Dr. Karla Rivera-Torres is a Research Analyst who works with teachers, students, and other community members to assess the impact of academic programs on students’ academic performance, social-emotional learning, and student interactions. With a passion for qualitative research, she also contributes to projects by conducting interviews and focus groups with community members in English and Spanish. Karla holds 12 years of experience as a researcher in bilingual education and language and educational equity and access with an emphasis on issues that affect underrepresented, culturally, and linguistically diverse students in K-16. Karla believes in community-based and culturally relevant research to make informed decisions that benefit and advance the community’s well-being. She has multiple years of experience teaching Spanish using hybrid models to preschool, elementary school, and college students. As a native Spanish speaker, Karla also volunteers as a community interpreter and translator for vulnerable populations.
Karla holds a doctoral degree in Education with an emphasis in Human Development and Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).