Faculty and Staff
Dr. Karen Cadiero-Kaplan
Faculty Chair and MA Program Coordinator
Dr. Karen Cadiero-Kaplan teaches in the bilingual MS and SS Credential and in the MA degree programs. She is actively involved in causes addressing critical pedagogy, educational policy and literacy development. She serves as the graduate advisor for the department.
Dr. Ruben Espinosa
Professor
Dr. Ruben Espinosa teaches courses at the credential, MA and doctoral level dealing with bilingual teaching strategies, action research and educational equity and policy at the K-12 level.
Dr. Alberto M. Ochoa
Professor
Dr. Alberto Ochoa teaches courses at the credential, M.A. and doctoral level focusing on bilingual teaching strategies, action research, and social systems socio-cultural-political foundations in the multicultural-multilingual context.
Dr. Cristina Alfaro
Assistant Professor, Credential Coordinator-Multiple Subject
Dr. Cristina Alfaro teaches courses in the bilingual BCLAD MS credential program, M.A. degree program, and coordinates the Mexico MS BCLAD program.
Dr. Elsa Billings
Assistant Professor
Dr. Elsa Billings teaches courses in the bilingual Multiple Subject and Single Subject credential program and in the MA degree programs. Dr. Billings' research interests include the preparation of teachers to effectively teach in diverse classroom settings; academic equity issues, especially concerning language minority children; and the use of technology such as video cases in teacher education and professional development.
Dr. Evangelina Bustamante Jones
Associate Professor Emerita
Dr. Evangelina Bustamante Jones teaches courses in the bilingual BCLAD Multiple and Single Subject credential programs, as well as in the M.A. degree programs. Her expertise is literacy in L1 and L2.
Dr. Tamara Collins-Parks
Lecturer
Dr. Tamara Collins-Park teaches credential and masters level courses for the department. Her expertise is in public policy, bilingual education, and linguistics (particularly language acquisition). She is actively involved in helping future teachers overcome barriers to their progress by helping them develop writing skills in English and pass the CBEST. She coordinates PACT for the department.
Dr. Alberto J. Rodriguez
Professor
Dr. Alberto J. Rodriguez teaches courses in the bilingual teacher credential and graduate programs. His research focuses on the use of sociotransformative constructivism (sTc) to help teachers teach for understanding in diverse school contexts. sTc is a theoretical framework that merges multicultural education (a theory of social justice) with social constructivism (a theory of learning).
Dr. Natalie Kuhlman
Professor Emeritus
Dr. Natalie Kuhlman is a Professor Emeritus in the Policy Studies in Language and Cross-Cultural Education Department. Now retired, she continues to work with school districts and other educators in the areas of standards and assessment.
Dr. Ricardo Pacheco
Professor Emeritus
Dr. Richard Pacheco is a Professor Emeritus in the Policy Studies in Language and Corss-Cultural Education department. Now retired, he continues to work in the area of bilingual education.
Adjunct Faculty
- Lisa Sparaco, Ph.D., Multiple Subjects Block Coordinator
- Ms. Lydia Morales-Hoffman
- Jorge Ramirez, Ph.D.
- Carmen Quintana, Ph.D.
- Oscar Jimenez-Castellanos
- Marian Aste
- Celia Ramirez, Ph.D.
Adjunct faculty that serve in a variety of contexts for the MS and SS BCLAD credential programs. All are experienced in teaching and learning methodology in the bilingual classroom context.