Who We Are
The PLI Leadership Team includes Director, Nancy Parachini and two Faculty Co-Directors, Robert Cooper and John Rogers. In addition, there are ten PLI faculty members, a program coordinator, and a student affairs officer.
PLI LEADERSHIP
Nancy Parachini is Director of the Principal Leadership Institute and the Principals’ Center. She specializes in teacher development, language acquisition, and bilingual education. Dr. Parachini has 20 years of experience as an instructional leader within the Los Angeles Unified School District, serving in many roles including principal, evaluator, and professional development specialist. She also served as a Fellow at the University of Pittsburg’s Institute for Learning, a Program Evaluator for the UCLA School Management Program, and in 1997 earned her doctorate in Education from UCLA. Dr. Parachini is passionate about preparing social justice educators to transform the conditions of urban public schools. In PLI, she co-teaches with Dr. Valentino Education 441A, Leadership of Core Practices: Supervision of Instruction. She also teaches Education 498A,B,C Field Experience.
Robert Cooper is Faculty Co-Director of the Principal Leadership Institute and Associate Professor in the Urban Schooling division at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education. He specializes in the politics of education, and the implementation and replication of equity-minded reform. Dr. Cooper has served as a Sloan Public Policy Fellow at Brandeis University, a CORO Public Affairs Fellow, and in 1996 earned his Ph.D. in Education from UCLA. He is driven by a passion to encourage poor and minority youth to view themselves as lifelong learners. In PLI, he teaches Education 443, Social and Political Context of Urban Schools.
John Rogers is Faculty Co-Director of the Principal Leadership Institute, Director of the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access, and Associate Professor in the Urban Schooling division at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education. He studies strategies for engaging urban youth, community members, and educators in equity-focused school reform. Dr. Rogers earned his Ph.D. from Stanford University and draws extensively on the work of John Dewey to explore the meaning of and possibilities for democratic education today. In PLI, he teaches Education 440C, Accountability and School Improvement.
FACULTY
Stuart Biegel has been a faculty member of the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies since 1985 and of the UCLA School of Law since 1989. Biegel has taught at both the elementary and secondary level and from 1993-95 served as the Director of Teacher Education at UCLA. He also served as special counsel for the California Department of Education from 1988-1996, and was the federal court monitor for the San Francisco school desegregation case. Biegel is the author of the national casebook, Education and the Law (second edition, 2009) and is a recognized expert in the fields of Education Law and Technology Law, having completed major works of scholarship in both areas. In PLI, he teaches Education 296G&H, Law and Educational Practice.
Andrew Cazares is a School Relations Liaison in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Mr. Cazares has more than 40 years experience as an educator and leader within the Los Angeles Unified School District. He has served as a teacher, principal, Assistant Superintendent, and Chief of Staff to the Superintendent of Schools. In PLI, Mr. Cazares teaches Education 498A,B,C, Field Experience.
CHRISTINA "TINA" CHRISTIE
Tina Christie's research and practical work has three main foci: applied evaluation research studies, research on evaluation practice, and theoretical analysis. Conducting applied evaluation research studies offers her the opportunity to mentor students and apply evaluation and social science theory in field settings with the purpose of improving society. The aim of her research on evaluation practice is to strengthen understanding of evaluation as a method for facilitating social change by contributing to an empirical knowledge base of the factors and conditions that influence evaluation practice. Her theoretical scholarship intends to advance frameworks for understanding evaluation models with the goal of refining practice. This work helps to bridge the academic and practical worlds of evaluation science and contributes to the body of evidence-based knowledge that promotes positive program and policy reform.
Megan Franke is the chairman of the Education Department and Professor in the Urban Schooling division at UCLA’s Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Dr. Franke's work focuses on understanding and supporting teacher learning through professional development, particularly within elementary mathematics. As a part of Center X, she works with UCLA’s Teacher Education Program, Principal Leadership Institute, the California Subject Matter Projects, university researchers, community administrators and teachers to create and study the development of learning opportunities for students in Los Angeles’ lowest performing schools. In PLI, she teaches Education 448A, Principles of Leadership.
FRANCES GIPSON
Frances Gipson is currently the Administrator of Instruction for Local District 5 at the Los Angeles Unified School District. She has also been the Director of Professional Development & Partnerships at UCLA's Center X and a recent Secondary Literacy Coordinator with Los Angeles Unified School District, supporting implementation and reform work for secondary instruction. A highly regarded educational consultant, Frances has designed quality curriculum at the district, state, and national level. Committed to rigorous instruction, meeting the needs of diverse learners, and in pursuit of true professional learning communities. She has been in charge of a successful coaching collaborative with UCLA's Subject Matter Projects.
Frances has spent the last several years coaching administrators at the site and district level as well as designing learning opportunities for distributed leadership teams. Her K-16 experience in developing and facilitating collaborative groups in a large urban district and university setting makes her a unique asset to adaptive organizations. In PLI, Frances teaches ED 420A, Theories of Curriculum and Instruction.
GEORGIA LAZO
Georgia Lazo is currently the Principal of the UCLA Community School at the Robert F Kennedy Community School site, which is comprised of six autonomous Pilot schools located at the former Ambassador Hotel. Ms. Lazo has twenty years of experience in education including teaching, counseling, and coaching positions. She has taught at the elementary, secondary and adult school levels. Most recently, she was an assistant principal at Thomas Starr King Middle School in Local District 4 in LAUSD. Additionally, for five years she has served as assistant principal at Luther Burbank Middle School and Virgil Middle School also in LAUSD. Ms. Lazo earned her BA in English from the University of California, Irvine and her MA in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University. She is also a graduate of the UCLA Principal Leadership Institute and there earned an MA in urban school leadership. In PLI, Georgia co-teaches ED 448B, School Leadership, and co-teaches ED 440C, Accountability and School Improvement.
Dee Dee Lonon is a PLI faculty member with more than 30 years experience as an educator and leader within the Los Angeles Unified School District. She holds a Master's Degree in Educational Administration from Pepperdine University and has served as a principal, curriculum coordinator, and bilingual teacher, and in other educational roles. Ms. Lonon teaches Education 470A, School Management and Operations as well as Education 498A,B,C, Field Experience.
MERLE PRICE
Merle Price is a School Relations Liaison in the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Mr. Price has more than 40 years experience as an educator and leader within the Los Angeles Unified School District where he served as teacher, principal, Local District Superintendent, and Deputy Superintendent, Instructional Services. He is experienced in charter school reform, converted an LAUSD high school to a charter school and oversaw the LAUSD Charter School Office as Deputy Superintendent. Mr. Price is a leader in mathematics and science education and is a member of the leadership team for the National Science Foundation grant, System Wide Change for Leaders and Educators (SCALE), at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, which targets reform of mathematics and science education in urban school districts.
Karen Hunter Quartz is the Director of Research at UCLA’s Center X, and Director of Research and Development at the UCLA Community School, a K-12 public school in Local District 4 of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Her interests and scholarship focus on the career development and retention of urban educators, the use of research to improve practice, and the creation of small democratic schools. Dr. Quartz earned her Ph.D. in Education from UCLA in 1994 and has served as a researcher at the University of California, San Diego and UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access. In PLI, she teaches Education 230A, Principal as Researcher.
Sidney Thompson is Senior Fellow in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies and within Center X where he serves as an advisor on a number of education initiatives. From 1956 to 1997, Dr. Thompson served a long and distinguished career within the Los Angeles Unified School District. His many roles included teacher, principal and Superintendent. He is a member of several boards and also served as a Lieutenant in the United States Navy. In PLI, Dr. Thompson teaches Education 498A,B,C, Field Experience.
Luis Valentino is Director of Student Services in Local District 4 of the Los Angeles Unified School District. In this capacity, he supervises 22 elementary schools and specializes in the expansion of dual language and waiver-to-basic programs. Dr. Valentino earned his doctorate from UCLA in 1998 and has worked as a principal, assistant principal, teacher, as well as several other education roles. In PLI, he co-teaches with Dr. Parachini Education 441A, Leadership of Core Practices: Supervision of Instruction.
ADMINISTRATIVE
Nataly Birch is the Principal Leadership Institute Program Coordinator. She works closely with the PLI director, faculty, and fieldwork supervisors to support the logistics, implementation and planning all PLI related events. She provides administrative, analytical, and organization support for PLI. Nataly received her B.S. in Business from the University of California, Berkeley.
