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. 

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. 

Janet Howard is a faculty member in the UCLA School Management Program (SMP) and has been an educator for more than 35 years. She has served as a classroom teacher, mentor teacher, and administrator. She holds a Master’s Degree in educational administration from California State University, Los Angeles. At SMP, Ms. Howard provides support for teachers and administrators through on site leadership coaching and by facilitating both instructional and leadership-focused institutes. In PLI, she co-teaches with Ms. Laidley Education 420A, Theories of Curriculum and Instruction. 

Debra Laidley is a faculty member in the UCLA School Management Program and has served for many years in the Los Angeles Unified School District as an instructional leader, coach, teacher, among other roles. She holds a Master’s Degree in educational administration from Mount St. Mary’s College and recently served as the co-director of the National School Reform Faculty (the national network for Critical Friends). Ms. Laidley has a passionate belief in the importance of educators’ use of structured processes to collaboratively learn from student work in order to enhance teaching and learning.  In PLI, she co-teaches with Ms. Howard Education 420A, Theories of Curriculum and Instruction.   

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. 

Amelia McKenna is a PLI faculty member with more than 50 years experience as an instructional leader within the Los Angeles Unified School District. She holds a Master's Degree in Supervision and Administration from UCLA and has served as a teacher, principal, and Assistant Superintendent, among other roles. In 2002, Ms. McKenna received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Council of Mexican American Administrators. In PLI, she teaches Education 498A,B,C, Field Experience. 

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. 

Robert Spich is a faculty member of the Global Economics and Management area at the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management, where he has been teaching since 1983. In addition he is faculty director of programs for the Center for International Business Education and Research. He earned both his MBA and Ph.D. at the University of Washington with a focus on management and organization and international business. He has extensive experience in the private sector consulting as well as in international education and cross-cultural management. A founding faculty member of the PLI program, Dr. Spich teaches  Education 448B,School Leadership: Principal as General Manager. 

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.

Bridget Schum is the Assistant Director of the Office of Student Services and the PLI Credential Counselor/Student Affairs Officer. In this role, she works with the program from student recruitment through commencement. Ms. Schum schedules regular informational sessions on campus to provide interested individuals and offices with program information. She also assists students during the application process, facilitates program orientation, and oversees the State Credential Application process. Ms. Schum is a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara.