Nineteen central San Joaquin Valley educators will take their place in California State University, Fresno history Friday and Saturday, May 21 and 22, when they are awarded the first independent doctorates in the campus’ 99 years.
The 19 represent a range of education careers from elementary school through the university and teacher to administrator. Each will receive a Doctor of Education Degree (Ed.D.) in Educational Leadership after three years of study through the Kremen School of Education and Human Development.
The Ed.D. candidates will participate in the Hooding Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 21, in the Save Mart Center, and will return at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 22, for the conferral of degrees at Fresno State’s 99th Commencement.
“This has been a significant achievement for each of the individuals in our program, but also for the university itself,” said Dr. Sharon Brown-Welty. She worked to get Fresno State’s Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership approved by California State University trustees and the accrediting agency, and is the program director.
“We are especially proud that our participants had opportunities to work closely with educators throughout the Valley on the challenges that educational leaders confront on a daily basis,” Brown-Welty added. “Our students brought their own perspectives to each issue, helping develop solutions while learning the importance of collaborative and innovative thinking to help make necessary reforms.”
Authority for the CSU campuses to grant independent degrees was given by the Legislature in 2005. Before that, CSU campuses were required to partner with a University of California campus for joint doctoral degrees that often required Valley residents to drive long distances for some coursework.
Trustees approved Fresno State’s independent program in fall 2007, one of the first in the 23-campus system.
Here’s what first-cohort doctoral candidates said about the new Fresno State program:
Jothany Blackwood was attracted by its location at Fresno State. “I felt we would explore educational issues unique to the Valley that would better prepare me to support students in our local community college,” said Blackwood, who is dean of instruction for the fine, performing and communication arts at Fresno City College.
“The embedded fieldwork was really the flagship of the program,” Blackwood added. “It moved us from theory to practice through relevant and engaging projects in the field that impacted education in the Valley.”
Blackwood said, “From personal growth as educators investing in our own learning to career mobility and the enhanced lens on leadership, this program really challenged and changed us.”
Elimear O’Farrell, deputy principal of Clovis West High School, waited a year to be part of the independent-doctorate program so she could work with Brown-Welty, whom she knew after pursuing master’s and Administrative Credential courses.
“Dr. Brown-Welty has networked with the Central Valley Educational Leadership Institute
She said the Ed.D “provides us with the tools, the credibility, the confidence and the opportunities to effect real change in the educational field in the Valley.”
Adrian Ramirez, a career development counselor at Fresno State, was attracted to the program because it “brings the knowledge of professors who have years of direct instruction, administration and insight into the K-12 and higher education systems to individuals, like me, who plan to stay and make a difference in the Valley.”
“We were able to directly learn from and establish connections with current superintendents, college presidents, VPs, etc. who are working in the trenches to resolve issues in education for our region,” Ramirez added.
The program taught Ramirez, “We must have the courage to do things differently by challenging the status quo. And we need to focus all of our energies to move in the same direction and accomplish reform in institutional policies, student access/equity, pedagogy and services to benefit all student learners regardless of ethic or socio-economic status.”
Shannon Lawrence, deputy principal at Clovis East High School, was familiar with the Fresno State ’s teacher-preparation programs having received a B.A. in Liberal Studies in 2000 and Masters of Arts in Education, Administration and Supervision in 2004.
“The education I received at Fresno State was the contributing factor in my successful educational career,” Lawrence said. “I felt very strongly that this program would be of exemplary quality and the learning I would receive would be superior to other programs.”
She wasn’t disappointed, saying, “Earning this degree brings many opportunities as well as a great responsibility to continually work to improve education for our future generations.”
In addition to interacting with cohort members, professors and members of the Valley educational community, Lawrence praised the program for its fieldwork component. “I had several opportunities to apply my research and learning in a variety of practical settings with the Rural Schools Network and CVELI,” she said.
Melissa Ireland, principal of Sierra High School in Auberry, said, “I wanted to earn my degree in the heart of the Valley because I live, work and practice here. We have higher than state averages of underserved students, students who are learning English and those who are economically disadvantaged, which influence academic performance but do not determine it.”
When she applied, Ireland thought she might return to the classroom. “I still have that idea, but I also learned that I love research and value learning,” she said. “Not the test tube type of research but the kind through which you gain a better understanding of the context of education in our Valley.”
“I am passionate about every single student’s right to learn and gain access to quality work and life as an adult,” Ireland added. “I believe educational equity is foremost a moral issue, but it is also an economic one. This program deepened the passion I feel for learning.”
The other independent Ed.D candidates are:
Idia Abode, a teacher at Lane Elementary School (Fresno Unified).
Johnny Alvarado, principal at Kastner Intermediate School (Clovis Unified).
Devin Blizzard, principal at Alta Sierra Intermediate School (Clovis Unified).
Kimberley Boyer, director of staff development and research for the Central Valley Afterschool Foundation.
Teneccia Brannon, a teacher at Teague Elementary School (Central Unified).
Rob Darrow, principal of Clovis Online School (Clovis Unified).
Ben Drati, principal of Clovis West High School (Clovis Unified).
Marc Hammack, learning director for Kastner Intermediate School (Clovis Unified).
Gary Lowe, research analyst for institutional planning and analysis at University of California, Merced.
Ron Oxford, a faculty librarian at West Hills College in Lemoore.
Tangee Pinherio, a lecturer for the Department of Counseling, Special Education and Rehabilitation at Fresno State.
Mark Sanchez, program director at Evergreen Valley College.
Tracy Smith, principal at Woods Elementary School (Clovis Unified).
Klaus Tenbergen, an assistant professor of food science and nutrition at Fresno State.
For more on Fresno State’s independent Ed.D. program, contact Brown-Welty at 559.278.0294 orsharonb@csufresno.edu.
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