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THEN AND NOW: (left) Carla Guerrero, front row, far left, learned English in her Head Start class. (right) Guerrero, front row, far left, as a graduate journalism student at the USC Annenberg School for Communication.

featured story

Head Start taught her English. Now, a graduate argues early education is even more important in an era of testing.

By Carla Guerrero

Read: English version or Spanish version

Listen to: President Johnson's Great Society speech. Delivered in 1964 at the University of Michigan spring commencement, Johnson talks about how education is key in lifting Americans out of poverty.

Schools and Society

Homeless in LA (part 1 of a series)

By Matthew Mundy

In 2002, Congress reauthorized the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, which includes aid to schools that serve homeless children. Five years later, Matthew Mundy explores how well schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District serve homeless children and youth. His report will offer despair — and hope.

A Closer Look: The principal at a Los Angeles elementary school whose enrollment is 50 percent homeless summons optimism. “I can’t give up on the children,” says Pamela Hughes.

Read: The provisions made for homeless children and youth under the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

STUDENT WORK AT aNNENBERG

Annenberg TV News
Award-winning ATVN broadcasts can be viewed here. The four-day-a-week broadcasts cover news at USC and beyond, giving broadcast students real-world reporting and writing experience.

Annenberg Radio News
A website and live webcast news show committed to fostering professional radio journalism.

News21
The News21 fellows at USC report on the search for spirituality on paths that intersect with business, science, culture and even sports.

The Daily Trojan
The award-winning, student-run Daily Trojan publishes five days a week, covering the USC community.

IMPACT: Annenberg documentaries
Impact is an award-winning television news magazine produced by journalism students.

learning

When large is too large

By YOO-MI CHIN

Downey’s Warren High School is nearly twice the size of the average California high school.

Yoo Mi Chin investigates the impact of crowded classrooms and how parents and students are responding.

[Read the Korean translation here.]

Multimedia: Hear what Warren High School students think about overstuffed classes, some of which have as many as 60 students.

Video: Doing more with more

By Gloria Angelina Castillo

California lawmakers approved legislation in 2006 providing money for the hiring of 3,000 more counselors in schools across the state. Gloria Angelina Castillo visits the Inglewood Unified School District to report on what it means for students.

[View Spanish version of the video.]

Multimedia: Vocational education makes a comeback in schools. Hear what one counselor thinks it means for students.

Read: Gov. Schwarzenegger’s statement about California's school counselors legislation.

Learning in a test-driven age

By Emily Pauker

Emily Pauker explores the impact of high-stakes testing mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act on a South Los Angeles elementary school. What she learns there may surprise you.

A Closer Look: How Jeanette Boston’s class improved test scores, and why strong English results may be next.

Special Report

How effective is Teach for America?

By Katherine Riese and Brandon Bridges

Ever since Teach for America burst upon the scene in 1990 as an all-volunteer teaching corps for altruistic young people, the program has drawn its share of supporters and critics. Katherine Riese looks at the two sides of the debate: Are Teach for America teachers better trained than those who receive their teacher training in schools of education? Hear what one school principal says, and read Brandon Bridges' report from the classroom, where he visits with a young Teach for America recruit now working at a South Los Angeles high school.

Video: Katherine Riese analyzes the debate over teacher training and reports that one Los Angeles principal prefers the Teach for America approach.

Read: Brandon Bridges visits a classroom and finds frustration and hope.

A Closer Look: Teacher Sara Garcia talks about her students, her classes, her school. “Teaching,” she says, “has taught me to think before I speak.”