The College of Education is honored to welcome five new tenured and tenure track faculty members and 10 new professional track faculty members for the 2024-2025 academic year. Bringing a wealth of diverse experience and strong commitment to the college’s mission, vision and values, these accomplished individuals will further advance COE’s impact and transform lives in education, policy, health and sport.
As we continue to expand our growing community of researchers, educators and leading practitioners, we look forward to their many contributions and future success here at the college and beyond.
Tenured and Tenure Track
Brian Cabral, Assistant Professor, Youth and Community Studies in Cultural Studies, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Dr. Brian Cabral is a sociologist who explores complex issues related to race, place, language and carcerality. His most recent project focuses on the educational, schooling and reentry experiences of formerly incarcerated youth enrolled in community-based organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. The foundation of his work is based on broadening conceptions of the intimate relationship between schools and prisons, particularly in the PreK-12 contexts.
Dr. Cabral earned his doctorate in the Race, Inequality and Language in Education program at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education.
Dr. Brittany Frieson, Assistant Professor, Bilingual/Bicultural Education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Dr. Frieson’s research explores the language and literacy practices of young African American children in dual language bilingual program spaces from critical perspectives. Dr. Frieson’s scholarship has appeared in several academic journals including Race, Ethnicity, and Education; Bilingual Research Journal; Annual Review of Applied Linguistics; The Reading Teacher; and Teaching and Teacher Education.
Dr. Frieson earned her doctorate in Curriculum and Instruction with a focus in Language & Literacy from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Afroze Shaikh, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology
Dr. Shaikh’s background is in mental health counseling with specific expertise in community-based survey research and quantitative methods focused on suicide risk. Dr. Shaikh examines the specific needs of marginalized communities and how systems can better serve these communities using anti-oppressive practices. Her research broadly aims to identify approaches to prevent suicide and expand mental health care access by analyzing factors that influence health service use, particularly among older, racially diverse and isolated adults.
Dr. Shaikh earned her doctorate in Counselor Education and Practice from Georgia State University.
Man Chen, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Psychology
Dr. Chen is an Assistant Professor in the Quantitative Methods program in the Department of Educational Psychology. Her primary research interest is in statistical methods and techniques for meta-analysis with a focus on selective reporting and publication bias. She is also interested in developing statistical methods and computing tools for single-case experimental design and multilevel modeling.
Dr. Chen earned her doctorate in Quantitative Methods from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Rachel S. White, Associate Professor, Department of Educational Leadership and Policy
Dr. White’s research centers around issues of power, voice, diversity and inclusion in education policymaking and implementation processes, while examining structures and policies that contribute to or counteract equitable K-12 education systems. Much of her work focuses on inequities in superintendent labor markets, superintendent mobility and attrition, and how superintendents navigate politically contentious spaces.
She is the founder and principal investigator of The Superintendent Lab, a central hub for data, research, insights and innovation on the school district superintendency.
Dr. White earned her doctorate in Education Policy from Michigan State University.
Professional Track
- Courtney Banks, Associate Professor of Practice, Department of Educational Psychology
- Arna Erega, Assistant Professor of Practice, Department of Educational Psychology
- Caitlin Smith, Department of Educational Psychology
- Erin Benton, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
- Wonshik Chee, Research Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
- Ana Fantini, Associate Professor of Instruction, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
- Emalee Nelson, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
- Rachel Ozerkevich, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Kinesiology and Health Education
- Sally Fluhler, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Special Education
- Saury Ramos-Torres, Assistant Professor of Instruction, Department of Special Education
