Faculty
The Ed.D. Educational Leadership Program faculty are scholars, researchers, and practice-based experts from within and outside 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.
Director
Ferdie Rivera, Ph.D. 
ferdinand.rivera@sjsu.edu
Sweeney Hall 402
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Dr. Rivera's Bio
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Ferdie Rivera is Professor in the Department of Mathematics and
Statistics and Director of the Ed.D. Leadership Program at the Connie L. Lurie College of Education at San José State University. Dr. Rivera's basic area of research expertise is school-based mathematics cognition. He also engages in improvement science and implementation research.Dr. Rivera's current research interests involves: (i) investigating virtual
reality-mediated representational tools for learning and teaching mathematics, which draws on an embodied, enactive, extended, and embedded views of cognition; (ii) developing scaling-for-literacy and justice models in math teacher preparation; (iii) understanding teacher effectiveness and retention among CSU single subject credential program completers in their first five years of full-time teaching; and (iv) exploring the 2023 California Mathematics Framework, especially data science and the use of AI in PK-Grade 5 math classrooms. For more information about his research projects, please go to https://sites.google.com/sjsu.edu/ferdierivera/home. Dr. Rivera has published in top-tier journals, has authored several academic and professional books and book chapters related to his research, and co-edited special issues for academic journals and books.
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Core Faculty Directory, Bios, and Highlights
- Allison Briceno, Ed.D.
- Rebeca Burciaga, Ph.D.
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Professor, Educational Leadership & Chicana and Chicano Studies, Program Founder and Coordinator, Emancipatory Leadership MA Program
Email: rebeca.burciaga@sjsu.edu
Phone number: (408) 924-3644Dr. 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.
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- Liliana Castrellón, Ph.D.
- Kyoung-Mi Choi, Ph.D.
- Arnold Danzig, Ph.D.
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Professor, Educational Leadership
Email: arnold.danzig@sjsu.edu
Phone number: (408) 924-3722Arnold 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.
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- Brent Duckor, Ph.D.
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Professor, Teacher Education
Email: brent.duckor@sjsu.edu
Phone number: (408) 924-3342Brent 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.
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- Shinchieh (CJ) Duh, Ph.D.
- Deanna Fassett, Ph.D.
- Maria Fusaro, Ph.D.
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Professor, Child & Adolescent Development
Email: maria.fusaro@sjsu.edu
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- Veneice Guillory-Lacy, Ph.D.
- Lara Kassab, Ed.D.
- Sudha Krishnan, Ed.D.
- Saili Kulkarni, Ph.D.
- Jason Laker, Ph.D.
- María Ledesma, Ph.D.
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Department Chair & Professor, Educational Leadership
Email: maria.ledesma@sjsu.eduDr. 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.
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- Cara Maffini, Ph.D.
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Associate Professor, Child & Adolescent Development
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- Robert Marx, Ph.D.
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Associate Professor, Child & Adolescent Development
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- Zachary McNiece, Ph.D.
- Dolores Mena, Ph.D.
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Professor & Graduate Program Coordinator, Counselor Education
dolores.mena@sjsu.edu
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- Ellen Middaugh, Ph.D.
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Associate Professor, Child & Adolescent Development
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- Melody Moh, Ph.D.
- Nikos Mourtos, Ph.D.
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Department Chair & Professor, Aerospace Engineeringemail: nikos.mourtos@sjsu.edu
phone number: (408) 924-3867
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.
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- Eduardo Muñoz-Muñoz, Ph.D.
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Associate Professor, Teacher Education
Email: eduardo.munoz-munoz@sjsu.edu
Phone: (408) 924-3771
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- Rachel O'Malley, Ph.D.
- Luis Poza, Ph.D.
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Associate Professor, Teacher Education
Email: luis.poza@sjsu.edu
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- Wendy Quach, Ph.D.
- Colette Rabin, Ph.D.
- Ferdie Rivera, Ph.D.
- Navrati Saxena, Ph.D.
- Lisa Simpson, Ph.D.
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Department Chair & Associate Professor, Special Education
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- Emily Slusser, Ph.D.
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Professor, Child & Adolescent Development
Email: emily.slusser@sjsu.eduEmily 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.
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- Grinell Smith, Ph.D.
- Megan Thiele, Ph.D.
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Associate Professor, Sociology & Interdisciplinary Social Sciences
Email: megan.thiele@sjsu.edu
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- Kim Tsai, Ph.D.
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Associate Professor, Child & Adolescent Development
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- Tammie Visintainer, Ph.D.
- David Whitenack, Ph.D.
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Department Chair & Professor, Teacher Education
Email: david.whitenack@sjsu.eduDavid 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.
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- Yolanda Wiggins, Ph.D.
