New Joint Doctoral Program in Leadership for Educational Equity Greets First Cohort

Students and faculty of the new Ed.D. program Back rows from left: Faris Sabbah, Michael Randall, Bernard Gifford, James Lianides, Davide Celoria, Rosa Coronado-Roderick, Dan Perlstein, Harlan Kerr, Margaret Harris Front row: Beverly Kong, Elizabeth Reilly, Jennifer Fong, Ingrid Roberson, Ardella Dailey, Sarah Gonzales, Dorothy Dowell-Wiggins

Summer 2003 saw the arrival of the first students in the new Joint Doctoral Program in Educational Equity. Three years in the planning, the program is a collaboration of UC Berkeley and three CSU campuses: San Jose, San Francisco, and Hayward State. The program is designed for administrators who plan to take on key leadership roles in California districts, county offices of education, and other school consortia. The twelve new Doctor of Education students are an impressive group from districts all around San Francisco Bay, and they came to Cal for a variety of reasons.

“I was looking for a strong, cohort-based program, focused on urban education,” said Harlan Kerr, currently the director of literacy for the West Contra Costa Unified School District. “It sounded exciting to be part of the initial group.”

Rosa Coronado-Roderick is commuting all the way from the Pajaro Valley Unified School District (the Watsonville area) to attend the program. She is now the coordinator of migrant education in her district, which has a large population of English-learners. “Even though our district is considered rural, we’ve got a lot of the same issues as urban areas,” she said. “We have a lot of work to do in our district. This UC-CSU program deals with systemic reform and that’s going to be important for our migrant population and for the kids in general.”

Jim Lionides of the Pacifica School District highlighted another reason for attending the program: “I’d been contemplating pursuing a doctorate and I particularly liked that the Joint Doctoral Program is structured for working professionals.”

Ardella Dailey from Alameda Unified likes the combination of UC and CSU instructors in the program: “It offers breadth of staff, with a wide range of faculty with different expertise. I also like the focus areas, including equity as a major emphasis of the program.”

The UC-CSU pairing is also important to Beverly Kong, currently working as a principal in the San Francisco Unified School District: “I was intrigued by the partnership, because UC is research-based, and the CSUs are more focused on training professionals. I like the notion of the two joining together to inform one another, to make it real.” She feels the students in the program are also a huge asset: “When you bring in people who are doing the organic work, they can bring information on the implications of research and on local conditions. We supply different parts of the jigsaw.”

Bernard Gifford. JDP Program Director

Jennifer Fong, assistant principal at Mission High School in San Francisco, likes the program because of the focus on urban issues in the Bay Area, and because, “I can network with colleagues in neighboring districts. I hope those Bay Area ties will provide opportunities for initiatives in the future.”

As the first cohort moves into its second semester, they will be striving to balance their important responsibilities in their home districts with the demands of a doctoral program.

 

 

 

 

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