Cynthia Pineda, PhD

Cynthia Pineda, PhD., is Copy Editor for Journal of African American Males in Education (JAAME). Dr. Pineda is the Interim Director of the Graduate Mentoring Program and the Ronald E. McNair Research Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her research focuses on the postsecondary outcomes of low income, first generation, African American, and Latino students in urban schools. She earned a Ph.D. in Education with a concentration in Urban Schooling from the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies. Under the guidance and mentorship of Dr. Tyrone Howard, Dr. Pineda studied social justice teaching practices and teacher attrition in urban schools. Their forthcoming publication, How Do You Live It? Novice Teachers’ Constructions of Social Justice Teaching, provides concrete recommendations for teacher education programs and novice teachers in urban classrooms. As a Postdoctoral Scholar at UCLA, she constructed experimental studies to provide empirical evidence of the effectiveness of university and federal initiatives through longitudinal research designs and the use of comparison groups. Dr. Pineda is a member of the Southern California College Access Network, an alliance of 26 community-based, nonprofit organizations, and co-founded the CREWS Program, a cohort model initiative to increase college student retention. Dr. Pineda served as a committee representative for the University of California Office of the President (UCOP) for three consecutive years. She also served as a Reviewer for the American Education Research Association (AERA), Social Context of Education Special Interest Group. Before earning her doctorate, Dr. Pineda taught elementary English in Brazil and served as a college counselor at La Puente High School.