Your EWA Newsletter for Wednesday, July 29, 2009
On the Blackboard
Looking for Work?
EWA is embarking on a project to track education stimulus spending throughout the country and will be hiring a journalist to help with the initial data-gathering component. The position will be part-time, on a free-lance basis and we estimate the work will comprise 10-12 hours a week, possibly more in the start-up phase. If interested, please visit our website for more information send application materials to ewa@ewa.org.
Post Your Release Today!
Also you can now post your press release or read about organizations' events or major reports on EWA’s website. The cost is $50 to post items. Just go to our home page and visit the press release center to get your message out today!
Latino Studies
EWA and the National Panel on Latino Children and Schooling, based at Berkeley’s Institute of Human Development, are partnering for the New Journalism on Latino Children project to offer a fresh perspective on reporting and research on Latino families and schools. EWA has a special section on our website for you to read two new reports on Latino students and academics. And we will be sponsoring a conference for reporters and policymakers in D.C. Oct. 6 to highlight new research. Watch for details….
EWA Notes
Twitter
Are you on Twitter and want to follow the feeds of other reporters covering the education beat? Meranda Watling of the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Indiana, who covers k-12 education, has compiled a list of reporters who are on Twitter. You can see the Twitterers here and connect with other ed reporters today.
Noted with Sadness
Former EWA member and producer for ABC News, Rebecca Lipkin died July 19 in London’s Royal Marsden Hospital of inflammatory breast cancer. Lipkin was based in Washington from 1992 to 2001 as producer of ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings. She stayed in touch with EWA when she left for the ABC London office to be producer for ABC Nightline.
Off the Record?
This Week in Education blogger Alexander Russo started an insightful listserv discussion about whether it is good for reporters to go off the record with their sources. Many EWA members were vocal about their distaste for the practice, especially with policymakers, wonks or officials. Other reporters on our listserv say going off the record helps them learn more about a controversial topic, build trust with sources, get leads for stories, etc. In addition, some reporters say they are willing to go off the record if the source is willing to point toward on-record documents and other sources. The discussion was spurred by an item in Eduwonk suggesting that panelists would be more honest on controversial topics if the panels were off-the-record.
The Public Editor Says....
Unfulfilled Requirements
Linda’s Perlstein, EWA's public editor
Unforced curriculum regulations and guidelines make for one of my favorite types of stories: revealing, interesting, conducive to both data analysis and in-school reporting … and often overlooked. If a state mandates that eighth graders take an hour a week of gym class, most people assume eighth graders take an hour a week of gym class. In an awful lot of places, their assumption is wrong. And few journalists will ever let them know. You can read the rest here.
Reports: Student debt, GED test takers increase, achievement gap and more
Race to the Top
President Obama made quite a stir with his long awaited announcement of states who will qualify for funding under his Race to the Top initiative. Plans call for school districts to adopt international benchmarks in standards and assessments, recruit/retain talented teachers, develop data systems measuring student success and turning around low performing schools. You can watch this video of Washington Post reporters interviewing Obama about his plans to overhaul American schools.
Race, Income and Neighborhoods
A study to be released by the Pew Charitable Trusts Economic Mobility Project says being raised in a poor neighborhood may explain why African Americans from middle-income families are more likely than whites to earn less income. Pew finds that no other factor including parents’ education, employment or marital status makes as much impact as neighborhood poverty. A Washington Post story says two out of three black children born from 1985 through 2000 were raised in neighborhoods with at least a 20 percent poverty rate, compared with just 6 percent white children. President Obama’s proposal for education reform of replicating more “promised neighborhoods” like the Harlem Children’s Zone would be an important step in decreasing the gap, says the report.
Chicago Teachers
This report released by the Consortium on Chicago Public Schools finds about 100 schools in the system suffer from chronically high rates of teacher turnover, losing a quarter or more of their teaching staffs each year. Many of the schools serve predominantly poor black students. You can read the rest of the report here.
Adult Testing
The number of adults who are taking the GED is increasing. About 777,000 people took the test in 2008 and program officials say the high number reflects the turmoil in the economy. About 73 percent of GED test takers passed it. The Western and Midwestern regions had the highest pass rates and the smallest portion of passers was in the Northeastern region. To get a snapshot of what’s happening in your state, visit here.
Is the Achievement Gap Narrowing?
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) released a new report analyzing gaps in black and white achievement at both the national and state levels on NAEP. The study examines data from NAEP math and reading assessments from the academic year of 2007. NCES says both black and white students made improvements, but the gap hasn't closed appreciably. http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/studies/gaps/
Boon to Community Colleges
President Obama’s plan to infuse America’s community colleges with billions of dollars has received almost universal praise from education leaders. You can read his American Graduation Initiative speech here.
You can read more coverage here:
The Obama Plan, Scott Jaschik, Inside Higher Education,
Obama in Warren: New skills are key, Kathleen Gray and Robin Erb, The Detroit Free Press,
Community colleges central to Obama's plan for U.S. jobs, Mary Beth Marklein and Kathleen Gray, USA Today,
Obama on Burden of Fixing Economy: 'Give It To Me', The Associated Press,
Obama's Ambitious Plan for Community Colleges Raises Hopes and Questions, By Marc Parry and Karin Fischer, The Chronicle of Higher Education, (subscription required)
Drowning in Debt
A new report released by Education Sector finds college students are taking on riskier loan debt which is only exacerbating the student loan crisis. Drowning in Debt: The Emerging Student Loan Crisis finds more students are taking out unregulated private student loans. In addition, Ed Sector reports students attending for-profit institutions are increasingly dependent on private student loans and that black students had the highest private loan participation rate. Ed Sector says one way to reduce student borrowing is to provide students with direct cash subsidies in the form of grants coming from the federal government, state government and higher ed institutions. The report’s release is timed to coincide with President Obama’s plans to overhaul the federal financial aid system.
Other Noteworthy Reports
You can read ASCD’s weblog to see what experts say about teacher quality and how to get more successful outcomes in classrooms. http://ascd.typepad.com/blog/2009/07/moving-from-highly-qualifed-to-highly-effective-teachers-policy-briefing-highlights.html
The Center on Reinventing Public Education released Drivers of Choice: Parents, Transportation, and School Choice, http://www.crpe.org/cs/crpe/view/csr_pubs/288
The New America Foundation released Rethinking the Middleman:
Federal Student Loan Guaranty Agencies, http://www.newamerica.net/publications/policy/rethinking_middleman
The Hechinger Institute on Education and the Media has released a new guide for reporters covering early childhood topics including Head Start and state sponsored pre-k programs. And don’t forget to visit EWA’s website because we have a ton of pre-K resources available for you.
Upcoming Events and Jobs
The Detroit News is looking for an experienced reporter to cover education. Candidates should be proficient at producing short- and long-form stories while identifying trends and spot news coverage opportunities. Knowledge of database usage and CAR reporting skills are welcome. Send cover letter, resume, clips to Walter Middlebrook, Assistant Managing Editor -- News, The Detroit News, 615 W. Lafayette Blvd., Detroit, MI 48226.
The News Press (Fort Myers, Fla.) is looking for an education reporter to cover the 78,000-student Lee County school district. Send your best clips to senior managing editor Cindy McCurry-Ross at cmcross@gannett.com or mail Cindy McCurry-Ross, managing editor, The News Press, 2442 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Fort Myers, FL 33901.
The Consortium on Chicago School Research is seeking a senior staff member to serve as Senior Manager for Outreach and Publications. For information, visit https://jobopportunities.uchicago.edu/
The Native American Journalists Association will host its annual conference July 30 in Albuquerque, N.M. Go here http://www.naja.com/ to find more information.
The Asian American Journalists Associations’ New England chapter will host its 20th annual convention in Boston, MA, August 12-15. For more information visit http://www.aaja.org/programs/convention2009boston/
The Journalism Center on Children and Families is sponsoring a two- and a half day seminar on early childhood learning Sept. 13-15. The conference will be open to 20 journalists. Fellowships will cover lodging, meals and resource materials. Travel expenses of up to $250 will be available. Application deadline is Monday, Aug. 3.
From the Beat
Can Community Colleges Save the U.S. Economy?
Laura Fitzpatrick
Time Magazine
Community colleges are deeply unsexy. This fact tends to make even the biggest advocates of these two-year schools — which educate nearly half of U.S. undergraduates — sound defensive, almost a tad whiny. But there's at least one Ivy Leaguer who is trying to help Americans get past the stereotypes and start thinking about community college not as a dumping ground but as one of the best tools the U.S. has to dig itself out of the current economic hole. His name: Barack Obama.
Testing Tactics Helped Fuel D.C. School Gains
Bill Turque,
Washington Post
When Mayor Adrian M. Fenty announced the continued growth of standardized test scores for District students Monday, he hailed it as "powerful evidence of the incredible work being done by teachers, principals and most importantly our students."
Charisma? To Her, It’s Overrated
The New York Times
Wendy Kopp founder of Teach for America is interviewed by Adam Bryant of the New York Times about management style, education and more.
Black students gain on tests, fail to close gap
Jill Tucker
The San Francisco Chronicle
Black students across the country gained academic ground on their white peers, narrowing the achievement gap in math and reading over the past 20 years.
U. of I. athletic boosters get special treatment
Tara Malone, Stephanie Banchero and Jodi S. Cohen
Chicago Tribune
Devoted donors to the Fighting Illini are often thanked with prime stadium seats, first crack at tickets to bowl games or a chance to meet some of the school's marquee players. But a few patrons of the University of Illinois' athletic programs also try to use the department's prestige to give applicants they know an edge in the competitive admissions process, according to newly released campus records. An ongoing Chicago Tribune investigation reveals an admissions system subject to outside influences.
Charter school company with plans for McKinney is criticized
Matthew Haag,
The Dallas Morning News
A national charter school company that plans to open new schools in Texas, including one in McKinney, has run afoul of an education official in Nevada and two of its former principals, and they all pose the same question. Does Imagine Schools Inc. force its charter schools to spend too much money on complex real estate deals and not enough money on teachers and academic programs?
Please send your best stories and member news to Mesha Williams at publications@ewa.org.
**About us**
Dale Mezzacappa, president, Public School Notebook; Tanya Schevitz, vp/actives, free lance reporter; Marie Groark, vp/associates, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Stephanie Banchero, secretary, Chicago Tribune; Richard Whitmire, immediate past president, freelancer; Kathryn Baron, freelance radio reporter; John Merrow, Learning Matters, Inc.; Linda Lenz, Catalyst; Rodney Ferguson, Lipman Hearne, Inc.; Cornelia Grumman, First Five Years Fund; Elizabeth Green, Gotham Schools.org; Scott Elliott, Dayton (Ohio) Daily News; Kent Fischer, GMMB.
