Joseph F. Johnson Jr., Ph.D.

Executive Director

In August 2005, Dr. Joseph Johnson became the Executive Director of the National Center for Urban School Transformation and the QUALCOMM Professor of Urban Education at San Diego State University.

Previously Dr. Johnson served as a classroom teacher in San Diego, as a school district administrator in New Mexico, as a state department official in both Texas and Ohio, as a researcher and technical assistance provider at the Charles A. Dana Center at the University of Texas, and as the Director of Student Achievement and School Accountability at the U.S. Department of Education where he was responsible for directing the federal Title I Program.

Dr. Johnson earned a Ph.D. in educational administration from the University of Texas at Austin’s Cooperative Superintendency Program. He earned a Master of Arts in Education from San Diego State University and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh.

In 1987 Dr. Johnson received the Special Educator of the Year Award from the New Mexico Council for Exceptional Children. In 1989 he was the founding president of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. In 1993 and again in 2000, he received the Educator of the Year Award from the Texas Association of Compensatory Education. In 2003 he received the Distinguished Alumnus of the Year Award from San Diego State University’s College of Education.

Lynne G. Perez, Ph.D.

Associate Director

Dr. Perez is the Associate Director for the National Center for Urban School Transformation at San Diego State University and has been with the Center since 2006. She directs and coaches in NCUST’s A-PLUS programs and coordinates the work of the Executive Leadership Coaches.

Dr. Perez led NCUST’s contribution to an intensive statewide study of California’s continuation high schools conducted on behalf of the James Irvine Foundation and in collaboration with researchers from Stanford University and WestEd. Currently she is working with Dr. Johnson and Dr. Cynthia Uline in the SDSU Department of Educational Leadership on a book – Teaching in America’s Best Urban Schools – based on data collected at NCUST’s Excellence in Urban Education Awardee schools.

At SDSU she was a Lecturer in Educational Leadership from 2006-2008 and was an early implementer in the redesigned Principal Credential Program that focused on school administration for urban schools. In 2007 she won an Outstanding Faculty Award for being the most influential professor for one of her graduate students.

Before coming to San Diego State, Dr. Perez worked as an assistant professor at St. John’s University (Queens, NY) and as a visiting professor at The Ohio State University, where she earned both her masters and Ph.D. in educational administration.

Tony Lamair Burks II, Ed.D.

Superintendent in Residence

Dr. Burks is a career educator who, since 1993, has served independent schools, public schools and institutions of higher education as a teacher and principal, adjunct professor, and school district administrator. In 2002 Dr. Burks became the founding principal of North Carolina’s first early college high school, and he was a founding board member of the North Carolina New Schools Project. In 2006 he was appointed Director of Magnet and Choice Schools, supporting 44 schools in Guilford County, NC.

With the San Diego Unified School District from 2008 to 2011 Dr. Burks held several leadership positions including Area Superintendent, Secondary School Improvement Officer, and Executive Director for Atypical and Charter Schools.

Dr. Burks earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy with Honors from Morehouse College, a Master of Education degree in Educational Leadership from Trevecca Nazarene University and a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from The University of North Carolina—Greensboro. A fellow of the British-American Project, Dr. Burks has thrice participated in Fulbright Programs in Thailand, Jordan and Japan.

Pamela Engler

Director of Outreach and Partnerships

Ms. Engler became part of the NCUST Leadership team in 2006 and successfully coordinated the Excellence in Urban Education National Symposia and Awards for 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010.

A former science teacher whose first teaching job was with the Peace Corps at a village school in Nepal, Ms. Engler has over two decades of experience in the work of education reform.

During the 1990s she worked extensively with the National Science Foundation Systemic Initiatives, first as a grant writer and Director of Curriculum for the Florida Statewide Systemic Initiative in Tallahassee, and later as a grant consultant for Urban Systemic Initiatives in Boston, Memphis, Miami, New Orleans, Oakland, and San Diego.

From 1996 to 2004 Ms. Engler worked with the San Diego Unified School District in grant development and reporting for the Mathematics, Science, and Technology Department and on the design and implementation of the Blueprint for Student Success.

Ms. Engler earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban Education from the University of Colorado-Denver, and pursued two Master’s degrees in Educational Technology and Development Communications at the University of Maryland-College Park and the University of Pennsylvania respectively. She is ABD in Educational Policy and Development Education at Florida State University.

Karen Jones

Director of Operations

Karen joined the NCUST team in November 2010 as Assistant Director of Operations. She has worked for San Diego State University Research Foundation for more than 14 years.

Gina M. Gianzero, Ed.D.

Research Associate

Dr. Gianzero brings to NCUST a unique combination of education-related research, writing, policy-analysis, and community-leadership skills. Since 2006, she has served as National Fellow with NCUST, leading evaluation-team visits to high-performing urban schools. She also works closely with the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation, collaborating with the educators and community leaders in southeast San Diego to design, implement, and evaluate comprehensive programs to meet the needs of struggling students.

Dr. Gianzero currently serves on the San Diego County Office of Education’s Preschool-for-All Demonstration Project Advisory Board. Prior to this, she co-chaired the County’s Engaging Families Task Force and helped write its master plan for the implementation of universal preschool. For six years, she served as an Education Research Fellow with San Diego Dialogue, a university-based policy group, where she helped build its research program on K-12 reform issues.

An involved parent, Dr. Gianzero has served on the San Diego City Schools’ Parent Involvement Work Group, where she co-authored the district’s standards for parent involvement. She has also volunteered as a parent representative on several district-level committees and as a PTA president and governance team member at her children’s schools. Dr. Gianzero earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership from San Diego State University, where her research focused on the role of the school district in improving educational opportunities and outcomes for adolescent English-language learners.

Daniel Mascari

Producer – Digital Media

A 10 year veteran in web design, marketing and advertising, Dan Mascari’s work include campaign elements for international companies and products including Volkswagen, Best Buy, Diesel Jeans, Citi Financial as well as several fashion and music sites. Dan has a BA in Psychology from The University of South Florida and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Tampa.

Dan comes from a family of educators and is passionate about improving access to quality education for every person. Leveraging technology to aid the spread of information and developing effective marketing solutions are his strengths. Before joining the team at NCUST Dan developed curriculum for, and taught courses on, advertising and digital media production for over two years at the Art Institute of Tampa/Miami.

Lourisse G. David

Administrative Support Assistant

Lourisse joined the NCUST team in November of 2011. A full scholar at the University of the Philippines with a Bachelors Degree in Public Administration and Governance, Lourisse began an early career as a swimming coach before serving as a Legislative Officer for the Philippine Senate. While at the Senate, she took part in extensive research, event coordination and campaign operations.

She is passionate about being able to help and support to ensure the success of the NCUST team.

Executive Coaches

Barbra Balser

Executive Coach

Barbra Balser is an experienced educator of 33 years with a comprehensive background that includes 13 years as a teacher in elementary and secondary classrooms, three years as an assistant principal, and 14 years as principal of two elementary schools and two middle schools. Most recently she has worked as an education consultant with the City Heights Educational Collaborative to assist in developing and implementing a strategic process for assessing teacher effectiveness.

In schools where Ms. Balser has worked with principals to develop leadership capacity, student achievement has improved. Her knowledge of curriculum and instruction, complemented by her ability to motivate staff and students, has helped schools make impressive gains. To illustrate, one urban middle school has shown a gain of 80 points on the California Academic Performance Index.

Ms. Balser has served as a mentor to aspiring school administrators in the Education Leadership Development program at University of San Diego for eight years. In June of 2005, she was selected as the Middle School Principal of the year for San Diego and Imperial Counties. She is currently serving as an adjunct professor in the School of Education at the University of San Diego where she has taught classes in administrative leadership for the past 2 years.

Karen Janney, Ed.D.

Executive Coach

Dr. Janney is a proven leader and dedicated educator with a clear vision for improving student achievement at the school and district level. Dr. Janney was as an Assistant Superintendent for four years and served for 27 years as a principal, assistant principal, and teacher at both the middle and high school levels in the largest secondary district in California. Recognitions Dr. Janney has received include: California Secondary Principal of the Year (2004), California PTA Honorary Service Award (1994, 1984), California Award for Performance Excellence (CAPE) as principal of Montgomery High School, and a Model Mentor Principal with the Principals Development Partnership.

Dr. Janney is an enthusiastic and energetic leader skilled at motivating, coaching, and providing meaningful professional development for teachers and administrators at the site and district level to ensure that the organizational context and environment for professional development enables high quality teaching and learning for all students leading to positive outcomes.

Dr. Janney has coached principals, assistant principals, and teachers in school improvement strategies including creating system coherence, master scheduling, orienting a positive culture, professional learning communities, and developing and sustaining smaller learning communities in Arizona, California, Louisiana, New York, Tennessee, and Texas. Dr. Janney earned her doctorate in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in district transformation from San Diego State University. She is now Co-Founder of Strategic Leadership for Success Educational Consulting

Shirley Y. Peterson, Ed. D.

Executive Coach

Shirley Peterson has been an educator for forty-two years serving as an administrator in a large urban school district for thirty-two years. She served as a high school administrator for eighteen years. During two high school principalships – one in a suburban setting and the other, an inner city school – she achieved success by focusing on classroom instruction and support programs for under-performing students resulting in lower dropout rates and increased numbers of students going to four-year colleges. Notable work as a high school principal includes: leading the development, with assistance of consultants and site teachers, of a reading program now known as “Second Chance”; and securing a site grant from the National Science Foundation of $1.2 Million for the purpose of integrating technology into all curricular areas to support the improvement of instruction and student achievement.

During 2003-2005 she worked as a consultant with the University of Washington’s Center for Educational Leadership. Her work there concentrated on coaching principals to improve their instructional leadership, with an outcome of increased academic achievement.

In 2006 she joined the University of San Diego (USD) as a part time professor in the School of Leadership and Educational Sciences (SOLES). She also serves as a supervisor for aspiring administrators in USD’s Educational Leadership Development Academy (ELDA) and as a coach in the Principals Ongoing Support and Training (POST) program.

Hazel Rojas, Ed.D.

Executive Coach

Dr. Hazel Rojas is the president and founder of Achieving Proficiency LLC, an educational consulting firm specializing in educational systems and strategies to increase the achievement of English learners and dedicated to the advancement of all students.

Dr. Rojas earned an Ed.D. from the University of Southern California in the Language, Literacy and Learning Program. She began her career as a paraprofessional, went on to be a teacher, a principal, Director of Curriculum and Associate Superintendent. While an Associate Superintendent she oversaw twelve schools, was responsible for the evaluation of principals and worked closely with school teams to increase overall performance. She worked as an adjunct professor of Language and Literacy at California State University at Long Beach.