Demographics & Diversity
Student Debt and Race
A college degree is widely considered one of the most reliable paths toward upward economic mobiilty. But for minority students, that promise often falls short. That’s in part because student debt exacerbates existing racial wealth gaps.
EWA Reporter Guide for Inclusive Coverage
For a window into America’s future, you need only look through the classroom door. To ensure its members are prepared to cover students from all backgrounds, the Education Writers Association has produced a Reporter Guide for Inclusive Coverage in conjunction with Bias Busters creator Joe Grimm.
Race in P-12 Schools
School segregation
Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 made school segregation unconstitutional. But excellent reporting and research throughout the country shows that, in the past six decades, division among racial groups in our educational systems not only hasn’t been remedied — in many places, it has gotten worse.
Race in Higher Education
Race-conscious admissions
How and if colleges should factor race–and more specifically, race as it speaks to educational inequity–into their admissions processes is a perennial debate.
Data and Research
Tip: Aside from instruction, research is a primary output of major universities. While some research centers are listed here, this isn’t a comprehensive list of all sources relevant to demographics and diversity in education. Check out what university-sponsored think tanks, research centers and consortiums might be near you, for they may have examined educational issues and collected data specific to your coverage area and readership.
One of Thomas Jefferson High School’s Few Black Students Speaks Up About the Magnet School’s Lack of Diversity
Didi Elsyad realized that the years at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology — whose student body is 70 percent Asian, 20 percent White and less than 2 percent Black — had broken her confidence, converted self-love to self-loathing. And that drove a second realization: Didi never wanted another Black student to feel the way she had.
Read the full story here.
Pandemic-Driven Disparities Seen in After-School Programs
As coronavirus wears on, what role will out-of-school providers play in meeting community needs?
It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic is taking a disproportionate toll on the education of low-income students and people of color. Stories abound on the situation, especially when it comes to remote instruction and plans for school re-opening. But even after the school day ends, the disparities persist.
With Messages of Change, Student Paintings Cover Shattered Windows at City and County Building
DENVER — According to Assistant Principal Jennifer Anderson, the mission and vision of Noel Community Arts School in Denver is to create artists, activists, and innovators.
Those ideals were on display when students from the school partnered with the mayor’s office to create murals and paintings to cover up shattered windows at the Denver City and County Building.
The building’s windows were shattered following protests against racial injustice in late May.
Latino Immigrant Parents Struggle to Find Help With Distance Learning
Three weeks into the academic year, Veronica Macario’s 10-year-old son had yet to attend class at Manzanita Community School. He had a laptop from the school. He’d received directions on how to log into classes. “But since he doesn’t understand English,” Macario explained in Spanish, “he didn’t understand anything.”
Colleges Struggle to Serve Mental Health Needs During COVID
One challenge: Differentiating between COVID anxiety and mental illness
Mental health is an increasingly important issue on college campuses, yet it is a topic that does not get enough coverage from education reporters, speakers said during a panel discussion on the topic during the Education Writers Association’s 2020 Higher Education Seminar.
The Top 11 Higher Ed Stories Likely to Make Headlines This Year
Inside Higher Ed's Scott Jaschik highlights COVID, Title IX, affirmative action and more
COVID-19 will continue to be a major story topic for the 2020-21 school year, but reporters should also look at the future of affirmative action and race on college campuses, according to Inside Higher Ed’s Scott Jaschik.
Jaschik, veteran higher education journalist and editor, listed his top 11 topics he thinks every higher education reporter should be ready to cover.
From Processing One Crisis to Covering Another: A New Ed Reporter’s Story
It is an 'incredible time' to be a journalist, says Charlottesville Tomorrow's Billy Jean Louis
Billy Jean Louis is no stranger to writing in times of crisis. As a young teenager in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the 2004 coup d’etat completely shifted the world around him. At the time, many people didn’t feel safe speaking about what was going on in the country due to the lack of press freedom in Haiti.
Songbirds Replace School Bells As Classrooms Move Outdoors For A Fortunate Few
As elected officials, teachers, and parents grapple with how to educate children in the middle of a pandemic, some schools are turning to the great outdoors: pitching tents, buying rain boots, and roughing it with their students in the elements. The catalyst for the move is that the risk of coronavirus transmission is much lower outside, though students at Hartsbrook School, a K-12 private school in Western Massachusetts, and other outdoor schools, still wear masks and stay socially distant.
‘A Battle for the Souls of Black Girls’
Zulayka McKinstry’s once silly, sociable daughter has stopped seeing friends, talking to siblings and trusting anyone — changes Ms. McKinstry dates to the day in January 2019 when her daughter’s school principal decided that “hyper and giddy” were suspicious behaviors in a 12-year-old girl.
Ms. McKinstry’s daughter was sent to the nurse’s office and forced to undress so that she could be searched for contraband that did not exist.
The Wealth Gap: How Education Fails To Measure Economic Disadvantage
When Ajuah Helton was a college student, her financial aid package came up a few thousand dollars short. What happened next threw her off course. Her mom took out a high-interest federal loan that she ultimately couldn’t repay.
University of Georgia Grapples with Student Discrimination Complaints
The University of Georgia has faced criticism in recent days from Black and Hispanic student leaders and organizations that it has not adequately responded to discrimination complaints.
The complaints stem from incidents involving crude images, sexist language and racial slurs, the students say. They want leadership at the state’s flagship university to enact measures that result in a better learning environment for students of color.
The Students Left Behind by Remote Learning
Shemar, a twelve-year-old from East Baltimore, is good at math, and Karen Ngosso, his fourth-grade math teacher, at Abbottston Elementary School, is one reason why. “I would try to pump him up and tell him, ‘You’re a good student,’ ” she said. But she knew that he didn’t get enough sleep, and he was often absent. His home situation, like those of many of her students, was unstable: his mother suffered from drug addiction, and they moved frequently.
The Pandemic Could Widen The Achievement Gap. A Generation Of Students Is At Risk.
In New York City, the nation’s largest school district, teachers and students of color say they don’t feel safe returning to school. Many of their schools lack windows that open, an ample supply of soap, masks or working ventilation systems — making it nearly impossible to navigate live classes in the middle of a pandemic.
An hour’s drive from the U.S. Capitol, about 27,000 Baltimore city school children — 1 in 3 students — do not have computers vital for virtual school. Thousands lack reliable wireless internet access.
GreatSchools Overhauls Ratings In Bid To Reduce Link With Race, Poverty
America’s most widely used school rating system is overhauling its approach with a series of changes that will weaken the link between race, poverty, and school scores.
The website GreatSchools is rolling out the changes nationwide Thursday after introducing them for schools in California and Michigan in August. They are part of an effort by the site to make its ratings better reflect how much schools help students learn, rather than things like students’ prior academic achievement and poverty levels that schools don’t control.
Are Colleges Really Falling Short on Racial Justice?
College leaders are talking more than ever about inclusion. Faculty members and students are demanding institutional changes. At some colleges, dozens or even hundreds of faculty members have signed onto open letters that call for anti-racist action and offer criticisms that, depending on one’s point of view, will either seem compelling or exaggerated.
Understanding How Race Affects Reporting Is Crucial for Education Journalists
Pulitzer Prize winner Nikole Hannah-Jones to white reporters: Study race intensely
The fusillade of insults and threats aimed at The New York Times Magazine’s “The 1619 Project” is evidence of the power journalism has to create change, Nikole Hannah-Jones told a remote audience during an appearance at the Education Writers Association’s recent National Seminar.
First-Ever Report Spotlights California, New Jersey, D.C. as Best in Nation for Creating Prenatal-to-3 Policies That Set Children Up to Excel in Early Education
Only California, New Jersey and the District of Columbia have implemented all of the state policies that research shows contribute to young children’s health and well-being during their first three years, according to a comprehensive new “roadmap” released Tuesday.
Read the full story here.
The New York City Schools That Didn’t Close
On a cold, drizzly Monday morning in late March, Santiago Taveras left his home in Teaneck, New Jersey, before the sun rose. Traffic was light as Taveras merged onto the George Washington Bridge, crossed over the Hudson and Harlem Rivers into the Bronx, passed the shuttered Cardinal Hayes High School, and steered toward a big, boxy building in Mott Haven. Already, the city had begun to feel like the national epicenter of what people would come to call the pandemic. The previous week, the city had implemented shelter-in-place rules, shutting down offices, restaurants, and schools.
Her School Offered a Path to the Middle Class. Will Covid-19 Block It?
A year ago, when Bianca Argueta was beginning her senior year at Richmond Hill High, she felt pretty excited about what the fall of 2020 might hold for her. Richmond Hill is a big, old-fashioned public high school in central Queens, the alma mater of Rodney Dangerfield and Phil Rizzuto, and Bianca was a top student there, full of ambition, part of the leadership club, taking A.P. classes.
In Crackdown On Race-Related Content, Education Department Targets Internal Book Clubs, Meetings
The Education Department plans to scrutinize a wide range of employee activities — including internal book clubs — in search of “Anti-American propaganda” and discussions about “white privilege” as it carries out the White House’s demand that federal agencies halt certain types of race-related training.
The Promise
Cities across the country are grappling with an uncomfortable truth: Where we educate our children is becoming more and more divided by race and economics.
In this season of The Promise, we examine school re-segregation by zooming into one neighborhood in Nashville where that divide is indisputably apparent.
White Professor At George Washington University Admits She Falsely Claimed Black Identity
A history professor at George Washington University admitted in a blog post to claiming a Black identity, despite being White.
Jessica A. Krug said she has deceived friends and colleagues by falsely claiming several identities, including “North African Blackness, then US rooted Blackness, then Caribbean rooted Bronx Blackness,” she wrote in a blog post on Medium. Krug, whose areas of expertise include African American history, Africa and Latin America, is White and Jewish, she admitted.
How Is COVID-19 Impacting the Teacher Workforce?
Economic pressures, educator diversity, and rethinking professional development
The coronavirus pandemic is creating huge challenges for the teacher workforce — layoffs, pay cuts, fear of COVID-19 exposure among those returning to bricks-and-mortar classrooms, to name a few. At the same time, analysts and teacher advocates also see a unique opportunity to innovate and rethink traditional practices.
Life While Black, as Told by One St. Petersburg Couple
For all of St. Petersburg’s progressive bona fides, Tori and Khyre Edwards come home at least once a week with stories to unload, experiences of being profiled, pulled over, discounted, dismissed. In their liberal-leaning circles of advocacy and faith, they find solace and momentum, but also exhaustion.
Now, as protesters march again for Black lives, the days feel heavy, hopeful and too familiar.
Texas Teacher Put on Leave After Posting Black Lives Matter, LGBTQ Signs
Unable to meet with her students in person because of the pandemic, Taylor Lifka, an advanced English teacher at Roma High School, set out to personalize and add warmth to her virtual classroom space.
A Perk for N.Y.’s Richest Areas: First Dibs on Top Public Schools
On paper, Tiffani Torres looked like a strong candidate for one of New York City’s highest-performing, most selective public high schools. She had high test scores and excellent grades. “I was a good fit for what the school was looking for,” Tiffani said.
But when Tiffani was rejected by her dream school, Eleanor Roosevelt High School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, she didn’t realize she never had much of a chance in the first place.
That’s because Tiffani lived in Brownsville, a mostly low-income, Black and Hispanic neighborhood in the center of Brooklyn.
REPORT: Black History Instruction Gets New Emphasis in Many States
Through his high school years in Orlando in the 1990s, Florida state Sen. Randolph Bracy never heard a word about a massacre seven decades earlier that took place on Election Day just 15 minutes away in Ocoee.
Schools Brace for Mental Health Challenges During COVID-19 and Civil Unrest
Experts discuss trauma, social and emotional development
As schools nationwide gear up for a new school year during the pandemic — whether virtually or in person — meeting the social, emotional and mental health needs of students and staff will be a huge challenge and priority for school systems.
Educators and counselors said stories are waiting to be told at every level of education as the combination of pandemic fears and racial injustice puts added pressures on students and teachers.
Schools Experiment to Allay the Inequitable Impact of COVID-19
Pandemic sparks calls for changes to technology, curriculum and funding.
In an effort to counteract the way COVID-19 is worsening many educational inequities, government and educational leaders around the country are trying a variety of interventions such as free headphones, traffic light Wi-Fi, and more explicit teaching about the realities of race relations.
Jeb Bush Says ‘Classic Conservatives’ Want More Educational Funding, Local Control and Parent Choice
Former Florida governor supports taxpayer vouchers, including for private schools with rules against hiring LGBTQ staff
Cable TV shouting heads can make it seem as if party politics — more than research — guides stances on how education leaders should respond to COVID-19. But in a conversation with education journalists, one prominent Republican outlined potential divisions among those who identify as conservatives.
Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor and 2016 presidential candidate, called for additional federal funding to help schools during the public health crisis and to address historical inequities affecting low-income students.
Higher Education Seminar Fall 2020
Racial Reckonings Amid COVID, Recession and Political Conflict
The Education Writers Association will hold its 2020 fall Higher Education Seminar on September 15-16 on the theme of “Racial Reckonings Amid COVID, Recession and Political Conflict.”
Local Parents Turn to ‘Learning Pods’ This Fall Instead of Distance Learning Alone
Keeping her three children engaged in distance learning this spring was overwhelming for Alfalfa resident Christie Otley.
And in late July, when Bend-La Pine Schools announced that students would again be taught remotely when the school year began due to COVID-19, Otley was upset. Her youngest son — an incoming first-grader at Buckingham Elementary with a developmental disability — needed to socialize, she said.
COVID-19 and Education: What’s the Future of School?
The pandemic has made stark the glaring worldwide inequities in access to education. Many now-shuttered schools in marginalized communities haven’t been able to provide their students with any meaningful instruction at all. Those in wealthier communities are offering online classes of varying quality. And a growing number of the rich are setting up small private “pods” or mini-schools to ensure their kids get in-person tutoring.
How Online Learning Fails Low-Income Students Amid Covid-19
A Los Angeles Times survey of 45 Southern California school districts found profound differences in distance learning among children attending school districts in high-poverty communities, like Maria’s in Coachella Valley, and those in more affluent ones, like Cooper’s in Las Virgenes, which serves Calabasas and nearby areas.
These inequities threaten to exacerbate wide and persistent disparities in public education that shortchange students of color and those from low-income families, resulting in potentially lasting harm to a generation of children.
After Ending Police Contract, Minneapolis Schools Consider Former Cops for Revamped School Safety Role — and Activists Fear a ‘Dangerous’ National Trend
Two months after the Minneapolis school district cut ties with the city’s police department, education officials are interviewing finalists for its revamped school safety beat — and more than half have backgrounds in law enforcement, according to documents obtained by The 74.
Back to School? – Local K-12 Educators Look at Ways to Start the School Year as COVID-19 Looms
Every summer, Geoffrey Carlisle plans hands-on lessons for his newest class of eighth-grade emerging scientists. Usually, the KIPP Austin College Prep teacher plans lessons where his students stand in a circle – to analyze and manipulate 3D fabric models or to learn about gravity while handling bowling balls and marbles. They stand close to each other, discussing what they’re learning.
Students Aren’t Just Leaving Greek Life. They Want to End It.
When Zena Abro came to the University of Richmond in 2018, she wasn’t excited about the idea of joining a sorority. She did it only because her friends joined, and she didn’t want to feel left out on a campus where more than half of undergraduate women are in sororities.
Kenneth L. Marcus, Education Dept.’s Civil Rights Chief, Steps Down
The Education Department’s civil rights chief has for 40 years labored to enforce civil rights protections in the nation’s schools and universities, but few in the position have attracted as much attention as Kenneth L. Marcus, who will leave the post this week after two years marked by dissension, disputes — and significant accomplishments.
Introducing: Nice White Parents
“Nice White Parents” is a new podcast from Serial Productions, brought to you by The New York Times, about the 60-year relationship between white parents and the public school down the block.
Educating During COVID: Superintendents and College Leaders Scramble to Fill Students’ New Needs
Solutions include more financial aid, free headphones and traffic light wifi hotspots
Pedro Martinez, the superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District, oversees the education of almost 50,000 students. Ninety percent live in poverty, he said, and half of the families in the district make less than $35,000 a year. Martinez described educating students, kindergarten through high school, who live in cramped homes without computers or internet connections since the pandemic hit in March.
Survey: Less Time on Schoolwork, More Paper Packets in High-Poverty Districts
Once the pandemic upended normal school this spring, students of all ages in high-poverty school districts were asked to do less schoolwork and spend less time in class than their peers in affluent school districts.
That’s according to a national survey led by the American Institutes for Research, one of the most sweeping efforts to date to track what student learning looked like during that period. It includes responses from a nationally representative group of 474 school districts across the country, collected from mid-May to mid-July.
San Antonio School Districts Still Struggle with the City’s Segregated Past
Recent graduates of Alamo Heights High School have spent most of their summer meeting with school district leaders to press for a more inclusive environment for Black and Hispanic students there.
But even as they were drafting proposed policy changes, a video was circulating on social media showing three white cheerleaders from the high school using a racial slur.
DACA Ruling Has Important Implications for Educators, Students
Find tips and resources to inform local coverage of decision's impact
The U.S. Supreme court today struck down a Trump administration effort to end protection from deportation for more than 650,000 young undocumented immigrants — including many educators and students. The action to prevent these individuals from legally living and working in the United States was “arbitrary and capricious,” the high court declared in its 5-4 ruling.
Schools, Universities Reconsider Police on Campus
George Floyd's killing prompts schools to shift resources to counselors, other forms of security
School districts and universities nationwide are reconsidering the use of law enforcement officers on campus after yet another unarmed black man died at the hands of police.
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.
New Research Shows Killings by Police Hurt Grades, Graduation Rates of Nearby Black and Hispanic Schoolchildren
Effects are larger when those killed by police are unarmed
by Desmond Ang, Harvard University
How will the death of George Floyd affect Minneapolis schoolchildren? New research I conducted on the effects of police violence indicates that it will significantly hurt their educational and emotional well-being.
Tools to Help Reporters Examine Their Racial Biases
Reporting guides and other materials to guard against unconscious bias
Among the biggest challenges journalists face these days: covering race issues accurately and fairly. Reporters not steeped in the subcultures they’re sent out to cover must especially guard against ways their own unconscious biases, or ignorance might cause them to unintentionally reinforce unwarranted stereotypes or even reinforce community traumas.
Below, we’ve gathered reporting guides; materials to help you acknowledge your privilege; books on racial inequities in schools; and places you can donate.
73rd EWA National Seminar
EWA’s National Seminar is the largest annual gathering of journalists on the education beat.
This multi-day conference is designed to give participants the skills, understanding, and inspiration to improve their coverage of education at all levels. It also will deliver a lengthy list of story ideas. We will offer numerous sessions on important education issues, as well as on journalism skills.
Elevating Your Reporting With Data: The Dos and Don’ts
How to marry basic reporting with a data set — and tips to read it correctly
You don’t need data to write a great story. But adding data, if done well, can take your reporting from McDonald’s to Michelin-starred.
These tips will help you elevate the coverage you produce every year, such as stories on student performance; ensure you correctly translate what the data is saying; and remind you to stay skeptical.
EWA Tip Sheet: Covering Adolescents Through Data
Stories about adolescents present the opportunity for a variety of compelling characters, from parents and teachers to the teens themselves who feel passionately about the issues. But data can also be a powerful tool in crafting such narratives, as it provides vital context for the audience.
Word on the Beat: NAEP
What reporters need to know about the 'nation's report card'
New achievement data for the nation’s 8th graders showed a slide in history and geography, and no gains in civics, according to results released April 23. That follows sliding or stagnant scores for both 4th and 8th graders in math and reading last fall.
Teen Mental Health: Barriers to Treatment, Tips for Nuanced News Coverage
Don't leave your reader, viewer 'reeling' from your stories
When Nygel Turner was 5 or 6 years old, he would wake up in the middle of the night unable to breathe, with a lump in his throat.
He’d run to his father, who would put Vaseline on his chest. Turner’s father had written “breathe cream” in Sharpie on the Vaseline jar. It would calm Turner down every time.
Responsible Reporting on LGBTQ Students
Tips for coverage of youths' mental health, well-being, and more
Editor’s note: This post was updated on June 15, 2020, to reflect the U.S. Supreme Court decision that protects LGBTQ employees from being fired.
The news media must do a better job of covering the challenges faced by LGBTQ youths, a trio of advocates and educators told journalists attending an Education Writers Association seminar on adolescent learning and well-being in February.
When College Students Aren’t College-Ready
Thousands of students struggle at Chicago’s two-year colleges. Is an overhaul of developmental ed. programs enough to help?
(EWA Radio: Episode 231)
In Chicago, thousands of students are earning high school diplomas but showing up at the city’s two-year colleges unprepared for the next step in their academic journeys. In a new project, Kate McGee of WBEZ looked at efforts to buck that trend, including an innovative program developed not by outside experts but the system’s own faculty. Along the way, she explored a number of questions: Do students benefit more from remedial classes that re-teach them material they were supposed to master in high school, or from being placed directly into college classes with additional support like tutoring
Super Tuesday: The Education Angles
What's at stake for public education in the 2020 election?
A flurry of education-related conversation surfaced at the most recent Democratic presidential debate on Feb. 25, as candidates exchanged jabs and defended their positions on charter schools, student loan debt, and setting up young people for meaningful careers.
The 10th debate came at a pivotal moment, just days before voters in 14 states will cast their ballots on Super Tuesday (March 3). With education taking a back seat in prior debates, the rapid-fire discussion caught the attention of education journalists and pundits.
EWA Tip Sheet: Using Data on Risky Youth Behavior
Here's how to use CDC survey findings in your reporting
Today’s teenagers are generally steering clear of risky behaviors compared to young people in years past, but they still face hazards, especially if they identify as LGBTQ. The biennial Youth Risk Behavior survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looks at key risk factors that can make high schoolers more susceptible to diseases, violence, and death.
“You don’t have to know Excel to find story hooks in here,” said Daniel Willis, education journalist and session moderator.
Participants who contributed to this advice:
Getting Education Equity Messages Through the Noise Now Takes a 5-Prong Strategy
The Education Trust's Nicolle Grayson: Journalists should "leave us with hope."
Growing up in one of the nicer neighborhoods of Washington D.C., Nicolle Grayson assumed that her fellow students across the city had the same kinds of well-funded schools and highly qualified teachers as she did. Then she started volunteering at an elementary school across town, and discovered how drastically different public education could be for students just a few miles apart.
How Schools Handle Hate
After incidents of racism and anti-semitism, Seattle-area schools struggle to respond
(EWA Radio: Episode 230)
Education reporters are increasingly covering incidents of racism, antisemitism and other forms of hate committed by K-12 students. But what happens after the media spotlight shifts to the next story?
Investigating a University’s Ties to China
How one reporter used her EWA Fellowship to examine a school's growing Chinese population
The number of students from mainland China attending an American university has increased by more than 50 percent in the last decade. For many campuses, that student population has become a key source of tuition revenue and talent. For those who see China as an economic, political and military threat, this rapid growth has raised alarms.
As Colleges Close, How Will Vermont Schools Survive?
Low enrollment and financial troubles have caused a slew of Vermont’s small, independent colleges to shut their doors. What’s causing the problem — and is there a solution?
VPR’s Amy Noyes, who has been reporting on higher ed in Vermont with a fellowship from the Education Writers Association, has answers to these three questions:
“Why are student populations shrinking?” — Diana Clark, South Burlington
University of Minnesota’s Academic Work With China Chilled by Federal Concerns
The solar-powered air purification tower rises 200 feet out of a cluster of high-rises in China — a soaring symbol of new possibilities for its inventor, University of Minnesota engineering professor David Pui.
Collaboration with China has long been a linchpin of U research, and lately that work has accelerated. In the past five years, university faculty have published more than 4,300 scientific papers jointly with colleagues in China — more than any other country.
Word on the Beat: Public Charge
The Supreme Court ruled in January 2020 that the Trump Administration can move forward with their proposed changes to further restrict who can access a “green card,” or permanent legal status in the U.S.
University of Minnesota Mines China Connection But Worries About Future
Jieie Chen and Dong Xuan felt a strong connection to the University of Minnesota long before they arrived from China with their son, Ken, an incoming freshman.
They had spent hours online researching the university. They had heard the director of the U’s Beijing office make a case for joining the “Gophers family” at a meeting with admitted students in Shanghai last spring. They had later taken in testimonials from U students and alumni at one of the orientations the university hosts in China each summer.
What Students of Color Need From Their Teachers
'Loving kids does not equal inclusivity,' educator says
In 1987, 13 percent of public school teachers were educators of color, according to national data. Three decades later, while the teacher workforce is more diverse, teachers are still mostly white. Meanwhile, more than half of the public school population today is students of color.
New Study Offers Ways to Identify and Reduce Racism in Schools
Racial biases can unconsciously shape school decisions that negatively impact minority students, but a new study co-authored by a University of Central Florida researcher offers a framework to help reduce those biases and improve student outcomes.
How to Write About Race Beyond Martin Luther King Jr. Day
These resources will help you address race responsibly in your coverage
Race issues get special attention in the news on Martin Luther King Jr. Day or during Black History Month. But race plays a role in every story journalists cover: where people live and work, who their friends and neighbors are, and — especially — what schools they attend.
More US Schools Teach in Spanish, But Not Enough to Help Latinos
The preschool dual-language program at Gates Street Early Education Center in Lincoln Heights, one of Los Angeles’ oldest neighborhoods with dense populations of Latino and Asian residents, is part of a growing number of bilingual education models taking root in California and across the country. Many of them are designed to serve students from Spanish-speaking families, as well as students from other cultures, under mounting evidence that learning two languages can help people from all backgrounds become stronger students.
Three Takeaways From Chicago’s Largest Charter School Network
At Noble campuses, it's 'college prep from the moment you walk in the door'
From the exterior, Muchin College Prep doesn’t look much like a high school. It’s located in an unremarkable office building in downtown Chicago, where an elevator carries visitors to the seventh-floor campus. There, the walls are festooned with college banners, classrooms are bustling with discussions and group work, and football helmets rest on top of a long row of lockers.
The 2010s May Have Seen The Slowest Population Growth In U.S. History, Census Data Show
By William Frey
The 2020s are beginning on the heels of a decade that saw considerable demographic stagnation, highlighting important implications for immigration, congressional apportionment, and the country’s future.
The nation’s population growth from 2018 to 2019 grew by a mere 0.48%, according to newly released Census Bureau estimates. This is the lowest annual growth rate since 1918, and caps off a decade that should show the slowest 10-year population growth since the first census was taken in 1790.
Most Teachers Are White, Even as Schools Are More Diverse Than Ever
SANTA ROSA, Calif. — Ricardo Alcalá’s parents, born in Mexico, carried less than a second-grade education when they came to California to work the fields. His older siblings dropped out of high school. One was sentenced to prison for life and killed behind bars. Ricardo was 13 then, living in poverty.
But when he was 14, something changed. A Latina teacher told him he was too smart for pre-algebra and should move up.
Documentary Shows How Even Progressive Schools Can Lack Equity
'America to Me' filmmakers discuss how they gained students', school's trust
When journalist Pete Keeley watched the critically acclaimed 10-part documentary “America to Me,” he was struck by how little the school at the center of the story had changed since he attended it.
Using Big Data for Education Story Ideas
How effective is your local school? Sure, test scores aren’t everything, but until recently, efforts to crunch achievement data to draw conclusions about school quality have been undermined by concerns about fairness: Are test scores measuring the effectiveness of the school, or just the wealth of the parents?
Don’t Mess With Texas: Covering the Lone Star State’s Schools
Aliyya Swaby of The Texas Tribune talks source building, covering segregation, and more
(EWA Radio: Episode 222)
Prior to joining The Texas Tribune in 2016 as its statewide public schools reporter, Aliyya Swaby covered education for the hyperlocal New Haven Independent in Connecticut. Now she’s responsible for a beat that stretches more than a quarter-million square miles.
Colleges Struggle to Adapt to Changing Demographics
More diverse student body poses challenges in admissions, teaching and counseling
Quick: Picture a “typical” college student. Are you envisioning a young person wearing a college sweatshirt, living in a dorm and attending school full time?
Try again: Full-time students who live on campus account for less than 15 percent of all undergraduates, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
At a recent Education Writers Association seminar, three experts on student demographics suggested that investigations into changes to the makeup of the nation’s undergraduate student body can spark fresh and impactful stories.
‘Critically Divisive Lines:’ Why Inequity Persists In Illinois Schools
Yuliana Quintana worries she won’t succeed in college because she didn’t have access to lab equipment, Advanced Placement classes, and other resources during her high school years.
Quintana, 19, was last year’s valedictorian of her high school in DePue, a tiny village about 50 miles north of Peoria.
Quintana’s school district, DePue Community Unit School District 103, is one of the poorest districts in Illinois.
A Reality Check for Boston’s Valedictorians
The Boston Globe investigates K-12 and higher ed shortfalls in preparation and support for local students
(EWA Radio: Episode 195)
Ever wonder what happened to your high school’s valedictorian after graduation? So did The Boston Globe, which set off to track down the city’s top students from the classes of 2005-07. Globe reporters Malcolm Gay and Meghan Irons learned that a quarter of the nearly 100 valedictorians they located failed to complete college within six years. Some had experienced homelessness. Many have struggled in lower-skilled jobs than they had aspired to. What went wrong? To what extent did their high school education fail to prepare them? What should colleges do to better support students? Gay and Irons discuss their project, tell the stories of individual valedictorians, and share tips for journalists looking to undertake similar reporting in their own communities.
Education and the American Dream: Pathways From High School to College and Careers
Northwestern University • November 14-15, 2019
What will it take to make the U.S. education system a more powerful engine for economic mobility? What are the obstacles, especially for low-income families and students of color?
At this journalists-only seminar on Nov. 14-15 in Chicago, we will explore these and other questions, with a special focus on emerging efforts to create stronger pathways from high school to college and promising careers.
Students Have an Uphill Battle to Degrees, But Montana Educators Push for Success
At Helena College, a 26-year-old student raising her daughter alone schedules class around her job at a grocery store. Stephanie Heitman’s paychecks were going toward unpaid medical bills until her small college helped with a grant.
When Tristin Bullshoe landed at the University of Montana after growing up in Browning, he struggled to pursue his dream of being a doctor. He landed in a college lecture hall with 300 people after graduating high school with a class of 12, and the Blackfeet student faced culture shock.
Redrawing the Map for Student Success
When Baltimore City Public Schools placed current education data on a map of the city’s historic racial redlining, it was apparent that not much had changed, as district CEO Sonja Brookins Santelises tells the story. The segregated neighborhoods created in part by policies that barred predominantly black communities from federally subsidized mortgages were the same neighborhoods that today showed lower academic outcomes.
Santelises said those findings motivated her district to take a closer look at what kind of opportunities it provides students.
School Discipline Reform: Easier Said Than Done?
For years, kicking students out of school was a common discipline move for administrators. Now, suspending students, a practice that disproportionately affects black and Hispanic youngsters, is out of favor, as educators work to respond to bad behavior without cutting off educational opportunities.
But the change hasn’t been easy, and many educators are still grappling with how to handle discipline problems in ways that don’t hurt students’ education, according to a panel at the Education Writers Association’s annual conference this spring in Baltimore.
Word on the Beat: Adversity Score
What reporters need to know about the College Board's experimental "Environmental Context Dashboard"
The question of which students should win admission to selective colleges is so heated that it has sparked state legislation, discrimination lawsuits and a celebrity-studded bribery scandal. So news that the College Board had been providing admissions officers data on the kind of “adversity” to which applicants had been exposed couldn’t help but stir controversy.
Teen Hate Crime: Swatiskas, Racist Graffiti Divide A Maryland High School
The principal saw a swastika first. It was inky black, spray painted on a trash can just beside the entrance to the high school. David Burton switched off the engine of his SUV, unaware, even then, of the magnitude of what he was about to see.
Word on the Beat: Busing
What reporters need to know about school desegregation efforts -- past and present
School segregation is a hot-button issue on the education beat. One strategy to address it, busing, has drawn widespread attention since a recent debate among Democratic presidential candidates.
In the latest installment of Word on the Beat, we explore what reporters need to know about campus reassignments to diversify schools — whether voluntary or mandatory – and how those efforts might impact students and communities.
Can Education Philanthropy Lift Students Out of Poverty?
Upward economic mobility, long-term positive outcomes renewed focus of foundations
An increased focus by philanthropy on the link between education and upward economic mobility is not a fad but rather is central to the work of many foundations, according to representatives of leading grantmakers gathered at the Education Writers Association’s annual conference in Baltimore.
Special Series: Offender Learning
The Oklahoman
At a time when Oklahoma — and the nation — continues to deal with overcrowded prisons and high rates of reoffending, higher education programs behind bars offer one of the most successful models at rehabilitation.
Through a fellowship with the Education Writers Association, The Oklahoman traveled to England to learn more about the nation’s prison education program at a time when Oklahoma’s high incarceration rate has most facilities over capacity and officials with the state Department of Corrections claiming new prisons are needed to handle the continued growth.
How to Cover Race Issues Accurately and Fairly
Examples of Americans — from prominent political and college leaders to teenagers – making tone-deaf or racist comments continue to make headlines in 2019. Journalists covering such incidents, or just reporting on people from different backgrounds, also need to be vigilant against committing their own faux pas. Deadline pressure, space constraints and implicit biases or lack of knowledge of other cultures can cause journalists to inadvertently make a hurtful statement.
Top 10 Higher Education Story Ideas for 2019-20
Inside Higher Ed's Scott Jaschik says admissions, free speech and rising graduation rates will make headlines.
While the hottest higher education story of early 2019 involved celebrities trying to bribe their kids’ way into elite colleges, many other important stories are likely to make news in the 2019-20 academic year, according to Scott Jaschik, editor of Inside Higher Ed.
The veteran higher education journalist and editor listed the 10 topics he thinks every higher education reporter should be ready to cover in the coming months.
The Forgotten Students Behind Brown v. Board of Education
To commemorate the 65th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on school segregation, here’s another look at my 2014 Q&A. with Justin Reid, then associate director of the Moton Museum.
Covering How ‘Varsity Blues’ Affects College Admissions
Experts suggest following up with investigations into large inequities and sports recruiting.
The “Varsity Blues” scandal involved a small group of wealthy families using bribes and other tactics to gain admissions to selective colleges. But it also illuminated broader admissions problems – particularly those involving income disparities – that should be examined by education reporters, according to experts who spoke at the 2019 Education Writers Association seminar in Baltimore.
Six Story Ideas for Covering Race on Campus
College student body diversity, recruiting practices and history
Journalists who want to better cover the reality of the racial environment on college campuses should broaden their focus beyond protests against Confederate statues or controversies over yearbook pictures, advised a group of researchers, educators and veteran journalists gathered at the Education Writers Association’s 2019 National Seminar in Baltimore.
Tips on Covering Race Issues Responsibly
Ask followup questions, add context and use the "R" word carefully.
When covering race issues, journalists can get things things very right, or very wrong. From their story choices, to the context they add and the words they use, opportunities — and risks — abound. That’s especially true for reporters covering schools and colleges, which have been ground zero for some of the most important racial incidents and news stories of the recent past.
Secretary DeVos Comes Face to Face With Education Reporters
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos defended her education agenda in front of hundreds of education reporters on Monday, as she discussed efforts to expand school choice and the reversal of policies and guidance set forth by the Obama administration on student discipline, special education, and student loan forgiveness.
A Search For Answers, A Search For Blame
Max Eden didn’t even want to read about Parkland. He saw the news on Valentine’s Day, after a dinner date with his girlfriend at a little French place in Washington, D.C., taking an Uber home. There was the gut-punch—“oh shit, another school shooting”—then the queasy afterthought that none of this hits as hard as it used to. He knew what would follow. For a few angry weeks, Democrats would demand gun control and Republicans would call for arming teachers. He decided he’d sit it out this time, ignore the news as much as possible.
Minnesota Needs More Teachers of Color. (But So Does Everywhere Else.)
The inter-state battle to attract more diverse teacher workforce
(EWA Radio: Episode 191)
The public school population in Minnesota, as in many other states, is becoming more diverse by race and ethnicity. But the teacher workforce? Not so much. About one-third of Minnesota students are non-white, compared with roughly 5 percent of teachers, as Faiza Mahamud and MaryJo Webster report for the Star Tribune newspaper. That’s a growing problem for educators and policymakers looking to give more students the opportunity to learn from someone who looks like them — a benefit researchers say can improve academic achievement, self esteem, and other factors in student success. Mahamud, who covers the Twin Cities’ public schools, spent time talking with students and families about what they’re looking for in classroom teachers, and how a lack of diversity can hurt family engagement, especially among newer immigrant families. Webster, the newspaper’s data editor, shares the ins and outs of finding — and crunching — statistics on teacher diversity, as well as some lessons learned from the project.
Why Strom Thurmond High School Won’t Change Its Name
The controversial past (and present) of schools named for segregationists.
(EWA Radio: Episode 199)
What’s in a name? That’s an increasingly complex question for communities with public schools named after segregationist politicians. Two Education Week reporters, Corey Mitchell and Andrew Ujifusa, are tracking both the campuses and controversy. Education Week built a database of 22 schools in eight states named for politicians who signed a document known as the “Southern Manifesto,” protesting the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision in 1954 on school desegregation. Increasingly, groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center are advocating to turn the controversy into a “teachable moment” for these schools. What’s keeping school officials, including at South Carolina’s Strom Thurmond High School, from renaming campuses? How do students feel about the controversy? And what questions should reporters ask when they dig into the anti-civil rights legacies of these namesakes?
Reporting on Race With Context and Empathy
'Respect people’s humanity and resilience when you use their life to illustrate a problem,' says Adeshina Emmanuel.
Long before Adeshina Emmanuel wrote a story that went viral about a teenager’s literacy struggle, the Chicago-based reporter was part of a small, teary-eyed audience listening to one woman speak.
The woman, Katrina Falkner, recounted stepping up to take care of her nephew, Javion Grayer, after the teen’s mother died in 2016. Falkner described the realization that, at 16 years old, Javion was reading at a second-grade level.
(Report) Nonwhite School Districts Get $23 Billion Less Than White Districts Despite Serving the Same Number of Students
The story of our communities can in many ways be told through the lens of the school districts that serve our children. More than organizations that enable learning, school districts are geographic boundaries that serve as magnifying lenses that allow us to focus on issues of race and wealth. They are both a statement of “what is” and “what could be” in our society.
The Schools Named For Segregationists
Communities, schools rethinking ties to anti-Civil Rights namesakes
(EWA Radio: Episode 199)
What’s in a name? That’s an increasingly complex question for communities with public schools named after segregationist politicians. Two Education Week reporters, Corey Mitchell and Andrew Ujifusa, are tracking both the campuses and controversy. Education Week built a database of 22 schools in eight states named for politicians who signed a document known as the “Southern Manifesto,” protesting the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision in 1954 on school desegregation. Increasingly, groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center are advocating to turn the controversy into a “teachable moment” for these schools. What’s keeping school officials, including at South Carolina’s Strom Thurmond High School, from renaming campuses? How do students feel about the controversy? And what questions should reporters ask when they dig into the anti-civil rights legacies of these namesakes?
Dollars and Sense: How to Cover School Finance
It’s time for education reporters to take back coverage of school funding.
Too often, news outlets rely on journalists covering state government to also report on money for schools, said Daarel Burnette II, a reporter for Education Week. But journalists on the education beat bring valuable context and perspective on how schools work and the impact of funding.
“This is within our wheelhouse as education reporters, so don’t forget that,” Burnette advised journalists in November during an Education Writers Association seminar on educational equity.
For These Boston Valedictorians, Good Grades Weren’t Enough.
K-12 and college systems both failed to prepare and support students, The Boston Globe's investigation finds
(EWA Radio: Episode 195)
Ever wonder what happened to your high school’s valedictorian after graduation? So did The Boston Globe, which set off to track down the city’s top students from the classes of 2005-07. Globe reporters Malcolm Gay and Meghan Irons learned that a quarter of the nearly 100 valedictorians they located failed to complete college within six years. Some had experienced homelessness. Many have struggled in lower-skilled jobs than they had aspired to. What went wrong? To what extent did their high school education fail to prepare them? What should colleges do to better support students? Gay and Irons discuss their project, tell the stories of individual valedictorians, and share tips for journalists looking to undertake similar reporting in their own communities.
Changing Demographics Mean Better College Odds for ‘Slugs’
A baby bust is forcing newsworthy changes to college admissions.
America’s declining birth rate has sweeping implications for the U.S. economy and society – especially its education system. Already, a decline in the number of 18-year-olds is forcing many colleges to take actions that journalists should cover, such as: changing recruiting practices, cutting costs, and, in some cases, going out of business, according to a panel of college officials, researchers and journalists speaking at a recent Education Writers Association seminar.
Why It’s Time to Focus on Equity in Rural Schools
Rural schools often get short shrift in the national dialogue on improving education and addressing achievement gaps, whether it’s policy debates, research, or news coverage. That’s a big mistake, according to participants in a recent EWA panel discussion, who made the case for reporters to pay more attention to education in rural communities.
In New England, Efforts to Rethink Educational Practices Grow
But pushback on 'competency-based' approach serves as cautionary note
Across New England, policymakers and school leaders are experimenting with new models of learning, including those that are student-centered, personalized, and competency-based. One of the goals is to close stubborn achievement gaps between rich and poor students and white students and students of color.
But these educational shifts have not been universally embraced by the states’ students, parents and teachers. Maine, for example, one of the first states to pass a law requiring competency-based education, recently reversed course.
‘How I Did the Story’: Reporters Share Tips for Covering Educational Equity
Recent work by journalists Erica Green, Jason Gonzales and Matthew Kauffman shows the importance of digging into the best-laid plans of a school district or state, whether it’s desegregation efforts or sending students to college for free.
Connecting Families and Schools Is a ‘Shared Responsibility’
Empowering parents pays dividends for student learning, experts say
There’s plenty of evidence that when their families are engaged in their school experience, students do better.
The trick, experts said during a recent Education Writers Association event, is finding ways for school officials to reach those families, particularly if there are cultural or language barriers, or if low-income working families struggle to find the time or transportation to participate in school events.
Patching the Leaky Pipeline to Teacher Diversity
Sometimes when Philadelphia school principal Sharif El-Mekki asks a roomful of students of color about their interest in teaching, they respond with laughter.
“We ask them — have you been thinking about it?” he said during a recent EWA panel on how to make the teacher workforce more racially and ethnically diverse. ”And the response,” El-Mekki said, is “No way. I’m having a miserable experience in school. Why would I commit myself to living there?”
EWA in the Southern Hemisphere
'Jeduca,' new association for Brazil's education journalists, kicks off
São Paulo, Brazil – I am 4,800 miles from home, a continent away and in another hemisphere — yet the scene seems familiar. On a rainy Monday morning in August, I’m queuing up with hundreds of other journalists who cover education.
We wait patiently at a registration desk as greeters hand over a plastic name tag and a canvas tote bag filled with goodies: a blue metal water bottle, a logo-covered pen, a mobile phone charger and a printed program.
Wanted: More Teachers of Color
In Minnesota, growing student diversity is outpacing the educator workforce
(EWA Radio: Episode 191)
The public school population in Minnesota, as in many other states, is becoming more diverse by race and ethnicity. But the teacher workforce? Not so much. About one-third of Minnesota students are non-white, compared with roughly 5 percent of teachers, as Faiza Mahamud and MaryJo Webster report for the Star Tribune newspaper. That’s a growing problem for educators and policymakers looking to give more students the opportunity to learn from someone who looks like them — a benefit researchers say can improve academic achievement, self esteem, and other factors in student success. Mahamud, who covers the Twin Cities’ public schools, spent time talking with students and families about what they’re looking for in classroom teachers, and how a lack of diversity can hurt family engagement, especially among newer immigrant families. Webster, the newspaper’s data editor, shares the ins and outs of finding — and crunching — statistics on teacher diversity, as well as some lessons learned from the project.
Advocates, Educators Discuss ‘National Disgrace’ of Educational Inequity
Education reporters and progressive Twitter denizens are probably familiar with the graphic. Three people of different heights are trying to look over a fence. In one frame, labeled “equality,” each is given a box of the same height, leaving the shortest still unable to see over the fence.
In the other, labeled “equity,” each is given a box of different sizes so they’re at equal heights.
A High School That Listens to Its Students and Teachers
'Student-centered learning' approach means more freedom but also more accountability in Revere, Mass.
(EWA Radio: Episode 187)
What happens when a teacher takes a student up on his dare to watch a TV series about zombies?
What Do Teachers Really Think About School Discipline Reform?
Not long ago, a student who got into a fight at school would likely face an automatic suspension. Now, in schools across the country, that student might be back in class the next day.
That change is part of an expansive effort to rethink the way public schools respond to misbehavior. In many schools, punitive measures like suspension and expulsion are being replaced with alternative strategies that aim to keep students in the classroom and address underlying issues like trauma and stress.
72nd EWA National Seminar
Baltimore • May 6-8, 2019
EWA’s National Seminar is the largest annual gathering of journalists on the education beat. This year’s event in Baltimore, hosted by Johns Hopkins University’s School of Education, will explore an array of timely topics of interest to journalists from across the country, with a thematic focus on student success, safety, and well-being.
The State of Educational Equity (and Inequity) in Schooling
More than six decades since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education that separate was far from equal in 1954, many U.S. children attend schools that are still separate and unequal.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released a report noting just that. The 2018 report, which focused on funding disparities in public education, stated that segregation in schools by race and income level is widespread, and that “the education available to millions of Americans” is “profoundly unequal.”
The Zombie Apocalypse is Here (and It’s Now Called ‘English Class’)
Student-centered learning and 'The Walking Dead' at Revere High School
(EWA Radio: Episode 187)
What happens when a teacher takes a student up on his dare to watch a TV series about zombies?
Homeboy Industries Offers Former Gang Members Job Training, a Second Chance
If a Los Angeles gang member decides to seek a new start, he or she can walk through the front door of Homeboy Industries in West Los Angeles and its founder, “Father G,” typically will come out of his office and welcome them with open arms.
Mammas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Teachers
New polls shed light on public attitudes toward public schools, declining enthusiasm for teaching profession
Two new national polls provide insights into Americans’ attitudes and perceptions of public education, and provide plenty of fodder for reporters looking for story ideas on the teacher workforce, school choice, and funding priorities.
Back to School 2018: Tips for Producing Education Coverage That Matters
As a new academic year looms, education journalists face an age-old challenge: What are the best ways to take a fresh approach to back-to-school coverage and lay a solid foundation for a year of hard-hitting reporting?
Understanding School Segregation Data
If you’ve been confused about what the data and research say about school segregation — whether it is growing or shrinking – you’re not alone. Scholars argue over this, too.
Covering LGBT Issues in the Classroom
Shifts seen in textbooks to reflect gay, lesbian historical figures
When the new academic year begins for California public schools, for the first time instructional materials will be available to ensure every K-12 classroom has access to accurate and unbiased depictions of the sexual orientation and gender identity of historical figures.
The FAIR Education Act – FAIR stands for Fair, Accurate, Inclusive and Respectful – requires history and social studies curriculum to include references to contributions by people with disabilities and members of the LGBT community.
Covering Immigrant Students and Families in the Time of Trump
Covering immigrant students and their families – always challenging given legal and privacy concerns — has arguably never been more timely, as recent shifts in federal policy have thrust them into the national spotlight.
A panel of researchers and journalists offered advice on pressing issues, including: how reporters can explain the stakes of their stories to sources, whether undocumented students should be named, and how to discuss complicated immigration policy shifts in a clear and compelling way that draws in readers.
Seminar on the Teaching Profession
Chicago • October 18-19, 2018
From state capitols to the U.S. Supreme Court, teachers are making headlines. Perennial issues like teacher preparation, compensation, and evaluation continue to be debated while a new wave of teacher activism and growing attention to workforce diversity are providing fresh angles for compelling coverage.
Higher Education Seminar Fall 2018
Las Vegas • UNLV • September 24-25, 2018
The Education Writers Association will hold its 2018 Higher Education Seminar Sept. 24-25 on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The theme of this year’s intensive training event for journalists will be “Navigating Rapid Change.” This journalist-only event will offer two days of high-impact learning opportunities. The seminar will focus on how both postsecondary education and journalism are adjusting to an increasingly divisive political environment, the decline of traditional revenue sources, and continuing technological innovations that are upending much of the economy.
Teacher Residencies: The Future of Teacher Prep?
The hands-on approach is growing but whether it can deliver on promises remains to be seen.
Stubborn achievement gaps, troubling rates of teacher turnover, and a student population that is increasingly more black and brown than its teachers.
These are just a few of the realities that have prompted a rethinking of how teachers are prepared and trained in the United States today, with many questioning the traditional, college-based teacher prep programs that are the typical gateway to the classroom.
Trump Rescinds Obama-Era Policies on Affirmative Action
This post was updated at 4:10 p.m. Tuesday, July 3.
In its latest rollback of President Obama’s education policy legacy, the Trump administration wants school superintendents and college presidents to aim for “race-blind” admissions standards.
Making a Diverse Teacher Workforce a Reality
Diversifying the teacher workforce — an issue of growing concern to education leaders and policymakers — is difficult to achieve because of leaks in the pipeline and after teachers of color reach the classroom, a panel of experts told reporters at a recent conference. The challenges start in teacher-prep programs and extend through certification, hiring, placement, retention and leadership, the speakers said at a recent Education Writers Association event.
Beyond Protests: Better Ways to Cover Race Issues on Campus
Racial conflicts at colleges need deeper and more patient coverage.
Protests over statues honoring Confederate soldiers; shouting matches at presentations by white nationalist speakers; student drives to strip buildings of names honoring racist officials.
Such dramatic campus racial conflicts and controversies justifiably attract attention from reporters and the public, according to a pair of veteran education journalists, a researcher, and a college administrator who spoke on a panel at the Education Writers Association’s 2018 National Seminar.
Hispanic, Latino, Latinx: How to Cover the Fastest-Growing Student Group
Hispanic students, who make up the second largest racial demographic in schools today, are entering college in record numbers. But they are also dropping out of college at a far higher rate than white students. That reality has important implications for our educational and economic systems and the reporters who cover them, according to a group of researchers and experts gathered at the 2018 Education Writers Association National Seminar.
From Words to Action on Newsroom Diversity
“Diversity is essential to the success of the news industry.” Those words, once so eloquently stated by award-winning journalist Gwen Ifill, capture the overarching message conveyed during a recent panel on diversity in the journalism workforce. The spirited talk was part of the Education Writers Association’s 2018 National Seminar in Los Angeles.
Beyond the Numbers: Getting the Story on Latino Education
The Fifth Annual EWA Conference for Spanish-Language Media
The Education Writers Association is pleased to partner with NAHJ to offer a 1½-day institute on covering education at the NAHJ National Conference in Miami. The July 20-21 education coverage bootcamp, which will be held in Spanish, will feature some of the most important and influential researchers and educational leaders in the field of Latino education. They will help journalists gain a better understanding of the education issues affecting Latino students in the U.S., such as the impacts of school choice, teacher demographics, and student loans. You’ll also get training on data sources that can help you buttress or generate education stories.
Beyond the Numbers: Getting the Story on Latino Education
Agenda
What’s Missing From Stories on Campus Free Speech?
Campus speech has become one of the hottest topics in higher education — especially in recent months, as clashes have turned violent and drawn the attention of President Donald Trump and the Justice Department.
Why Race and Equity Matter in Education Reporting
Education journalists must think more critically about the ways in which race, ethnicity and gender play into the stories they tell, a panel of experts said at the first keynote session at the Education Writers Association’s national seminar in Los Angeles last week.
Documenting Student Voices
Single-Topic News or Feature: Broadcast
About the Entry
Chronicle of Higher Education reporter Julia Schmaltz explores complex issues including race, class, and campus free speech in a series of short films.
An Underground College for Undocumented Immigrants
Feature Writing: Magazines and Weeklies
About the Entry
After being turned away from universities due to their uncertain immigration status, determined students — aided by professors sympathetic to their plight — find another way to continue their educations.
Entry Credit
The Secession Movement in Education
Investigative Reporting: Magazines and Weeklies
About the Entry
As a growing number of predominantly white communities seek to form their own school districts, reporter Emmanuel Felton finds dwindling educational opportunities for students of color who remain at less-affluent campuses, raising questions about the federal role.
Shadow Class: College Dreamers in Trump’s America
The Edwin Gould Foundation Eddie Prize
About the Entry
This APM Reports documentary takes listeners into the lives of undocumented students facing prospects as uncertain as those of the embattled Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that has protected them.
Entry Credit
The Redemption and Rejection of Michelle Jones
Single-Topic News or Feature: General News Outlets, Print and Online (Large Staff)
About the Entry
This profile by The Marshall Project for The New York Times explores how universities weighed an aspiring scholar’s potential against her past, raising questions about attitudes toward ex-inmates who have served their time.
Entry Credit
Last Chance High
Single-Topic News or Feature: Broadcast
About the Entry
At Chicago’s Moses Montefiore Academy, the school’s staff works to improve the lives of some of the nation’s most at-risk students.
Entry Credit
Hard to Read: How American Schools Fail Kids With Dyslexia
Single-Topic News or Feature: Broadcast
About the Entry
There are proven ways to help people with dyslexia learn to read, and a federal law that’s supposed to ensure schools provide kids with help. But according to an audio documentary by Emily Hanford, public schools across the country are denying children proper treatment and often failing to identify them with dyslexia in the first place.
Bill Zeeble of KERA News in Dallas
Beat Reporting: Broadcast
About the Entry
Reporting for the NPR affiliate in Dallas, Bill Zeeble looks at school accountability, a growing number of high-need college students, and a push to boost K-12 family engagement.
The Long, Difficult Journey to College
Feature Writing: Magazines and Weeklies
About the Entry
For promising students at one low-income high school, the road to college is marked by hope, frustration, and limited choices.
Naked Truth: Undocumented on Campus
Single-Topic News or Feature: Broadcast
About the Entry
Fusion explores the obstacles that young DREAMers face on college campuses, told through the experience of a first-year undocumented student from Mexico who is studying in Kansas.
Entry Credit
Hartford Schools: More Separate, Still Unequal
Investigative Reporting: General News Outlets, Print and Online
About the Entry
A team of journalists at the Hartford Courant in Connecticut take a close look at educational inequities in their city and the troubling legacy of a landmark court case that was intended to end segregation by creating a system of voluntary magnet schools.
Counted Out
Investigative Reporting: General News Outlets, Print and Online
About the Entry
In a joint investigation, the Raleigh News & Observer and the Charlotte Observer looked at how — and why — thousands of qualified North Carolina students from low-income families were kept out of advanced classes.
Can Schools Make the American Dream Real for Kids?
Single-Topic News or Feature: Broadcast
About the Entry
Public radio reporter Linda Lutton spends a year with a fourth-grade class in Chicago trying to answer a question: Can a public school overcome the challenges faced by children growing up in high-poverty neighborhoods?
Entry Credit
Learning About Civil Rights History in Mississippi
Single-Topic News or Feature: General News Outlets, Print and Online (Medium Staff)
About the Entry
The Hechinger Report and Reveal uncovered many omissions in their examination of how, and what, Mississippi schools teach students about the state’s crucial role and murky legacy in the national movement for racial equity.
Covering Teens: Lessons from the “Raising Kings” Journalists
Getting heartfelt, personally revealing comments from teenage boys is difficult enough for parents. So reporters Kavitha Cardoza and Cory Turner had to take a few creative risks to get good audio for their National Public Radio series on an all-boys public high school in Washington D.C. last year.
Word on the Beat: Chronic Absenteeism
What “chronic absenteeism” means: Researchers typically define chronic absenteeism as missing at least two days of school each month or 10 percent of all their classes. That amounts to about 18 days over the academic year in the average district. One out of every 10 students in public schools is chronically absent nationwide, according to the advocacy group AttendanceWorks.
Writing About DACA? Check Out These Tips for Smart News Coverage
For now, the early March deadline the Trump administration gave Congress to decide the fate of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals is moot. Major parts of DACA, an Obama-era program created to provide temporarily shield from deportation some young immigrants brought illegally to the United States by their parents, will continue amid legal challenges to the program.
What You Missed at EWA’s Seminar on Educating for Character & Citizenship
Dozens of journalists gathered in New Orleans this month to explore a dimension of education that often gets short shrift both in schools and in news coverage: developing students’ character and preparing them for active citizenship.
Reporters heard not only from educators, experts, and fellow journalists, but also students from New Orleans and beyond. Issues on tap included the moral education of young people, social and emotional learning, media literacy, and the rapid rise of ”restorative justice” as an alternative to traditional disciplinary practice.
At High Tech High, Focus Goes Beyond the Classroom
Personalization, 'authentic' work, equity & collaboration billed as hallmarks
Walking onto a High Tech High campus is like entering a workshop. Our tour guide, sophomore Caroline Egler, pointed out classrooms that supposedly housed physics or humanities, but most students weren’t in those rooms. They were in the hallways working on projects, huddled around computers together, or even working at desks standing eight feet tall so they towered above the floor. It was chaotic, but not out of control.
Students seemed to be working with purpose, even if it was not immediately obvious what they were doing.
Word on the Beat: Career and Technical Education
“Word on the Beat” is a regular feature of The Educated Reporter, breaking down the buzzwords and helping you understand the issues of the day. Send your suggestions to erichmond@ewa.org
Word on the Beat: Career and technical education (CTE).
How Does Your State Fare on the Education Week Report Card?
Nation overall gets 'C' grade; State leadership a factor in slow improvement, experts say (EWA Radio: Episode 155)
Education Week’s annual “Quality Counts” report offers a wealth of state-level data on students and schools, from academic indicators to equity in funding formulas. But how can reporters make the most of these numbers — and the state rankings — to tell compelling stories about their own local schools? Assistant director Sterling Lloyd and reporter Daarel Burnette join EWA Radio to discuss the national and state-by-state results. Which states made gains, which slipped behind, and why?
Pedal to the Metal: Speeding Up Stalled Records Requests
You file a freedom of information request with your local school district concerning financial data or a personnel investigation, but months later, there’s still no answer. What are the next steps, especially if your newsroom’s budget can’t stretch to cover the costs of suing for access? A veteran journalist and an expert on records requests offer strategies for success in making inquiries at the federal, state and local levels.
Public Universities Aren’t Tracking Student Suicides. That’s a Problem.
Student mental health efforts would benefit from more data, experts say (EWA Radio: Episode 154)
More than half of the nation’s 100 largest public universities fail to track student suicides, a surprising discovery revealed in a new investigation by the Associated Press’ Collin Binkley. Among the schools not keeping these statistics are Arizona State University and the University of Wisconsin, which have both had recent student suicides, Binkley reported.
Word on the Beat: DACA
All eyes are on the U.S. Supreme Court as it weighs whether to preserve an Obama-era program that protected undocumented youth and young adults from deportation. In this installment of Word on the Beat, we examine the history of the DACA program, its legacy, and the significant implications the pending legal ruling could have on students, families and schools from K-12 through higher education.
Word on the Beat: DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals).
2018: What’s Ahead on the Education Beat
Betsy DeVos, Tax Reform, and DACA in the spotlight (EWA Radio: Episode 153)
Veteran education journalists Greg Toppo of USA Today and Scott Jaschik of Inside Higher Ed offer predictions on the education beat for the coming year, as well as story ideas to help reporters cover emerging federal policies and trends that will impact students and educators at the state and local level. Top items on their watchlists include the effect of the so-called “Trump Effect on classrooms, and whether the revamped tax law will mean big hits to university endowments.
‘Evergreen’ Education Stories for the Holiday Week
Wish lists, good deeds, and challenging realities for K-12 and higher ed students
Even when school is out for winter break, education reporters are still on the hunt for smart stories. Here are few “evergreen” ideas that will age even better than that fruitcake you scored in the office gift swap:
71st EWA National Seminar
Los Angeles • May 16-18, 2018
EWA’s National Seminar is the largest annual gathering of journalists on the education beat. This multiday conference provides participants with top-notch training delivered through dozens of interactive sessions on covering education from early childhood through graduate school. Featuring prominent speakers, engaging campus visits, and plentiful networking opportunities, this must-attend conference provides participants with deeper understanding of the latest developments in education, a lengthy list of story ideas, and a toolbox of sharpened journalistic skills.
Beyond Academics: Covering Education for Character and Citizenship
The intensive focus in many public schools on basic academics has sparked concerns that the U.S. education system is neglecting a fundamental responsibility: to foster in young people the character traits and social-emotional skills needed to be successful students and engaged citizens. Empathy, collaboration, and self-efficacy, for instance, are essential in a democratic society. They also are important for success in a fast-changing job market.
College-Educated Latinos Are More Likely to Report Discrimination
Survey finds that Hispanic-Americans experience slurs and bias.
A new, large-scale survey on U.S. discrimination has found that more than three-quarters of Latinos believe there is discrimination against Latinos in the United States. And about a third say they’ve directly experienced some discrimination in the job market, or when shopping for a home.
‘Raising Kings’: A Portrait of an Urban High School for Young Men of Color
Education Week-NPR series features social-emotional learning and restorative justice at new D.C. campus
Can schools ever fully fill the gaps in students’ life experiences that often keep them from succeeding in school? Two reporters, Education Week’s Kavitha Cardoza and Cory Turner of NPR, spent hundreds of hours at Ron Brown College Prep, a new boys-only public high school in Washington, D.C. that primarily serves students of color.
Getting Latino Students To and Through College
Michele Siqueiros recalled the day she arrived on a college campus.
“I thought I had arrived on another planet,” she told a recent gathering of journalists who attended the Education Writers Association’s fourth annual convening for Spanish-language media. “There were very few Latinos.”
Siqueiros, now the president of The Campaign for College Opportunity, a California nonprofit organization, said she was a straight A student in high school, but in college “I felt for the first time I wasn’t prepared.”
As Latino Enrollment in Charters Grows, Debates Persist
Charter school advocates and skeptics speaking at a recent Education Writers Association convening for Spanish-language media agreed on little except this: Charter schools are having a big impact on Latino communities nationwide.
Do Affirmative Action Policies Harm Asian-American College Admissions?
The often secretive and arbitrary-seeming acceptance and rejection decisions by elite colleges have long sparked controversy and, thus, news stories.
But new complaints by high-achieving students of Asian descent are raising questions about a kind of racism that may well be surprising to most Americans, as well as challenges to long-standing affirmative action policies, according to a panel of admissions experts who spoke at the Education Writers Association’s Higher Education conference Oct. 2-3.
With New Research, Policy Shifts, Bilingual Education on Rise
Decades of restrictions on bilingual education in public schools across the country — and particularly in California — led to a dramatic reduction of bilingual teachers. Now that California voters have permitted bilingual education through Proposition 58, which passed in November 2016, the state faces a shortage of talent.
Girls Outscore Boys in the Middle East on Math and Science. But That’s Not the Whole Story.
Amanda Ripley, a New York Times bestselling author, discusses gender gaps and student motivation
When U.S. education experts look overseas for ideas and inspiration, they usually turn to places like Finland and Singapore. But journalist Amanda Ripley recently traveled instead to the Middle East to get underneath some surprising data about gender gaps in a recent story for The Atlantic. More specifically, why do girls in Jordan and Oman earn better grades and test scores than boys, even without the promise of lucrative jobs?
How to Report on Undocumented Students in the Time of Trump
As clock ticks on DACA, journalists must consider practical, legal, and ethical challenges in coverage
When the Trump administration announced plans in September to remove protections for some undocumented immigrants, Sasha Aslanian, a reporter with APM Reports, contacted an undocumented student to get a personal reaction to the news.
Having received a number of interview requests that day, the student told Aslanian: “I feel like I’m just trauma porn. People are leaving me messages saying, ‘I want to hear how you feel about this and I’m on deadline. Can you call me back within two hours?’”
School Vouchers: What Do Latino Parents Want?
President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos both say they want to expand school choice, including with public funding for private schools.
Recently, two parent activists on the front lines of the school voucher debate — one from Wisconsin, the other from Arizona – spoke to journalists attending the Education Writers Association’s convening for Spanish-language media.
When Covering Racial Conflict on Campus, Words Matter
Your editor has just assigned you a story — students at a local university are planning a demonstration calling for the removal of a Confederate statue. Do you know what to bring, who to talk to, and how to cover it in a way that is balanced and contextualized?
A Reporter’s Guide to Covering Campus Protests
Long the site of sit-ins, protests, and acts of civil disobedience, college campuses have, once again, become flash points for broader debates around race, free speech, and other highly-emotive issues.
Lisa Pemberton, an award-winning journalist and news team leader for The Olympian, knows well the challenges of covering protests, having spent much of her time recently covering racial tension and student protests at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.
Show, Don’t Tell: The Power of Visualizing Data
In an era when data is more accessible than ever, how can journalists convey that information in a compelling way that gets beyond the numbers?
One strategy is to convert the data into visual representations that help to tell the story. Such visuals range from elaborate, interactive maps to a simple dot.
Trump Urged to Renew Advisory Panel on Improving Education for Hispanics
For nearly three decades, a White House commission created to help boost Hispanic student achievement has advised four presidents and their secretaries of education. The advisory panel, however, is set to expire on Sept. 30 unless President Donald Trump issues an executive order to keep it going, according to Patricia Gándara, a commission member who is rallying to preserve it.
Slight Gains for Hispanics on ACT, but Achievement Gap Persists
More Hispanic students are taking the ACT college-entrance exam, and in some states their scores inched up, new data show. But the achievement gap persists for the class of 2017, with many Hispanic students failing to meet benchmarks for university-level work.
Are the Feds Ignoring Segregated Schools?
EWA Radio: Episode 140
In a cover story for The Nation, Emmanuel Felton of The Hechinger Report argues that the federal government has substantially abandoned Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in which struck down the doctrine of “separate but equal” education. Felton found nearly 200 school districts still under federal orders to desegregate, but many of them have failed to submit the requisite progress reports.
When Students Talk Back, These Teachers Listen
EWA Radio: Episode 139
What do teachers learn from their most challenging students – the interrupters, the ones who push back or whose difficult home lives spill over into the classroom? Sarah Carr, the editor of The Teacher Project at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, discusses a new podcast partnership with The Atlantic, featuring candid conversations with educators and students, as each recall pivotal moments in their relationships.
Covering Campus Conflict in the Time of Trump: Agenda
Atlanta • October 2–3, 2017
Monday, October 2, 2017
9:45– 11:30 a.m.: (Optional) Journalists’ Tour of CNN
CNN has graciously agreed to give 20 EWA members a journalists-only tour of their newsroom, and a chance to talk with members of CNN’s newsgathering, digital and data analysis teams to learn about their state-of-the art techniques of building traffic. The tour will start at 10 a.m. Monday, Oct. 2 at CNN’s Atlanta headquarters, located at One CNN Center, Atlanta, GA 30303. Please be at the entryway at 9:45 a.m. so you can go through security.
Biografías de los Presentadores
Speaker Biographies
The End of DACA?
EWA Radio: Episode 138
With the Trump administration’s announcement of plans to phase out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA), a key focus is on college students who fear deportation. But ending DACA, which offers protections to roughly 800,000 immigrants who came to the U.S. illegally as children, has significant repercussions for K-12 school communities as well.
Some Universities See Drop in International Applicants
College officials point to 'Trump effect'
For the first time since the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, some top universities are seeing their international student application numbers slide.
What’s the Price of High-Quality Child Care for All Kids?
Taryn Morrissey recalls that when she had her first child several years ago, “I knew how expensive it was going to be.” Morrissey is, after all, an associate professor at American University who studies child-care policy. Then she started shopping for child-care centers and got hit with sticker shock.
“It’s REALLY expensive,” she said with a laugh.
University Leaders React to Potential Loss of DACA
With the White House expected to decide shortly on the fate of the DACA program, questions loom about future access to U.S. education by undocumented immigrants. And some education leaders are speaking out this week in favor of protecting the program.
Hurricane Harvey Takes Toll on Students, Schools
Hurricane Harvey has pummeled Texas, with the greatest concentration of flooding in the Houston area. Local school districts that had intended to kick off the new academic year this week are instead assessing the damages to campuses, and preparing to help students and families displaced by the storm.
Hispanics Now Nearly One-Quarter of U.S. Students, Data Reveal
New U.S. Census data show a dramatic increase in the number of Hispanics attending school, reaching nearly 18 million in 2016. The figure — which covers education at all levels — is double the total 20 years earlier.
“Hispanic students now make up 22.7 percent of all people enrolled in school,” said Kurt Bauman, the chief of Census Bureau’s Education and Social Stratification Branch, in a statement.
New Poll: Public Values Career Classes, Support Services at Schools
When it comes to judging a school’s quality, what matters most? A new poll suggests the American public puts a premium on offerings outside of traditional academics, including career-focused education, developing students’ interpersonal skills, and providing after-school programs and mental health care.
At the same time, even as local schools were generally viewed favorably in the national survey, parents said they would consider taking advantage of vouchers for private or religious schools if the price was right.
When Students Attend White-Supremacy Rallies, How Should Colleges Respond?
EWA Radio: Episode 136
In the aftermath of the white supremacy gathering in Charlottesville, Va., some universities are under pressure to take action against students who attend rallies organized by hate groups. Nick Roll of Inside Higher Ed discusses the situation and how postsecondary institutions are responding. How do universities balance respect for free speech with concerns about cultivating an inclusive campus environment?
New NAEP Data: Deep Rifts in Access to Arts Education
When it comes to arts education, geography matters. A student in the Northeast region of the United States is significantly more likely to attend a school with a full-time art teacher than a student in the West or Midwest.
On the Menu: Trump’s Proposed Budget Cuts and School Nutrition
EWA Radio: Episode 135
Tovin Lapan of The Hechinger Report visited Greenville, Miss., to examine how President Trump’s proposed budget cuts could impact rural school communities that depend heavily on federal aid for after-school and student nutrition programs. What does research show about the connections between connecting students’ eating habits and test scores?
‘Eddie Prize’ Winner Kelly Field: Reporting on Native American Students
EWA Radio: Episode 134
Journalist Kelly Field recently won a top honor at EWA’s National Seminar for her compelling series, “From the Reservation to College,” on the education of Native American students. Field’s coverage for The Chronicle of Higher Education — supported by an EWA Reporting Fellowship — follows several students from the Blackfeet Indian reservation in Montana. Their experiences highlight the significant educational challenges facing Native communities in the U.S.
More Efforts Proposed in Congress to Help Undocumented Youth
The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program — or DACA — continues to make headlines, with several bills introduced in Congress this month aimed at protecting undocumented young immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children and providing them with a path to citizenship.
DACA provides recipients access to higher education, putting educators on the front lines of the debate over undocumented youth. Many colleges and universities have created special websites or designated personnel to help DACA students navigate college and feel safe on campus.
Parent Activists Flex Their Muscles in Education Policy Debates
From room mom to PTA president, parents have long played an important and active part in their children’s schools. But increasingly, parents are taking on a new, potentially powerful, role — activist.
In many states, parent groups have become a political force to be reckoned with — swarming city halls and state capitols and flooding the phone lines of elected officials to voice their opinions on issues such as the Common Core State Standards, standardized testing, and school choice.