Teachers' professional identities are the foundation of their practice. Previous scholarship has largely overlooked the extent to which the broader reform culture shapes teachers' professional identities. In this study, I draw on survey data from 950 teachers across four US states (California, New York, Florida, and Texas) to examine the extent to…

Mathematics education in the United States has faced persistent challenges, with proficiency rates plateauing since 2005 and a significant gap in proficiency between Latino and White students. Although various factors have contributed to this gap, scholars have highlighted teachers as pivotal in the achievement of Latino students. Recent research…

This qualitative study seeks to illuminate the leadership stories of classified staff who participated in prototype leadership development courses in a Southern California school district. Interviews with eight participants revealed that leadership development impacts classified employees' perceptions of leadership, but few support staff members…

This study explores the math identities and teaching practices of six female educators in Los Angeles. Through in-depth interviews, the study finds that math identity is a complex intersection of multiple identities, representation is important for encouraging female students to pursue STEM fields, and the Common Core standards provide a valuable…

Burnout has become a prevalent issue in workplace environments, significantly affecting individuals' mental, emotional, social, and physical well-being. This qualitative phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of burnout among community college counselors in Southern California, a group often overlooked in existing research. While…

This qualitative study examined the stories of women of color (WOC) executive leaders working on a California State University (CSU) campus, exploring how they have achieved success and persevered in the face of systemic barriers. Drawing on in-depth interviews with eight WOC leaders, this dissertation explored their individual experiences and…

Black women administrators should be included in the discourse around experiences in leadership on their campuses, understanding these experiences will shed light not only on how to develop and retain this group, but also on these additional needs of this group. The experience of Black women administrators is a topic that has not been studied…

Purpose: The Women in Leadership Development (WLD) Initiative is a year-long, multifaceted co-curricular leadership development opportunity created to support the unique developmental needs of emerging women leaders. WLD was intentionally designed around the context of second-generation gender bias with a firm grounding of research and theory on…

This qualitative research study explored how the lifelong narrative identities of women educational leaders within the context of power structures have shaped the leaders they are today. Through narrative inquiry methodology and theoretical frameworks of narrative identity and feminist poststructuralism, six executive-level women leaders in the…

Teacher education research, by and large, has been profoundly influenced by psychological interpretations of beliefs, particularly the assumption that teachers attempt to reconcile, rationalize, minimize, or avoid contradictions. Building on research across multiple disciplines, which demonstrates that people live harmoniously with contradictions…

This study addresses how high school band directors operationalize their values for music education in their band programs. High school band directors described that their values developed from a variety of influences, namely their educator identity, and the experience of their own participation in high school and collegiate music. I employed a…

This study was situated in the context of the University of California 4-H Positive Youth Development Program. A convenience sample of teen teachers (N = 11) represents variation in age (11-17), gender, ethnicity, and geographic location. All teens delivered the 4-H Mindful Me curriculum from the University of California 4-H Program. Qualitative…

The topic of professionalism in school-based agricultural education is widely discussed in California yet exceedingly subjective in nature. Agricultural education adds another layer of complexity when considering professionalism across the tripartite components of classroom, leadership development (FFA), and supervised agricultural experience.…

International educators have continually served on the front lines supporting international students, ensuring university compliance with changing federal policies, and assessing risks related to travel and global engagement. As a result, international educators often have to navigate multiple conflicting roles within their jobs on college…

This case study examines how an experienced secondary ESL teacher's personal and professional history is linked to his curricular choices in the classroom and how his enactment of critical educator identity interacts with ideologies within society. The analysis of the focal teacher's experiences that remain prominent in autobiographical memory…