the Challenge] project that I know will yield educational benefits for them. My sense is that [areas on campus] that have not experienced much change are missing out in so many different ways, and we want to lift them so that they too can realize similar educational gains.”

Chang says that he looks forward to meeting these challenges, and that serving the University beyond his professorial duties, and other organizational involvements - such as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Higher Education - is very important to him. 

“Right now, I'm at a point in my career [where] I’m starting to move away from a national level focus to a more local one,” he says. “Before I retire, I want to see if I can contribute to improving the environment to maximize educational opportunities and experiences at UCLA. This is obviously a community that I care a lot about and I feel some responsibility for taking care of it, so I want to leave it in much better shape than I came into it 30 years ago.  

“Service is sometimes overlooked as part of what faculty members do, but for me, that’s always been a very, very high priority,” says Chang. “I don’t see myself as a temporary member of this community, but as a permanent one, and as a permanent member, you ought to care about your community and try to make it better.”

For a recent interview by CNBC with Professor Chang on "How Asian Americans became the center of the affirmative action debate," visit this link.

Scholar of diversity in higher education third to serve UCLA in the post.

Mitchell Chang Appointed Associate Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative has awarded a total of $150,000 to six Latino-led applied research projects at UCLA aimed at developing policy solutions to challenges facing Latino communities in California.

Patricia Gándara, UCLA Professor of Education and co-director of the Civil Rights Project; Lucrecia Santibañez, Associate Professor and co-faculty director of the Center for the Transformation of Schools; and Julieta Rico, UCLA Ed &IS doctoral student, received funding from the Initiative to further study of  impact of immigration enforcement on educational attainment of  Latino students

The researchers contend that U.S. citizen children of immigrants are being unfairly punished and their education trajectories severely disrupted because of harsh immigration policies affecting their families, through no fault of their own. The study,  “Schools under Siege: The Impact of Immigration Enforcement on Educational Equity,” will document the impact of immigration enforcement actions and rhetoric on the educational attainment of Latino students and will create the Coalition for the Educational Rights of Immigrant Youth, to create a mobilization platform that leverages their research findings to push for immigration reform.

“After the horrific devastation of a Latino community in South Texas we are left heartbroken and angry. Projects like this will help us put our granito de arena to build a better future,”  Lucrecia Santibañez .  “ We greatly appreciate and offer our thanks to the Latino Policy and Politics for supporting this important work. 

The UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Initiative awards support the translation of academic research into public-facing briefs that will inform local, state, or national policies. Through the awards, LPPI will support investigators and their teams to further sharing and uptake of evidence-based practices, interventions, and policies to policymakers and other non-academic to generate positive change for Latinos and other communities of color.

LPPI Grant will further study of  impact of immigration enforcement on educational attainment of Latino students

UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Award Funds “Schools Under Siege” Research

The UCLA Center for Community Schooling has recently published the latest issue of its journal, “Community Schooling,” co-edited by Karen Hunter Quartz, CCS director and adjunct professor at the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, and Marisa Saunders, CCS associate director of research. 

The new and second issue of "Community Schooling" is focused on Horace Mann UCLA Community School, a LAUSD middle school with historic roots in South Los Angeles, that has expanded to a high school with University support; the 2022 graduation will celebrate the second graduating class of Mann UCLA seniors, 100 percent of whom are college-bound. 

Also in the new issue are articles on innovative and socially justice-oriented practices and research at Mann UCLA. A school case by Greg Amelio, an English teacher at Mann UCLA and Hunter Quartz examines the collaboration between the school’s South L.A. community and UCLA over the past seven years, in re-establishing Mann’s place as the cornerstone of public education in its neighborhood. Their case shines a light on three themes of the power of history and stability in neighborhoods that experience trauma, racism, and poverty; the importance of supporting and embracing student and parent agency; and the power of love to guide the journey. The case is followed by a discussion guide to inspire other schools to think and talk about their history, core beliefs and opportunities to strengthen their community-based vision for teaching and learning.

A special feature of the issue is a podcast by Mann UCLA students, Isaiah Catching, Jamel Jackson, Ray’Ven Kelly, Alberto Roman, Yadira Tejada, and Daniel Trujillo. The 11th graders interviewed their fellow students and school staff on “Charting a Better Future at Mann UCLA Community School,” and covered a wide range of topics about the school’s learning environment, including campus beautification, healthy lunches, and a focus on how the school can better respond to the needs of its students.

An article on community science teaching was written by Mann UCLA science teachers Darlene Tieu and Shriya Venkatesh, and UCLA graduate student researchers Heather Clark and Symone Gyles, on the practice of linking academic concepts in science teaching to students' personal experiences. The teachers and researchers present community science teaching through a lens of disrupting the unjust consequences of environmental inequalities, and the understanding that students get excited about science when learning is connected to their lives and neighborhood. Community science teachers create projects and activities that link the social, economic and political aspects of community life to ecological features such as green space, pollution, and climate.

Finally, a policy commentary by Curtiss Sarikey rounds out the issue of “Community Schooling.”  As the chief of staff of the Oakland Unified School District, he shares his perspectives with “A Journey for Collective Success” as a former social worker, and school and district leader on the collective power of community schools. Sarikey's commentary highlights the promise of bringing teams of administrators, teachers, families, students, and community partners, working together to transform their schools. 

“This is an historic moment for community schooling,” write Hunter Quartz and Saunders in their introduction to the issue. “California is starting to roll out its unprecedented $3B investment to strengthen and expand community schools across the state and there are important national efforts such as the Brookings Institution’s Task Force on Next Generation Community Schools to help define and support community-driven, equity strategies that leverage the latest evidence on teaching and learning. 

“In service to this growing movement, our second issue curates stories and resources that lift up the voices of diverse community members, including teachers, parents, students, and partners. We aim to capture the process of creating and sustaining community schools–in hopes that it will inform others engaged in the challenging work of disrupting longstanding inequities.”

To read the new issue of “Community Schooling,” visit this link.

To read the Fall 2021 issue of “Community Schooling,” visit this link. 

Publication by the UCLA Center for Community Schooling shares challenges, research-based practices and bright spots at neighborhood school in South L.A.

Mann UCLA Community School Highlighted in New Issue of “Community Schooling” Journal

Gregory Leazer, UCLA associate professor of information studies, was inducted into the inaugural cohort of the UCLA Faculty Mentoring Honorary Society on May 19 at the UCLA Faculty Club. He was nominated for this recognition by Safiya U. Noble, professor of African American studies and information studies, and Robert D. Montoya, assistant professor of information studies and director of the California Rare Book School at UCLA. 

“The unique faculty on the UCLA campus is in no small way a testament to the support and advocacy that Professor Leazer has provided us, each in our own way,” wrote Professors Noble and Montoya in their nomination letter. “Greg’s goodwill and warm personality were without a doubt, part of the reason each of us joined this faculty, and it is because of Greg that we continue to work tirelessly on the faculty of the UCLA community.”

The inaugural group includes 12 full-time faculty members who have given of their time and expertise to mentoring early and mid-career underrepresented faculty at UCLA, with respect to identities such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and disability. The Faculty Mentoring Honorary Society is supported by Associate Vice Chancellor Margaret Shih, Research and Bruin Engagement, UCLA Office of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion; Associate Vice Chancellor of Faculty Development Chris Dunkel Schetter; and Vice Provost David K. Yoo, UCLA Institute of American Cultures. 

“The mentoring thing is funny, because I always thought I was just being a friend,” says Professor Leazer. “I always just thought of myself as just trying to help out, being a sounding board and being someone that people could … complain to or laugh with because we need that. I am glad to see that [UCLA] is recognizing service in this way.”

Leazer, who has taught at UCLA for 25 years, says that as a new faculty member, he had a series of, “… people that I always felt confident… sharing [with]. People that have both the temperament, knowledge about the organization and what it is to be a professor.”

“Jonathan Furner was definitely that person for me,” says Leazer. “Even though we were appointed about the same time, it wasn’t a formal, older guy - younger person mentorship. Virginia Walter was another great person. I could just go into her office and close the door and put my head down on the table: ‘I screwed this up, I need your advice’ kinds of situations.”

Professor Leazer says that despite his long career at UCLA, he gains from being a mentor as much as his mentees gain from his years of experience.

“The best times are when you’re colleagues,” says Leazer. “I’m been around a bit longer, but [Rob is] not a brand-new baby assistant professor, same for Safiya. They have had long professional careers, and I think of them as having comparable levels of life experience, although dfferent from mine. I learn from them in that regard, as much as I’ve ever given [them].”

Professor Leazer’s research interests include bibliographic control, organization of information, bibliographic works and relationships, and cataloging and classification. Recent publications include serving as co-editor of a special issue of “Knowledge Organization on the Politics of Classification” (2019) with Professor Montoya, and the article, “Feeling Documents: Toward a Phenomenology of Information Seeking,” (with Patrick Keilty, 2018) for the Journal of Documentation. 

Leazer achieved his doctorate of liberal studies and his master’s degree at the School of Library Service at Columbia University. He is currently working on a project to establish Kosovo’s first training program for librarians to promote the nation’s cultural institutions and heritage with Professor Montoya and UCLA doctoral student and CSU Northridge instructor Sean Pessin. Earlier this year, Professor Leazer was awarded a research agenda pilot grant by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association. His project will address the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with Children and Families section of the ALSC Research Agenda, in search of an answer to questions around the barriers to library patronage and participation for underrepresented children and families.

Associate professor of information studies lauded for his collegial and compassionate support.

Gregory Leazer Recognized by UCLA for Mentorship of Early and Mid-Career Colleagues

The UCLA Pritzker Center's Summer Child Welfare Academy is a three-week multidisciplinary program for UCLA students interested in learning more about foster care and youth justice, and the related issues of education, law, health care, public health, social work, mental health, and more. Issues concerning race, disparities and other inequities facing children of color will be emphasized. Likewise, we will emphasize career opportunities for students in the field. 

Presenters include UCLA faculty and staff from across campus, and community leaders in child welfare--examples include doctors, teachers, social workers, lawyers, psychologists, and policy makers. 

This program is not graded and there is no homework or exam. Optional reading, videos and other media will be shared. 

In response to COVID-19 and due to to social distancing requirement, the program will be conducted entirely remotely via Zoom.

Students who participated in the previous Summer Academies are welcome to join again. However, content and speakers will likely be similar, with some variations. 

Sessions will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 1:00-3:00, as follows:

Students who complete all 6 sessions will be provided with a certificate of completion. 

Requirements/Criteria: This free application-based program is for enrolled students from any major or degree program at UCLA. There is no GPA requirement. We seek applicants from a variety of disciplines, with past system involvement, and/or an interest in any type of career serving children/families. Incoming Fall 2022 UCLA students are welcome. A broad range of students with a varied career goals are encouraged to apply. 

To apply, please complete this form by June 10. Application decisions will be shared by June 17.  

Questions - please email our Summer Academy Team:

Taylor Dudley, Administrative Director: dudley@gseis.ucla.edu

Brittney Hun, Summer Academy Student Assistant: brittneyhun@g.ucla.edu

Three-week program for UCLA students examines related issues of education, law, health care, public health, social work, and mental health, as well as career opportunities in the field.

Pritzker Center's Summer Child Welfare Academy Gives Students an Interdisciplinary Look at Foster Care and Youth Justice

Alexander (Sandy) Astin, the Allan M. Cartter Professor of Higher Education Emeritus, died peacefully at his Los Angeles home on May 18 at the age of 89, just short of his 90th birthday on May 30. Astin was the founder of the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) and Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP). These research institutes oversee “The American Freshman,” an annual survey created by Astin in 1966 of first-time college freshmen across the nation.

“The higher education world mourns the passing of one of its most important scholars, Sandy Astin,” says Wasserman Dean Christina Christie. “An intellectual giant, Sandy understood the importance of teaching and mentoring, of bringing compassion and kindness to those with whom he worked and taught. His contributions to education are well known to all, especially his role in establishing the Higher Education Research Institute (HERI) and Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CiRP). Sandy leaves a lasting, positive impact on our field, whose accomplishments and contributions will continue to have influence for years to come.”

Alexander W. Astin was born on May 30, 1932, in Washington, D.C., the son of Margaret Linnie (née Mackenzie) and Allen Varley Astin, a physicist and the fifth director of the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards & Technology). 

Alexander Astin married the late Helen (Lena) Stavridou Astin, UCLA Distinguished Professor Emerita of Education on February 11, 1956. They joined the faculty at UCLA in 1973 and were colleagues for 42 years until her death in October, 2015. The Astins collaborated on many research projects after retiring from active teaching in 2002, and co-authored a major national study on spirituality in higher education, which became the book, “Cultivating the Spirit: How College Can Enhance Students’ Inner Lives ” (With J.A. Lindholm, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass/Wiley, 2010.) 

UCLA professors of education Helen and Alexander Astin in Moore Hall in the early 1970s. Courtesy of Albert Aubin

“It was my good fortune to welcome the great team that arrived together years ago to Moore Hall,” remembers Albert E. Aubin (’71, Ed.D.)  “Sandy, Lena, and Allen Cartter joined at the same time. There was tremendous excitement to have HERI move to UCLA. Lena and Sandy raised the admission standards and brought some of the brightest students to the UCLA Graduate School of Education. These alumni are now leading higher education initiatives throughout the country.  

“Although I admired all of their work, I invited both Sandy and Lena to present on their work on spirituality and education,” says Aubin. “One of my favorite personal memories is watching the two of them walk by my office which is now the IPAM building.  Watching them walking hand in hand like college sweethearts always made me smile as it does now as I picture them…a true love story.”

Professor Astin created the Freshman Survey in 1966 while serving as director of research at the American Council on Education and continued it at UCLA when he joined the faculty.  Since its inception, “The American Freshman” has chronicled the lives of incoming college freshmen at campuses across the nation. When the survey was first administered in 1966, some of the questions asked whether students had driven a car, were part of a set of twins, acted in plays, or had listened to New Orleans jazz. Over the last 50 years, “The American Freshman” has evolved to tackle issues such as attitudes toward readiness for college, career goals, and paying for higher education, as well as more personal matters such as religion, politics, sexual orientation, and mental health.

Prior to joining UCLA, Professor Astin served as director of research for both the American Council on Education (1965–1973) and the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (1960–1965). He was elected to membership in the National Academy of Education (NAEd), was a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University, and a recipient of 11 honorary degrees. 

Astin received numerous accolades throughout his career, including the Award for Outstanding Research and the Extended Research Award from the American Association for Counseling and Development, the E. F. Lindquist Award from the American Educational Research Association, and the Research Achievement Award, The Mentoring Award, and the Howard R. Bowen Distinguished Career Award from the Association for the Study of Higher Education. 

Helen and Alexander Astin in 2015. Courtesy of Sandy Astin

Professor Astin’s research interests included affirmative action, assessment, diversity, education law and policy, educational psychology, equity, leadership, and testing. He has authored 23 books and more than 300 other publications in the field of higher education. A 1990 study in the Journal of Higher Education identified Astin as the most frequently-cited author in the field of higher education. A 2010 study in the same journal also identified him as the author most cited by others in the field of higher education. In 1985, readers of Change Magazine selected Astin as the person "most admired for creative, insightful thinking" in the field of higher education. His last book was “Are You Smart Enough? How Colleges' Obsession with Smartness Shortchanges Students” (Stylus, 2016). Other publications include the article, “Multi-campus Studies of College Impact: Which Statistical Method is Appropriate?” for the journal Research in Higher Education (2009); and the book, “Mindworks: Becoming More Conscious in an Unconscious World” (Information Age Publishing, 2007). 

“I had the great fortune to work with Sandy when I was a doctoral student at UCLA and later as his program colleague,” says UCLA Professor of Education and recently appointed Associate Vice Chancellor of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Mitchell Chang. “There are so many other great memories, but this came first to mind. 

“As a student, he hired me as a GSR at HERI. At that time, he was already considered a giant in the study of higher education and the opportunity to work with him was highly prized by students. Given his stature, I of course referred to him as ‘Professor Astin’ when I first started at HERI but he instead encouraged me to call him ‘Sandy’ because he saw graduate students as his colleagues and would consistently show us that level of respect. This act alone made a huge impression on me and changed not only how I thought about myself at the time but also how I would eventually serve as a mentor.”

Professor Astin earned his master of arts degree and Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Maryland in 1958. He received his A.B. degree in music from Gettysburg College in 1953.  

Professor Astin is survived by two sons, John Alexander Astin and Paul Allen Astin; three granddaughters, Erin, Amalia and Ila; and his brother, actor and director John Astin.  

The UCLA School of Education and Information Studies will celebrate Professor Astin’s life in the fall of 2022. 

For a 2016 interview on the 50th anniversary of “The American Freshman” with Professor Astin, visit this link.

To read or leave tributes for Professor Astin, visit ForeverMissed.com.

Scholar of higher education established the Higher Education Research Institute, the Cooperative Institutional Research Program, and the landmark annual survey of college freshmen across the United States.

Alexander (Sandy) Astin: 1932 – 2022

UCLA Professor of Education and Associate Dean for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Cecilia Rios-Aguilar has been appointed to California’s newly created 16-member Associate Degree for Transfer Intersegmental Implementation Committee.  Rios-Aguilar was appointed to the Committee by California Speaker of the Assembly Anthony Rendon. 

“I am so honored to be appointed to this committee and am committed to serving my state in these crucial and complex times,” said Rios-Aguilar.

 “We have a lot of work to do in our state to better serve low-income students of color. We need to provide them with real and concrete pathways to a baccalaureate degree so they can improve their lives, the lives of their families and of their communities. 

 The Associate Degree for Transfer Intersegmental Implementation Committee was established in 2022 to serve as the primary entity charged with oversight of the associate degree for transfer with the sole purpose of strengthening the pathway for students and to ensure it becomes the primary transfer pathway in California between the campuses of California Community College, the University of California, and the California State University. The Committee was established by Assembly Bill 928 to consolidate the CSU and UC systems’ general education transfer pathways into a singular path by December 31, 2023.  The intent is to simplify and strengthen the associate degree for transfer pathway and provide equitable access to all students enrolled in the 116 community college campuses across California. 

Rios-Aguilar is well prepared for service on the committee.  Rios-Aguilar’s work focuses on improving the educational and occupational trajectories of underrepresented and marginalized groups of students. She has done extensive research on issues confronting community colleges and the students they serve. 

Among other publications, she is the author of “I Had to Figure It Out”: A Case Study of How Community College Student Parents of Color Navigate College and Careers,I Had to Figure It Out”: A Case Study of How Community College Student Parents of Color Navigate College and Careers, with Adrian H. Huerta and  Daisy Ramirez. 

She is also the author of a research brief published with colleagues for Policy Analysis for California Education, Empowering the intersegmental agenda: Opportunities for research, policy, and practice. The research explores the need for better alignment and coordination between high school and college, between systems of higher education, and between education and economic development sectors.  The research summarizes lessons for effective collaboration and highlights opportunities for bridging research, policy and practice to increase student success in college and career.

Rios-Aguilar serves as a faculty Co-Director of Policy Analysis of California Education (PACE), and is a Board Member of the Spencer Foundation. She is also  a research affiliate of Wheelhouse: The Center for the Community College Leadership and Research at UC Davis. Previously,  Rios-Aguilar served as the Director of the Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA.

Cecilia Rios-Aguilar Named To New California Committee with Oversight of College Pathway and Transfer Process

As California launches an ambitious new effort to greatly expand the number and quality of community schools in the state, the Alameda County Office of Education  (ACOE) and the UCLA Center for Community Schooling have been selected by the California Department of Education to serve as the Lead Technical Assistance Center for the California Community Schools Partnership Program. The National Education Association and  Californians for Justice will also partner in the effort. 

Together, the organizations will form a project management team and advisory council to inspire, guide and support the planning, implementation, improvement and evaluation of community schools across the state.  As the lead Technical Assistance Center, they will support the development of and provide training, content, coaching and other assistance to Regional Technical Assistance Centers to support participating schools and districts across the state.

“Our job is to light the way and ACOE is committed to school community partners leading the way and supporting their vision of what they want their schools to be - in order to achieve true equality,” said Dr. Ingrid Lainez Roberson, ACOE Associate Superintendent of Academic Services.

The effort will incorporate the California Community Schools Partnership Program (CCSPP) four cornerstone commitments, including asset-driven and strength-based practices, racially just and restorative school climates, powerful culturally proficient and relevant Instruction and shared decision making and participatory practices to inform and guide the work of the  Regional Technical Assistance Centers.

The Technical Assistance Center team envisions engaging participants in community school reform in three interrelated sets of learning activities including, communities of practice, targeted professional learning opportunities, and inquiry and engagement through storytelling and data use. 

The UCLA Center for Community Schooling (CCS) is a campus‐wide initiative to inspire and inform the development of community schools across the district, state, and nation. As co-lead in the new technical assistance effort, CCS will draw on its 15‐year record of supporting community school development, including as lead partner at two LAUSD community schools, thought partner to the LAUSD Community Schools Initiative, and as a Regional Training Center for University‐assisted Community Schools. CCS also works with and will engage UCLA’s Center X, a community of more than 100 educators working to transform public schooling and create a more just, equitable, and humane society, and with other schools and departments across UCLA that support whole‐child education and community development. 

“This new effort draws deeply on our experiences working collaboratively with school leaders, students, parents, and community-based partners to forge innovative schools that recognize and build on the ideas, assets and needs of local communities,” said Karen Hunter Quartz, the Director of the UCLA Center for Community Schooling.  “We are honored and excited to join with our partners and others across the state in this democratic movement to transform schools in ways that advance equity and learning.” 

The work of the California Community Schools Partnership Program lead Technical Assistance Center is funded by a three-year, $12 million contract from the California Department of Education. 

National Education Association, Californians for Justice also team in groundbreaking effort to further expansion of community schools in California  

Alameda County Office of Education, UCLA Center for Community Schooling To Co-Lead Technical Assistance Effort For California Community Schools Partnership Program

Six Bruins from the UCLA Football team – who were graduate students in the Transformative Coaching and Leadership program of the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies, have been selected by NFL teams as either free agents or part of the 2022 NFL Draft. These six student-athletes are the majority of the eight Bruins overall who found themselves on NFL rosters.  

UCLA Defensive Lineman Otito Ogbonnia has been drafted by the Los Angeles Chargers. Courtesy of UCLA Athletics

Three students were drafted: defensive lineman Otito Ogbonnia was picked in the 5th round of the draft by the Los Angeles Chargers, defensive back Quentin Lake was selected in the 6th round by the Los Angeles Rams and running back Brittain Brown was chosen in the 7th round by the Las Vegas Raiders. 

Signing on as undrafted free agents are running back and special teams player Ethan Fernea, who joins the Indianapolis Colts; linebacker Jordan Genmark-Heath, signed with the Kansas City Chiefs and defensive back Qwuantrezz Knight  joins the San Francisco 49ers.

Brown, who graduated in fall of 2021, says that hearing he had been drafted to an NFL team has been a dream of his since he began playing at the age of five.

“Ever since, I’ve dreamed of the moment of hearing my name called and getting drafted, so when it did actually happen, I was glad to be surrounded by all my loved ones – it was just kind of a surreal moment,” recalls Brown. “My father played at West Point, and he was a big part of helping me and my brother, who plays football as well, in building our careers up for a moment like this.”

UCLA Football's running back Brittain Brown was drafted in the 7th round by the Las Vegas Raiders, Courtesy of UCLA Athletics

Fernea says that as a former walk-on player, he never expected an opportunity to play in the NFL. 

“Getting a call from the Indianapolis Colts was such an incredible feeling for me, because it meant that someone recognized the hard work I had been putting in and they saw enough talent in me to give me an opportunity,” he says. “An opportunity was all I ever hoped for. I still have an extremely long way to go in order to make the team, but my crazy childhood dreams are starting to seem not as unrealistic as I thought.”

Knight, another member of UCLA’s Class of ’21, says that being signed to a team of the 49ers’ caliber is also a dream come true.

“I have been wanting to be in the NFL since I was five years old,” he says. “It actually seems surreal. I was relieved in a way given that I was not drafted. After I was signed, I felt that I made it and that I have an equal chance to be on the team as anyone else. It felt amazing.”

UCLA linebacker Jordan Genmark Heath has signed on as an undrafted free agent with the Kansas City Chiefs. Courtesy of UCLA Athletics

Last fall, Brown and Knight mentored student-athletes at Crenshaw High School through the rigors of training and schoolwork amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Brown says that it felt “natural” to empathize with the younger student-athletes and to share with them the benefit of his and his teammates experiences, both on the field and in the classroom. 

“I felt like …  that's how I was when I was younger,” Brown says. “Coming up, I didn't have a mentor. Nobody really pushed me except my Pops. Everybody doesn't have a father like that that's involved in their sports lives. So, we were doing the same thing for them as my father did for me, keeping them focused and letting them know what the most important things are at that stage in their life and also trying to help them understand what they need to do to get recruited and go on to the next level, if that's what they want to do. A couple of guys actually did get offers, and they're rated on these [player] sites, so I think the UCLA-Crenshaw [mentorship] actually helped them a lot.”

The Transformative Coaching and Leadership program is informed by an ethic of social justice, where teaching and coaching in various contexts, including collegiate sports, professional sports, K-12 schools, Boys and Girls Clubs and other community sports programs, are analyzed through the lens of equity, access, diversity, and human dignity.

Defensive back Quentin Lake was drafted in the 6th round to the Los Angeles Rams. Courtesy of UCLA Athletics

The program is inspired, in part, by the teachings of legendary Bruin Basketball coach John Wooden and addresses a holistic vision of student-athletes and their goals of excellence, both in the classroom and on the field. Faculty in the program are experts and practitioners in sports including coaches and renowned UCLA Education faculty. Among the instructors in the program are former women’s softball head coach and sports entrepreneur Sue Enquist, and former women’s gymnastics coach Valorie Kondos-Field. Members of Bruin sports leadership have also served as guest speakers including UCLA’s Alice and Nahum Lainer Family Director of Athletics Martin Jarmond. 

“I definitely think that the Transformative Coaching and Leadership program influenced my performance on the field,” says Knight. “I was able to study coaches like Nick Saban, Sue Enquist, John Wooden, Bobby Knight and Miss Val. John Wooden’s ‘Pyramid of Success’ and Bobby Knight’s view of being prepared for the negatives were especially influential. All of them provided for me a blueprint of how I could be the best that I could be and become a leader on my team.”

UCLA running back and special teams player Ethan Fernea joins the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent. Courtesy of UCLA Athletics

Brown says that the teachings of the Transformative Coaching and Leadership program are focused on the idea that, “… you practice what you preach.”

“We're really diligent about the leadership aspects of the classroom and taking things on with a step-by-step basis,” says Brown. "Some of the really influential teachers that I had were Arif (Amlani, SEIS director of program development), Sue Enquist, and Miss (Julia) Pelikhova. It was getting your goals and everything that that you're striving for and having those in front of you. They taught us to stay focused on that, and it helps a lot on the field as well.”

“The Transformative Coaching and Leadership program has given me the opportunity to think critically about the mental side of sport,” says Fernea, who has also been selected for the Hampshire Honor Society. “I've been able to learn about mental health within sports. I've also been fortunate enough to learn about the mentalities and philosophies of many great coaches. This has forced me to take an introspective look at my own mentality and my mental state while competing. TCL has also shown me how impactful sports can be, and I hope to continue to use sports as a means to positively influence those around me.”

The Bruins' defensive back Qwuantrezz Knight joins the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent. Courtesy of UCLA Athletics

“Knowing what I know now about coaching and leadership, I can definitely take this to my NFL career, but I can also apply it to life in general,” adds Knight. “Although Miss Val isn’t a football coach, she urged us to embrace our inner self. By being your true self, you are able to move forward in life without being afraid and by doing that you can reach new heights. As she says, it is much better to the best version of yourself rather than a second-rate version of someone else.”

For more information on the Transformative Coaching and Leadership program, visit this link.

Special thanks to Arif Amlani, Paolo Cantos and UCLA Athletics

UCLA Football players and SEIS graduate students chosen in 2022 NFL draft and signed as undrafted free agents.

Six Bruins from Transformative Coaching and Leadership Selected to Join the NFL

Gregory Leazer, UCLA associate professor of information studies, has been selected as one of the inaugural cohort of the UCLA Faculty Mentoring Honor Society. Supported by a UCOP grant, the Faculty Mentoring Honor Society recognizes UCLA faculty who have given of their time and effort to the mentorship of early and mid-career faculty. The society honors the mentorship of underrepresented faculty with respect to identities such as race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and disability. Professor Leazer is among 12 full-time faculty members who will be honored at an induction celebration on May 19 for their contributions to fostering a strong and diverse intellectual community at UCLA.

Professor Leazer’s research interests include bibliographic control, organization of information, bibliographic works and relationships, and cataloging and classification. Recent publications include serving as co-editor of a special issue of “Knowledge Organization on the Politics of Classification” (2019) with UCLA colleague Robert Montoya, assistant professor of information studies, and the article, “Feeling Documents: Toward a Phenomenology of Information Seeking,” (with Patrick Keilty, 2018) for the Journal of Documentation. In 2016, Leazer presented “iSchools, Legitimacy, and the Contribution of Archival Studies to the iSchool Movement” at the iConference in Philadelphia.

Leazer achieved his doctorate of liberal studies and his master’s degree at the School of Library Service at Columbia University. He is currently working on a project to establish Kosovo’s first training program for librarians to promote the nation’s cultural institutions and heritage with Professor Montoya and UCLA doctoral student and CSU Northridge instructor Sean Pessin. 

Earlier this year, Professor Leazer was awarded a research agenda pilot grant by the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC), a division of the American Library Association. 

Leazer’s project will address the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with Children and Families section of the ALSC Research Agenda, in search of an answer to questions around the barriers to library patronage and participation for underrepresented children and families.

Associate professor of information studies part of inaugural cohort of campuswide scholars who mentor their early and mid-career colleagues.

Gregory Leazer to Be Inducted to UCLA’s Faculty Mentoring Honor Society

Ron Avi Astor, UCLA professor of social welfare in the UCLA School of Education and Information Studies and the Marjorie Crump Chair in Social Welfare in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, recently took part in a virtual congressional briefing on March 30 focused on “The Critical Need for School Social Workers: Improving Student Success through H.R. 7037.” 

Professor Astor is a co-sponsor of the School Social Workers Improving Student Success Act (H.R. 7037), introduced by Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI-04) with Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA-13). 

Astor presented his research at the briefing with social work experts, including Julie Incitti, school social work consultant, Department of Public Instruction, Wisconsin; Nicole Other Medicine, school social worker, Indian Education Program, Saint Paul Public Schools, Minnesota; Tiffany Walker, school social worker and chief executive officer, Journey Therapy Center, Clifton, New Jersey; and Damion Wilson, coordinator, School Social Work Services, Virginia Beach City Public Schools and National Member-at-Large, National Association of Black Social Workers. Earl Hadley, associate director of government relations, American Federation of Teachers provided opening remarks.

The briefing was cosponsored by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, the American Council for School Social Work, the American Federation of Teachers, the Council on Social Work Education, the National Association of Black Social Workers, Inc, the School Social Work Net, and the Society for Social Work and Research.

Visit this link for a recording of the Congressional Briefing.

Click here for an action alert by the National Association of Social Workers. 

UCLA professor of social welfare a co-sponsor on growing national need for school-based mental health services.

Ron Avi Astor Takes Part in Congressional Briefing on Critical Need for School Social Workers

UCLA alumna Tiffani Willis (’12, MLIS) passed away on March 20 at the age of 48. Combining her skills as an attorney, research professor, and a librarian in her career, Willis served most recently as associate director of the Leigh H. Taylor Law Library and an adjunct professor of law at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles.

Fellow Bruin Amber Madole (’07, J.D.; ’11, MLIS) remembers her former colleague from their time working together at Loyola Law School’s Rains Library. 

“Tiffani was a trusted friend, colleague, and a consummate librarian,” says Madole, who is a law librarian in research services for Indigenous Law and Policy, and an adjunct assistant professor at the USC Gould School of Law. “I first met Tiffani when we were in library school together at UCLA in 2011. My first impression was that she was a serious and committed person, and quite disciplined. Later, when we had the opportunity to work together and work on many projects together, I found out more about her warmth, humor, and quiet strength. Tiffani was a thoughtful colleague with an incredible gift for legal analysis and teaching." 

Tiffani Willis was born on November 28, 1974. She graduated from C. K. McClatchy High School in Sacramento and earned her bachelor’s degrees in journalism and in political science from Boston University. 

While still a law student at the University of Southern California, she worked as a member of the school’s Post Conviction Justice Project. After graduation, Willis practiced law in New York and in Cailfornia, and focused on general corporate and securities law at Sidley Austin LLP.

Upon achieving her master’s degree in library and information studies at UCLA, Willis began her law librarian career and held positions in a branch of the Ninth Circuit Court Library in Los Angeles, the Harnish Library at Pepperdine Law School, and the William M. Rains Library at Loyola Law School. 

Suzie Shatarevyan, head of Access & Collection Management Services at the Rains Library, recalls her former colleague and friend. 

“The first time I met Tiffani, we were in San Antonio, Texas for the annual American Association of Law Libraries conference. The year was 2014 and both of us were squeezed into a bus on our way to a library tour. She was so friendly and approachable that I struck up a conversation [and] learned that she was a law librarian at Pepperdine. I never imagined that two years later she would take a position at the same institution where I worked. 

“At Loyola, she became more than a work colleague,” says Shatarevyan. “We became friends. We shared a love of books, tea, travel, and baking shows. Every Wednesday evening after work hours, we would get together with other local law librarian colleagues and indulge in network programming or talk about the latest books we were reading. Last April she left Loyola to pursue an opportunity at Southwestern, and while we no longer worked at the same institution, our friendship kept us connected. We maintained our monthly movie nights and dinner outings and had so much more planned. I miss my friend dearly and am grateful for the opportunities I had to know her and be her friend.”

Willis enjoyed international travel and sports, running eight marathons and earning her brown belt in karate. A prolific reader, she had created a home card catalog long before going to library school. Willis was an active member of library professional organizations and served on the board of the Southern California Association of Law Libraries, as well as on multiple committees for the organization. She was also a member of multiple committees for the American Association of Law Libraries. 

A lover of many genres of literature known among her friends for great book recommendations, Willis contributed her talents and time to Mocha Girls Read, a nationwide book club based in Los Angeles, and wrote the blog, “Passport Books.” 

Joy Shoemaker, branch librarian for the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Library in Pasadena, met Willis when the latter was an intern at the Ninth Circuit Court Library in Los Angeles. 

“Tiffani’s friendship was easy,” recalls Shoemaker. “She knew so much about so much and shared her viewpoint in the kindest ways. If she disagreed with something, she could always gently point out another idea or way to approach the topic. I will remember Tiffani for always being supportive and thoughtful, never a naysayer. 

“One of the many things Tiffani taught me is that you can be who you are. You can take a night off from socializing to make sure you get to library before it closes. You can love your job and still take weeks off to travel with your family. You can be talented in one thing and yet switch gears to pursue another thing. You can pursue a good life. Tiffani pursued a good life. Tiffani was a friend, teacher, lawyer, librarian, sister, aunt, daughter, and so much more. I will miss her and remember her.”

Willis is survived by her mother SJeanay Willis Bolden; sister Toccara D. Willis; and niece Tomai D. Willis. A funeral service was held at St. Mary's Cemetery and Funeral Center in Sacramento on April 22. 

Southwestern Law School is planning a memorial for Willis, to take place at Southwestern’s campus on Monday, June 13 at 3:30 p.m. PST. To attend, contact Margaret Hall at mhall@swlaw.ued.

In memory of Tiffani Willis, donations may be made to a local public library in her name, to her family through PayPal to SJeanay55@gmail.com, or to MochaGirlsRead.com. 

“I take inspiration in Tiffani’s life – she spent her energy on the most important things,” says Madole. “I only wish we had more time with her, more book recommendations, and more clear crisp analysis of complex topics. She was a wonderful friend, colleague, traveler, reader, and librarian, and we will miss her more than words can say.”  

UCLA IS alumna, attorney, and research professor served as associate director of Southwestern’s Law Library.

Tiffani Willis: 1974 – 2022

Jean Ryoo, research director of the UCLA Computer Science Equity Project, delivered the Jan Hawkins Lecture at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) on April 23 at the San Diego Convention Center. Ryoo is the 2021 winner of the Jan Hawkins Award for Early Career Contributions to Humanistic Research and Scholarship in Learning Technologies, named for the the late professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and developmental psychologist who was considered one of the world's leading experts on education and technology. 

Ryoo expressed her thanks to her nominators for the Hawkins Award and her colleagues across UCLA and nationwide, as well as the students she has interviewed and surveyed in her research. She also recognized Hawkins’ legacy as an educator who was known as an advocate for humanistic uses of technology for educational change and for her assertion that technology needed to be viewed as a powerful aid to address complex educational challenges.

“I’m am so sad I never got a chance to meet Jan Hawkins, because I feel very connected to her research, exploring how technology needs to be used as a tool towards these greater ends that we have, to challenge inequality in our world,” said Ryoo. 

Ryoo’s presentation, “’Power On!’: Challenging the Culture of Inequitable Computing Education Contexts in Collaboration with Youth and Teachers,” focused on the research that led to her new – and first – book, a graphic novel titled, “Power On!,” published by MIT Press. The book was co-authored with Jane Margolis, senior researcher at UCLA Center X, and illustrated by Charis JB. 

Ryoo said that she and Margolis centered the experiences and perspectives of youth, including first-generation college students, in order to create a relatable conversation starter for students, teachers, schools, and families. 

“We wanted to translate research into a format that could elevate new perspectives and agency,” said Ryoo in her lecture, “… to make research something that people were actually engaging with, to push forward new ideas and new ways of thinking. We’re hoping the book can inspire these conversations and stronger connections to be made between computing and diversity of interests in educational spaces.”

Ryoo shared research by Joy Buolamwini of the MIT Media Lab and Algorithmic Justice League, that revealed gender and racial bias in AI systems sold by IBM, Microsoft and Amazon. The systems had error rates of no more than one percent for lighter-skinned men, while the errors soared to 35% for darker-skinned women. In addition, prominent Black women such as Oprah Winfrey, Michelle Obama, and Serena Williams were not correctly classified by AI systems from leading companies. Ryoo underscored the danger in these tools being sold to clients like police departments.

"Computer science classrooms are one of many important starting places for examining how these systems are built and who they serve," she said. "No longer can computer science and computer science education hide behind this wall of false neutrality.

“Computer scientists and educators often say … that their decisions are not responsible for the ethical implications of other human beings,” Ryoo said. “The focus is on making the next new thing… but with limited consideration about whether they should be making that thing.”

Ryoo discussed how “Power On!” explores technologies and their impacts on issues such as policing and health care for people of color, and how technology which is purported to be neutral, ultimately makes judgements and fosters public perception based on racially and gender biased algorithms. 

“Whose ideas are being valued? Whose experiences are being considered? What are the potential benefits and harms?” noted Ryoo. “These are questions that should be central to computer science problem-solving processes, and there are groups that are thinking about it, but not always with the right experiences that are at the decision-making table. This is also true in computing educational spaces.”

Ryoo shared the findings of a nationwide teacher survey by the Computer Science Teachers Association showing that 39 percent of teachers did not see the importance of covering the role of computer science as it perpetuates biases on racism, sexism, and other inequities in learning. She also spoke about issues of access to computer science education and to the shortfalls of it, citing, “… systemic inequalities impacting who has historically had access to computer science education, and specifically, an education that aligns to who they are and what they care about.” 

“In higher education, computer science course rarely center issues of ethics, power, inequity or disability,” said Ryoo. “These are considered elective things to learn and a lot of times, computer science majors are told that it’s more important that they take these programming classes that obviously are not incorporating these ideas in them.”

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