Ray Garcia, EdD Faculty Profile

Photo of Ray Garcia

Ray  Garcia, EdD

Department Chair, Associate Professor

Department of Educational Leadership

Ray Garcia has a 30-year successful track record of effectively working with educational leaders in closing the student achievement gap. As an associate professor in educational leadership at California State University-East Bay, he teaches graduate course work to prepare educational leaders for the challenges of achieving equity and excellence in urban settings.

Ray has worked in a variety of educational leadership capacities including: Dean of a Corporate University, Chief Academic Officer, Executive Director for Information Technology, Director of Accountability, Director of Staff Development, Organizational Development Consultant and as a Knowledge and Evaluation Manager for a non-profit foundation. He began his educational career as an elementary and middle school teacher and later assumed the role of school principal.

Ray's research interests focus on sustaining leadership capacity to transform entrenched organizational patterns. He has published in scholarly journals and is a noted speaker and consultant at national and state forums. His work is guided by the philosophy that leaders can readily take action to impact the school's culture belief system by creating experiences to achieve desired results.   

My research agenda is defined by my interest in preparing leaders with skills for sustaining reform efforts within the context of bold, socially responsible leadership. This research schema is focused on sustainability of systemic reform.

  • BS Texas A&I University, Kingsville, TX
  • Masters in Bilingual Edu. Pan American University, Edinburg, TX
  • EdD University of Houston, Houston, TX

Not teaching this quarter.

Garcia, R. (2008). Subduing the recalcitrant theory of sustainability: A study of leadership perceptions of educational reform. School Leadership Review, Vol. 3. (9-25). 

Garcia, R. (2005). Sustainability crisis: A time for resolution.Educational Leadership & Administration, Vol. 17. (33-46). 

Garcia, R. (1992). Implementation of the alternatives to social promotion program in Texas. Southwest Journal of Educational Research into Practice, Vol. 9. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. 

Garcia, R & Walker de Felix, J. (1991). The dropout issue and school reform. In J. Walker de Felix, J. Anderson, & P. Baptiste (Eds.) Research on at-risk students: The past, present and future. 

Garcia, R & Baptiste, P. (1990). Minority recruitment and retention in teacher education. Teacher Education and Practice, 6(2). (13-21). 

A new Way of Leading, June 23, 2008, National/State Conference, Vermont Mathematics Initiative

Building Leadership Capacity for English Learner Success, January 4, 2008, CA, San Ysidro Elementary School Distrcit

Role of Educational Consulting, July 23, 2007, Glen Cove, New York, Teachscape Services Retreat

Building Leadership Capacity in Schools, June 25, 2007, National/State Conference, Vermont Leadership Institute

Using Classroom Walkthroughs to Change the Instructional Conversations in Schools, February 1, 2007, San Francisco, CA, Urban Education-Innovation & Challenges: What's Next?

The Sustainability Index: A tool for Accelerating School Improvement, November 4, 2006, Austin, TX, National Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents

Taming the Recalcitrant Phenomenon of Educational Reform: A Sustainability Model, October 21, 2006, Washington DC, Phi Delta Kappa International Summit on Public Education

Summit on Educational Excellence and Equity II, March 24, 2006, Fresno, CA, Fresno Pacific University

Open Forum on the School Superintendency: Sharing Diverse View of the Position-Past, Present, and Future, February 26, 2006, San Diego, CA, American Association of School Administrators (AASA) National Conference on Education

Building Leadership Capacity for English Learner Success, December 2, 2005, San Diego, CA, California School Board Association

A New Way of Leading: Building Leadership Capacity in Schools, June 27, 2005, Vermont, Vermont Leadership Institute

Principal Leadership: Building Leadership Capacity for School Improvement, March 31, 2005, Colorado, Association of School Executives and the Colorado Department of Education

Associate Professor Dept. of Educational Leadership CSUEB

Knowledge Management & Evaluation Manager-Research Division-Stupski Foundation, Mill Valley, CA

Dean Spring Branch Corporate University Houston, TX

Chief Academic Officer Spring Branch Independent School District, Houston, TX

Assistant Professor University of Houston, Houston, TX

Management Consultant Region IV Education Service Center Houston, TX

Elem. School Principal Immaculate Conception School, Rio Grande City, TX

Middle School Teacher Rio Grande City Independent School District, Rio Grande City, TX

Adjunct Professor Joint Doctorate Program: Ed. Leadership, UC Berkeley 2004

Adjunct Professor Doctorate Program in Ed., Texas A&M University 2003

Administration Graduate Program in Ed. Leadership, University of St. Thomas 2003

Administration Graduate Program in Ed., University of Houston 2000-2002

Community Service

     Board of Directors of RISE (Resources for Indispensable Schools and Educators)

     Board of Directors of the San Francisco Coalition of Essential Small Schools (SFCESS) 

Professional Organizations

     Phi Delta Kappa International (PDK)      

     Association of Latino Administrators and Superintendents (ALAS)

     Member of the American Educational Research Association (AERA)

     California Association of Professors of Educational Administration (CAPEA) 

Awards

     Recipient of the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) Excellence in

     Educational Leadership Award, 2003