EDUCATION REPORTER
Your official newsletter of the Education Writers Association
June 3, 2008
<<On the Blackboard>>
Do You Like Working With Reporters?
EWA’s Marc Dadigan is going to graduate school and we are seeking a journalist to oversee regional training for reporters, including the development of seminars, audio conferences, webinars and other training and support materials. If interested, please email us today a letter of interest, 3 clips, resume and salary needs to Tracee Eason, administrative coordinator.
THE PUBLIC EDITOR SAYS...
School’s Out. You’re Not. by Linda Perlstein
Every journalist has personal interests, no matter his or her beat. As an education reporter, you may wish you had more time to pursue investigative projects. You may cover K-12 but think a lot about colleges. Your thing might be youth culture. Try to see summer vacation not as the schools-reporter dead zone but as an opportunity to follow your curiosity. For schools reporters, it’s sometimes hard to stretch beyond the boilerplate stuff about summer school and summer reading lists. You’re not alone: For most everyone at the paper, copy is hard to come by this time of year. So your editors are likely to be happy for whatever you’ll give them—even if you do stretch the definition of your beat.
If you’re into youth culture, go to the mall to sniff out the must-have items for tweens. Spend some time at the pool, and visit local summer camps. Find the kids who have no activities, too, and see how the days stretch for them.
On college campuses, check out the food service, new amenities, new classes, new housing options. Compare the acceptance rates the high schools in your districts have at local colleges. Find people who weren’t admitted to any colleges they applied to, and ask what they have planned. See how incoming freshman are making massive numbers of “friends” (quotation marks intentional) online before they ever get to campus. Focus on parents, too: how they’re scrambling to pay for college, how they’re coping, or not, with a soon-to-be-empty nest. Look back at how one student’s financial aid package fleshed out during his first year in school, by examining his budget, his family’s budget, spending beyond tuition—not just meals and books, but transportation costs, the winter clothes he had to buy to move from Florida to Boston, the spring break trip to Cabo.
Get a lemonade, pull up a lawn chair, and troll through a stack of data. There are reports with interesting tidbits coming out all the time from the National Center for Education Statistics. There are obscure rules in your district’s board policies. (I once wrote a 12-incher about one county’s neglected policy requiring teachers to mix it up in the classroom when sorting kids by alphabetical order, so as to not traumatize the Zahls and Zielinskis.) There are stories to be found in enrollment projections, salaries, curriculum guides, and budgets.
As EWA board member and Dallas Morning News reporter Kent Fischer points out, tracking school system spending provides a treasure trove of important accountability stories. Credit card expenditures, overtime pay—the best time to look back at this stuff is when everyone else is looking ahead, at future budgets. Now is a good time to check in with area university professors to see what research they’re working on. You’ll often find experts—not just in education schools but in medical schools, law schools and departments of sociology, psychology and economics, to name a few—who make for good, local sources and occasionally story ideas too.
Finally, focus on faculty. Find a principal desperately trying to fill positions at the same time teachers in the district wait ages for their assignments. Profile a new administrator, or teachers who do interesting activities over the summer: chimpanzee training, cage fighting, whatever. Attend the many conferences that take place in July and teacher orientation in August. By tracking when school really ends and begins, how educators actually spend their time and how much work they do over the summer, explain whether the “but teachers have three months off!” conventional wisdom is so wise after all.
And if your idea bank runs dry, don’t forget that there’s always EWA. I’m on maternity leave through the summer, but that doesn’t mean you’re without a public editor—or three. A trio of excellent education journalists, who among them have eight times my experience in the field, will be available in my absence to help you:
Mike Bowler spent 35 years as an education editor, reporter and columnist, mostly at the Baltimore Sun, before working as communications director of the Institute of Education Sciences, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Education. He can be reached at mike4bowler@verizon.net, 410-719-2398, or 443-370-7677.
Bob Frahm, a former high school English teacher, covered education for 36 years before leaving the Hartford Courant last year. Now a freelancer, Frahm was the Courant’s chief education writer for 23 years, writing about a range of topics such as testing, teacher quality, school desegregation and school reform. He can be reached at ewabobfrahm@sbcglobal.net or 860-324-2192.
Linda Shaw has been an education enterprise reporter at the Seattle Times for 11 years, and for two years before that edited the Seattle Times Guide to Schools. She was EWA’s 2007 first-place winner in beat reporting. She can be reached at lshaw@seattletimes.com. She can also be reached at 206-464-2359 or 206-300-2788.
They will be working as public editor on a rotating schedule. Feel free to contact them directly, or contact Mesha Williams at EWA (202-452-9830 or publications@ewa.org) to be put in touch with whoever is on call.
New Reports: Classroom diversity, school funding flaws, community colleges and more!
RESEARCH & REPORTING DEBATE: The academic success of girls doesn't come at the expense of boys. Fair assessment? The American Association of University Women managed to send mainstream media, bloggers and analysts into a frenzy last week with the release of “Where the Girls Are: The Facts About Gender Equity in Education.” In its 124- page report, AAUW asserts that there is no “boys’ crisis” in American education and the successes achieved by girls don't hurt the academic pursuit of boys. The group says over the past 35 years, girls have made rapid gains in many areas, but boys are also gaining ground in the top indicators of educational achievement. Test scores are generally the same for both genders. The discrepancies of academic achievement by ethnicities and family income are a problem --but it is not specific to boys-- rather for students of color, and low-income children. AAUW has been chided for its report by other groups who describe the research as one-dimensional, distracting, and self-serving. Some education reporters and editorial writers expressed disappointment by the initial coverage the report generated.
Here’s a round up of stories and other musings about the gender debate.
Report from Women's Advocacy Group Threatens to Derail Efforts to Help Troubled Boys by Peter Schmidt, on his web blog (scroll down to see his post and related article about AAUW).
Report Aims to Debunk Myths on Gender and Education
Taking a closer look at gender gaps in education by Richard Whitmire, USA Today’s editorial writer and EWA board president, who is working on a book about the issue.
The Newshour: Transcript of Interview with Linda Hallman, the executive director of the American Association of University Women, and Tom Mortenson, a senior scholar at the Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education
Closing The Loop, by Eduwonk.com
Surprise--The AAUW Finds that More Girls than Boys in College is No Crisis by Ronald Bailey, Reason Magazine
Women's Group Says Boys Not In Crisis; Female Reporters Agree by Alexander Russo, This Week in Education
Looking Back At The Girls Crisis (2 Updates) by Alexander Russo, This Week in Education
About That Education Crisis by Sara Mead, published in the New Republic
Is There a Crisis in Education of Males? by Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Education
No Crisis For Boys In Schools, Study Says by Valerie Strauss, Washington Post
Girls’ Gains Have Not Cost Boys, Report Says by Tamar Lewin, New York Times
Gender gap clues, by Dennis O'Brien, Baltimore Sun
Read the debate over gender difference and brain research at EWA’s annual meeting in Chicago.
CHANGING CLASSROOMS: A large number of new teachers describe themselves as woefully “unprepared” to deal with the racial and social challenges they find in their classrooms. A study released by Public Agenda and the National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality finds the training new teachers receive on diversity topics doesn’t prepare them for what they encounter in the classroom. About 76 percent of new teachers say they were trained to teach an ethnically diverse student body. However, fewer than 4 in 10 say their training helps them. The study finds new teachers in suburban high schools in upscale communities feel the most affected because diversity tends to be more widespread than perceived. Aside from grappling with diversity issues, 42 percent of teachers surveyed say they feel good about their first teaching experience. About 81 percent of new middle and high school teachers say they feel comfortable teaching in their subject area.
FERPA UPDATE: Response to our request for your best Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) anecdotes has been lackluster. We know you have some horror stories about school districts using FERPA as a way to deny you records, and would love to hear from you. In the meantime, read this story (subscription required) by Alyson Klein of Education Week, to see what the department is being urged to do about proposed changes.
PRIVATE SCHOOLS VS. PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Neither private schools nor public schools can ‘claim bragging rights’ on having the smartest math students. A new study by two education professors at the University of Illinois say public schools are just as effective as private schools when it comes to student math achievement. The results of the study are published in the May edition of Phi Delta Kappan. The authors used data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99, and hope their latest research will end the debate over which schools do a better job of teaching students.
IMPERFECT POLICY: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. That sums up “School Funding’s Tragic Flaw,” a report released by the University of Washington’s Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) and the Education Sector. From the federal, state and local levels of government the report finds a system that provides more money to wealthier students and schools, and less money given to students who really need it. The authors of the report examine the root of funding problems starting with the federal program Title I, which exacerbates pre-existing financial inequities between states, by giving more per student to the districts in rich states and less to the districts in poor states, the reports says. Funding on the state and local levels of government also follow a similar pattern. Two elementary schools, one in Fairfax County, Va. (considered a wealthy district) and one in Cumberland County, N.C. (considered a poor district), were examined to show how funding inequities affect student achievement and schools. Marguerite Roza, one of the authors of the report, spoke about school funding inequities at EWA’s regional meeting in Houston last year.
THANKS, BUT NO THANKS: Some principals weren’t exactly jumping for joy when they learned their schools were going to be listed in Newsweek Magazine’s annual guide of top high schools. Some 38 school districts, including two in Long Island, N.Y. asked the magazine to not include their schools in the guide, saying they don’t agree with the magazine’s practice of rating schools according to students’ participation level on Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exams. Washington Post columnist and EWA member Jay Mathews developed the ranking system based on the number of students taking college-level classes and dividing that by the number of graduating seniors. Check out what Mathews has to say about his ranking system in this Post discussion.
COLLEGE CORNER
STATES & COMMUNITY COLLEGES: An analysis released by the Rockefeller Institute of Government compares community college usage by states. One key finding in the analysis is tuition levels among states are different. Emerging trends show the growth rates for community college enrollment is higher in states with small populations such as West Virginia., Maine and Montana.
NO TEST SCORES, PLEASE: Are the SAT and ACT tests becoming “passé?” Two top liberal arts colleges—Smith and Wake Forest—have announced they will no longer require students to submit test scores as a part of their applications. University officials say they want to give more students who are underrepresented on campus a better opportunity in the admissions process. College Board officials say most competitive colleges continue to use the SAT in their admissions process, and the colleges who have made the test optional have an individualized approach to admissions decisions. Are private colleges in your coverage area thinking about getting rid of tests for prospective freshmen too? Check out these stories in Inside Higher Ed and the New York Times about the trend.
Pre-K News in the Spotlight: If you missed it, check out “Meaningful Investments in Pre-K: Estimating the Per-Child Costs of Quality Programs,” examining the costs associated with improving early childhood education, especially teacher quality and class size issues. Pre-K Now, National Institute for Early Education Research and the Institute for Women’s Policy Research collaborated on the report. Also, don’t forget that EWA has a ton of pre-Kresources for you too!
EWA Notes
The accolades keep coming for some 2007 EWA contest winners. The Wall Street Journal’s Elizabeth Bernstein took top honors for beat reporting in the New York chapter’s Society of Professional Journalists Deadline Club Awards. Bernstein was also a presenter at EWA’s annual meeting in Chicago on our session on student mental health and privacy. Other EWA contest winners, including The New York Daily News’ Erin Einhorn and BusinessWeek’s Susan Berfield and Anne Tergesen, were finalists in SPJ’s contest.
Dallas Morning News reporter Josh Benton is leaving the education beat to become the founding director of Nieman Digital Journalism Project at Harvard. Benton has been on leave from the DMN as a Nieman fellow this year. He took first place in EWA’s 2006 annual reporting contest for his education columns.
The Nieman Foundation has named new fellows for its 2009 class and several EWA members were chosen. Ernie Suggs, an enterprise reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, is a former education reporter and was an EWA National Fellow in Education Journalism in 1996-97. Suggs examined changes in historically black colleges and universities. As a Nieman Fellow, he will study the significance, history and future of historically black colleges and universities and their place in American society. David Jackson, reporter, Chicago Tribune, will study the lives and social impact of elementary school pupils who are so often absent, suspended or truant that they have effectively dropped out of school by the eighth grade.
Former education reporter and EWA board member Yvonne Simons is featured on the home page of the Knight-Wallace Fellows at Michigan talking about her fellowship experience. She is now news director at KCBI in Boise, Idaho.
What’s Next: Kids Count Report Coming Soon, Unity Heads to Chicago
The Annie E. Casey Foundation will release its 19th annual KIDS COUNT Data Book featuring national and state profiles of children’s well-being on June 12. Journalists can access the embargoed Web site now (password required), or request an interview with data and child welfare experts. For more information contact Sue Lin Chong 410.223.2836 or Tiffany Thomas Smith, 410.223.2980 or media@aecf.org.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette is looking for an experienced reporter to join its education team. The newspaper has a daily circulation of 182,212 and Sunday circulation of 274,494. If interested, please send a cover letter, resume and work samples to: Danny Shameer, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, AR 72203, 501-378-3568, dshameer@arkansasonline.com.
UNITY: Journalists of Color will sponsor its big conference in Chicago July 23-27. One main attraction at UNITY is a discussion between the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates who will answer questions from journalists about diversity issues and more.
The Florida Press Association in conjunction with the American Press Institute will sponsor Upholding and Updating Ethical Standards. The discussion will center on digital journalism as it relates to online comments /discussions, audio/visual journalism, blogging, accuracy, breaking news coverage and more. The one-day seminar is scheduled for July 11 and will be held at the Orlando Sentinel.
Television reporters who want to improve their storytelling skills should sign up for the Poynter Institute’s “TV Power Reporting: Telling Stronger Stories.” The seminar is scheduled August 10-15. Application deadline is June 30.
Sign up for the Hechinger Institute’s web course on covering education. It's a great deal --The Hechinger Institute will cover the cost of an EWA membership for those who sign up for the course, and who are not already members.
If you are a non-profit group and need to post a job opening, then check out Idealist.org. The website is offering a free month of job postings for non-profits.
<<From the Beat>>
Young Lives at Risk: Our Overweight Children
Washington Post
Read this Washington Post series examining childhood obesity and how it is compromising the lives of millions of American children, with burgeoning problems that reveal how much more vulnerable young bodies are to the toxic effects of fat.
Neglect cited as part of problem at Locke High
Howard Blume
Los Angeles Times
The impending transition from a traditional school to a charter school has left Locke High in a difficult purgatory, said students, parents, teachers and administrators, and may have contributed to tensions that boiled over into a campus-wide melee involving about 600 students earlier this month.
More college students paying their own way, experts say
Mary Ann Fergus
Chicago Tribune
Huyen Le's father tossed her into the deep end of a swimming pool at age 4 to teach her how to swim. Now Matthew and Elizabeth Le are hoping their daughter's survival skills will get her through the University of Illinois on her own dime. The Barrington High School senior faces paying about $100,000 for her engineering degree. Her parents say they aren't willing to go into debt for Huyen or for her three younger siblings.
Study on black students features Oakland schools
Katy Murphy
Contra Costa Times’ The Education Report
African-American students seem to be thriving, academically, at Thornhill, Chabot, Grass Valley and Kaiser elementary schools, but the achievement of black students varies widely from school to school in California, a soon-to-be-released report by the research group EdSource has found. Read the report here.
Please send your best stories and member news to Mesha Williams at publications@ewa.org.
**About us**
The Education Writers Association is the national professional organization of education reporters dedicated to improving education reporting to the public. Contact us by email at ewa@ewa.org, by phone at (202) 452-9830, by fax at (202) 452-9837 or by mail at 2122 P Street NW, Suite 201, Washington, DC, 20037
Our officers include: Richard Whitmire of USA Today, president; Kent Fischer, education reporter at the Dallas Morning News, vice president/actives; Marie Groark, senior policy officer and spokeswoman for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, vice president/associates; Kathy Baron, morning host/education reporter at northern California's KQED-FM (on leave), secretary; Linda Lenz, publisher of Catalyst, immediate past president. Our board members include Dale Mezzacappa, former reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer and now a Philadelphia-based freelance writer, Tanya Schevitz, higher education reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle; John Merrow of Learning Matters Inc.; Rodney Ferguson, executive vice president of Lipman Hearne Inc. Find contact information at our Web site, http://www.ewa.org.
