“I take special care to represent the fact that I work with English language learners, the fact that I work with students who maybe don’t have the resources that other students may have,” says Garrison. “We look a lot at bias and cultural relevance. I feel that it’s a big responsibility on my shoulders to make sure I represent teachers but more importantly, that I represent my students and parents in what I say and bring to the table.”
Two Teacher Education Program Alumni Named LAUSD Teachers of the Year
“Opportunities to learn and thrive should exist in all communities, regardless of socioeconomic status. I chose to become a teacher to provide students like me with a rigorous and inspiring educational experience.”
College-going rate has tripled in neighborhood now served by UCLA Community School
95 percent of last year’s seniors at the UCLA Community School in Koreatown plan to attend college. Before the school opened in September 2009 and the high school opened in 2010, only one-third of the high school graduates in the area now served by the school went on to attend college. Now, as the school celebrates its fifth anniversary, that percentage has increased almost threefold.
In June, the first group of seniors who spent all four years at the high school graduated. Of them, 95 percent plan to attend college this fall, more than half were admitted to four-year schools (up from 13 percent in 2009) and one-quarter were admitted to UC campuses (up from 4 percent).
Six-Part Documentary about TEP’s Urban Teacher Residency Program (IMPACT)
PLI Grad Ian Eddy Honored with Social Justice Teacher Award
Effective teacher training critical to success of Common Core math
The quality of teacher training will be crucial to the success of the new Common Core State Standards in math, educators say, and the pressure is on districts to give elementary school teachers the skills they’ll need to provide students with a firm foundation in early arithmetic.
Outstanding Educator of the Year Award – Jose Navarro (PLI Cohort 11)
Laurence Tan: TEP Alum Honored for Culturally Responsive Teaching
It is Tan’s belief in the innate ability of his students and his combination of tough love and raising the bar that earned him the 2013 Award for Excellence in Culturally Responsive Teaching from Teaching Tolerance, a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

We are excited about the publication of Preparing and Sustaining Social Justice Educators edited by our former executive director, Annamarie Francois, along with UCLA Center for Community Schooling director Karen Hunter Quartz.