My teaching background focuses on children and young adults in urban school settings from diverse backgrounds. I made a conscious decision to pursue a career in higher education at Cal State LA to satisfy my profound commitment to work with a diverse student population exhibited by Cal State LA’s student body I and because of its goal to meet the needs of youth in these areas by preparing highly qualified teachers to work in the communities in which we serve.
I received my Ed.D. in 2003 in International and Multicultural Education with a minor in Bilingual Education from the University of San Francisco. I completed my dissertation research under the direction of Dr. Alma Flor Ada. I also hold a Bachelor’s Degree, a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education all from Cal State Long Beach.
I have been a professor of teacher education here at California State University, Los Angeles since 2003. I currently serve as the Chair of the Division of Curriculum and Instruction since 2018, coordinate the Directed Teaching practicum and serves as the single subject advisor for the Los Angeles Urban Teacher Residency program for secondary Math and Science teachers.
Prior to my work at the university, I was an elementary teacher for the San Francisco Unified School District. My work in education is focused primarily in the area of transitional bilingual instruction in urban school environments as well as social justice and equity in education.
I plan and deliver instruction for a variety of courses in teacher credentialing and Master’s degree program options, primarily focusing on Transformative Education, Classroom Management and Discipline, Multicultural Children and Young Adult Literature, Social Studies Pedagogy, Bilingual Education, Early Childhood Education and English Language Development.
During my time off of work, I train for marathons, Ultra Distance running and Ironman Triathlons.
During my time here at CSULA I have been planning for and delivering instruction for a variety of courses in our Multiple Subject, Single Subject and LA Urban Teacher Residency credential programs as well as in our M.A. programs. I enjoy the challenge of staying current in the field by taking on a variety of courses. I primarily focus on Transformative Education, Classroom Management and Discipline, Multicultural Children and Young Adult Literature, Social Studies Pedagogy, Bilingual Education, Early Childhood Education and English Language Development. I aspent many years as the the California Teacher Performance Assessment (CalTPA) Coordinator and am enjoying working with students in both Multiple and Single Subject credential programs as we are now working with edTPA.
Since being here at CSULA, I have written several teacher resource books for McGraw-Hill Publishers under the title of "The Organized Teacher". These books allow me to tap into my own teaching practice in the K-12 public school system. In years past, my focus was and stmy research goals center around Photovoice, a form of qualitative research that utilizes documentary photography and storytelling by putting a camera in the hands of individuals often excluded from the decision-making process in order to capture their voices about their lives, community, and concerns as a means or empowering them to become change agents for themselves and others. And my more current interests on Translanguaging, Co-Teaching and Teacher Residencies are topics I am excited about pursuing more concretely in the next couple of years.
Published Manuscripts:
Ricci, L.A., French, R., Persiani, K., & Williams, A. (2022). Gaining a “deeper Understanding of the reality of an educator” while co-teaching: Perspectives of
Graduates of the Los Angeles Urban Teacher Residency (LAUTR) program. CCNews: Newsletter of the California Council on Teacher Education, 33(3), 22-29.
Ricci, L. A., Persiani, K., & Williams, A. D. (2019). From ‘training wheels for teaching’ to‘cooking in your mother-in-law’s kitchen’: Highlights and challenges of co-teaching among math, science, and special education teacher candidates and Mentors in an urban teacher residency program. International Journal of Whole Schooling, 15(2), 24-52.
Ricci, L., Persiani, K., Williams, A., & Ribas, Y. (2019). Preservice general educators using co-teaching models in math and science classrooms of an urban teacher residency programme: learning inclusive practices in teacher training. International Journal of Inclusive Education, DOI: 10.1080/13603116.2018.1563643.
Springer, S., Alexander, B., & Persiani, Ed.D. K. (2019). The Creative Teacher 3rd Edition. Chicago: McGraw Hill.
Springer, S., Alexander, B., & Persiani, Ed.D. K. (2019). The Organized Teacher, 3rd Edition. Chicago: McGraw Hill.
Persiani, K. & Springer, S. (2019). The Organized Teacher’s Guide to Classroom Management 2nd Edition. Chicago: McGraw-Hill.
Persiani, K. & Springer, S. (2019). The Organized Teacher’s Guide to Substitute Teaching 2nd Edition. Chicago: McGraw-Hill.
Persiani, K., Alexander, B. & Springer, S. (2019). The Organized Teacher’s Guide to Your First Year in Teaching 2nd Edition. Chicago: McGraw-Hill.
Williams, A., Ricci, L., & Persiani, K. (2017). Transforming Teacher Preparation through the Lens of Social Justice: Challenges and Lessons Learned from the First Five Years of the Los Angeles Urban Teacher Residency Program. CCNews: Newsletter of the California Council on Teacher Education, 28, 2, 27-31.
Persiani, K. (May, 2014). The Organized Teacher’s Guide to Multicultural Children’s Literature. Chicago: McGraw-Hill.
Persiani, K. & Springer, S. (August, 2012). The Organized Teacher’s Planbook. Chicago: McGraw-Hill.
Persiani, K., Alexander, B & Springer, S. (June, 2010). The Organized Teacher’s Guide to Your First Year in Teaching. Chicago: McGraw-Hill.
Persiani-Becker, K., Becker, M., & Springer, S. (May, 2010). The Organized Teacher’s Guide to Building Character. Chicago: McGraw-Hill.
Persiani-Becker, K., & Gopalakrishnan, A. (April, 2010). Multicultural Children’s Literature: A Critical Issues Approach. SAGE Publications.
Persiani-Becker, K., Alexander, B & Springer, S. (February, 2009). The Master Teacher. Chicago: McGraw-Hill.
Persiani-Becker, K., Alexander, B & Springer, S. (June, 2008). The Festive Teacher. Chicago: McGraw Hill.
Persiani-Becker, K. (2008). Hawaii International Conference of Education Proceedings. Transformative Literacy and the Creative Dialogue Process.
McGrawHill Publishers. (Fall, 2007). The Teacher’s Calendar 2007-2008. McGraw Hill Publishers, Chicago. I wrote four essays for the “Curriculum Connection” section for Mischief Night, Eric Carle’s Birthday, Dia de Los Ninos, and Bun Day.
Persiani-Becker, K. (January, 2006). Multicultural Children’s Literature as a Practice to Encourage Interest in Books and Reading with English Language Learners: A Participatory Study. The CATESOL Journal, 17, 1-13.
Ed.D. International and Multicultural Education 2003
- University of San Francisco, San Francisco, Ca.
M.A. Early Childhood Education 2000
- CSU, Long Beach, Long Beach, Ca.
California Teaching Credential Multiple Subject 1998
- CSU, Long Beach, Long Beach, Ca.
B.A. Sociology 1996
- CSU, Long Beach, Long Beach, Ca.