Meet the Editorial Team
Editor in Chief
Allison Smith, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the School of Education at the University of Massachusetts Global. She is deeply involved with the California Council on Teacher Education (CCTE), previously serving on its Board of Directors and currently serving on the policy and conference planning committees. She is the Past-President of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities with education programs (AICCU-ED). Dr. Smith’s current research focuses on aspects of clinical practice, including the CalTPA and video mentoring. She is also a Clinical Practice Fellow with the Association of Teacher Educators. Her involvement in education at the state and national levels, along with her work on the journal, Issues in Teacher Education, keeps her informed and current in the field of education.
Associate Editor
Nilsa J. Thorsos, Ph.D., is a Professor of Education and Department Chair for Teacher Education in the Sanford College of Education at National University. In addition, she currently serves as Associate Editor for the journal Issues in Teacher Education. Dr. Thorsos comes from a multicultural family and is part of the Puerto Rican diaspora. Her areas of academic interest include literacy, bilingualism, special education, teacher preparation, and mentoring women in higher education. Dr. Thorsos served as President of the California Association Professors of Special Education (CAPSE). She is a collaborator for the National Conference of Puerto Rican Women—SoCal (NACOPRW) newsletter. She is the author and editor of numerous conference papers, articles, book chapters, and whole books in the field of education.
Article Editor
L. Erika Saito, Ph.D., is the Director of Strategic Partnership in PK-14 Education at University of Massachusetts Global (UMass Global) where she works with school districts, county offices of education, and organizations to partner, promote, and support educational pathways.
She is a California credentialed teacher with over 15 years of experience in K-12 public and private schools and over 10 years in teacher education. She continues to remain actively engaged within school communities; she was appointed by a school board member to serve on the Education Advisory Committee for her local district and served on school site councils at the elementary and middle school levels. Additionally, she has contributed to the local district committee for Ethnic Studies, as well as serving an advisory role under two county offices of education for the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum in California.
Her research and publications centers on Asian American history, communities, ethnic identity, social and emotional learning, multilingual learners, and societal reception. She serves as article editor for Issues in Teacher Education, a California Council on Teacher Education publication and associate editor for Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in Education.
Managing Editor
Jennifer Preimesberger, Ed.D., is Associate Professor in the Sanford College of Education at National University. Before coming to National University, she was the founder and chief administrator of the University of San Diego’s English Language Academy. In that role, she developed a multilevel curriculum to help students attain academic and linguistic proficiency that would facilitate their entrance into U.S. colleges and universities. Before that, as a school principal in the Diocese of San Diego, she oversaw and managed the total school program; supervised, evaluated, and mentored professional personnel and auxiliary support staff; provided instructional leadership; tracked and assured quality standards in student achievement; and monitored the financial operations of the school. Today, she applies all those experiences and skills in her work as Director and Faculty Liaison for the Center for Innovation, Development, Evaluation and Research.
Copy Editor
Gabriela Walker, Ph.D., is a Professor at National University. Growing up under communism, where freedoms and available wealth were limited, and now crystalizing her personality and knowledge in an advanced democracy, Dr. Walker brings a range of perspectives to special education and disability studies. Before starting her graduate studies, she worked with the Roma (Gypsy) population with disabilities in an urban setting. She went on to earn degrees in Global Policy Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, in Special Education from the University of Georgia, and in Inclusive Education and Psychology from the University of Bucharest, Romania. Dr. Walker’s current interests include research on autism spectrum disorders, methodologies for teaching special populations (including assistive technology), global special educational policies, healthicization and ecology of populations with disabilities, and disability rights.