Faculty

The Ed.D. Leadership Program faculty are composed of scholars and researchers from across SJSU who are committed to preparing collaborative, transformative leaders capable of building school systems free from oppression, injustice, and inequality as well as to closing the opportunity gap resulting in educational disparities and social inequalities.

Program Director

Ferdie Rivera, Ph.D. (Interim) ferdinand.rivera@sjsu.edu Sweeney Hall 402

• Dr. Rivera's Bio

  • Ferdie Rivera is Professor in the Department of Mathematics and
    Statistics and currently Interim Director of the Ed.D. Leadership
    Program at the Connie L. Lurie College of Education at San José
    State University. He was a STEM Education Administrator (Program
    Director) for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and managed
    foundational and applied research projects in STEM education (in
    particular, mathematics education). At NSF he also helped establish a
    structure for understanding core federal investments in STEM
    education research and development for the country (i.e., learning,
    learning environments, broadening participation, and workforce
    development). At SJSU, he managed the Department of Teacher
    Education, coordinated the mathematics education program, and was a core faculty member of the Ed.D. Program. He also led the
    development and implementation of SJSU's first undergraduate
    teacher preparation program - the B.A. Mathematics Integrated
    Teacher Education Program - that enables undergraduate
    mathematics majors to pursue a subject matter-driven single subject
    credential in mathematics and an education specialist minor that also
    leads to a combined special education credential and M.A. in Special
    Education in mild to moderate disabilities. This program has recently
    received a NSF Noyce award for its innovative and potentially
    transformative model of teacher preparation.

    Dr. Rivera was a recipient of the prestigious NSF Career award that
    enabled him to conduct empirical research on the nature of structural
    thinking in mathematics among K-8 students. His basic area of
    research expertise is school-based mathematics cognition. His
    research studies and publications from the NSF Career grant helped
    advance the field of Early Algebra in the country. Dr. Rivera was also
    a recipient of several improvement science/implementation research
    grants from the U.S./California Department of Education that trained
    K-12 inservice teachers in several districts in the Bay Area to (i)
    effectively integrate English Learner strategies in teaching
    mathematics and (ii) improve their teaching practice through
    professional learning.

    Dr. Rivera is an expert in the cultural studies in education. At The Ohio State University, he was a member of the first cohort of doctoral
    students that explored poststructural and postmodern theories and
    research in education. He is a trained scholar in Foucauldian,
    Derridean, and Deleuze-and-Guattarian analysis.

    Dr. Rivera's current research interests involves investigating virtual
    reality/augmented reality/extended reality representational tools for
    learning and teaching mathematics, which draws on an enactive and
    action-oriented view of cognition, and developing scaling-for-equity
    models in math teacher preparation, in which case deep change in
    teaching practice is seen as a multidimensional, systemic concept. Dr. Rivera sees issues in teacher education, educational leadership, and institutional restructuring from the lens of student learning and
    thinking.

    Dr. Rivera has published in top-tier journals such as the Educational
    Studies in Mathematics, Journal of Mathematical Behavior,
    Contemporary Educational Psychology, Journal of Numerical
    Cognition, and Perspectives on Psychological Science and the NCTM professional journals. He also authored several academic and
    professional books and book chapters related to his NSF-funded
    research and co-edited special issues for academic journals (e.g.,
    ZDM) and books (e.g, Springer). He continues to review for journals in math education, teacher education, educational research, and
    developmental psychology, and is a consultant on several innovative
    STEM education research projects.

    

Core Faculty

Rebeca Burciaga, Ph.D. | Professor, Educational Leadership & Chicana and Chicano Studies, Program Founder and Coordinator, Emancipatory Leadership MA Program

Kyoung Mi Choi, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Counselor Education

Arnold Danzig, Ph.D. | Professor, Educational Leadership

Brent Duckor, Ph.D. | Professor, Teacher Education

María Ledesma, Ph.D. | Department Chair & Professor, Educational Leadership

Roxana Marachi, Ph.D. | Professor, Teacher Education

Kathleen McConnell, Ph.D. | Associate Chair & Professor, Communication Studies 

Dolores Mena, Ph.D. | Professor & Graduate Program Coordinator, Counselor Education

Nikos Mourtos, Ph.D. | Department Chair & Professor, Aerospace Engineering

Eduardo Muñoz-Muñoz, Ph.D. | Assistant Professor, Teacher Education

Luis Poza, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Teacher Education

Emily Slusser, Ph.D. | Department Chair & Associate Professor, Child & Adolescent Development

Megan Thiele, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Sociology & Interdiscriplinary Social Sciences

David Whitenack, Ph.D. | Department Chair & Professor, Teacher Education

Affiliated Faculty

Pamela Cheng, Ed.D. | Lecturer, Ed.D. Leadership Program & Director of Instructional Services at Campbell Union School District 

Maria Fusaro, Ed.D. | Associate Professor, Child & Adolescent Development

Michael Gallagher, Ed.D. | Lecturer, Ed.D. Leadership Program & Superintendent at Sunnyvale School District 

Bob Gliner, Ph.D. | Lecturer,  Ed.D. Leadership Program & Emeritus Professor, Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Veneice Guillory-Lacy, Ph.D | Assistant Professor, Educational Leadership

Lara Kassab, Ed.D. | Assistant Professor, Teacher Education

Bobbie Plough, Ed.D. | Lecturer, Ed.D. Leadership Program

Rosalinda Quintanar-Sarellana, Ph.D. | Lecturer, Ed.D. Leadership Program & Emerita Professor, Teacher Education 

Noni Reis, Ph.D. | Lecturer, Ed.D. Leadership Program & Emerita Professor, Educational Leadership

Core Faculty Directory, Bios, and Highlights

Rebeca Burciaga, Ph.D. Professor, Educational Leadership & Chicana and Chicano Studies, Program founder and Coordinator, Emancipatory Leadership MA Program rebeca.burciaga@sjsu.edu  (408) 924-3644 Twitter: @qvo

• Dr. Burciaga's Bio

  • Dr. Rebeca Burciaga is the Founding Executive Director of the Institute for Emancipatory Education in the Connie L. Lurie College of Education at San José State University and a Professor of Educational Leadership & Chicana and Chicano Studies. Her research is nested in the nepantla (borderlands) of Education and Chicana/o Studies and focuses on the schooling experiences of Chicano and Latino students, families, communities, educators, and leaders from preschool through profession. Her current work focuses on emancipatory and culturally sustaining approaches to school leadership with SJSU's Emancipatory School Leadership MA Program that she founded. Her research in schools and communities spans over 20 years and includes mixed-methods research on pathways from preschool to the professoriate, the experiences of students who leave high school before graduation, and the ways in which geographic regions structure inequalities. She specializes in the study of qualitative methodologies, critical theories (e.g. critical race theory & Chicana feminist theories), and critical pedagogies (e.g. testimonio). 

    Dr. Burciaga has an undergraduate degree from the University of California at Santa Cruz, a master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California at Los Angeles. She is a co-founder of the Institute for Teachers of Color Committed to Racial Justice and her research has been supported by highly competitive funding including the Spencer Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health. Her most recent scholarship can be found in Educational Administration Quarterly, Equity & Excellence in Education, Race, Ethnicity and Education, Multicultural Perspectives, and the Association of Mexican American Educators Journal.

• Dr. Burciaga's Recent Publications & Presentations

  • Presentations

    Burciaga, R., Guillory-Lacy, V., Tejada, H., Chau, C., King, E., & Hawkins-McCray, S. (2022, November) Reimagining DEI Initiatives: An Emancipatory Perspective of Equity Work in K-12 Schools. University Council of Educational Administration (UCEA), Seattle, WA.

    Burciaga, R. (chair), Buenavista, T. L. (discussant) Dones, C. M., Nhung Phu, C., Otaky-Ramirez, Z., Aguirre, P. (2020, April). First-Generation Women of Color Professionals: An Examination of the intersectional experiences in higher education. Panel at the meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco, CA.

    Burciaga, R., Delgado Bernal, D., Elenes. C. E., Flores Carmona, J. (2019, May). Educación en Nepantla, Paths of Conocimiento. Paper presented at the International Conference of the Life and Work of Gloria Anzaldúa, Paris, France.

    Publication

    Kohli, R., Burciaga, R., & Pizarro, M. (2022). Retained and empowered: A case of teacher of color critical professional development. In C.D. Gist, T.J. Bristol (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Teachers of Color.

    Covarrubias, A., Lara, A., Nava, P., Burciaga, R. (2022). Critical Race Quantitative Intersectionality: A Toiling Movement-Building Paradigm that Refuses to “Let the Numbers Speak for Themselves.” In M. Lynn, A.D. Dixson (Eds.), Handbook of Critical Race Theory in Education.

    Burciaga, R. & Tavares, A. (2021). Coraje y Amor: Bilingual Bicoastal Leadership from Preschool to the Professoriate. In M. A. Martinez, & S. Méndez – Morse (Eds.), Latinas Leading Schools.

Kyoung Mi Choi, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Counselor Education kyoungmi.choi@sjsu.edu

Arnold Danzig, Ph.D. Professor, Educational Leadership arnold.danzig@sjsu.edu  (408) 924-3722

• Dr. Danzig's Bio

  • Arnold Danzig is professor and former founding director of the Ed.D. program in Educational Leadership in the Connie L. Lurie College of Education at San José State University. Prior to that he served as professor and associate director, School of Public Affairs/College of Public Programs at Arizona State University. In 2009-2010, he served as Professor and Director of the Division of Advanced Studies in Policy, Leadership, and Curriculum and Professor of Education Leadership and Policy Studies in the Mary Lou Fulton Institute and Graduate School of Education. He has served as Associate Dean and Director of the D.E.L.T.A. Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership. His research offers a humanistic vision of leadership for schools and democratic institutions, with deep and practical commitment to the betterment of individual and institutional lives. He has extensive international experience related to globalization and education policy, and has led groups for international study in Europe, Mexico, and South America. Dr. Danzig has published numerous books and articles on educational leadership and education policy including Learner-Centered Leadership: Research, Policy, and Practice (2007), and School Leadership Internship (3rd edition, 2012). His newest book (edited with Liz Hollingworth) is Research in Learning and Teaching in Educational Leadership (2014), a volume in the University Council for Educational Administration Leadership Series. He is also an author and editor of the American Educational Research Association's Journal Review of Research in Education, which released the 2012 volume "Education, Democracy, and the Public Good," and the forthcoming 2014 volume titled "Language Policy, Diversity, and Politics in Education." His published articles on educational leadership and school administration, professional development, and school-to-work transition, have appeared in multiple journals including International Studies in Educational Administration, Education Policy, Journal of Educational Administration, Educational Leadership and Administration, Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation.

• Dr. Danzig's Recent Publications & Presentations

  • Book

    Martin, G. E., Danzig, A. B., Flanary, R. A., & Orr, M. T. (2021). School leader internship: Developing, monitoring, and evaluating your leadership experience (Fifth). Routledge.

    Danzig, A. & Black, W. (Eds). (2019). Who controls the preparation of school administrators? Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

    Book Chapters

    Danzig, A., Black, W., & Aravamudhan, R. (2019). Introduction to volume: Academic drift and institutional production. In A. Danzig & W. Black,. (Eds). Who controls the preparation of school administrators? (pp. 3-25). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

    Black, W., & Danzig, A. (2019). Principal preparation or leadership education? Examining administrative licensure production and graduate employment in three state contexts. In A. Danzig & W. Black,. (Eds). Who controls the preparation of school administrators? (pp. 53-80). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

    Conference Papers and Participation

    International Council of Professors of Educational Leadership (ICPEL) (2021). Symposia Organizer and Session Participant. Symposium 1: Who Decides: Power, Dis/ability and Leadership: Focus on Ontology, Epistemology, Intersectionality, and Advocacy; Symposium 2: Who Decides: Power, Dis/ability and Leadership: Policy and Practice

    World Education Leadership Symposium (2019). Symposium Organizer and Session Participant. Who Controls the Preparation of Education Administrators: Institutional Production, Academic Drift, and Epistemic Drift. Zug, Switzerland, September 22 - 27, 2019.

    University Council for Education Administration (2019). Faculty Mentor. Graduate Student Symposium. New Orleans, LA: November 20, 2019.

    University Council for Education Administration (2019). Ignite Session, Organizer and Participant. Who Controls Education Administration? New Orleans, LA: November 20-24, 2019.

Brent Duckor, Ph.D. Professor, Teacher Education brent.duckor@sjsu.edu  (408) 924-3342

• Dr. Duckor's Bio

  • Brent Duckor is an Associate Professor in the Lurie College of Education at San José State University. He teaches courses in Classroom Evaluation and Assessment and supervises pre-service teachers in the Single Subject Credential Program of the Department of Teacher Education. His doctoral course EDUC 530 "Assessment, Testing and Evaluation: Contexts and Implications for School Reform" focuses on the link between formative, interim, and summative assessment systems in K-12 education. Dr. Duckor received his Ph.D. in Quantitative Methods and Evaluation at the University of California, Berkeley. He holds a Masters of International Affairs with a Business concentration from Columbia University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics with Honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz. A former social science and history teacher at Central Park East Secondary School in East Harlem in New York City, he is dedicated to educational reforms that advance the development of rigorous alternative assessment frameworks. Dr. Duckor’s current research interests focus on three areas: teachers’ understanding and use of formative assessment in the K-12 classroom; validation of teacher licensure exams and certification in state, national, and international contexts; and measuring non-cognitive outcomes for program evaluation and school improvement to better serve historically disadvantaged, low-income youth. Dr. Duckor is an appointed member of the CalTPA Design Team for California’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing and an Advisory Board member of the College and Career Readiness Evaluation Consortium for the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships in Washington, D.C. He has co-edited several international journals including Psychological Test and Assessment Modeling and Pensamiento Educativo, both focused on new developments in Rasch IRT modeling. His most recent scholarship has appeared in Phi Delta Kappan, Teachers College Record, Educational Leadership, Journal of Teacher Education, Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, and The English Journal.

• Dr. Duckor's Recent Publications 

  • Article

    Duckor, B. & Holmberg, C. (2019/2020). Seven high-leverage formative Assessment moves to support ELLs. Educational Leadership, 77(4), 46-52.
    Excerpt: Sound in-class assessment strategies can make a big difference in deepening ELLs' learning.

    In our 2017 book, Mastering Formative Assessment Moves (ASCD), we outlined seven high-leverage formative assessment strategies that promote ambitious teaching and deeper learning. Since then, we've been working with pre- and in-service teachers who are implementing the new English Language Development Standards (2014) in California, and we have begun to see how these strategies can serve as the natural bridge to help English language learners reach greater proficiency in their understanding of academic language. Research tells us that the assessment choices teachers make in their classrooms matter. John Hattie's findings (2009, 2012) remind us that student achievement outcomes can be mapped to specific high-leverage practices. We know, after years of top-down reforms, that formative assessment is more than just a buzzword. For teachers working with English language learners, these sound formative assessment practices can help make a difference minute by minute. 

María Ledesma, Ph.D. Department Chair & Professor, Educational Leadership maria.ledesma@sjsu.edu

• Dr. Ledesma's Bio

  • Dr. María C. Ledesma grew up in Oakland, California. As a first-generation college student, María earned a B.A. from UC Berkeley, a master’s degree from Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, and a Ph.D. in education from UCLA. She has previous experience as an undergraduate admissions reader for her undergraduate alma mater, UC Berkeley, and sat as the graduate student representative for the University of California’s faculty senate committee on undergraduate admissions—The Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools. As a doctoral student María was selected to sit as the 32nd Student Regent for the University of California, the first Latina to hold this post. Her research interests include equity oriented critical policy analysis, including contextualizing and historicizing the history and application of race-conscious social policy in higher education and the examination of leadership for social justice. She is also interested in exploring the experiences of faculty of color who identify as first-generation. Her work has appeared in the Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, Equity and Excellence in Education, Review of Higher Education, and Qualitative Inquiry.

Roxana Marachi, Ph.D. Professor, Teacher Education roxana.marachi@sjsu.edu  (408) 924-3729 Twitter: @ConnectEdProf

• Dr. Marachi's Bio

  • Roxana Marachi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at SJSU where she teaches Foundations of Psychology in Education and Leadership, Culture, and Diversity in the doctoral program. Dr. Marachi received her Ph.D. degree in Education and Psychology at the University of Michigan with a research focus on school climate, student motivation, and evaluation of violence prevention programs. Her current interests intersect research-to-practice gaps in the implementation of policies related to high-stakes testing, privatization, and the technologization of teaching and learning. Dr. Marachi hosts the EduResearcher blog aimed at bridging research to practice in education. She has presented at national and international education conferences, was co-chair of the Safe Schools and Communities Committee for the American Educational Research Association from 2009-2012, and is currently chair of the education committee of the Silicon Valley/San Jose NAACP. Dr. Marachi was the recipient of the 2015 Justice Award from Californians for Justice and the 2015 Freedom Fighter Award from the Silicon Valley/San Jose NAACP. Since 2011, she has been actively involved with regional initiatives including the Santa Clara County School Linked Services Program, Santa Clara County School Climate and Leadership Committee, Children’s Action Network, and the Santa Clara County Juvenile Justice Systems Collaborative.

Kathleen McConnell, Ph.D.  Associate Chair & Professor, Communication Studies kathleen.mcconnell@sjsu.edu

Dolores Mena, Ph.D.   Professor & Graduate Program Coordinator, Counselor Education dolores.mena@sjsu.edu

Nikos Mourtos, Ph.D. Chair & Professor, Aerospace Engineering nikos.mourtos@sjsu.edu  (408) 924-3867

• Dr. Mourtos's Bio

  • Nikos J. Mourtos is a professor and the Chair of the Aerospace Engineering Department at SJSU. He received his Ph.D. degree in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Stanford University. He has developed and taught more than 20 courses in diverse subjects spanning from aerodynamics and aircraft design to leadership and complexity and systems thinking. His research interests encompass learning theories and innovative pedagogies, course design and assessment, faculty development, complexity and systems thinking.

    Dr. Mourtos has served as the Faculty Instructional Development Coordinator for the College of Engineering (1996-2002), a Faculty-in-Residence for Innovative Pedagogy (1998-2002) and the Assistant Director for the SJSU Center for Faculty Development and Support (2006-2008). He has published extensively on engineering education topics such as active, cooperative, problem-based and service learning, teaching and learning styles, teaching and assessing problem solving and design skills, faculty development, and program assessment. He has conducted more than 100 faculty workshops at SJSU, in the US, and around the world with a focus on course design and in particular how to teach and assess 21st century skills.

Eduardo Muñoz-Muñoz, Ph.D. Assistant Professor, Teacher Education eduardo.munoz-munoz@sjsu.edu  (408) 924-3771

• Dr. Munoz-Munoz's Bio

  • Eduardo R. Muñoz-Muñoz, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor and the Bilingual Program Coordinator at the Lurie College of Education at San José State University. Dr. Muñoz-Muñoz earned his doctorate at Stanford University in 2018. His dissertation “De-standardizing the standard (s): Ideological and Implementational Spaces in Pre-service Teacher Education” has been recognized with the 2020 award for the best dissertation by the Second Language Research Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association. He also holds a Master’s Degree in Sociology (Stanford University, 2016), a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership (UC Berkeley, 2010), and a Licenciatura in English Philology (Universidad de Córdoba, España, 2000). He has taught high school in Spain and the UK and elementary bilingual education, before becoming a coach and then an elementary school principal in 2010.

    As a critical sociolinguist, his research, teaching, and practice engage with issues of linguistic access, educational opportunities, and teacher preparation from an interpretivist stance. Additionally, he regularly supports and advises districts and dual immersion programs on design and implementational issues pertaining to multilingualism. An intrinsic part of his praxis is the engagement in educational policy activism, as an active member of the statewide coalition Californians Together.

    Dr. Muñoz serves as an advisor for doctoral students with a clear determination to advance social justice through their scholarly work. He specializes in issues related to emergent bilinguals, multilingual school organization, linguistic policies. As a practitioner of qualitative methodologies, he supports research designs that acknowledge the political, historical, and situated nature of research.

    Recent publications include the 2020 PACE-Pivot learning policy brief English Language Learners and the Local Control Funding Formula Implementation Challenges and Successes from Two District Cases, the 2019 chapter Preparing Bilingual Teachers to Enact Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy, or the article From English learner to Spanish learner: Raciolinguistic Beliefs that Influence Heritage Spanish Speaking Teacher Candidates, both coauthored with Drs. Claudia Rodríguez-Mojica and Allison Briceño.

• Dr. Munoz-Munoz's Recent Publications & Presentations

  • Publications

    Muñoz-Muñoz, E. (2021). Where the Translingual Rubber Hits the Road: Ideological Frictions, Mixtificaciones y Potentialities in Bilingual Teacher Preparation Programs. Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, 15(3), 47-68.

    Muñoz-Muñoz, E. R. (2021). Amy J. Heineke and Kristin J. Davin (eds): Review of the Seal of Biliteracy: Case Studies and Considerations for Policy Implementation.

    Muñoz-Muñoz, E., & Briceño, A. (2021). It Is Not If, But When: Organizational and Leadership Recommendations for The Upcoming Demand for Expanded Dl Programs and Their Articulation. Journal for Leadership, Equity, and Research, 7(3).

    Presentations

    National Association of Bilingual Education, NABE, (Feb 2022) with Marcella McCollum and Matthew Love
    "Opening the Seal of Biliteracy: a Critical Examination of California Award Distribution and Implications for Equity"

    San Mateo County Office of Education (Jan 2022)
    "Translanguaging: Pushing the Sobre for Educational Equity"

    Humboldt County Office of Education (Jan 2022)
    "Deconstructing the Native Speaker: What is that?"

Luis Poza, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Teacher Education luis.poza@sjsu.edu

Emily Slusser, Ph.D. Department Chair & Associate Professor, Child & Adolescent Development emily.slusser@sjsu.edu (408) 924-3752

• Dr. Slusser's Bio

  • Emily Slusser began her career in child development as the program coordinator for an early education program where she developed intervention strategies for preschool children with limited educational resources. Since that time, Dr. Slusser has established a research program that explores children’s early cognitive representations of number and the later development of symbolic math concepts. She is particularly interested in learning how cognitive representational resources drive language learning and how language, in turn, supports further conceptual development. Over the next couple years she aims to launch a fully interdisciplinary research program exploring best practices in early education and intervention.

• Dr. Slussor's Recent Publications & Presentations

  • Conference Publications

    American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting: “Early Children Education and Quality Care: The Parents' Perspective” by Buu Thai & Emily Slusser.

    American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting: “Digital Literacy and the Common Core: What Does Instruction Look Like in Early Elementary Classrooms?” by Delnaz Hosseini & Emily Slusser.

    Critical Questions in Education Conference: "Schooling Alone? An Investigation into Online Learning Environments" by Sara Douglas & Emily Slusser.

    Article

    CalMatters: "Support for each and every child from the start: A call for affordable, high-quality care and education for babies and toddlers across the state" by Emily Slusser, Andrea Golloher, and Maria Fusaro.

David Whitenack, Ph.D. Department Chair & Professor, Teacher Education david.whitenack@sjsu.edu (408) 924-3736

• Dr. Whitenack's Bio

  • David A. Whitenack, Ph.D., Chair and Professor of the Teacher Education Department (TED) of the Lurie College of Education at San José State University (SJSU), is a graduate of the Language, Literacy, and Culture program of the Stanford University Graduate School of Education. He teaches a foundations and methods course focusing on emergent multilingual students, supervises pre-service teachers, and coordinates the graduate program in TED. Whitenack has published and presented in the areas of educating emergent multilingual students and related professional development, particularly in Professional Development Schools and other school-university partnerships. He has led professional development initiatives related to improving the teaching and learning of emergent multilingual students in local school districts and was Co-Principal Investigator of the U.S. Department of Education funded ELLISA Project, which focused on integrating English language and literacy development in CCSS / NGSS-aligned content-area curriculum and instruction. His subsequent work has built on the ELLISA practices through the Tier 1 Framework, a collaboration with SJSU Department of Special Education colleagues Andrea Golloher and Lisa Simpson focused on using an intersectional approach to prepare all classroom practitioners to develop the content knowledge and academic language of all students in the mainstream classroom. Whitenack and Simpson are currently Co-Directors and Co-Principal Investigators of SJSU Teacher Residency Partnerships (TRP), an expanding group of collaborative teacher preparation / professional development initiatives with local high-need school districts. The TRP recruits and develops diverse teachers, particularly targeting special education and bilingual education, and places them with mentors in year-long teacher residencies to create a teaching force that more closely mirrors local students, particularly in high-need schools and districts.

Affiliated Faculty Directory, Bios, and Highlights

Michael Gallagher, Ed.D. Lecturer, Ed.D. Leadership Program & Superintendent at Sunnyvale School District  michael.gallagher@sjsu.edu

• Dr. Gallagher's Bio

  • Michael Gallagher has been appointed Superintendent of the Sunnyvale School District, a pre-school through eighth-grade district serving 6600 students, effective July 1, 2020. He has served the public schools of Santa Clara County as a high school teacher and administrator, middle school principal, human resources administrator and, effective July 1, 2020, as Superintendent for more than 30 years.

    Michael earned a Doctor of Education degree in Educational Leadership from San Francisco State University while focusing on describing and supporting effective teachers in high poverty schools.  He earned masters degrees in Counseling Education and Educational Administration and a BA degree in English, all from Santa Clara University. He holds a single subjects English credential earned through his study at San José State University.

    Dr. Gallagher regularly presents on the application of research in the areas of the social emotional dimensions of teaching and learning, supporting teaching effectiveness in high poverty schools, and interest based bargaining.

Bob Gliner, Ph.D.  Lecturer,  Ed.D. Leadership Program & Emeritus Professor, Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences robert.gliner@sjsu.edu  (408) 924-1796

• Dr. Gliner's Bio

  • Robert Gliner is a Professor Emeritus, Sociology, from San José State University, where he taught in the Department of Sociology for 35 years. His general area of specialization was social change, with a focus on education and social change. Dr. Gliner also helped develop the Center for Service Learning on the campus as well as creating several interdisciplinary programs which combined courses from a wide range of departments in helping solve community problems. He has taught in the College of Education at San Jose State in the Departments of Elementary Education and Counselor Education.  Perhaps, however, he is best known as an award winning documentary film producer, with more than 40 films to his credit. Dr. Gliner's films, like his specialization in sociology, focus on social change throughout the world, and more recently, on education and social change. He has filmed on location in more than 35 nations including Rwanda, Cuba, India, China, Israel and the West Bank, Albania, Russia, Guatemala and El Salvador. More than 30 of his films have aired on PBS stations throughout the United States, and many of his programs are used by colleges, universities, and non-profit organizations.  

    In the area of public education, he has focused a half a dozen films on social justice and community or place-based education including: Schools That Change Communities (2012), Lessons From the Real World (2011), Education for Social Responsibility(2004), Growing Up Green (2014), and Barefoot College (2013). He has won numerous film awards, and locally at San Jose State University, he received the Austin Warburton Award of Merit, given by the College of Social Sciences to its top faculty scholar, 1993, and the President’s Scholar Award, given to the top faculty scholar at the University, 2002. In conjunction with his documentary work he has taught documentary film production in the Department of Television, Film, Radio and Theater at San José State, as well as at the Central University of Rajasthan, India. For a full list of his documentaries, please visit his website: DocMakerOnline.com. 

Rosalinda Quintanar-Sarellana, Ph.D. Lecturer, Ed.D. Leadership Program & Emerita Professor, Teacher Education  rosalinda.quintanar@sjsu.edu (408) 924-3747

• Dr. Quintanar-Sarellana's Bio

  • Rosalinda Quintanar-Sarellana graduated from Stanford University with a Ph.D. in the area of Literacy, Language and Culture, and a Masters in the area of International Education and Development. Presently, she is a professor at San Jose State University, where she teaches First and Second Language Acquisition and Multicultural Education.

    Additionally, as a CFA Higher Education Representative, Dr. Quintanar-Sarellana was a Vice-Chair and member of the Statewide CTA State Council Language Acquisition Committee. This committee worked closely with legislators and other stake holders to help pass Proposition 58 and other legislation that addressed English Learners.

    During her tenure she helped develop two Guides for the Implementation of Proposition 58. One of the guides focused on teachers and the second one focused on parents.  These guides have been used widely by school districts and organizations like the California Association for Bilingual Education (CABE). In addition she was appointed by the CTA Board as a liaison to the CABE Board. She attended the CABE Board Meetings for 10 years and was a member of the Legislative Committee, meeting with stakeholders and helping to craft legislation that addressed the needs of English Learners and other underserved communities. 

•  Dr. Quintanar-Sarellana's Recent Publications & Proejcts

  • Publications

    Quintanar-Sarellana, R. (forthcoming). Bilingual Education: Strategy for Learning. In W. De La Torre; T. Montano; Quintanar-Sarellana, R. (Eds.), Inequality for None: Transforming Practices in Urban Education. Dubuque, IA. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.

    Projects that address English Learners

    Language Acquisition Development Projects in Chile, Turkey, Canada, Mexico and China.

    Literacy Through Science Project and the SJSU Bilingual Project Collaboration. Co-founded a journal, Electronic Journal of Literacy Through Science and co-edited it for 10 years.

    Member of the PACT (Performance Assessment for California Teachers) that worked on developing the bilingual version of the PACT. This was a team of UC, CSU professors led by Stanford adapted the PACT rubrics and teaching event to include English Learners.

    Participation in the design and implementation of the Instructional Conversation Model (Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, University of Georgia, Athens).

Noni Reis, Ph.D. Lecturer, Ed.D. Leadership Program & Emerita Professor, Educational Leadership noni.mendozareis@sjsu.edu

• Dr. Reis's Bio

  • Noni M. Reis is a Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at San Jose State University. Her work at San Jose State is focused on social justice approaches to leadership development.

    Dr. Reis is the Editor of the Journal of Administration & Supervision, of the California Association of Professors of Educational Administration. Dr. Reis has spent the last three decades in the development of instructional programs designed to support educators in the effective education of English language learner students. She led the development of several state and national curriculum and coaching programs, including Toward Equity: Building Multicultural Schools (California Department of Education); Teaching Alive (Center for Research on Education, Diversity, and Excellence at University of California, Santa Cruz); English Language Learners: Language, Culture and Equity (National Education Association) and most recently, Improving the Teaching and Learning of English Language Learners: The Instructional Conversation Model (Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education, University of Georgia, Athens).

• Dr. Reis's Recent Publications

  • Research Project 

    Co-Investigator in a ten-university collaborative study, "ICPEL Equity and Inclusion Leaders". February 2022 - August 2022. East Tennessee State University. 

    Recent Scholarship

    Summer 2021. Co-Editor, Special Edition Volume 1, Justice-Centered Leadership.  Educational Leadership and Administration: Teaching and Program Development. California Association of Professors of Educational Leadership. www.capea.org 

    Journal Articles

    Gray, M.S. & Mendoza-Reis, N. (2021). From preparation to the principalship: Towards a framework for social justice in leadership. CAPEA Journal Special Edition, Volume 1. Justice-Centered Leadership

Current Faculty Resources

• Working with Ed.D. Dissertation Writers [pdf]
• Ed.D. and the IRB [pdf]