Miguel Mendivil, CSU/UCI Cohort III, CSULA Emphasis in Urban Educational Leadership, successfully defended his dissertation proposal on Thursday, December 11, 2008 at California State University, Los Angeles.  His proposal is entitled: When Jessica Does Fractions in School, She Pictures Herself in the Kitchen Baking with Mom: A Study of the Power of Storytelling and Pedagogies of the Home and Their Influence on the Critical Thinking and Learning Styles of Urban Mexican American/Chicana(o) and Native American Children.  For his research, Mr. Mendivil will examine through the body of literature and case study research, the cognitive thinking and ways of knowing and learning of Mexican American and Native American children and how their families' storytelling pedagogies of the home influence and inform their critical thinking and ways of knowing and learning.

Appreciation is expressed to committee members Lawson Bush, V, Ph.D., CSULA, Chair; Rebecca Black, Ph.D., UCI Primary UCI Reader; Daniel Solórzano, Ph.D., UCLA, Member by Exception; Martin Reinhardt, Ph.D., Colorado State University, Member by Exception; and Justin Richland, Ph.D., Outside Member, UCI Criminology, Law, & Society.