The UCLA Principal Leadership Institute and the Partnership for LA Schools celebrated their ongoing collaboration to prepare the next generation of school leaders. The two organizations have worked together since 2015 to build a better future for LA Area schools and the students and communities they serve, with funding from the Nicholas Endowment.
Dr. Tonikiaa Orange on School Leadership in Today’s Challenging Climate
Dr. Tonikiaa Orange was featured on the All of the Above podcast, speaking about school leadership in today’s challenging climate.
Between Mothers: The Power of Creativity Event
The Culture and Equity Project hosted “Between Mothers: The Power of Creativity” on October 14, 2023. The event not only connected hearts and minds, empowering and uplifting each woman, but also provided space for often-overlooked narratives – stories deemed unworthy but profoundly worth hearing.
Opening Doors of Connection
An alternate view of Halloween as a holiday overly focused on candy and commercialism was noted this week by Melissa Kirsch of the New York Times. She writes, “On Halloween we have a script for deliberate connection: I knock on the door, you answer the door, we connect in real time.”
Do We Always Have Choices?
Summer fun, adventure, and the heat (maybe) are now well in the past and the days have begun to shorten. As this transition of the seasons is upon us, what might be changing for you in your work?
New Grant to Build Pipeline of Middle School Teachers and Leaders
We’ve been awarded a five-year grant to build a pipeline of well-prepared middle school teachers and leaders with the knowledge and skills to serve in high-need schools and further positive outcomes for middle school students. This collaborative partnership project is intentionally interdisciplinary, with a focus on racial and cultural literacy and adolescent literacy.
How we can make access to computer science education in California more equitable
Paula Nazario, Assistant Director of the Computer Science Equity Project, advocates in EdSource for two proposed California bills which aim to require all California high schools to offer computer science courses and widen the pool of authorized computer science teachers, with the goal of promoting equity and expanding educational opportunities in the state.
The Beauty of Diversity
I was fortunate to have been selected for an exchange program called Community Engagement Exchange Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It is a leadership exchange program and I was selected amongst applicants from over 77 countries. I was the only fellow from Indonesia, but I am so grateful because I gained so many friends from different cultural backgrounds.
Culture & Equity Project 2022-2023 Year-End Highlights
We are delighted to present the achievements of the Culture and Equity Project during 2022-2023. We eagerly invite you to join us in the upcoming year, 2023-2024, as we prepare for even more extraordinary experiences.
End of Year Transitions
For many, the 2022-23 school year comes to a close with continued times of transition. For example, you might be thinking whether you feel it is a post-pandemic world, or if schools really have been re-imagined, or if things are just back to “normal.”
Reclaiming Public Rights
Across southern California this past week, public schools and school board meetings have become theaters of conflict. Conservative advocates have pushed back on plans for Pride Month celebrations, challenged efforts to teach stories about children with gay parents, and rejected social studies curriculum that includes LGBTQ+ civil rights history.
Project-Based Learning for Centering Student Voice in STEM – New XChange Issue
Our Teacher Education Program faculty, researchers, alumni, and students share their work to document and advance Project-Based Learning projects that help make students’ energy, intelligence, and empathy visible in this new issue of XChange.

Check out our ‘Just News from Center X,’ a weekly web post and email news blast. It’s a great way to learn about issues of education and justice.
We are excited about the publication of Preparing and Sustaining Social Justice Educators edited by our former executive director, Annamarie Francois, along with UCLA Center for Community Schooling director Karen Hunter Quartz.