Education On The Line

Ben Herald, a former reporter at Education Week, set out across America to document what is happening in school districts located in once largely white suburban communities. His book Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America's Suburbs documents his disturbing findings. When he got to Compton, he found a rare example of a school district in a formerly all white suburb that is...

In many school districts around the country, just the term "equity" can arouse passion and conflict.  Too often there is a mistaken belief is that achieving equity for all kids means some kids have to give up something so that others can benefit.  That's not the case in the Hacienda La Puente School District, where the district under the leadership of Superintendent Dr. Alfonso Jime...

What is Education Equity?   In this episode of "Sparking Equity,"  host Pedro Noguera talks with his son Joaquín Noguera to demystify a term that has  become hugely, and unnecessarily, controversial in numerous school districts throughout the nation.  In some school districts, superintendents have become fearful for even using the term for fear of inviting  blowback or fierce criticism P...

One positive development that emerged from the pandemic is that it focused attention on the mental health challenges many students face -- and how these are a major determinant of college success. There is also greater awareness that low-income students and students of color have greater unmet mental health needs compared with many of their peers. Too often they attend campuses that are least equi...

In this episode of "Sparking Equity, " host Pedro Noguera, dean of the USC Rossier School of Education, focuses on attacks on schools around issues such as mask mandates and critical race theory -- and how parents and caregivers can be involved in schools in positive ways that contribute to their children's success.  Pedro talks with Carl Cohn, esteemed educator and former member of...

Last June, the U.S. Supreme Court dealt a blow to the hopes of tens of millions of students and former students hoping to have their college loans cancelled or reduced when the court rejected President Biden’s debt relief program. In this episode of Sparking Equity, Lande Ajose, managing director of the Waverley Street Foundation and a champion of college access for all, talks with students about...

Over many decades, the school curriculum has been whittled down to focus on core academic subjects, often at the expense of arts and music education.  The shift has been most pronounced in schools serving low-income students and students of color. In this pilot episode, education leader Pedro Noguera , Dean of the USC Rossier School of Education, makes the case for a robust arts and music curricul...