Jacqueline Rodio, Ed.D., MBA

Dr. Jacqueline Rodio serves as the Senior Director of Operations and Administration at the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools within the School of Education and Information Studies. In this capacity, she provides strategic and operational leadership across all administrative functions, including budget and finance, contracts and grants, human resources, personnel management, space and resource allocation, and strategic planning. She partners closely with CTS academic and senior leadership to advance and execute the Center’s strategic priorities. Previously, she served as the Center’s Director of Business Administration.

With over 20 years of experience in operations management and administration spanning in higher education and the corporate private sector, Dr. Rodio brings extensive expertise in institutional planning, program development, and organizational leadership. Prior to joining UCLA, she served as an Associate Director at the UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business, where she was a core member of the team that developed and launched the Master of Professional Accountancy and Master of Finance programs. She also served as a coordinator in the Graduate Accountancy and Taxation programs at the University of San Diego Knauss School of Business, where she led efforts to support and maintain AACSB accreditation, ensuring alignment of the department’s mission, strategies, and operations with accreditation standards. Earlier in her career, she taught courses in Business Decision Making and Management at UC San Diego and served as a Patient Billing and Customer Service Manager for a $14 billion national clinical laboratory, where she collaborated with senior management on strategic planning, development, and daily operations.

Dr. Rodio has demonstrated a commitment to service within the university community. She served as Vice President for Development on the UCLA Staff Assembly Executive Board, where she led the UCLA Spark campaign in support of the UCLA and Bruin community.  She is also a member of the UC Advocacy Network (UCAN) operated by the University of California Office of the President that focus on legislative advocacy at a state and federal levels to help strengthen UC education.

Dr. Rodio earned an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership and Administration with an emphasis in Higher Education Administration from the University of Southern California and an MBA from Boston University.

Stanley L. Johnson Jr., Ph.D.

Stanley L. Johnson Jr., Ph.D. is a Senior Project Scientist at the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools, where he leads the California Educator Diversity and Computational Thinking Equity projects. He is also an educational consultant, researcher, and practitioner with an extensive background in K-12 leadership, teacher education, and learning sciences with an emphasis in language and literacy development. He holds additional roles as a researcher at the UCLA Black Male Institute and as a board member of the Los Angeles County Board of Education, where he served as president during the 2024–25 school year.

Prior to working at CTS, Dr. Johnson previously served as consultant for the Los Angeles County Office of Education (in School Improvement, District Capacity Building, and Curriculum and Instructional Services) and a Managing Director of Teacher Leadership Development for Teach for America where he supported and built capacity with Program Improvement schools and districts in the areas of effective language arts instruction and Common Core State Standards (CCSS) through professional development, coaching, and providing technical assistance to educational leaders and classroom teachers. Dr. Johnson was also the Founding Principal of the 100 Black Men of the Bay Area Community School in Oakland, CA and he began his career in education through Teach for America, where he taught all levels of English/Language Arts and Advanced Placement English at Centennial High School in Compton, CA. Johnson was awarded a promotion to Program Coordinator, a district office administrative position in curriculum and instruction, after successfully serving as Centennial’s Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Self-Study Chairperson and getting the school’s accreditation reinstated.

With respect to academic research, Johnson critically examines effective secondary English teachers who implement culturally relevant and sustaining pedagogical and instructional practices in their classrooms to close literacy gaps and address their students’ academic, social, and emotional needs. Johnson is particularly interested in how Advanced Placement English teachers facilitate high levels of engagement for their high achieving boys of color (and especially African American males) by ensuring that they have access and exposure to language and literacies of power.

Johnson received his Ph.D. in Education (Urban Schooling) from the UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies, his Master of Arts in Secondary Education along with clear teaching and administrative credentials from Loyola Marymount University, and his Bachelor of Arts in American Literature and Culture with college honors from UCLA. Johnson is the recipient of numerous academic distinctions and community service awards. He received the Randall C. Bacon Alumni Achievement Award from the Western Province of Kappa Alpha Psi, Inc. In 2010 and the National Science Foundation-sponsored Colloquy on Minority Males in Science Technology Engineering Mathematics summer fellowship at Johns Hopkins University. In addition, UCLA presented him with the Distinguished Teaching Assistant Award for his outstanding teaching of undergraduate students’ significant contributions to the educational community. Johnson lives in View Park, enjoys reading, spending time with family, and is an avid, nationally ranked tennis player who competes regularly.

Angela James, Ph.D.

Dr. Angela James, Ph.D., is the Senior Project Scientist at the Center for the Transformation of Schools, where she demonstrates her passion for creating positive change in educational systems. As a sociologist and demographer, she leverages her extensive expertise to design and oversee innovative mixed-methods research projects. With a deep commitment to addressing societal structures’ dynamics and their influence on educational systems, James spearheads projects that shed light on the intricate interplay between structure and social agency. Her primary focus at CTS lies in the development and implementation of effective education policies for systems-involved youth, particularly those in the juvenile justice and homeless systems. Additionally, she is interested in efforts fostering the well-being and success of Black students, tackling critical issues like school policing, racial disparities in suspensions, and identifying “bright spots” in educational service delivery. James’ work across these areas promotes a more nuanced understanding of the educational impact of individual agency toward that end, she encourages a focus on understanding school-site strategies and recognizing the direct impact of student and community-led social justice efforts to address educational inequities. James’s unwavering dedication to bridging the gap between research and real-world application has made her an important collaborator in our Center’s mission to conduct research that supports equitable and transformative education.

Beyond her academic pursuits, James is deeply rooted in community-based social justice and grassroots organizations, where she actively engages as an ardent community organizer/activist and strategic consultant. Both professionally and personally, she has dedicated herself to understanding and eradicating social injustices, while also highlighting the empowering liberatory work undertaken by individuals and communities.

Joseph Bishop, Ph.D.

Dr. Joseph Bishop is Executive Director and Co-Founder of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools. He has held a number of state and national educational leadership positions with the Learning Policy Institute, the National Opportunity to Learn Campaign with the Schott Foundation for Public Education, Opportunity Action, the Coalition for Teaching Quality, the Partnership for 21st Century Learning and the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund. Bishop has been featured in a number of digital and print media sources, including NPR, The Washington Post, EdSource and Education Week. He is the lead author and editor of “Our Children Can’t Wait: The Urgency of Reinventing Education Policy” from Teachers College Press and host of the accompanying podcast, “Our Children Can’t Wait”.

Bishop’s scholarship explores the relationship between policy and its impact on educational equity, racial justice, and social justice movements. Some of his specific policy areas of expertise include community schools, tiered systems of support, early childhood education, students experiencing homelessness, the foster system, educator shortages, school finance, school climate, school exclusion and school discipline reform. Bishop earned his Ph.D. in Educational Leadership, Policy and Organizations from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Lucrecia Santibañez, Ph.D.

Lucrecia Santibañez (Ph.D. Education, M.A. Economics, Stanford University) is Professor at UCLA’s School of Education & Information Studies and Faculty Co-Director (with Dr. Tyrone Howard) of UCLA’s Center for the Transformation of Schools. She previously taught at Claremont Graduate University, Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas in Mexico City, and was ducation conomist at the RAND Corp. She studies how to improve teaching and learning for vulnerable populations, including emergent bilingual students. Her academic research has been published by Educational Researcher, Economics of Education Review, Review of Educational Research, Teachers College Record, Education Policy Analysis Archives, and the International Journal of Educational Development, among others. She publishes in both English- and Spanish-language journals. As principal investigator or co-principal investigator, she has received research grants from the Institute of Education Sciences, the National Science Foundation, the Spencer Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Hewlett Foundation, the Strategic Impact Evaluation Fund, The World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She is an affiliate of PACE in California and a faculty affiliate at the Latino Policy and Politics Institute (LPPI) at UCLA. She is a native of Mexico and has three children.

Tyrone C. Howard, Ph.D.