Graduate Group Faculty

Overview

Our PhD program offers five Emphasis Areas:

Language, Literacy & Culture (LLC)

Learning & Mind Sciences (LMS)

Mathematics Education (MTH)

School Organization & Education Policy (SOEP)

Science and Agricultural Education (SCI/AG)

To search for faculty in an Emphasis Area, enter the abbreviation noted in the search field.

Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LMS.

Tony Albano

Associate Professor

Dr. Tony Albano is an Associate Professor in the School of Education where he teaches courses in testing, assessment, and data science. His research aims broadly to improve teaching and learning via effective educational and psychological measurement, including through improvements in psychometric methods for scaling and modeling assessment results, and through enhanced accessibility in test design and implementation. Dr.

adalbano@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: MTH. Elementary Education; Gender and Equity Issues in Mathematics Education; In-Service and Preservice Teacher Learning; Mathematics Education

Rebecca Ambrose

Professor

Portrait of Rebecca Ambrose

After teaching middle school math for ten years, I decided to pursue a PhD to get a fresh perspective on the issues I observed every day in my classroom and thought that maybe I could help develop remedies that would help other teachers, as well.

UC Davis School of Education Building, Room 254
(530) 754-4831
rcambrose@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SCI/AG. Environmental Education; Citizen Science; Participatory Action Research; In-service and Preservice Teacher Learning; Science Education

Heidi Ballard

Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow

Portrait of Heidi Ballard

Heidi Ballard is the Founder and Faculty Director of the Center for Community and Citizen Science. You can find more information about her past and current projects, and sign up for occasional updates at the Center’s website.

 

UC Davis School of Education Building, Room 251
hballard@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LLC, critical race theory; diversity, race and equity; identity, teaching and schooling; Latinx issues in education; secondary education; social studies education; teacher education and preparation

M. Yianella Blanco

Assistant Professor

Yianella Blanco

Dr. Yianella Blanco is an Assistant Professor in the School of Education. Her research interests focus on the teaching and learning of Latine/x histories and experiences, particularly those of Central America(ns) and how those intersect with American empire. Dr. Blanco’s research draws from community-based and participatory action research methods.

UC Davis, School of Education Building, Room 119, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616
myblanco@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SOEP, LLC, SCI/AG. EQUITY AND JUSTIC ISSUES IN STEM HIGHER EDUCATION; MINORITY/UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS; LEARNING ANALYTICS; INTERSECTIONAL APPROACHES TO STEM IDENTITY; STUDENTS IN ACADEMIC DISTRESS; RETENTION IN STEM

Natalia Caporale

Assistant Professor of Teaching, Dept of Neurobiology, Physiology and Behavior

Read the full profile at the College of Biological Sciences.

Graduate Group in Education Faculty EMPHASIS AREA: SOEP

Scott Carrell

Professor Emeritus, Department of Economics

Scott Carrell is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the UC Davis Economics Department and a Professor of Economics at the University of Texas at Austin. His primary area of research is in the economics of education. Professor Carrell is a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Research Fellow at Institute for the Study of Labor, and a Faculty Fellow at the Civitas Institute at UT-Austin. He spent 10 years as an active duty officer in the U.S. Air Force, retiring from the U.S. Air Force Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2015.

Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LMS. Child Development; Collaborative Learning; Gender and technology; Learning in Informal Settings; Qualitative Methodology; Technology and identity

Cynthia Carter Ching

Professor and Interim Dean

Portrait of Cynthia Carter Ching

Cynthia Carter Ching (she/her/hers) is Professor of Education and Associate Dean for Academic Programs in the UC Davis School of Education. During the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020-2022, she served as the UC Davis Interim Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Education. In her research, funded by the National Science Foundation and others, she examines the intersection of technology, learning, collaboration, and identity. Her work examines how children, youth, and adults represent and negotiate aspects of themselves via technology in classrooms, in online environments, and in games.

UC Davis School of Education Building, Room 106
ccching@ucdavis.edu
Graduate Group in Education Faculty EMPHASIS AREA: MTH. Robotics, intelligent networked mechatronic and embedded systems, innovative design for 3D printing, technology in teaching

Harry H. Cheng

Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Director of UC Davis Center for Integrated Computing and STEM Education (C-STEM)

Portrait of Harry Cheng
(530) 752-5020
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SOEP. Access and equity in higher education, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Latina/o students, campus climate for diversity

Marcela G. Cuellar

Associate Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow

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Marcela Cuellar joined the School of Education in July 2014. She received her doctorate in Higher Education and Organizational Change at the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies. Her research examines access and equity in higher education, Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs) and emerging HSIs, and Latinx student success. More specifically, Dr. Cuellar employs quantitative and qualitative methods to explore Latinx students’ experiences at HSIs and emerging HSIs and how they are empowered as a result of their educational experiences during college and beyond.

(530) 752-5395
marcuellar@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LLC. Academic language; Academic literacy; English learners; Language development and socialization; First- and second-language writing

Kerry A. Enright

Associate Professor

Portrait of Kerry A. Enright

I research the relationship between Latinx students’ everyday uses of language (English and Spanish) and their engagement in language and literacy practices in institutional settings (classrooms and professional work-study placements). Some schools identify bilingual adolescents as “limited” in their English proficiency even though they use sophisticated literacy repertoires outside of school; other learners are deemed ”fluent” in English but still struggle with the language and literacy demands of their academic coursework or workplace.

UC Davis School of Education Building, Room 128
kaenright@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SOEP

Nancy Erbstein

Associate Professor in Residence

Portrait of Nancy Erbstein

My work focuses on how communities and regions produce and disrupt disparities in youth well-being, with emphasis on disparities associated with race/ethnicity, immigration, socio-economic status and geographic location. My interest in youth well-being situates my activity at the intersection of educational reform, public health, youth development and community development. I ground my work conceptually at the nexus of theories of development in social ecological contexts, critical human geographers’ analyses of space and place as socially produced, and critical race theory.

(530) 754-6913
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SOEP

Cassandra M.D. Hart

Professor

Portrait of Cassandra Hart

Cassandra Hart is an associate professor of education policy. She evaluates the effects of school, state and national education programs, policies, and practices on overall student achievement, and on the equity of student outcomes. Hart’s work has focused on online education in both K-12 schools and community colleges, school choice programs, school accountability policies, and effects on students of exposure to demographically similar teachers.

(530) 752-9691
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LMS, LLC

Jennifer Higgs

Associate Professor

Jennifer Higgs is an Associate Professor of Learning and Mind Sciences and Language, Literacy, and Culture. Drawing from sociocultural learning theories and employing methodologies such as design-based research and survey research, she investigates young people’s and teachers’ sense-making of digital tools and ecologies that invite new forms of reading, writing, and participation; support structures that may help teachers facilitate equitable uses and understandings of digital technologies; and the spread and scale of educational innovations in our advanced digital age. Dr.

jmhiggs@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LLC, SOEP

Margarita Jimenez-Silva

Professor

""

Prof. Margarita Jimenez-Silva’s research focuses on preparing and supporting teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse learners, especially in addressing emergent bilinguals’ linguistic and academic content development. More specifically, her research strands include teacher education pedagogy and curriculum, educational policy, and family/community engagement. Her research has been published by journals such as Harvard Educational Review, Childhood Education, and the Journal of Research on Childhood Education. 

(530) 752-3959
mjimenezsilva@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SOEP. Education policy; Educational program evaluation; Educational stratification and equity; K-12 school desegregation

Michal Kurlaender

Chancellor’s Leadership Professor

Michal Kurlaender portrait

Michal Kurlaender investigates students’ educational pathways, in particular K-12 and postsecondary alignment, and access to and success in higher education. She has expertise on alternative pathways to college and college readiness at both community colleges and four-year colleges and universities. In addition to working with national data, Kurlaender works closely with administrative data from all three of California’s public higher education sectors—the University of California, the California State University and the California Community College systems.

(530) 752-3748
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SOEP

Lauren E. Lindstrom

Professor


Dr. Lauren E. Lindstrom is an active researcher whose areas of interest include autism and developmental disabilities, special education, career and college readiness and transition services for youth with disabilities, and access to quality education for families in poverty. She has been recognized internationally for her work promoting employment and access for individuals with disabilities. She is an affiliated faculty member at the UC Davis MIND Institute and a member of the UC Davis Graduate Group in Education.

lelindstrom@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LMS, MTH. Adaptive Expertise; Learning and Cognition; Learning in Informal Settings; Mathematics Education

Lee Martin

Professor and Chancellor's Fellow

Portrait of Lee Martin
(530) 752-2854
leemartin@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LLC. Adolescent Language and Literacy; English Education; Linguistic Anthropology of Education; Sociocultural Approaches to Learning; Discourse Analysis; Black and Latina/o Youth Interactions; Ethnography

Danny C. Martinez

Associate Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow

Danny C. Martinez is Associate Professor in the Language, Literacy, and Culture program area in the School of Education. His research explores the cultural and linguistic practices of Black and Latinx youth in literacy learning contexts, and teacher learning as it relates to leveraging youths’ rich communicative resources. His research is inspired by his experience as a literacy teacher in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

UC Davis School of Education Building, Room 135
(530) 752-9749
dcmar@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SOEP

Paco Martorell

Professor and Chair of the Graduate Group in Education

Portrait of Paco Martorell

Francisco (Paco) Martorell joined the School as an assistant professor in July 2014. Martorell completed his PhD in economics at UC Berkeley. Prior to joining the School, he was an Economist at the RAND Corporation and was a professor at the Pardee RAND Graduate School since 2006. He has broad research interests in both higher education and K-12 policy. Current projects cover areas including developmental education in colleges, the effects of grade retention, the returns to for-profit colleges, the impacts of school facility investments, and community college tuition subsidies.

(530) 752-3353
pmartorell@ucdavis.edu
Graduate Group in Education Faculty EMPHASIS AREA: LLC

Dan Melzer

Associate Professor and Associate Director for Expository Writing (UWP 1)

Read the full profile at the UWP website

 

Staff Profile Center for Community and Citizen Science EMPHASIS AREA: SCI/AG

Ryan Meyer

Executive Director, Center for Community and Citizen Science

Curriculum Vitae | Twitter


I direct the Center for Community and Citizen Science at the UC Davis School of Education. Our mission is to help scientists, communities, and citizens collaborate on science to address environmental problems as a part of civic life. Learn more and sign up for our mailing list here.

1460 Drew Avenue, Davis, CA 95618
(415) 852-8356
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LLC and SOEP.

Elizabeth Montaño

Associate Professor of Teaching in Education, Chair of CANDEL

Education

Doctorate in Education: Educational Leadership for Social Justice
​Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles

California Single Subject Credential in English with CLAD Certification
University of California, Berkeley (current)

M.A. in Education: Language, Literacy and Culture
University of California, Berkeley

B.A. in Political Science & Chicana and Chicano Studies
University of California, Los Angeles

(530) 754-6847
emontano@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LMS.

Faheemah N. Mustafaa

Assistant Professor

Faheemah N. Mustafaa

Dr. Faheemah N. Mustafaa joined the School of Education as an assistant professor in 2019. She is also a member of the Human Development Graduate Group, and faculty research affiliate with the Center for Poverty & Inequality Research. Prior to joining the School of Education faculty, she was a postdoctoral researcher in Social-Personality Psychology at University of California, Berkeley, and in Teaching and Learning at Vanderbilt University. Dr. Mustafaa earned her Ph.D.

fnmustafaa@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile Sacramento Area Science Project (SASP) EMPHASIS AREA: SCI/AG. Science education; Secondary education

Cynthia M. Passmore

Professor

Cindy Passmore

Research Interests

Science Education; Secondary Education

Education

Ph.D., Curriculum and Instruction – University of Wisconsin, Madison – 2002

Broadcast, Print or Electronic Media

modelbasedbiology.com

modelinglivingearthbiology.org

UC Davis School of Education Building, Room 252
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SCI/AG. Science Education, Groupwork, Race and Schooling, Social Emotional Intelligence, Social Justice Education, Literacy in Science

Alexis Patterson Williams

Associate Professor and Chair of Teacher Education

Alexis Patterson Williams, Ph.D., joined the School of Education in July 2015 as an Assistant Professor in science education. She is currently a CAMPOS Faculty Scholar and is excited to work with her cohort to develop a research center that focuses on increasing the participation of women of color in STEM related fields.

(530) 752-8675
adpatterson@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SOEP. Latina/o and Native American identity formations in P-20 systems; Transition to college for students of color in K-12, Access

Patricia D. Quijada

Associate Professor

Portrait of Patricia D. Quijada

Education

Ph.D., Educational Psychology, University of Wisconsin – Madison
Emphasis: Human Development Minor: Youth Studies and Multicultural Education

Ed.M., Youth Development: Prevention Science and Practice
Harvard University, Graduate School of Education

Ed.M., Counseling Processes
Harvard University, Graduate School of Education

Multiple Subject, Elementary Credential
University of San Diego

B.A. and B.S. Political Science and Sociology
University of California at Riverside

(530) 752-9377
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SOEP. Educational leadership; Latino/a education issues; School finance, Social justice in education

Gloria M. Rodriguez

Professor and Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs

""

Office hours: Winter and Spring Quarters 2020 — By Appointment Only

Gloria M. Rodriguez’s current research explores notions of educational investment that reflect efforts to build upon community strengths in order to address community needs within and beyond educational settings. Dr. Rodriguez also engages in research that focuses on the political economic conditions and educational trajectories of Chicana/o-Latina/o communities, other communities of color, and low-income populations in the U.S.

(530) 754-6256
Faculty Profile

Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica

Associate Professor of Teaching in Education and Bilingual Coordinator–Spanish

A headshot of CLAUDIA RODRIGUEZ-MOJICA wearing a white shirt and blue blazer on a grey background

Dr. Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica is an Associate Professor of Teaching in Education and the Spanish Bilingual Authorization Coordinator. A UC Davis alumnus, she earned her bachelor’s degree in human development and minor in Chicana/o Studies from UC Davis. While at UCD, she participated in the California Mini-Corps program where she served as a teaching-assistant in schools with large numbers of migrant students. She received her multiple subject teaching credential with a bilingual authorization (formerly known as BCLAD) from CSU Sacramento.

crodriguezmojica@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: SOEP. Economics of education; Education Policy and Governance; Quantitative methods; School finance

Heather Rose

Associate Professor

Portrait of Heather Rose

Office hours: By appointment. Room 125 SOEB.

Research Interests

Economics of education; Education Policy and Governance; Quantitative methods; School finance

UC Davis School of Education Building, Room 125
(530) 752-1407
hmrose@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile Emphasis area: LLC

Alicia Rusoja

Assistant Professor

""

Dr. Alicia Rusoja’s interdisciplinary research lies at the intersection of Latinx/Chicanx studies, critical education/critical literacy studies, and university-community/research-practice partnerships. As a Latina immigrant and activist-scholar, she employs participatory and critical community-based qualitative research methodologies to understand the immigrant rights organizing of Latinx immigrant youth, adults and families.

UC Davis, School of Education Building, Room 250, One Shields Ave., Davis, CA 95616
arrusoja@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LMS. Autism Spectrum Disorder, Educational Research, Classroom Active Engagement and Participation, Social Communication

Nicole Sparapani

Associate Professor

Nicole Sparapani, Ph.D., is an associate professor within the School of Education and the MIND Institute. Dr. Sparapani’s background in speech-language pathology, developmental psychology, and education has informed her research agenda, which focuses on the dynamic and transactional interplay between children and their classroom environment. The overarching goal of her research agenda is to improve the educational experiences and outcomes of neurodivergent learners, including children on the autism spectrum. Dr.

njsparapani@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile

Nancy Tseng

Associate Professor of Teaching in Education and Bilingual Coordinator–Mandarin

Dr. Nancy Tseng is an Associate Professor of Teaching in Education in the School of Education. She began her career in education as a public elementary school teacher. Her research interests focus on the development of productive student-teacher relationships in elementary classrooms, identifying instructional practices that support mathematics learning and teaching, and pre-and in-service teacher education. Dr. Tseng received a BA in psychology, elementary teaching credential, and MA from the University of California, Davis. She has a Ph.D.

(530) 752-7910
nstseng@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LLC. Early literacy; English learners; Bilingualism and bilingual education; Educational television and multimedia; Language acquisitionAssociate Dean's Office

Yuuko Uchikoshi Tonkovich

Professor and Associate Dean of Academic Programs

Portrait of Yuuko Uchikoshi Tonkovich

 

Research Interests

Early Childhood; Multilingual Learners; Bilingualism and Bilingual Education; Educational Television and Multimedia; Language Acquisition; Early literacy Development; Quantitative Methods

Professional Experience

Professor, School of Education, University of California, Davis, 2019–present 

Associate Professor, School of Education, University of California, Davis, 2012–2019

Assistant Professor, School of Education, University of California, Davis, 2004–2012

(530) 754-6271
yuchikoshi@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile

Matt Wallace

Associate Professor of Teaching in Education

Education

  • BS—University of California, Davis
  • MA—San Francisco State University
  • PhD—University of California, Davis

Professional Experience

  • Associate Professor of Teaching in Education, UC Davis, 2023–present
  • Lecturer/Supervisor of Teacher Education, UC Davis, 2012–2023
  • Director, Math for America Berkeley, 2012
  • Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley, 2012
  • University Supervisor, California State University, East Bay, 2011-2012
  • Mathematics Teacher, Elk Gr
(530) 752-6083
mtwallace@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LMS. Test validity analysis; The use of assessment as an educational reform lever; Grading; Evaluation of educational programs

Megan Welsh

Associate Professor and Chancellor’s Fellow

Portrait of Megan Welsh

Megan Welsh joined the School in July 2014 as an assistant professor in educational assessment and measurement. Since 2008, she was an assistant professor at the University of Connecticut. Her primary areas of research include test validity analysis, the use of assessment as an educational reform lever, grading, and evaluation of educational programs.

UC Davis School of Education Building, Room 155
(530) 752-9890
megwelsh@ucdavis.edu
Graduate Group in Education Faculty EMPHASIS AREA: SCI/AG

Michael Wilkes

Professor, School of Medicine and Director of the Global Health Sciences

Read the full profile at the School of Medicine.

 

Faculty Profile EMPHASIS AREA: LLCAssociate Dean's Office

Maisha T. Winn

Professor, Chancellor's Leadership Professor, and Co-Director of Transformative Justice in Education Center (TJE)

Maisha T. Winn’s research spans a wide variety of understudied settings including her earlier work on the literate practices extant in bookstores and community organizations in the African American community to her most recent work in settings where adolescent girls are incarcerated.

mtwinn@ucdavis.edu
Faculty Profile Transformative Justice in Education Center (TJE) EMPHASIS AREA: LLC.

Lawrence (Torry) Winn

Associate Professor of Teaching in Education, Chair of Undergraduate Programs, Executive Director of Transformative Justice in Education (TJE) Center

Portrait of Torry Winn

Dr. Lawrence Torry Winn brings over twenty-five years of diverse professional experience, collaborating and consulting with a range of organizations including foundations, cities, schools, colleges/universities, and non-profits. Notable partners include Casey Family Programs, Annie E. Casey, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, City of Newark (NJ), City of Madison (WI), St. HOPE, University of California, Berkeley, Sierra Health Foundation, MLK Sr. Community Resources Collaborative, and Race to Equity. As a trained ethnographer, Dr.

1460 Drew Avenue, Davis, CA 95618
(530) 752-9903
ltwinn@ucdavis.edu

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