News & Insights
Featuring the latest news, expertise, opinions and blogs on critical education issues from USC Rossier.
Featured Stories
‘I want students to leave my class as better humans’
Leonor Luis, the 2025 USC Rossier master’s commencement ceremony student speaker, emphasizes teaching with purpose and leading with heart.
Faculty Research
Teacher expectations of Black students affect how they benefit from 1:1 technology programs
In a new paper authored by USC Rossier professor Brendesha Tynes and graduates, Josh Schuschke PhD ’20 and Ashely Stewart PhD ’21, raised teacher expectations were found to be particularly beneficial for Black students.
New USC study sheds light on adolescent mental health crisis in the United States
Results emphasize the interconnectedness of mental health, attendance and school grades—a necessary reality for schools to grapple with.
New research shows that transcendent thinking can increase teens’ sense of purpose
In a study of an intergenerational community program, CANDLE researchers found that adolescents who engaged in transcendent thinking increased their sense of purpose.
In Conversation
Top education leaders on the critical issues facing schools of education
Deans Carole Basile, Kimberly White-Smith EdD ’04, Frances Contreras and Tina Christie discuss the state of the field, reducing student costs and shaping the future of teacher preparation.
Considering the opportunities, dangers and applications of AI
Professors Copur-Gencturk, Maddox and Hyde sound off on how AI will reshape education.
Yaw Osei Adutwum PhD ’09 returned to Ghana to transform the nation’s educational system
After working as a teacher and founding a charter school network in L.A., Adutwum was appointed Ghana’s minister for education and led the country’s effort to expand free secondary education for all.
In the Media
AI can teach math teachers how to improve student skills
The ConversationWhen middle school math teachers completed an online professional development program that uses artificial intelligence to improve their math knowledge and teaching skills, their students’ math performance improved.
Featured Faculty
- Associate Professor of Education
- Katzman/Ernst Chair for Educational Entrepreneurship, Technology and Innovation
- Co-Director of USC STEM Center
Why school board elections are garnering national attention
PBS NewsHourSchool board elections have become a new battleground in American politics, with typically non-partisan races becoming increasingly polarized and garnering national attention. That was true in this week's election among a few closely watched counties. Julie Marsh, a professor of education policy at the University of Southern California, joins Geoff Bennett to discuss.
Featured Faculty
- Professor of Education
- Co-director of CEPEG
A Cal State Report Says Hate Crimes Are Low, But Trustees And Experts Issue Warning
Laist"We should be routinely collecting information on how students are experiencing the racial campus climate," said Royel M. Johnson, an associate professor of higher education and director of the NACCC. Johnson said the proposed legislation is a good first step, but, "the second step is the most important, and that is how institutions act."
Featured Faculty
- Associate Professor & Director
The Fight Over Charters in LAUSD School Buildings: What’s Really Happening
The 74Morgan Polikoff, an associate professor of education at the University of Southern California Rossier, pointed out both district and charter schools are funded by the state on a per-pupil basis. Shrinking enrollments mean shrinking school budgets.
Featured Faculty
- Professor of Education
Why A Longstanding LAUSD Student Count Scrambles Educators, Disrupts Classes, Frustrates Parents
Laist“The school has to have a seat for every child who's enrolled whether they're paid for it or not,” said USC education professor Lawrence Picus. “It seems that we have a responsibility to ensure they have enough money to do that.”
Featured Faculty
- Richard T. Cooper and Mary Catherine Cooper Chair in Public School Administration
- Professor of Education Finance and Policy
- Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs
Will Teachers Listen to Feedback From AI? Researchers Are Betting on It
EdSourceEdSource quotes Yasemin Copur-Gencturk about the application of AI in education.
Featured Faculty
- Associate Professor of Education
- Katzman/Ernst Chair for Educational Entrepreneurship, Technology and Innovation
- Co-Director of USC STEM Center
Banned Books Week comes at tense time for nation’s libraries and schools
The HillBanned Books Week, an annual event first established in 1982, has arrived amid a tumultuous time for reading in America as both schools and libraries try to fend off rising campaigns to remove titles from shelves.
Featured Faculty
- University Professor
- Provost Professor of Education, Business, and Public Policy
- Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership
- USC Race and Equity Center Founder and Chief Research Scientist
Will AI make American education even more unequal?
The HillWe are in a period of rapid and dramatic change. We have an opportunity to use this moment to influence educational trends in ways that make the future more equitable, just and sustainable. Let’s not squander this opportunity.
Featured Faculty
- Distinguished Professor of Education
- Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean
Will kids have equal access to AI in schools?
KNX RadioKNX In Depth's Elsa Ramon and Larry Perel talk to Pedro Noguera, Dean of the Rossier School of Education at USC. He's got a new responsibility as a member of the U.S. Department of Education's committee on the use of Artificial Intelligence in education. It's to help figure out how AI can be used effectively in schools. He writes about it in an op/ed piece in The Hill.
Featured Faculty
- Distinguished Professor of Education
- Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean
We Stand For DEI with Dr Shaun Harper
iHeartRadioStreet Politicians Podcast hosts USC Rossier faculty member, Dr. Shaun Harper, who is recognized as one of the nation’s most highly respected racial equity experts. Dr. Harper discussed his DEI strategy with companies and institutions.
Featured Faculty
- University Professor
- Provost Professor of Education, Business, and Public Policy
- Clifford and Betty Allen Chair in Urban Leadership
- USC Race and Equity Center Founder and Chief Research Scientist
No Calculus? No Problem at Caltech
Inside Higher EdInside Higher Ed spoke with Dr. Julie Posselt about technology-focused institutions exploring admission alternatives and the importance of federal support for schools.
Featured Faculty
- Professor of Education
Why Kids’ Learning Loss From COVID Hasn’t Improved
The MessengerThe problems that motivated us to pour billions into our schools during COVID-19 are still very real but the sooner we accept that our pandemic educational recovery hacks like tutoring and summer school aren’t going to cut it, the better off our children will be.
Featured Faculty
- Professor of Education
AI will eventually disrupt the status quo in education. Will students benefit?
San Francisco ChronicleWe must seize the opportunity to use AI and other forms of educational technology in ways that make the future more equitable and accessible.
Featured Faculty
- Distinguished Professor of Education
- Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean
ChatGPT is about as exciting as a Twinkie
EdScoopWhile new and perhaps useful, ChatGPT lacks the substance educators should be encouraging in their students' writing.
Featured Faculty
- Associate Professor of Education
Education key to progress
Daily ExpressUnless schools provide an environment that is sound, stimulating, and safe, students will not benefit from the education system. This was one of the messages delivered by sociologist Pedro Antonio Noguera of the USC Rossier School of Education, University of Southern California in the United States.
Featured Faculty
- Distinguished Professor of Education
- Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean
Interview with USC Rossier Dean Pedro Noguera
M.E. TV Now of of Trinidad and TobagoDean Pedro Noguera discusses USC Rossier's global leadership in promoting educational equity.
Featured Faculty
- Distinguished Professor of Education
- Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean
'Fight this battle piece by piece': How angry moms are shaping culture wars and the 2024 race
USA TodayUSA Today spoke with Dean Pedro Noguera about public debates over children’s education and how education is often a local issue.
Featured Faculty
- Distinguished Professor of Education
- Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean
‘Student dads are ghosts’: Why fathers face long odds of graduating college
The Guardian“One of the biggest things is that familial pressure, that social pressure of being a provider.”
Featured Faculty
- Associate Professor of Education
What will actually make schools safer
The Hill"Instead of 'thoughts and prayers' lawmakers at the state and federal level must act now."
Featured Faculty
- Distinguished Professor of Education
- Emery Stoops and Joyce King Stoops Dean
Confidence in California public schools declines sharply; a third give L.A. a D or F
Los Angeles Times"Maybe we were still in a period of people sort of appreciating all the work that educators were doing."
Featured Faculty
- Professor of Education
- Co-director of CEPEG
The SAT is going digital. Will that make the test more equitable?
EdSurge“The move to a digital test format is long overdue.”
Featured Faculty
- Professor of Practice
- Executive Director of the Center for Enrollment Research, Policy and Practice
USC Rossier Magazine
Institutions that are as ubiquitous as schools of education often suffer from a lack of understanding about their importance. We often only understand such institutions’ importance to the health and progress of our society when they’re gone. To explore the significance of schools of education now, in this issue of USC Rossier Magazine, we turn to this very question: Do we still need schools of education?
Doctors without med schools, teachers without ed schools?
Shaun Harper on education schools as high-trust sites for the rigorous preparation of professionals who do lifesaving work.
Who needs schools of education if they don't evolve?
As younger generations embrace technology in the learning process, so too must our teaching methods.
Out of the ivory tower and into the field
Julie Marsh on the ways schools of education are pioneering education reform with research and hands-on service.
Educator Resources
USC Rossier offers these tools and other educator resources for teachers, administrators and counselors in K–12, higher education and educational psychology.
A new tool for educators running on empty
Identity-based, radical self-care practices can provide teachers with the tools they need to recharge.
How can educators support gender-diverse students?
From validating feelings to creating a toolbox for emotional regulation, these practical tips from Professor Theodore Burnes can help students thrive.
How can schools better serve the needs of secondary English learners?
Dieuwertje J. Kast EdD ’20 on how educators can prepare students to understand and adapt to technology so they can use it for the future.
Media Contact
USC Rossier faculty members have expertise in higher education, K–12 education policy, education psychology and teacher education, and are regularly available to media. To arrange an interview, please contact the faculty member directly or speak with our director of media relations Ellen Evaristo. Any questions about school operations should also be addressed to Ellen Evaristo.
Faculty DirectoryStory Ideas?
Use the form below to submit a story idea to the USC Rossier communications team.