Dolores Lopez

Dolores Lopez is a PhD student in Education Studies at UC San Diego. She is a first-generation college student and daughter of Salvadoran immigrants. She holds a Master’s from the Social and Cultural Analysis of Education graduate program at California State University, Long Beach and a Bachelor’s degree as well as a Bilingual (Eng/Spa) Multiple-Subject Teaching Credential from Chapman University. Prior to entering UC San Diego, she was an Elementary Dual Immersion Teacher for a community-based charter school in Santa Ana, CA. During her time there, Dolores developed and implemented a fifth-grade culturally and linguistically responsive curriculum that, in collaboration with the school's administrators and teachers, has since been expanded to include grades 4th-7th. Her research currently explores how Students of Color in K12 learning environments make meaning of their cultural and linguistic identities as they progress through the academic pipeline and the role justice oriented curriculum and pedagogical practices play in this identity development process. Much of her scholarship draws from Social Justice Education, Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Multicultural Education, and Critical Race Theory.

Curriculum Vitae

University of California, San Diego San Diego, CA
Doctor of Philosophy in Education: Transforming Education in a Diverse Society, In Progress

California State University Long Beach Long Beach, CA
Master of Arts in Social and Cultural Analysis of Education, August 2017

Thesis: Sixth Grade Latina/o Youth: Voicing Their Experiences and Responses to Racial Microaggressions
Chair: Dr. Lindsay Perez-Huber

Chapman University Orange, CA
Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies and Multiple Subject Teaching Credential, May 2010
Honors: Magna Cum Laude

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

2020-Present. Graduate Student Researcher-Computer Science for English Learners, Center for Research on Educational Equity, Assessment, & Teaching Excellence (CREATE), UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA.
Under the supervision of Susan Yonesawa, PhD., I am assisting with the development of qualitative evaluation protocols for a five-year, federally funded, study that will explore how a professional development (PD) initiative focused on fostering access and opportunity for English Learners (ELs) in Computer Science coursework leads to increased CS enrollment for students ever identified as ELs. These protocols will be used to measure how PD providers interact, assist, and work with AP computer science teachers partaking in a year-long professional development training. Qualitative protocols created will examine the program curriculum’s specificity and delivery and how components are designed to assist (or not) teachers’ learning.

2019-Present. Graduate Student Researcher-#USvsHate, Education Studies Department and CREATE, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA
Under the supervision of Mica Pollock, PhD., I assist with the research of the K12 #USvsHate project, both in San Diego and nationally. Specifically, my primary role has been to interview teachers and students who have engaged with #USvsHate. Using grounded theory methodological approaches, I also aid with data coding and in the process identify themes that might help give nuances to teacher and student experiences.

2017-2019. Graduate Student Researcher- 9th-Grade Ethnic Studies Pilot, Education Studies Department and San Diego Unified School District, UC San Diego, La Jolla, CA
Under the supervision of Thandeka Chapman, PhD., I assisted with the interpretation, synthesis and analysis of student data collected from a two-year Ethnic Studies study conducted at a local high school in San Diego, CA. My role was to utilize qualitative methodologies to assess for recurring themes and make interpretations of the findings. During this time I was also responsible for writing and editing materials for publication and presentation. I also met regularly with my faculty supervisor and other Graduate Student Researchers to discuss findings and to receive feedback on the papers written for successful publication submission.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Department of Education Studies, University of California San Diego June 2017- Present

Responsible for coding student work on an Ethnic Studies research that is being conducted in collaboration with the San Diego Unified School District. Currently working on a research paper entitled “The Rhetoric of an Ethnic Studies Program on Student Achievement” and hope to submit it for publication.

PUBLICATIONS

López, D. (2017). Sixth Grade Latina/o Youth: Voicing Their Experiences and Responses to Racial Microaggressions. California State University, Long Beach.

WORKSHOPS AND CONFERENCES: PRESENTER

American Educational Research Association: Microaggressions in the Experiences of Chicanx/Latinx Students throughout the Educational Pipeline; New York, New York; April 13-17, 2018.

Race, Inequality, and Language in Education (RILE), 24 Years Later: An analysis of a 9th grade ethnic studies course from the perspective of Banks’s (1993) typology of knowledge; Stanford University, Stanford University; October 6-7,2017.

Graduate Research Conference; California State University, Long Beach, November 7, 2016.

HONORS AND AWARDS

SEED Fellowship Recipient, University of California San Diego 2018- Present

Sally Casanova Pre-Doctoral Scholar, California State University Long Beach 2016-2017

Leadership & Service Award, Santa Ana Youth Employment Program October 2009

Joan Cox Turner Scholarship Recipient, Chapman University May 2009

Departmental Honors, Chapman University, College of Educational Studies May 2009

Delp Service Nominee, Chapman University, College of Educational Studies May 2009

Leadership Nominee, Chapman University, College of Educational Studies May 2009

Hispanic Scholarship Fund, Scholarship Recipient June 2006 - May 2009

Monarch Beach Rotary Club, Scholarship Recipient June 2005-May 2007