Welcome from Dr. Rodriguez
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Welcome! I am an educator, researcher, speaker, and author in the field of urban education.  I am on a mission to use research, policy, and community engagement to promote educational equity and opportunity for students in urban schools and communities.  Specifically my research, pedagogy, and scholarship focuses on the ways in which we can learn from the voices and experiences of students to help guide changes in both policy and practice. To learn more, check out my publications, collaborative research, professional development topics, and Excellence Campaign work. I look forward to working with you.  

Featured work

Collaborative Research & 
Publications

Over the last 15 years I have engaged districts, schools, youth, and communities in collaborative research efforts to improve student engagement and achievement.  Focused on the voices and experiences of the people our institutions serve, my research often uses the research process itself to engage stakeholders in critical conversations about excellence and practical and policy solutions. My in-depth projects have been in Boston, Miami, and most recently The Inland Empire (Southern California).  

Speaking & Professional Development

I am available to speak to various audiences including:
  • interactive professional development sessions with districts, schools, parents, and communities. 
  • keynote addresses to various audiences including small and large groups of elementary, middle, and high school, and university students.
  • workshops to national and international executive level leaders at places like Harvard and districts in Michigan, New Mexico, and California.

Watch a Vialogue on my Praxis of Recognition paper in TC Record: 
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https://vialogues.com/vialogues/browse/related/8569/

Excellence Campaigns

Has your district, school, or community realized its excellence?  If you are looking for a process to help get you there, we can help. Using Excellence Campaigns, we work with institutions and relevant stakeholders to define, recognize, and learn from local "Models of Excellence."  Based on our work, we have discovered the following: 
  1. excellence is contagious;
  2. excellence is inherently additive;
  3. excellence is politically viable; 
  4. excellence is a curricular and pedagogical tool;
  5. excellence is a responsibility;
  6. excellence is a matter of equity in education.
We believe excellence is local and should unite students, teachers, parents, and community members. We have done the work and look forward to collaborating with you.  Start your Excellence Campaign today!

Books
Are we bold enough to learn from our own excellence?  Intentional Excellence: The Pedagogy, Power, and Politics of Excellence in Latina/o Schools and Communities is my third book and published in 2015.  This book chronicles what happens when schools and communities work together to define, recognize, and learn from their own local models of excellence.  A Pedagogy of Excellence is proposed and is particularly relevant for schools, communities, districts, and universities interested in an additive approach that prioritizes the strengths of the very people and institutions that are serving our children, particularly Latina/o students in U.S. schools.  District leaders, principals, researchers, and graduate students may find the practical examples and conceptual frameworks useful for both practical and theoretical purposes.
​The Time is Now:  Understanding and Responding to the Black and Latina/o Dropout Crisis in the U.S.  published in 2014 is a 10-year report out of work in three major urban centers across the U.S.  Rather than describing the crisis, this book is a solution-oriented attempt at transforming what schools do and how they do them, particularly when serving low-income students of color in the U.S.  A 10-Point Plan is proposed along with a theory of action to respond to the dropout/pushout crisis in urban schools.  Particular emphasis is placed on the voices and experiences of students as a way to inform educational policy and practical changes.