As a Researcher and Educational Leader, SOE Alumnus Builds Consensus for Transformational Change

When speaking about his efforts to challenge the educational status quo in ways that address systemic inequities, Dr. Stanley L. Johnson Jr. M.A. '02 cites the late writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin.

"You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't," Baldwin once said, before adding: "The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you alter, even but a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it."

That Johnson draws inspiration in his work as an educational researcher and leader from one of his favorite authors comes as no surprise. After receiving his B.A. in American Literature and Culture from UCLA and then spending two years playing professional tennis, he enrolled in the LMU School of Education /Teach For America Partnership program in the fall of 2000. "My intention was to fulfill the two-year teaching commitment, then get a Ph.D. in literature and become an English professor in higher ed," Johnson says. "But the LMU/TFA program changed my life."

Johnson went well beyond his two-year commitment, remaining at Centennial High School in Compton, where he taught English Language Arts, for five years. While he was there, the school lost its Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) accreditation. Johnson played an instrumental role in getting it reinstated, and afterward he was promoted to a district-level position in curriculum and instruction. He returned to LMU to earn his preliminary administrative credential in 2006.

Today, Johnson is conducting influential research as a senior project scientist with the Center for the Transformation of Schools, which is based in the UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, where Johnson earned his Ph.D. in 2011. He also serves as president of the Los Angeles County Board of Education - the culmination of a term of service that began in 2021. The board provides leadership and oversight of the Los Angeles County Office of Education, serving 81 school districts and 13 community college districts while using an equity lens to support the education and well-being of nearly two million children.

With the influence afforded by that leadership role, Johnson draws on the wisdom of Baldwin. "If I have the opportunity to be invited into spaces I wouldn't otherwise find myself in, I want to use that platform to ask questions that might lead people to reconsider how they see things," he says. "It doesn't always mean you're going to change people's point of view. But if you show up in a way that isn't threatening, sometimes the common ground can shift. And that can lead to transformative outcomes."

Much of Johnson's work has focused on building evidence in support of that transformative change. In 2019, following stints in instructional leadership at a charter school, managing teacher development for the TFA program, and consulting for the Los Angeles County Office of Education, he joined the Center for the Transformation of Schools at UCLA, working closely with the center's leadership in examining Black student achievement in L.A. County. The center was founded in 2017 to create sustainable approaches to meeting the most pressing needs of schools in partnership with school systems, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

"What's most compelling about our center is that we are passionate about equity and access," Johnson says. "It's both rare and exciting to have this partnership between scholars and practitioners, and to be able to step back and look at how we might address the reasons our students aren't performing well by asking new questions through our research, then offering another way of looking at the issue."

During his time at the center, Johnson has spearheaded two major reports that have significantly influenced the approach to addressing the overall wellness of Black students in L.A. County. In 2019, he led a county-level analysis of health, social-emotional, and academic achievement outcomes. The report, Beyond the Schoolhouse, concluded that Black students were beset with an accumulation of disadvantages in their school preparation and provided explicit recommendations for how schools could address the problem. Johnson was then the lead author of Beyond the Schoolhouse: Digging Deeper, released in 2021, which built on the previous findings through an analysis of data from schools with a minimum of 800 Black students across 14 districts. Among the conclusions: COVID-19 had likely worsened inequalities for Black students and their families, with many experiencing financial, physical, and emotional hardships associated with the pandemic. The report and its recommendations have found considerable traction, leading the County Office of Education to partner with the UCLA center and others on a roadmap for action, Supporting the African American Learner.

Johnson currently leads a National Science Foundation-funded research-practice partnership supporting STEM pathways for South L.A. students by promoting the development of computational thinking. As part of the project, Johnson's team is working closely with their math and science teachers to build the capacity for using computer science as a framework for addressing gaps in mathematics.

The wide-ranging perspectives Johnson brings from his experiences in the classroom, as an administrator, and now as a researcher in higher education give him a unique vantage point from which to address educational needs in his role as president of the L.A. County Board of Education. "We have a great board that really understands issues of equity and access," Johnson says. "Our main goal is to think about how these show up in any concern we're dealing with."

In 2021, Johnson was elated when the L.A. Unified School District unveiled the Black Student Achievement Plan (BSAP), a $200 million commitment to supporting school success for Black students through the hiring of more teachers, efforts to increase English and math proficiency, and an increase in social workers and counselors to support Black students and mitigate the accumulation of disadvantages they typically face. But challenges to the status quo often come with resistance. In October 2024, the district announced it would overhaul the initiative to eliminate race from consideration, in response to legal actions taken by a Virginia-based group.

"The deeply troubling backlash that has upended the BSAP is rooted in larger structural and systemic racist patterns that have historically harmed Black children," Johnson says. "This is a civil rights and social justice matter. We have to continue to advocate for resources that support the overall wellness of Black students and truly see the achievement gap as an American problem that, if not addressed, will create a permanent caste system."

Despite the setback, Johnson remains steadfast in his commitment to using his platforms as a researcher and board president to build consensus for positive change. It's a commitment rooted in his experiences at LMU. "I believe that teaching is a calling that someone is drawn to by their core values-and in my case, that's equity, access, and social justice," he says. "My LMU education gave me a paradigm through which I continue to view these issues."

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