Sylvia Martinez, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor
Leadership, Research & Foundations
College of Education

1420 Austin Bluffs Parkway
PO Box 7150
Colorado Springs, CO 80933-7150
(719) 262-3476
sylvia.martinez@uccs.edu.

• Education
• Teaching
• Scholarship
• Service

Dr. Martinez serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership, Research, and Foundations in the College of Education at the University of Colorado in Colorado Springs. She is new to UCCS and a recent graduate of the University of Kansas. Dr. Martinez has taught courses in Teacher Education and Higher Education programs and has partnered with schools and community organizations in areas of advocacy, leadership, and service. Her research interests center on the educational attainment and achievement of historically marginalized groups, employing both qualitative and quantitative research methods.

Education

Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Leadership Studies
University of Kansas, 2007
Concentration: Foundations of Education
Minor: American History
Dissertation: The Education of Mexican Descent Youth in the Southwest, 1940-1980: An Exploratory Analysis of Enrollment and Achievement in the High School Movement

M.S. in Student Affairs in Higher Education
Colorado State University, 2003
Thesis: Chicano(a) and Mexican-American College Students: Is there a Relationship between Academic Self-Concept and Academic Achievement?

B.A. in Economics
Washington State University, 2001

Teaching

LEAD 560
Social Foundations of Education Trends
Addresses the relationship of schooling to society by focusing on the question of whether the schools can significantly reduce the environmentally related inequalities in achievement which exist in America. Zeros in on relationships between the federal government and education.

LEAD 612
Educational Politics in a Democratic Society
A study of models, concepts, and processes regarding the organization of the American public school system at the federal, state, intermediate, and local school district levels including the values, resources, and power structures of the local community.

Scholarship

Research areas of interest include: history and sociology of education; educational achievement and attainment of students of color; ethnic/multicultural studies, American West history; and quantitative and qualitative research methods.

Current research focuses on the educational attainment of Mexican descent youth in 20th century America, with specific attention to the dynamics of the Southwest region that induced and precluded high school enrollment.

Published works

• "The CC Synergy House at Colorado College: Green Living and Giving." Reslife.net: 2008.
  >> Click here to view
• "Chicano(a) and Mexican-American College Students: Is there a Relationship between Academic Self-Concept and Academic Achievement." The Journal of Student Affairs, Volume 13: 2004.
  >> Click here for PDF

Service

University

• System Faculty Council Member

• System Faculty Ethnic Minority Affairs Committee Member

• Campus Faculty Assembly, Representative-at-Large

• Campus Faculty Minority Affairs Committee, College of Education Representative

• College of Education, Research and Innovation Committee Member

• College of Education, Recruitment Committee Member

• Office of Student Multicultural Affairs Mentor