Dr. Alison Wishard Guerra

Biography

Alison Wishard Guerra is an Associate Professor at the University of California, San Diego. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with a BA in Psychology and Latin American Latino Studies. She holds both an MA and PhD in Education with an emphasis on Applied Developmental Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Wishard Guerra's research primarily focuses on culture and development in early childhood, particularly on social language development among Latino children from low-income families. Her work examines how social relationships and interactions can serve as protective factors for cognitive development in at-risk children. She is an active member of the National Early Head Start Research Consortium and has contributed to various educational frameworks published by the California Department of Education. At UCSD, she teaches courses related to early childhood education, cognitive development, and quantitative research methodology. Dr. Wishard Guerra is dedicated to improving home language and cultural preservation through her research and teaching.

Research Interests