Your December 7, 2009 EWA Newsletter
Save the Date!
Give Us Your Best Clips
Mark your calendar for this year's EWA contest deadline:
January 22, 2010. Jump into the competition for EWA's top
prizes for blogs, multimedia, online writing, and best of the
beat, including the Fred M. Hechinger Grand Prize. All
contest entries must have been published during the 2009 calendar
year.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=mH4DpBcEUM8jvETx7wIM8A..
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=ak7iPmXEjiuCvtApt51WEg..
Build Your Reporting Skills
Your school district claims it saved 10 teachers' jobs with the stimulus dollars it received. But did it really or was it saving administrators' jobs? What about tracking the school construction funding?
EWA will hold its annual Education Research and Statistics Bootcamp at
the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at ASU in Phoenix Feb. 25-28
and these are some potential stories you might bring back to your
newsroom. We provide fellowships that cover three nights of hotel and
up to $250 for travel and you bring the data that you can transform
into stories.
Facilitators train you in the use of Excel, Access or SPSS, depending
on your skills level. Admission is by application only. Deadline to apply is December 14.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=Cir40RT6Y8iq0l_e2OnbLg..
Get story ideas from last year's bootcamp fellows who reported
on topics as diverse as higher education services, special education,
and students who fail state exams.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=25Pfy45_A0waSQGIpxOocg..
You can also see what topics fellows covered in 2007 and 2008.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=3QGNNLkqOBF46qwI1OcGvQ..
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=gAmPEct5kwM39UWxySsj8w..
Join EWA in San Francisco 2010!
"Examine the Evidence" is the theme and the Hotel Kabuki in Japantown
is the place for EWA's 63rd annual meeting in San Francisco May 13-15,
2010. The conference will dig into research supporting the US
Department of Education's "Race to the Top," as well as focus on
how colleges take responsibility for student success. Check back
for more details on conference registration, speakers, agenda and
sponsorship. You can also look at the 2009 guidelines for exhibiting
and sponsorship until the new ones are published.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=boD_jW6K-7m4YFz0CUi9fA..
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=dNgiPNbvX7PK4lcWJ9hgVg..
Looking for Work?
Check out EWA's Job Center for the latest reporting, public relations
and research vacancies on our website.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=VQMVoUdrRy2oeSN3cToSEA..
Press Release Center
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!
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=ABa5Jz7sR8qRX_NARoZAIA..
The Public Editor
Don't forget to read the Public Editor's Linda Perlstein's blog, The
Educated Reporter, for her thoughts on what's happening in education.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=kljgfregaJ7lCFsyt1HGYQ..
Follow EWA on
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=6_ltqM6zdJSPjICnHSO07g..
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=ROtf7p5AhVMU2HiqZevK5w..
Facebook
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=OVveTpGtZSqyYZE946EQLA..
Subscribe to EWA's RSS Feeds
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=m76ylzg5EAdGkcXcGbGQYw..
Upcoming Reports
The Nation's Report Card: Trial Urban District Assessment Mathematics 2009
The National Assessment of Educational Progress math results for 4th and 8th grade students attending urban school
districts will be released Dec. 8. The test scores are a part of the
Nation's Report Card, which will be available online on the day
of the report's release.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=Pkjz_Olc-zMjDyYFGRWEmA..
Reports in the News
The Demise of Education Reporting
The Brookings Institution delved into why little attention is paid to
education reporting with the release of Invisible: 1.4 Percent for
Education is Not Enough. A discussion was held in Washington,
D.C. with EWA president Dale Mezzacappa serving as a panelist. During
the first nine months of 2009, Brookings found only 1.4 percent of
national news coverage from television, newspapers, news websites and
radio dealt with education. The report concludes that a concerted
effort among stakeholders is needed to reverse the trend. You
might also check out Public Editor Linda Perlstein's take on it
and its methodology.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=DYT9Z_TECIVhgH1C24zBGA..
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=Aqh-UKJsvXjZlvB4bq3v2w..
Stimulus Spending
The Center on Education Policy looks at how school leaders are
implementing policies in their states for stimulus spending in its
new report. States say the feds should streamline reporting
requirements. The stimulus dollars tided them over this school year,
but they expect to make deep cuts in education in 2010.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=rkOhd4UJs5DUXppT3ybpEw..
The Evolution of Charter School Management Organizations
A new Education Sector report looks at the growth of charter
management organizations, nonprofit "franchises" of charter schools
and the difficult challenges they face in trying to educate
disadvantaged children to higher standards, attract the right talent
and the burden of finding and funding facilities. The Ed Sector
report is at the center of a controversy over whether the published
version is "too soft." Thomas Toch, main author of
the report and co-founder of Ed Sector, asked to have his name removed
from the final version because it didn't reflect his sense of
current conditions of charters. Also hat tip to Alexander Russo, who broke the story.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=3PVxn-eu7ivdnqt7gJPlBw..
Education Week has all the details over the dispute.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=cYlHSB1P9Cj9n31A0ZYC7A..
Gifted Education
The National Association for Gifted Children released its annual
"State of the States in Gifted Education," a report finding
large disparities in state funding for schooling students labeled as
"gifted" in the public system.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=D1L0C96WF0PhvqdwRT11hw..
Jobs and Upcoming Events
The Hechinger Institute is looking for a new web producer who will be
responsible for editing, producing and publishing the website and
coverage from the Hechinger Report. If interested, apply
here.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=w_8I2amkosuhrDRnMH5shg..
ProPublica is looking for an experienced reporter/blogger to join its
news staff. Job seekers should have experience writing daily and
investigative stories. If interested, ProPublica is asking potential
candidates to submit a post on how best to connect the web with
investigative reporting and your vision for a blog. Also, email your
resume and three writing clips to bloggerjob@propublica.org.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=hYWL3eCFOW9n22LERnGCpg..
The Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and the Spencer Foundation
are accepting applications for the 2010-11 fellowship in education
reporting. Three fellowships, with an annual stipend of $75,000 each,
are available to journalists, educators and education policy
researchers who are interested in developing a long-form reporting
project to advance the understanding of the American education
system. Fellows spend an academic year at the Columbia School of
Journalism and Columbia's Teachers College, taking a series of courses
and working on individual long-form reporting projects. Deadline is
Jan. 31, 2010. For more information, visit the Spencer website
at http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=BwuYC5SsGSdIdoL4cgK_RQ.. or contact Associate Dean Arlene
Morgan at am494@Columbia.edu
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=62BRyKTbBGBCGUWl0SW5xA..
The Society of Professional Journalists is sponsoring "How to be
an Entrepreneur as a Business Journalist" webinar. It starts today
and lasts throughout the week. Go here to register.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=6Gq4I1YHvPWb38WOEKnviw..
From the Beat
Beyond the Bell Making the Home-School Connection Series: Educational
Engagement (First of Four Parts)
Erin Richards
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Education reporter Erin Richards spent 10 months researching teaching
and parent involvement issues, including what works around the country
such as parent relationships with teachers, experimentations with home
visits, and community schools. Here is the first in her series which
examines how efforts have lagged in Milwaukee Public Schools. Links to the rest of the series is available on the page.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=7uKHQqvn_123VbMRX1HRRw..
In defense of the good school promise (editorial)
Tom Vander Ark
The Huffington Post
While channel surfing on Thanksgiving morning, I found a school board
association meeting where a famous prof was railing on standards and
testing with lots of applause from the audience (in a state
contemplating delaying college-ready math and science standards until
2015). The primary reason we have a federal law like NCLB is
that school boards (and state boards) allowed generations of chronic
failure.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=k2OGc5clMv0h6Mx6Q074mQ..
State charter schools program is 'out of control'
Tony Kennedy
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Minnesota's charter school movement, which sparked a national
rethinking of public schooling nearly two decades ago, has been
infected by an out-of-control financing system fueled by junk bonds,
insider fees and lax oversight.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=sbQAUh2RMHg-1s-8eIk7FA..
Sexting-related bullying cited in Hillsborough teen's suicide
Andrew Meacham
St. Petersburg Times
At the end of the school year at Beth Shields Middle School, the
taunting became so bad that Hope Witsell's friends surrounded her
between classes. They escorted her down hallways like human shields,
fending off insults such as "whore" and "slut." A few days before,
Hope had forwarded a nude photo of herself to a boy she liked —
a practice widely known as "sexting." The image found its way to other
students, who forwarded it to their friends. Soon the nude photo was
circulating through cell phones at Shields Middle and Lennard High
School in Ruskin, Fla., according to multiple students at both
schools.
http://www.ewa.org/site/R?i=d1w_cRbWrh08EU4cDZKzXA..
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, George Lucas Educational Foundation; 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.
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