21CSLA Alameda Regional Academy

Transforming School Systems and Structures

The 21CSLA Alameda Regional Academy, led by Leadership Programs at Berkeley School of Education, continued for the second year to provide professional development and learning opportunities for school system, site, and teacher leaders. The first three years of this state-funded program have led us from the onset of the pandemic through the return to in-person instruction and heightened challenges and needs within our school communities.

The 21CSLA Alameda Regional Academy provided this support through individualized coaching and professional learning opportunities focused on the social emotional needs of students and staff and the transformation of school systems and structures toward justice for all students.

The year was marked by the first Leading for Justice Summit, held in Berkeley and attended by 70 leaders as part of site and district teams from throughout the region. Leaders had time to reflect on the past year, participate in sessions relevant to their site/district initiatives, and plan for the following academic year.

Across the region’s six counties, we served 440 leaders to support work that transforms our schools so that historically underserved students thrive.

For more information about the 21CSLA Alameda Regional Academy, contact Director Cheryl Domenichelli at c.domenichelli@berkeley.edu.

OPPOSITE TOP

21CSLA Alameda Regional Academy’s African American Male Leaders Network at the Berkeley School of Education. BOTTOM

21CSLA’s Kim Wallace and Cheryl Domenichelli at the Leading for Justice Summit.

Roundup California Computer Science Project

In 2022, the California Computer Science Project (CCSP), an innovative partnership between Leadership Programs, the Kapor Center, and UCLA’s STEM+C3 teacher education program, provided engaging virtual learning opportunities to school administrators, district leaders, and teachers across the state of California. Our work focused on three areas:

• Designing systems to implement equitable computer science (CS) education for all K–12 students.

• Broadening participation in CS for underrepresented students.

• Integrating Computational Thinking (CT) in math and science instruction.

Building off our learning from the previous year, we led a cohort of educators to examine the current inequities in high school computer science and explore the systems, beliefs, and mindsets that prioritize computer science learning for some students while other students are left feeling excluded.

We added a second professional learning series to design the systems necessary to engage and recruit underrepresented students, including female-identifying, Black, Latinx, and Native American students.

Collaborating with UCLA’s STEM+C3 teacher education program, we designed a community of practice for more than 60 pre-service and in-service teachers statewide to incorporate Computational Thinking into K–12 math and science instruction.

For more information about the California Computer Science Project, contact Coordinator Richard Zapien at rbzapien@berkeley.edu.

Coaching Initiative

Coaching is core to the Leadership Programs approach and has proven to be no less critical a support for practicing leaders than for newer ones. The Coaching Initiative allows for continued support, confidential thought partnership, and professional growth opportunities designed in direct response to the goals, strengths, and unique needs of individual leaders. Using the Leadership Programs’ Coaching for Social Justice and Equity model, coaches align with leaders to understand and develop their full leadership potential. Among those receiving coaching are site leaders, superintendents, directors of special education, and HR leaders— including many alums—both in the Bay Area and throughout California. For more information about our Coaching Initiative, contact LEAD Director Lihi Rosenthal at lihi@berkeley.edu.

Visiting Professor Özge Hacıfazlıoğlu

Embraces Role at Berkeley

Özge Hacıfazlıoğlu traveled to UC Berkeley during the surging Omicron variant one year ago to take a position as a Visiting Professor in the Berkeley School of Education’s Leadership Programs. Hacıfazlıoğlu is a teacher, leader, and globetrotter with a doctorate in Educational Administration. She previously served as the vice president at Hasan Kalyoncu University in Turkey, where she formerly chaired the Department of Educational Administration and still serves as a faculty member. During her 20+ year career, Hacıfazlıoğlu has been a high school English teacher, professor, researcher, and lecturer at international conferences. She’s engaged in collaborative research with Syrian refugees in Turkey and in researching the resilience of women leaders. CONTINUED ›

Leadership Fellowships

Our Leadership Programs alumni and friends have made generous contributions to the PLI and LEAD funds.

The PLI fund supports aspiring school leaders working toward bringing educational equity and positive change to students and schools in the Bay Area’s underserved communities. To make a secure gift to the PLI fund, visit give.berkeley.edu/fund/FN1558000.

The LEAD fund supports systems leaders committed to and capable of creating school systems that realize our society’s potential. To make a secure gift to the LEAD fund, visit give.berkeley.edu/fund/FN1556000.

For more information about these or other giving opportunities at the Berkeley School of Education, contact Guadalupe Nickell, Assistant Dean of Development and External Relations, at gnickell@berkeley.edu.

‹ FROM PREVIOUS Hacıfazlıoğlu said Berkeley was a perfect match for her skills and interests.

“We have the tendency to be in our ‘rooms,’” said Hacıfazlıoğlu about the silos and parochialism of academia. “So we have to open our doors to the international arena, whether it’s in the United States or Europe or in Turkey or the Middle East. It doesn’t matter. But we have to open the doors so that people collaborate with each other. . . . This is a practice in which we embrace cultures, we embrace differences, but at the same time find common spots to work on.”

Hacıfazlıoğlu is married and has two sons, a fourth grader and high school senior (who is applying to colleges in the United States).

Academic and Professional Conferences

Our Leadership Programs scholars attended and presented at the University Council for Educational Administration, American Educational Research Association, and multiple other conferences and annual gatherings this year, sharing research and connecting with other educators. Last year, UCEA awarded institutional membership to the Berkeley School of Education, opening the door to greater collaboration on the promotion and dissemination of research, professional learning, and educational policy.

21CSLA Research Highlights

Our 21st Century California School Leadership Academy produced user-friendly publications—webinars and research briefs for educators. Webinars brought researchers and practitioners together to tackle topics such as Does Locked Up Mean Locked Out of Higher Education? and School Leaders Learning to Lead for Equity. Multiple research briefs summarized current alliteration on pressing topics, providing provocative discussion questions. Our Preparing California School Leaders for Young Learners in the UTK Initiative was distributed by the California Teacher Credentialing program statewide. Three briefs—including Finding Resilience during the COVID-19 Pandemic Perspectives from School Leaders—summarized interim or final results of research projects.

Leadership Programs Team

Leadership

Rebecca Cheung

ASSISTANT DEAN, LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT

PROGRAMS; DIRECTOR, 21CSLA

Jabari Mahiri

FACULTY DIRECTOR, LEADERSHIP PROGRAMS

Staff

Jen Burke

VISUAL DESIGNER

Noelle Apostol Colin

COACHING COORDINATOR, 21CSLA

Diona Cox*

LEAD ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

Dee Dee Desmond

ASSISTANT COORDINATOR, LSP

Cheryl Domenichelli

DIRECTOR, 21CSLA ALAMEDA REGIONAL ACADEMY

Jennifer Elemen

DIGITALLY MEDIATED LEARNING COORDINATOR, 21CSLA

Jessica Evans

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING AND COACHING COORDINATOR

Viviana Garcia

LEAD TRAINER, UTK INITIATIVE, 21CSLA

Ricardo González

APPLICATIONS PROGRAMMER

Thomas Green

HEAD INSTRUCTOR, PLI

Tanya Harris*

LEAD TRAINER, UTK INITIATIVE, 21CSLA

Nik Howell

LEAD ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

Todd Irving

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING FACILITATOR

Kamyar Kaviani

APPLICATIONS PROGRAMMER

Andrea Lampros

COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR

Brian Luna

PROGRAM ASSISTANT, PLI

Brianna Luna

PROJECT SPECIALIST, 21CSLA

Nikki Marucut

PROJECT SPECIALIST, 21CSLA ALAMEDA REGIONAL ACADEMY

Aki Murata

RESEARCH COORDINATOR, 21CSLA

Viet Nguyen

COORDINATOR, LSP; COACHING COORDINATOR, 21CSLA ALAMEDA REGIONAL ACADEMY

Audra Puchalski

COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA MANAGER

Mayra Reyes

PROJECT SPECIALIST

Raphael Romea

PROGRAM ASSISTANT, LEAD AND PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

Lihi Rosenthal PROGRAM DIRECTOR, LEAD

Erin Schweng

PROFESSIONAL LEARNING COORDINATOR, 21CSLA ALAMEDA REGIONAL ACADEMY

Karin Seid LEAD ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER

Aija Simmons COORDINATOR, UTK INITIATIVE, 21CSLA

Soraya Sablo Sutton PROGRAM DIRECTOR, PLI

Pierre Tchetgen*

HUB AND PLATFORM MANAGER, 21CSLA

Chris Thomas COORDINATOR, UTK LEADERSHIP CERTIFICATE, 21CSLA

Kim Wallace ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, 21CSLA

Briana Woodson

PROJECT SPECIALIST, UTK INITIATIVE, 21CSLA

Yelena Zakharyevich

OPERATIONS MANAGER

Richard Zapien COORDINATOR, CALIFORNIA COMPUTER SCIENCE PROJECT

Graduate Student

Researchers

Aukeem Ballard

Morgan Bessette

Quennie Dong

Joy Esboldt

Prince Estanislao

Danièle Fogel

Sophie Johnson

Mai Xi Lee

Xueqin Lin

Elaine Luo

Sarah Manchanda

Meg Stomski

Melissa Virrueta-Ayala

Cassandra Yee

Julia Zhu

Graduate Student Instructor

Gesean Lewis Woods

Student Assistants

Mohammed Ali Abed

Jennifer Chacon-Duran

Tompson Hsu*

Leslie Luis

Zak Puno

Lydia Vasquez-Trucios*