Pedro Paz – who received his master’s and Ph.D. from UC Santa Barbara’s Gevirtz School – won election to the Santa Barbara Unified School District Board of Education earlier this November. Paz’s 2008 dissertation, written with Professor Richard Durán as his advisor, was entitled “Development of a Valid and Reliable Survey Instrument to Assess Teacher Practice as a Function of Technology Support and Training.”
Dr. Paz lives in Santa Barbara with his wife and serves as the program and evaluation manager for First 5 Santa Barbara County, an organization that focuses on supporting children’s healthy early development and preparing them for kindergarten. Paz brings more than 15 years of broad nonprofit work experience, including working for both the Santa Barbara and Carpinteria school districts and serving as a leader on local nonprofit organization boards.
In addition, he has worked at UCSB, evaluating the effectiveness of a program aimed at increasing the number of Latino students attending a college or university. He will also bring experience managing multimillion-dollar budgets, having previously directed the First 5 Commission in Merced County and a budget in excess of $7 million.
Paz said his focus on the school board will be to support teachers in the classroom through training opportunities; increasing parent involvement by providing parents greater opportunities to become involved; and assuring that every child is ready to start kindergarten. He strongly believes that his is the story of the positive things that can happen with every student in the district when we strive to provide a quality education to all of our students.