Johnson is the National Science Foundation Project Director and Researcher in the Black Male Institute at the Center for the Transformation of Schools in the UCLA School of Education & Information Studies. He is an educational consultant, researcher, and practitioner with an extensive background in K-12 leadership, teacher education, and language and literacy development.
Stanley L. Johnson, Jr., Ph.D., has been appointed as a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Education. Members are appointed by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to provide leadership and oversight of the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE), the nation’s largest regional education agency. LACOE works to support and protect the education and well-being of nearly two million children thorough an equity lens. Johnson begins his three-year term in the 2021-22 school year.
Johnson is the National Science Foundation Project Director and Researcher in the Black Male Institute at the Center for the Transformation of Schools in the UCLA School of Education & Information Studies. He is an educational consultant, researcher, and practitioner with an extensive background in K-12 leadership, teacher education, and language and literacy development.
“It’s a great honor and privilege to represent Supervisor Holly Mitchell and the residents of the second district as a member of Los Angeles County Board of Education,” Johnson said. “Having been a teacher, principal, district and county office administrator and academic researcher, I look forward to leveraging my 20 plus years of experience to advance equity and access for our nearly two million students, their families and our dedicated employees.”
At the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools Johnson leads a research practice partnership with the support of the NSF’s Computer Science for All Initiative (CSforAll) to improve pathways for underrepresented student populations for Computer Science (CS) careers in Los Angeles. He also recently served as the lead researcher for Beyond the Schoolhouse: Digging Deeper, a new study showing that COVID-19 has likely worsened inequalities for Black students in Los Angeles County.
As a researcher, Johnson critically examines effective secondary English teachers who implement culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogical and instructional practices in their classrooms to close literacy gaps and address their students’ academic, social, and emotional needs. He is particularly interested in how Advanced Placement English teachers facilitate high levels of engagement for their high achieving boys of color (and especially African American males) by ensuring that they have access and exposure to language and literacies of power.
Johnson received his Ph.D. in Urban Schooling from the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, his Master of Arts in Secondary Education along with clear teaching and administrative credentials from Loyola Marymount University, and his Bachelor of Arts in American Literature and Culture with college honors from UCLA. In 2010, UCLA (SEIS) presented him with the Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award for his outstanding teaching of undergraduate students’ and significant contributions to the educational community.
The UCLA Center for Transformation of Schools works with across the education ecosystem to bring about systems change through humanizing research, validating practices, and transformational policies with key partners to support equitable educational outcomes for historically underserved students. The Center aims to be a catalyst for learning communities to boldly nurture and protect the dignity, wellbeing, and full potential of all students.