Message From EWA's Director

If you haven't heard the news, EWA's 65th National Seminar will take place May 17-19, 2012, in Philadelphia. An estimated 250 reporters, authors, producers, editors, researchers, bloggers, and others will gather for three days of in-depth discussions, site visits, newsmaker speeches, and interactive workshops on education and its coverage. Winners of the National Awards for Education Reporting will be honored at the event, and the winner of the contest's grand prize will be announced. And for the first time, EWA has decided to hold its 2012 flagship conference at a university. After a competitive process, we accepted the proposal of the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education, which teamed up with the American Educational Research Association to co-host the event. This arrangement will help EWA more easily tap into the expertise of leading education scholars even as we tailor the conference to meet the unique needs and interests of journalists who cover education at all levels. Stay tuned for agenda and registration details in the coming weeks. For sponsorship opportunities, please contact Stephanie Cvetetic at scvetetic@gmail.com.

See you in Philly!

Caroline Hendrie

EdMedia Commons

EdMedia Commons is now open to all EWA members! This great new resource will be home to a wide range of content you won't be able to get anywhere else. If you want to connect with your colleagues across the country, workshop new story ideas, and interact with education experts and newsmakers, you need to be a part of EMC.

If you haven't signed up yet, click here to set up your account. It only takes a few seconds, and it's a free benefit of your EWA membership.

Fall 2011 Higher Education Seminar

EWA's next Higher Education Seminar will take place November 4-5 at the University of California, Los Angeles. Approximately 50 higher education journalists will gather with dozens of newsmakers, scholars, and other experts to explore a constellation of complex topics in higher education today.

Click here for event information and to register. EWA offers travel subsidies for reporters who need assistance to attend our conferences. Please note, this seminar is for working journalists only. Contact Stephanie Cvetetic at scvetetic@ewa.org or 202.677.4271 for more information.

This event is made possible by a grant from the Lumina Foundation. It is sponsored by Pearson and hosted by UCLA.

EWA's Public Editor Is Here to Serve You!

You're on deadline, and you want to know if the new report that plopped on your desk comes from an organization with an agenda. You have a simple question you want answered fast, or a complex project you want to talk through. You're new to the beat and having trouble getting officials, or middle schoolers, to talk to you. Or you've been on the beat forever and are dying for a new take on the snow-day story, the budget-rollout story, or the perennial story about college-admissions angst.

If you need to workshop a story idea, contact EWA Public Editor Emily Richmond at erichmond@ewa.org. If you have an urgent need on a tight deadline, contact her by phone at 702-370-0017. The service is free and confidential.

NYT Column Highlights EWA Role in Cheating Coverage

EWA Immediate Past President Dale Mezzacappa is featured prominently in a July 31 column in The New York Times about possible cheating in as many as 89 Pennsylvania schools. Columnist Michael Winerip notes that the genesis of the coverage in the Philadelphia Public School Notebook, where Mezzacappa is contributing editor, was a session on investigating suspicious test-score patterns at the EWA's 64th National Seminar in New Orleans.