School Psychology

Edwin Carlos

Edwin Carlos (He/Him) is a 1st year PhD student in the School Psychology program at the School of Education. He is a 2nd generation Filipino American from Renton, Wash., and graduated with a Bachelor's of Arts in psychology and a minor in education from Stanford University in 2020.

His research focuses on the role of ethnic/racial identity and ethnic studies on students' mental health and academic outcomes.

Specializations and Interests

Ethnic/Racial Identity; Mental Health; Ethnic Studies; Culturally Relevant Pedagogy;...

Viviane Chang

Viviane is currently a doctoral student in School Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley working under the supervision of Dr. Elliot Turiel. She is also a nationally certified school psychologist and a registered psychological assistant. Her decision to enter school psychology started off from a simple thought that she wanted to make schools a safe harbor for children where they feel loved and welcomed, are supported to learn the skills needed to make healthy choices for themselves, to better cope with life challenges, and to care for one another’s well­-being.

Viviane...

Julissa Navas

Julissa is a third year PhD student in the School Psychology program at UC Berkeley. She was born and raised in Southern California to two hard-working immigrant parents from Mexico and El Salvador. Julissa, a first generation college student, completed her undergraduate studies at UC Irvine and graduated with honors with a BA in Psychology and Education Sciences.

Her graduate research currently focuses on examining the relationship between teacher expectations, teacher practices, and students’ academic achievement. She is also interested in exploring how school and classroom...

GSE in US News top ten for School Psychology, Education Policy

March 29, 2022

The Graduate School of Education’s School Psychology Program is ranked #8 and Education Policy is ranked #9—both up a notch from last year—in the 2023 U.S. News & World Report rankings released today.

Sarah Manchanda

Sarah Manchanda is pursuing a PhD in School Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her lived experiences as a disabled woman of color shape her research interests, clinical work, and advocacy efforts in graduate school. Sarah is driven by a firm commitment to promote inclusive learning for all students. She believes that meaningful inclusion encompasses social and emotional wellbeing, and this is her primary area of focus. Her current research interests include (a) Peer victimization based on disability and race; (b) Promoting the capacity of teachers and peer bystanders...

Talia Leibovitz

Talia Leibovitz (she/her/hers) is a doctoral candidate in School Psychology in the Graduate School of Education at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research explores how white parents’ school choices for their children are informed and shaped by policy; notions of merit; colorblindness; neoliberalism; racism; and the social construction of race, focusing especially on the ways in which white parents construct, contest and reinforce school quality through dialogue and behavior. Talia is motivated by the following questions: How does school choice among white parents take...

Cynthia Valencia-Ayala

Cynthia Valencia-Ayala is a PhD candidate in the School Psychology program and a practicing school psychologist. Prior to coming to Berkeley and throughout her time in graduate school, Cynthia has worked to provide culturally relevant mental health services to youth experiencing carceral involvement, trauma, and institutionalized racism and poverty. She is most interested in producing research that decriminalizes non-dominant youth and re-conceptualizes the education system.

She currently studies youth perceptions of carceral practices in schools and the extension...