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Covering the Pandemic Child Care Crisis
Experts discuss how existing inequities have been exacerbated in the strained sector
America’s system of child care was already seriously strained by surging expenses, high staff turnover and dwindling capacity before the pandemic upended everything.
“COVID really just highlighted the pre-existing situations and challenges of the early childhood system across the nation,” said Dionne Dobbins, the senior director of research at Child Care Aware of America, a research and advocacy group. “When COVID hit, it was layering it on top of a very fragile child care system — and, you know, some would say it even shattered.”
Oregon’s ‘Class of 2025:’ Meet the Middle Schoolers
Oregon Public Broadcasting’s multi-year series follows students, families from first grade through high school. (EWA Radio Episode 262)
Imagine keeping tabs on the same group of students and families for nearly a decade — Oregon Public Broadcasting has done it, and plans to keep going through the next four years. OPB editor Rob Manning and education reporter Elizabeth Miller share stories from the cast in this project, which is supported in part by an EWA Reporting Fellowship.
What’s on the Horizon for Early Childhood Education in 2021?
Local and national preschool efforts provide clues
Eight months into the pandemic, voters in Multnomah County, Oregon, approved a new tax on high earners to fund a program called Preschool For All.
The action represents a major early childhood investment during a recession that threatens to drive many child care providers out of business. It also puts forth a compelling model for solving some of the problems that publicly funded preschool and child care programs in other states and cities haven’t fully addressed.
Suggestion Box for EWA’s 2021 National Seminar
Submit your ideas for speakers, topics and training
The Education Writers Association invites members and the public to suggest sessions for our 2021 National Seminar, which will be held online May 2-5, 2021.
Our 74th National Seminar will focus on the theme of “Now What? Reporting on Education Amid Uncertainty.”
Why More Men Are Missing Out on College
The decline in student enrollment during the coronavirus pandemic is seven times as steep for men as women, raising questions about the long-term impact on individuals and communities (EWA Radio Episode 261)
COVID-19 is remaking the college landscape, especially when it comes to who’s pursuing – and who’s pausing – on higher education. New data shows the decline in enrollment is seven times as large for men as for women.
EWA Opens Registration for 2021 National Seminar
Now What? Reporting on Education Amid Uncertainty
COVID-19, viral examples of racism, financial distress and political discord: Reporters covering education amid these crises have never faced more challenges, or been more important to the nation. And despite the recent spread of vaccines, hope for economic recovery, and changes to federal policies, the education and journalism worlds still both face extraordinary difficulties in 2021.
Experts Offer a Quick Roundup on Student Loan Forgiveness
Webinar will provide journalists with resources, context and answers about education debt forgiveness plans.
Proposals to forgive some or all of the nation’s $1.5 trillion in student loans are making headlines as the Biden administration considers how to restart the economy and make the U.S. education system more equitable.
Tracking State Policies Around Children’s Well-Being
The ongoing pandemic has heightened concerns about children’s mental and physical health, food insecurity and trauma. One factor that can have a big impact on children’s health that is too often overlooked by the media: a state’s policies governing schools’ responses to student health and safety issues.
Member Spotlight: ‘Breaking News Monkey’ Rises to Editor and Restaurateur
EWA Member Emmeline Zhao turned a side hustle into a second career.
After a full day of overseeing The 74 Million’s reporting projects and multimedia offerings on COVID-19’s impact on educational inequities, Emmeline Zhao quickly shifts to her second career: Managing a new Greenwich Village restaurant that the New York Times has praised as a delicious “synthesis of Chinese ideas and the Hudson Valley farm-to-table movement.”
Get Firsthand Insights Into the Congressional Education Agenda From U.S. Rep. Bobby Scott
What’s the outlook for federal education legislation now that Democrats control (though, admittedly, just barely) Congress?
EWA Caucus on Teaching & Learning: An Online Reporting Community
COVID-19 has fundamentally disrupted the core enterprise of schools — teaching and learning. With education reporters on the front lines to help the public make sense of the pandemic’s impact on schools and students, EWA is offering a unique opportunity for journalists to step up their game.
Survey of Education Journalists Sheds Light on Impact, Obstacles
With education at the center of the news, journalists who cover the topic face a host of challenges, including harassment, threats, and obstacles to gaining access to education institutions, officials and public information. Plus, a racial mismatch between the largely white education journalism workforce and the students they cover is a critical concern of reporters and editors on the beat.
Who’s Tracking Student Learning Loss?
In Washington, a lack of data could hurt schools looking to help student catch up (EWA Radio Episode 260)
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, states are largely leaving it up to individual districts to decide how to track how much — or little — of the standard school curriculum are K-12 students learning during the pandemic. One reporter surveyed her state and discovered that many communities aren’t even trying to find out. Joy Resmovits of The Seattle Times offers insights, tips, and questions to ask of state and local education officials when looking at student learning loss amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Release Event for The State of the Education Beat Report
Survey of journalists reveals impact, obstacles, and what needs to change in profession
Education is at the center of the news like never before. But what obstacles do education journalists face as they seek to inform the public? What do they see as the most important issues in education today? And what do they believe needs to change about their own profession?
For answers to these and other questions, watch this State of the Education Beat report webinar, based on a national survey of education journalists. The report was produced for EWA by the EdWeek Research Center.
Four Strategies for Covering Student Activism
Reporters should broaden source networks and avoid assumptions about "success."
Student activists are increasingly making news, tackling issues such as campus racism, rising tuition and college administrators’ often arbitrary pandemic responses. But they often complain that coverage of their activism can be shallow, cliched or even biased.
Who Is Miguel Cardona?
President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for education secretary prioritizes equity, data, and collaboration, say Connecticut Mirror reporters
(EWA Radio Episode 259)
Connecticut education commissioner Miguel Cardona has surged into the national spotlight as President-elect Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Education.
How Will Your Community Benefit From the New $81 Billion in Pandemic Relief for Education?
Experts explain ins and outs of new aid flowing to schools and universities, and how to track it
More than $81 billion in new stimulus aid is coming to schools and universities as part of the new federal COVID relief measure. Get a quick introduction to tracking the money that will flow to the schools you cover in this EWA webinar.
Two policy experts explain:
Covering Protests: Education Journalists’ Voices From the Field
'The protest stories are education stories'
Across the country, education reporters are out in the field covering community protests mounted in response to police brutality and the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.