Adriana Villavicencio, Ph.D. (she, her, hers) is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, Irvine. Her research is focused on K-12 educational policy and school practice that deepen or disrupt inequities for minoritized communities of students and families. For nearly a decade, she conducted research at the Research Alliance for New York City Schools at NYU—a Research-Practice Partnership with the NYC Department of Education (DOE).
Dr. Villavicencio’s work includes mixed-method studies on turnaround middle schools, small high schools in NYC, schools serving newly arrived immigrant English Learners, and a racial justice program embedded in culturally diverse elementary schools.
She is the author of Am I My Brother’s Keeper: Educational Opportunities and Outcomes for Black and Brown Boys, published by Harvard Education Press. This book examines how districts and schools can embed racial equity into sustainable policies and practices in contrast to initiatives that come and go. It also provides a set of concrete approaches and recommendations, so that other districts and schools can take up similar efforts with even more robust results.
Prior to becoming a researcher, she taught high school English in Oakland, California and Brooklyn, New York. She also worked on the development of a new school in Bangalore, India. Dr. Villavicencio earned her Ph.D. in education leadership and policy from the NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.