EWA is pleased to announce this year’s finalists for the 2019 EWA National Awards for Education Reporting, as well as the Edwin Gould Foundation’s Eddie Prize.

(All category finalists are listed alphabetically by title.)

Single-Topic News

Small Newsroom (<25 FTE newsroom employees)

California’s Teacher Housing Crunch
EdSource
Diana Lambert
Daniel J. Willis
Sunny Xie
Justin Allen
Rose Ciotta
Denise Zapata

First Step to the Middle Class
The Hechinger Report
Meredith Kolodner

Subbing Out Teachers
Bridge Magazine
Ron French
Mike Wilkinson

Midsize Newsroom (25-99 FTE newsroom employees)

In Flint, Schools Overwhelmed by Special Ed. Needs in Aftermath of Lead Crisis
Education Week
Corey Mitchell
Brittany Greeson 

Is California Saving Higher Education?
The Hechinger Report & CalMatters
Jon Marcus
Felicia Mello

When College Aid for Vets’ Kids Goes MIA
Chicago Sun-Times
Stephanie Zimmermann

Large Newsroom (100+ FTE newsroom employees)

Los Angeles Teachers’ Strike
Los Angeles Times
Howard Blume
Sonali Kohli 
Ruben Vives

The Pressure on American Teachers
USA TODAY

Racial Inequality in New York’s Top Schools
The New York Times
Eliza Shapiro

Feature Stories

Small Newsroom (<25 FTE newsroom employees)

In DC, Teachers Run the Jail. It’s Turning Inmates Into Students.
EdSurge
Rebecca Koenig

Nearly All the Seniors at This Charter School Went to College. Only 6 Out of 52 Finished on Time
The Hechinger Report
Casey Parks

Refugee Girls Want to Improve the World. Will We Let Them Do So?
The Hechinger Report
Sarah Butrymowicz

Midsize Newsroom (25-99 FTE newsroom employees)

The Distance Between
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Eric Hoover

Hope, Love and Basketball: Summer at North Philly’s Hank Gathers Rec Center
WHYY
Kevin McCorry
Avi Wolfman-Arent
Naomi Starobin
Charlie Kaier

Race, Campus, and Community
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Vimal Patel
Marc Parry
Jack Stripling

Ready or Not: Are Students From Struggling Cities Ready for College? And Are Colleges Ready for Them?
Chalkbeat
Lori Higgins
Patrick Wall

Large Newsroom (100+ FTE newsroom employees)

From Prison to Dean’s List: How Danielle Metz Got an Education After Incarceration
The Hechinger Report
Casey Parks

Love Them First: Lessons from Lucy Laney Elementary
KARE 11 News/TEGNA
Ben Garvin
Lindsey Seavert
Janeen Vogelaar

Opportunity Hoarding
The New York Times
Dana Goldstein

Beat Reporting

Small Newsroom (<25 FTE newsroom employees)

The Hechinger Report
Matt Krupnick

The Hechinger Report
Jon Marcus

New Haven Independent
Christopher Peak

Midsize Newsroom (25-99 FTE newsroom employees)

Chalkbeat
Melanie Asmar

Chalkbeat
Dylan Peers McCoy

Education Week
Stephen Sawchuk

MindShift/KQED
Katrina Schwartz

Large Newsroom (100+ FTE newsroom employees)

Los Angeles Times
Sonali Kohli

The New York Times
Eliza Shapiro

The Washington Post
Laura Meckler

Investigative Reporting

Smaller Newsroom (<50 FTE newsroom employees)

Indiana’s Hidden Dropout Crisis
Chalkbeat
Dylan Peers McCoy

The Unexplained Resignation of Clayton Wilcox From Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools
Charlotte Observer
Annie Ma
Fred Clasen-Kelly

Larger Newsroom (50+ FTE newsroom employees)

Beaten, Then Silenced
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Lisa Gartner

Predator Pipeline
Gannett/USA TODAY Network
Kenny Jacoby

The Vulnerable Borrowers Project
NPR
Cory Turner
Chris Arnold
Clare Lombardo

Public Service

Smaller Newsroom (<50 FTE newsroom employees)

At a Loss for Words
APM Reports
Emily Hanford

Criminalizing Disability
Searchlight New Mexico
Ed Williams
Ike Swetlitz

Wasted Minds
Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Ryan McKinnon
Josh Salman

Larger Newsroom (50+ FTE newsroom employees)

California Charter School Series
Los Angeles Times
Anna M. Phillips

The Quiet Rooms
Chicago Tribune/ProPublica Illinois
Jennifer Smith Richards
Jodi S. Cohen
Lakeidra Chavis

The Valedictorians Project
The Boston Globe
Malcolm Gay
Meghan Irons
Eric Moskowitz

Best Audio Storytelling

Smaller Newsroom (<35 FTE newsroom employees)

A Childhood Interrupted: In Year Since Shooting, Stoneman Douglas Family Wrestles With How to Stay
WLRN News
Jessica Bakeman
Alicia Zuckerman

Students on the Move: Keeping Uprooted Kids in School
APM Reports/Wyoming Public Radio
Chris Julin
Tennessee Watson
Catherine Winter

Under a Watchful Eye: How Colleges Are Tracking Students to Boost Graduation
The Hechinger Report/APM Reports
Jill Barshay
Sasha Aslanian
Catherine Winter
Stephen Smith

Larger Newsroom (35+ FTE newsroom employees)

Don’t Eat the Marshmallow: Students From a ‘No Excuses’ Charter Grow up to Tell the Tale
WHYY
Avi Wolfman-Arent
Kevin McCorry
Charlie Kaier

How Schools Can Help Kids With Anxiety
MindShift/KQED

‘School Shooters: What’s Their Path to Violence?’ ‘When Teens Threaten Violence, A Community Responds With Compassion’
NPR
Rhitu Chatterjee
Rebecca Davis
Vikki Valentine
Deborah Franklin
Meredith Rizzo

Best Visual Storytelling

Smaller Newsroom (<35 FTE newsroom employees)

Hire Me: Educating Colorado’s Changing Workforce
KUNC
Stephanie Daniel

Rural California: An Education Divide
EdSource
Jennifer Molina
David Washburn
Sydney Johnson
Carolyn Jones
Larry Gordon
Anne Vasquez
Rose Ciotta
Denise Zapata

Six Miles in a San Ysidro High Schooler’s Shoes
Voice of San Diego
Adriana Heldiz

Larger Newsroom (35+ FTE newsroom employees)

College Behind Bars

Skiff Mountain Films
WETA, Washington, DC
In association with Florentine Films

Homeless Students in New York City
The New York Times
Eliza Shapiro
Brittainy Newman
Andrew Hinderaker
Meghan Louttit

Surrounded: Killings Near School, and the Students Left Behind
The Los Angeles Times
Sonali Kohli
Iris Lee 
Priya Krishnakumar
Marcus Yam

The Edwin Gould Foundation Eddie Prize

How America’s College-Closure Crisis Leaves Families Devastated
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Michael Vasquez
Dan Bauman

Nearly All the Seniors at This Charter School Went to College. Only 6 Out of 52 Finished on Time
The Hechinger Report
Casey Parks

The Valedictorians Project
The Boston Globe
Malcolm Gay
Meghan Irons
Eric Moskowitz