![USC Rossier Magazine Spring / Summer 2020 Cover](/sites/default/files/styles/editor_small/public/2022-06/RossierMag_SS20_FINAL_040720_spreads_lores-cover.jpg?itok=kyKxbLYH)
USC Rossier Magazine: Spring/Summer 2020
Can Education Save Democracy?
![Illustration of a book holding up a building with broken columns.](/sites/default/files/styles/320x180/public/2022-06/USC-WEBSLIDER-CENTER.jpg?h=791fc576&itok=fALfcTvW)
USC Rossier believes it can.
“Democracy cannot succeed unless those who express their choice are prepared to choose wisely. The real safeguard of democracy, therefore, is education.” President Franklin D. Roosevelt wrote this message to educators in September 1938, during American Education Week. His words were clear: An educated democracy is the only democracy that works.
![GettyImages-517350944-800.jpg Nettie Hunt, sitting on steps of the Supreme Court in 1954](/sites/default/files/styles/320x180/public/2022-06/GettyImages-517350944-800.jpg?h=ae1281eb&itok=C-4ENWi8)
The Health of Our Educational Institutions Reflects the Health of Our Democracy
How do we leverage the power of our schools to defend against threats to our democratic systems?
![Julie_Marsh_V2_800.jpg (Illustration/Heather Monahan)](/sites/default/files/styles/320x180/public/2022-06/Julie_Marsh_V2_800.jpg?h=ae1281eb&itok=6uYF-ujn)
Julie Marsh on why local power is essential to democracy
USC Rossier Professor of Education Policy discusses strategies for engaging local stakeholders, her experience as a researcher and how COVID-19 will impact funding for education.
Featured News
![City-Heights-Selects-Pt2_Rebecca-Aranda-4-1160.jpg A sixth-grade student at City Heights Prep in San Diego, Calif. (Photo/Rebecca Aranda)](/sites/default/files/styles/320x205/public/2022-04/City-Heights-Selects-Pt2_Rebecca-Aranda-4-1160.jpg?h=791fc576&itok=GmnVI6YK)
To create the best learning environments, start with self-determined students
Research on the autonomy-supportive classroom shows it increases engagement, teaches students to self-govern and leads to better learning outcomes
![USC-ATLAS-FINAL-BEST-1160.jpg (Illustration/Chris Gash)](/sites/default/files/styles/320x205/public/2022-04/USC-ATLAS-FINAL-BEST-1160.jpg?h=791fc576&itok=pa7tkUDx)
Students demand action on climate change. Can schools keep up?
Education systems aren’t prepared for one of democracy’s biggest threats
![20200131_DSAG_0026-1160.jpg Before their annual breakfast, Dean Gallagher poses with women in the Dean’s Superintendents Advisory Group at the ACSA’s Superintendents' Symposium. (Photo/Brian Morri)](/sites/default/files/styles/320x205/public/2022-04/20200131_DSAG_0026-1160.jpg?h=791fc576&itok=4LGGbcc4)
Dean Karen Symms Gallagher fights on for equity
Returning to scholarship, Dean Gallagher will investigate what keeps women out of the most powerful jobs in education
![City-Heights-Selects_Rebecca-Aranda-14-1160.jpg Students at City Heights Prep socialize in the school's large common area during lunch. (Photo/Rebecca Aranda)](/sites/default/files/styles/320x205/public/2022-04/City-Heights-Selects_Rebecca-Aranda-14-1160.jpg?h=791fc576&itok=nvmg1keA)
How a school of refugees led by a Rossier alum is demonstrating democracy
Elias Vargas EdD ’17 is transforming civic engagement, starting in the classroom
![20200130_RossierGerrelSayles-1160.jpg Gerrel Sayles is a first-year adviser in the USC College Advising Corps at Jordan High School. (Photo/Josh Krause, 211 Photography)](/sites/default/files/styles/320x205/public/2022-04/20200130_RossierGerrelSayles-1160.jpg?h=791fc576&itok=7zsMPcPR)
USC CAC adviser Gerrel Sayles is helping turn college from dream to reality
Gold Nikes are his draw, but this sneakerhead’s goal is college attendance
![Mary_Helen_1160_0-800.jpg (Illustration/Heather Monahan)](/sites/default/files/styles/320x180/public/2022-06/Mary_Helen_1160_0-800.jpg?h=ae1281eb&itok=H30f7ESL)
Mary Helen Immordino-Yang on why democracy needs abstract thinkers
Neuroscientist, psychologist and USC Rossier professor of education discusses adolescent development, her new research center and what her kids have taught her.
Student & Alumni Stories
![USC-TIPS-FINAL-1160.jpg (Illustration/Chris Gash)](/sites/default/files/styles/320x180/public/2022-04/USC-TIPS-FINAL-1160.jpg?h=791fc576&itok=mS1QnOaY)
Tips for educators during an election year
Professor Artineh Samkian on how to facilitate difficult conversations in the classroom.
![USC-PENNANT-FINAL-1160.jpg (Illustration/Chris Gash)](/sites/default/files/styles/320x180/public/2022-04/USC-PENNANT-FINAL-1160.jpg?h=791fc576&itok=urxuH_zL)
Why the top-down governance structures of higher education need revitalizing
Professor Adrianna Kezar on the importance of shared governance in universities.