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.

The work at UCLA Ed&IS is guided by the principles of individual responsibility and social justice, an ethic of caring, and commitment to the communities we serve. Learn more about our mission and values, our commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in our faculty and students, our history and more.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

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

Department of Education 2023 Information Sessions

Department of Information Studies Programs

Department of Information Studies 2023 Information Sessions

Learn more about the undergraduate and graduate academic programs we offer, when program information sessions are being offered and how to apply.

Student directory

Social Research Methodology

Master's Student Directory Submission Request

Ph.D. Student Directory Submission Request

I am a Chicano doctoral student in the Social Research Methodology division with lifelong roots to the San Fernando Valley. I rely on this social location to develop a multidisciplinary line of research that aims to broaden conventional conceptions of learning spaces and pedagogical settings.
My research draws from methodological and epistemological traditions in education, cultural and urban geography, and Chicano studies to engage active productions of place-based knowledge that emerge from within urbanized and racialized communities in Los Angeles. I focus on this relation in tandem with neoliberalism to investigate knowledge production in formal and informal educational sites. I envision foregrounding this inquiry through critical qualitative and visual research methods.  
I pique my creative and academic interests through my interests in film photography. Outside of class, you might find me on campus listening to Nipsey Hussle, Nas, or the occasional corrido. 

Critical Social Research Methodology, BA, 2021

Brian Zamora (he/him)

LinkedIn | Twitter | clibo001@g.ucla.edu | (424) 322-0142 | Curriculum Vitae

Christine Abagat Liboon is a doctoral student in Social Research Methodology at UCLA’s School of Education and Information Studies. Her research interests are broadly focused on program evaluation and improvement in educational contexts related to newcomer, immigrant, refugee, migrant, and other historically underrepresented populations. Her interests have also spanned across continuous improvement in program evaluation, research on evaluation context, and culturally responsive & sustaining evaluation.  Christine's has previously conducted qualitative case study research such as the integration of the Immigration Family Legal Clinic at RFK Community Schools, the development of Integrated Multi-Tiered Systems of Supports (I-MTSS) at the UCLA Community School at RFK, and a descriptive survey research project on context in evaluation at a UCLA partner school. She is currently a graduate student researcher with the Community Programs initiative at UCLA School of Education and Information Studies. She served as a co-chair for the Graduate Student Association in Education (GSAE) from 2020-21, a graduate student representative on the Justice, Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion (JEDI) Committee in 2020-21, a Graduate Student Association (GSA) representative in 2020-21, and a graduate student mentor in the Social Research Methodology Undergraduate Mentorship Program (SRMUM) pilot initiative in 2020-2022.

program evaluation and improvement in educational contexts related to newcomer, immigrant, refugee, migrant, and other historically underrepresented populations 

continuous improvement in program evaluation 

culturally responsive & sustaining evaluation

University of California, Los Angeles
Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
Ph.D. in Social Research Methodology  
Los Angeles, CA – In Progress, June 2024

University of California, Los Angeles
Graduate School of Education and Information Studies
M.A. in Social Research Methodology  
Los Angeles, CA – June 2019

University of California, Riverside
B.A. in Ethnic Studies
Riverside, CA – June 2009

Annual University Fellowship:  UCLA Graduate Division (2019-Present)

Fulbright-Hays Group Summer Project Abroad – Project Magsayod Philippines: University of Hawai’i, Manoa (2022)

Gordon and Olga Smith Scholarship: UCLA School of Education & Information Studies (2021-2022)

Graduate Research Mentorship Program (GRM): UCLA Graduate Division (2020-2021)

Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Program (GSRM): UCLA Graduate Division (2020)

Hilton Global Summer Scholar Scholarship: WORLD Policy Analysis Center, UCLA (2019) 

UCEAP Emerging Leader Alumni Award: University of California, Education Abroad Program (EAP) (2018)

Murillo, M.A., Liboon, C.A. & Quartz, K.H. Immigrant family legal clinic: A case of integrated student supports in a community school context. J Educ Change (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-021-09447-x

Christine Abagat Liboon (she/her)

I am an aspiring educational researcher pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy in Education from the UCLA Department of Education (Social Research Methodology Division). I am interested in the application of advanced quantitative methods and data science in a wide variety of substantive areas in educational research. Some of my recent work have involved causal inference, multilevel models, and social network analysis. In partnership and consultation with other educational researchers and practitioners, I wish to develop and apply new tools and methodologies that are practically useful in educational settings. Previously, I received my Master of Arts in Education from UCLA and my Bachelor of Arts in Data Science with a special concentration in Educational Studies from Columbia University.

Master of Arts in Education, Department of Education, UCLA

Bachelor of Arts in Data Science with a special concentration in Educational Studies, Columbia College, Columbia University

Graduate Summer Research Mentorship Fellowship

Eric Ho

Expected Graduation Year
2022 | Ph.D. Applied Quantitative Methodology

Mindful/Thoughtful Quantitative Research Methodology

BA Psychology, The University of Virginia

BA Studio Art, The University of Virginia

MA Research and Evaluation Methodology, The University of Colorado, Denver

UCLA Graduate Division Graduate Student Research Mentorship Fellowship

William H. and Louise T. Lucio Scholarship

Outstanding Graduate Award, University of Colorado Denver

EPSY/REM Scholarship, University of Colorado Denver

School of Education Scholarship, University of Colorado Denver

Schweig, J., Martinez, F., & Schnittka Hoskins, J. (Conditionally
Accepted). Making sense of consensus: Disagreement in student survey reports can help identify instructional microclimates within classrooms. American Journal of Education.

Gonzalez, G. C., Cerully, J. L., Wang, E. L., Schweig, J., Todd, I., Johnston, W. R., & Schnittka, J. (2020). Social and emotional learning, school climate, and school safety: A randomized controlled trial evaluation of tools for life® in elementary and middle schools. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR4285.html.

Schnittka, J. & Schnittka, C. G. (2016). “Can I drop it this time?” Gender and collaborative group dynamics in an engineering design-based afterschool program. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER), 6(2), Article 1. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7771/2157- 9288.1120

Jessica E. Schnittka Hoskins (she/her/hers)

Kyle Halle-Erby is a doctoral candidate at UCLA in the School of Education & Information Studies, division of Social Research Methodology. His dissertation is an ethnographic study of the official and practiced policy governing students’ home languages in new high schools exclusively serving recently arrived immigrant young people in Los Angeles. His research engages the Black radical tradition, critical Indigenous research, and raciolinguistic ideologies to qualitatively study the relationships among racialization, Indigeneity, and immigration in educational language policy. Before graduate school, Kyle was a high school Humanities teacher and school leader for seven years in San Francisco.

Halle-Erby, K. (forthcoming). 'Relationships are reality': Centering relationality to investigate land, Indigeneity, Blackness, and futurity. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education.

Halle-Erby, K. & Keenan, H.B. (2022). Unlocking our futures: Considering abolition in educational research. In Weaving an otherwise: In-relations methodological practice (Z. Nicolazzo & A. Tachine, eds.). Stylus.

McCarty, T.L. & Halle-Erby, K. (forthcoming). Qualitative approaches to language policy and planning. In The Routledge handbook of language policy and planning (Gazzola, M., Grin, M., Cardinal, L., Heugh, K., eds). Routledge.

Kyle Halle-Erby

Titles and Positions
Graduate Student Researcher, Center X

Program evaluation applications and utilization 

Continuous improvement and improvement science 

Use of critical frameworks and evaluation for advancing equity

Student transition and achievement in postsecondary institutions

M.A. in Educational Psychology, California State University, Long Beach

M.P.A. in Public Administration, California State University, Long Beach

B.A. in Political Science, University of California, Los Angeles

Lizzet Rojas (she/her/hers)

Inequalities in Opportunities to Learn and Access to Education.

M.P.P., UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

M.A. Political Science, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

B.A. History, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile

Martinez, J. & Fernandez, M. (2019). Evaluación docente con indicadores múltiples: consideraciones conceptuales y metodológicas en torno a la validez. In Manzi, J., García, M. R. & Taut, S. Validez de Evaluaciones Educacionales en Chile y Latinoamérica. Ediciones UC.

Fernandez, M. (Ed.) (2017). Reporte nacional de Chile: Revisión de las políticas educativas en Chile desde el 2004 al 2016. Santiago, Chile: Ministry of Education, Chile. [Available on: https://centroestudios.mineduc.cl/wp-content/uploads/sites/100/2017/06/CBR_Mineduc-
WEB.pdf]

Maria-Paz Fernandez

Graduate Student Researcher, Luskin School of Public Affairs and CONNECT, UCLA Lab School

Teaching Assistant, Educational Leadership Program

Validity and Fairness in Educational and Psychological Measurement

Master of Global Policy Studies, LBJ School of Public Affairs

BA in Philosophy, University of Córdoba, Argentina

Advisor
José-Felipe Martínez
Christina A. Christie

Nadia Melina Sabat Bass (she/her/hers)

Renee White Eyes (Quechan Indian Tribe), is a doctoral candidate in the Social Research Methodology program at the University of California, Los Angeles. She holds a master's degree in counseling from the University of San Diego and a bachelor's degree in human development from California State University, San Marcos. She has extensive experience as a student affairs professional in higher education, including work with Native American serving programs. In her research, she draws on her expertise of admissions, recruiting, and community outreach to investigate questions about American Indian experiences in higher education. More specifically, her research focuses on the ways in which American Indian student affairs professionals draw on their identities and cultural knowledge to engage in the work of recruiting as a form of native nation building.

Marin, A., Stewart-Ambo, T., McDaid-Morgan, N., White Eyes, R., & Bang, M. (2020). Enacting relationships of kinship and care in research and educational settings. In Ali, A. & McCarty, T.M.  Research Methods in Critical Youth Studies: A Practical Guide.

Marin, A., Bruce, Forrest, McDaid-Morgan, N., White Eyes, R., & DeerInWater, K. Indigenous science education and STEM-related education. To appear in Oxford Bibliographies.

Renee White Eyes (she/her/hers)

Tom is a Ph.D. student in the Social Research Methodology Division of SEIS and an MS student in the UCLA Department of Statistics. He previously earned an MPP at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and BAs in English and Spanish from USC. Before starting his Ph.D. studies, he worked as a research associate at the Los Angeles Education Research Institute on a study of college enrollment, persistence, and completion among high school graduates from the Los Angeles Unified School District. He currently works as a Graduate Student Researcher with Teresa McCarty and Michael Seltzer on a study of Indigenous-language immersion schooling funded by the Spencer Foundation.

Titles and Positions
Graduate Student Researcher: Indigenous-Language Immersion and Native American Student  Achievement

MPP, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs

Phillips, M., Yamashiro, K., and Jacobson, T. (2017). College Going in LAUSD: An analysis of college enrollment, persistence, and completion patterns. Los Angeles, CA: Los Angeles Education Research Institute.

Kleiman, M., Caulkins, J., Jacobson, T., and Rowe, B. (2014). Violence and drug control policy. In Donnelly, P. and Ward, C. (Eds.) Oxford Textbook of Violence Prevention: Epidemiology, Evidence, and Policy. (Ch. 42, pp. 297-302). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Thomas Jacobson (he/him/his)

Teaching and Research Interests
Process Data Analysis, Learning Technologies, Computational Methods

Research Center
UCLA CRESST (The National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing)

Tianying (Teanna) Feng (she/her/hers)

Teaching and Research Interests
Research interests include: validity issues of accountability policies for K-12 education; measurement of English learner program implementation at school; equity for English learners; conveying uncertainty in score report for state assessments; application of multilevel models in examining substantial issues related to English learners

Bachelor of Arts, Education, Beijing Normal University

Doctor of Philosophy, General Psychology, Beijing Normal University

Master of Arts, Social Research Methodology, UCLA

Zhaopeng Ding (she/her/hers)

Ph.D.

LinkedIn | Twitter | koyuncubaturay@g.ucla.edu | (972) 400-2499

Education
UC Berkeley Applied Mathematics (Data Science Emphasis) B.A.

Baturay Koyuncu (he/him/his)

LinkedIn | mmja@g.ucla.edu | (562) 265-8431

Education
University of California - Davis, BA in Chicana/o Studies (Social and Policy Emphasis)