Introduction
Teaching Interests
Educational Background
College of Charter School of Education

Lois Andre-Bechely
Assistant Professor

Office: KH A3040
Phone: (323) 343-6271
Email: loisab@calstatela.edu

INTRODUCTION

As a former elementary school teacher and active parent in Los Angeles Unified School District, I bring a variety of experiences to my work here at CalStateLA. In particular, my work as a parent representative on various local school and district-level leadership committees led to my interest in studying how parents are positioned within educational institutions, and as participants in school change. I received my doctorate from UCLA’s Urban Schooling Division with an emphasis in Policy Studies. My research explored the policy implementation of public school choice in a large urban school district and incorporated a feminist qualitative methodology known as Institutional Ethnography to uncover and map the actual district organization of school choice policies, practices, and outcomes from the standpoint of a diverse group of public school parents. My new research projects also use Institutional Ethnography to study accountability policies and practices, and standardized testing in particular. Currently I am working on pilot project to study how public school parents understand the high-stakes testing environment in Los Angeles public schools. This new research, like my research on school choice policy, expands on my interest in linking studies of educational policy from the everyday real world of people in local schools to the institutional contexts of schooling which help to shape and determine parents’ experiences during their children’s K-12 education.

TEACHING INTERESTS

Currently, I teach a variety of courses. EDFN 505 - Qualitative Research in Education; EDFN 552 - Policy Studies in Urban Education; EDFN 414 - Social Foundations of Education; ULRN 464 - Contemporary Issues in Knowledge, Culture, and Learning; EDFN 440 - Schooling for a Diverse, Urban Society; EDFN 413 - Psychological Foundations of Education

Research Interests

Representative Professional Activities

Date

Publications/Presentations
(in preparation) André-Bechely, L. Could It Be Otherwise? Parents and the Inequalities of Public School Choice. New York, Routledge/Falmer. In the book series, Critical Social Thought, edited by Michael W. Apple.
2003 Andre-Bechely, L. Showing How It Happens: Using Institutional Ethnography in Education. Paper to be presented for the Qualitative Research SIG at the annual conference of the American Education Research Association, Chicago
2002 Andre-Bechely, L. & Griffith, A.I. “Please take the time to read the enclosed material carefully”: Explicating Social Relations in Different Genres of Texts Written for Parents. Paper presented at the Institutional Ethnography Network Conference, “Putting Institutional Ethnography into Practice,” University of Victoria, Victoria, Canada
2002 Andre-Bechely, L. Good Schooling, Good Teaching, Good Mothering: Conflicts and Contradictions in the Context of Parents Choosing Schools. Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Education Research Association, New Orleans
1999 André Bechely, L. & Bernstein, S. Building Parent Leadership in Curriculum Reform through School/University Collaboration. Resources in Education, (ED 424 678) ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management, Eugene, OR.

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

Ph.D. Education 1999
UCLA

Los Angeles

M.Ed. Elementary Education 1989
UCLA

Los Angeles

B.A Psychology 1988
UCLA

Los Angeles

Office Hours not available at this time.

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