Follow the Money: Digging Into School District Finances

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Follow the Money: Digging Into School District Finances

August 2, 2017

When it comes to school district finances, the numbers aren’t easy to add up. But tracking and analyzing this information is a powerful tool to drive smart news coverage.

Veteran education journalist Tawnell Hobbs of The Wall Street Journal shares tips and tricks for digging into district operating budgets and actual expenditures, as well as salary databases, overtime requests, check registers and credit card accounts, purchase orders, and more. Learn how to evaluate fiscal data that’s readily available and make the most of open records requests.

‘Terrified’: Illinois Education Reporters Find Massive Misuse of Student Seclusion
Reporters from ProPublica Illinois and The Chicago Tribune newsrooms team up to investigate into misuses of student seclusion brings swift action from lawmakers
(EWA Radio: Episode 224)

December 10, 2019 Emily Richmond Subscribe to #ewaRADIO

In a joint investigation, ProPublica Illinois’ Jodi Cohen and Jennifer Smith Richards of The Chicago Tribune teamed up to investigate the use of seclusion rooms in Illinois’ public schools. In the process, they discovered that seclusion — billed as a humane way to control misbehaving students — was misused, overused and ended up being disproportionately inflicted on students with disabilities.

Blog: The Educated Reporter

Beyond NAEP and PISA: Many U.S. Adults Lack Practical Skills, New Tests Show
Students also struggle with digital, information literacy

December 6, 2019 Stacia Cedillo

The results from high-profile assessments issued this fall — both national (NAEP) and international (PISA) — show troubling academic outcomes for U.S. students. Drawing far less attention, however, are important findings from other exams, including a lack of practical literacy, numeracy, and problem-solving skills among many Americans ages 16 to 65.

Blog: Higher Ed Beat

The Guidance Gap: How to Rethink School Counseling
Experts discuss how to effectively steer a student to, through life after high school

December 6, 2019 Pressley Frevert

One of Joyce Brown’s former students was getting ready to board a bus to college for the first time when he changed his mind.

“His mom said, ‘Don’t go if you don’t want to,’” Brown recalled. So the student, who grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes housing project on Chicago’s South Side, didn’t go.

But Brown — who spent 40 years working as a school counselor in Chicago Public Schools — knew this student would thrive in a college setting because of the relationship she’d built with him. So she drove him to college herself.

Blog: The Educated Reporter

No Easy Answers on PISA: U.S. Scores Flat in Reading, Math and Science
Experts urge caution in interpreting results as advocates call for major overhaul of public education

December 3, 2019 Emily Richmond

With the results of a global exam showing flat scores for American 15-year-olds in reading, math and science, education journalists were busy this week parsing the data, providing context, and explaining why comparisons among countries’ results can be a tricky business.

The U.S. saw its international rankings climb in all three subjects tested because scores slipped in some other countries on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) exam, the results of which were published Tuesday.

EWA Radio

A Thousand Days of Secretary DeVos
As President Trump's education chief approaches third year in office, a look at her impact, influence, and why she’s expected to stay the course
(EWA Radio: Episode 223)

December 2, 2019 Emily Richmond Subscribe to #ewaRADIO

When Betsy DeVos was confirmed as the U.S. secretary of education in early 2017, few observers would have bet she would stick around for long. Today, DeVos is one of the longest-serving members of President Trump’s cabinet. Rebecca Klein of The Huffington Post talked with dozens of people about the controversial education secretary’s tenure so far, crafting an in-depth analysis of what motivates her decisions and keeps her on the job.

State of the Education Beat
Nation’s Education Reporters Confident They’re Making a Difference

Follow the Money: Digging Into School District Finances

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Follow the Money: Digging Into School District Finances

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