No time to attend an in-person seminar? Get your training on-demand with EWA's free online series. All of our past events are archived here, with new live events scheduled throughout the year.
No time to attend an in-person seminar? Get your training on-demand with EWA’s free online series. All of our past events are archived here, with new live events scheduled throughout the year.
Across the country, tens of millions of students are back in class for a new school year. But while the ritual of hitting the books is the same, changes are occurring in everything from K-12 curricula to how college students earn their degrees. If you’re writing about these shifts in our nation’s schools and universities, this free, journalists-only event will give you better context for your coverage.
This webinar focused on how education reporters can better connect with classroom teachers, and techniques for making the most of those interviews. Topics include creative ways to use social media and other non-traditional methods to reach out to school site personnel, and how to manage central-office hurdles that often limit access.
How equitable is education in your school districts? Do low-income and minority students have the same access to advanced math and science classes, or Advanced Placement courses? Are teachers in low-income schools veterans or new teachers?
Research has shown that early education programs can significantly improve learning outcomes for the nation’s poorest students. With President Obama announcing a proposal to expand early education in the United States dramatically, interest in child care and pre-K has surged. But not all programs work effectively and states have had varying success implementing large-scale early-ed models. Can a national plan to enroll millions of children from low-income households in quality pre-K classes complement what’s working at the state level?
While students are celebrating the start of the long summer break, there’s a significant tradeoff for the three months of leisure – on average, students will return to school in the fall a month behind where they performed in the spring. And the learning loss is even greater for low-income students who were already behind their more affluent peers. In this EWA Webinar, we examine how districts are successfully combating summer learning loss with high-quality programs and leveraging community partnerships to help pay for them.
How much of the U.S. gross domestic product is spent on education? How does that education spending break down for early childhood education, K-12 education and higher education? How much private spending is dedicated to education, compared to public spending? What is the link between higher education degrees and unemployment rates in the U.S. and other countries?
What steps are under way to help incoming college freshmen prepare for their first semester of classes, particularly those in the STEM disciplines? Students planning to major in science, technology, engineering and math often make early exits from those fields, but switching a college major can be costly for the student and may even lead to dropping out altogether. From summer bridge programs that refresh rising freshmen on key concepts to learning communities that pair students and mentors, programs are emerging to help high school graduates enter college STEM courses prepared.
In the wake of several high-profile cases involving students who took their own lives, states are focusing heavily on making bullying prevention programs mandatory in public schools. But how much of the responsibility really rests with educators, and what steps should the broader community be taking to help students make smarter choices about their own behavior on campus, after school, and online?
Who will benefit more from the federal government’s new “Pay As You Earn” income-based repayment program for student loans: Recent graduates struggling to find jobs in a tough economy? Or high-paid professionals such as lawyers and business executives, who might be able to wipe away tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt? Why are the income-based repayment options so underused when as many as one out of five borrowers has fallen behind on payments?
This webinar, a companion piece to EWA’s Reporter Guide: Visiting School Campuses, covers the ins and outs getting access to schools, how to observe students and teachers, and contains tips for taking your stories to the next level. You’ll also be the first to get access to the latest guide.
Interviewing children is a critical component of the daily work of education reporting. Yet practices for gaining access and making the most of one-on-one opportunities vary widely among news organizations and individual journalists.
When it comes to making sure students are college and career ready, middle and high school guidance counselors play a critical — and often underreported — role.In this EWA webinar, attendees received an advance look at the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center’s second-annual survey of guidance counselors, in which respondents outlined some of the challenges of helping students meet ever-increasing expectations, as well as identified shortfalls in their own training and professional development.In this recording, you’ll also hear from experts in the field as to the implications
After you’ve filed your back-to-school stories, get ready make waves with some hard-hitting, data-based reporting this academic year. If you’ve never parsed test scores, attendance numbers or graduation rates, this webinar is a great place to start.
Jack Gillum, an investigative reporter with the Associated Press, offers tips on how to use data to enhance your reporting; find the information to get you started; and identify newsworthy trends in the numbers. Gillum contributed to an award-winning 2011 USA Today series on suspicious student test score gains in Washington, D.C.
For education reporters, coming up with fresh ideas for back-to-school stories is an annual challenge. As part of EWA’s Summer School Webinar series, we invite you to get some smart tips from three veteran journalists who know how to mine the beat, and avoid the ordinary. We discuss new ways of approaching the first day of school, ideas for unique profiles, and how to make the most of your publication’s multimedia resources.
So you’ve managed to get your hands on all the records your school district keeps about its budget and spending. Now what? How can you turn a giant data dump into a compelling story for your readers?
In this EWA webinar, you’ll hear how reporters at the Dallas Morning News used public records to create databases of district spending and budget information, and how they used those databases to uncover everything from fraud and mismanagement to cozy vendor-employee relationships to the misuse of federal grants.
All over the country, the year’s last school bell is ringing. But now that it’s time for pool parties and summer camp, what happens to the knowledge students gained during the school year?
Gary Huggins of National Summer Learning Association; Kathleen Manzo of Education Week; and Katy Murphy of the Oakland Tribune talk about how reporters can examine summer learning loss and how to tell when schools and communities offer effective summer school.
Community colleges are widely considered a critical link in the nation’s continued economic recovery. As a result, the open-access entry point to higher education is facing both renewed scrutiny and higher expectations, with policymakers demanding actual evidence of effectiveness.
This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will take on the issue of affirmative action in college admissions for the first time since 2003. The plaintiff in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin argues that her race was the deciding factor when she was denied admission to the school. Regardless of the outcome, this case will have major consequences for schools around the country for years to come.
Elizabeth Laird, Director of Communications and External Affairs for the Data Quality Campaign, provides an update on states’ progress toward collecting and using education data and reveals the type of data and related reports available from your states. She’ll especially concentrate on linking K-12 and postsecondary data to explore issues like college and career readiness, college remediation, and other topics.
Are you interested in freelancing, but don’t know how to get started? Veteran journalist David McKay Wilson offers a primer for reporters new to freelancing and those who want to learn the ropes of this exciting career path. Wilson broke into journalism as a freelancer for the Boston Phoenix and continued to freelance over his 26-year career. He left Gannett’s The Journal News in 2007 after 21 years to launch a business that focuses primarily on publications at institutions of higher education.
Q&A with Arne Duncan
37 minutes
Across the country, tens of millions of students are back in class for a new school year. But while the ritual of hitting the books is the same, changes are occurring in everything from K-12 curricula to how college students earn their degrees. If you’re writing about these shifts in our nation’s schools and universities, this free, journalists-only event will give you better context for your coverage.
Panelists:
Adding Value: Giving Teachers a Voice in School Reporting
62 minutes
This webinar focused on how education reporters can better connect with classroom teachers, and techniques for making the most of those interviews. Topics include creative ways to use social media and other non-traditional methods to reach out to school site personnel, and how to manage central-office hurdles that often limit access.
Mine the Gap: Working with Data on Access to Opportunities
67 minutes
How equitable is education in your school districts? Do low-income and minority students have the same access to advanced math and science classes, or Advanced Placement courses? Are teachers in low-income schools veterans or new teachers?
Crawling to a Consensus: Can States and the White House Agree on Early Ed?
76 minutes
Research has shown that early education programs can significantly improve learning outcomes for the nation’s poorest students. With President Obama announcing a proposal to expand early education in the United States dramatically, interest in child care and pre-K has surged. But not all programs work effectively and states have had varying success implementing large-scale early-ed models. Can a national plan to enroll millions of children from low-income households in quality pre-K classes complement what’s working at the state level?
School’s (Still) In: Making the Most of Summer Learning
1 hour
While students are celebrating the start of the long summer break, there’s a significant tradeoff for the three months of leisure – on average, students will return to school in the fall a month behind where they performed in the spring. And the learning loss is even greater for low-income students who were already behind their more affluent peers. In this EWA Webinar, we examine how districts are successfully combating summer learning loss with high-quality programs and leveraging community partnerships to help pay for them.
Education at a Glance 2013: EWA/OECD Webinar
55 minutes
How much of the U.S. gross domestic product is spent on education? How does that education spending break down for early childhood education, K-12 education and higher education? How much private spending is dedicated to education, compared to public spending? What is the link between higher education degrees and unemployment rates in the U.S. and other countries?
STEM Stepping-Stones: Covering College Prep in the Summer
1 hour
What steps are under way to help incoming college freshmen prepare for their first semester of classes, particularly those in the STEM disciplines? Students planning to major in science, technology, engineering and math often make early exits from those fields, but switching a college major can be costly for the student and may even lead to dropping out altogether. From summer bridge programs that refresh rising freshmen on key concepts to learning communities that pair students and mentors, programs are emerging to help high school graduates enter college STEM courses prepared.
Beyond Victims and Villains: Covering Bullying and Suicide
1 hour
In the wake of several high-profile cases involving students who took their own lives, states are focusing heavily on making bullying prevention programs mandatory in public schools. But how much of the responsibility really rests with educators, and what steps should the broader community be taking to help students make smarter choices about their own behavior on campus, after school, and online?
What’s the Price? ‘Pay As You Earn’ and Income-Based Repayment
57 minutes
Who will benefit more from the federal government’s new “Pay As You Earn” income-based repayment program for student loans: Recent graduates struggling to find jobs in a tough economy? Or high-paid professionals such as lawyers and business executives, who might be able to wipe away tens of thousands of dollars of student loan debt? Why are the income-based repayment options so underused when as many as one out of five borrowers has fallen behind on payments?
Visiting School Campuses: An EWA Guide for Reporters
1 hour
This webinar, a companion piece to EWA’s Reporter Guide: Visiting School Campuses, covers the ins and outs getting access to schools, how to observe students and teachers, and contains tips for taking your stories to the next level. You’ll also be the first to get access to the latest guide.
Interviewing Children: An EWA Guide for Reporters
1 hour
Interviewing children is a critical component of the daily work of education reporting. Yet practices for gaining access and making the most of one-on-one opportunities vary widely among news organizations and individual journalists.
Giving Guidance: Counselors’ Role in College and Career Readiness
1 hour
When it comes to making sure students are college and career ready, middle and high school guidance counselors play a critical — and often underreported — role.In this EWA webinar, attendees received an advance look at the College Board Advocacy & Policy Center’s second-annual survey of guidance counselors, in which respondents outlined some of the challenges of helping students meet ever-increasing expectations, as well as identified shortfalls in their own training and professional development.In this recording, you’ll also hear from experts in the field as to the implications
Diving into Data: Requesting (and Analyzing) Public School Numbers
53 minutes
After you’ve filed your back-to-school stories, get ready make waves with some hard-hitting, data-based reporting this academic year. If you’ve never parsed test scores, attendance numbers or graduation rates, this webinar is a great place to start.
Jack Gillum, an investigative reporter with the Associated Press, offers tips on how to use data to enhance your reporting; find the information to get you started; and identify newsworthy trends in the numbers. Gillum contributed to an award-winning 2011 USA Today series on suspicious student test score gains in Washington, D.C.
Back To School: Finding Fresh Angles on Familiar Ground
1 hour
For education reporters, coming up with fresh ideas for back-to-school stories is an annual challenge. As part of EWA’s Summer School Webinar series, we invite you to get some smart tips from three veteran journalists who know how to mine the beat, and avoid the ordinary. We discuss new ways of approaching the first day of school, ideas for unique profiles, and how to make the most of your publication’s multimedia resources.
Follow the Money: What’s Hiding In Your School District’s Spending?
56 minutes
So you’ve managed to get your hands on all the records your school district keeps about its budget and spending. Now what? How can you turn a giant data dump into a compelling story for your readers?
In this EWA webinar, you’ll hear how reporters at the Dallas Morning News used public records to create databases of district spending and budget information, and how they used those databases to uncover everything from fraud and mismanagement to cozy vendor-employee relationships to the misuse of federal grants.
Summer Idyll — or Idle? Story Ideas for Journalists
58 Minutes
All over the country, the year’s last school bell is ringing. But now that it’s time for pool parties and summer camp, what happens to the knowledge students gained during the school year?
Gary Huggins of National Summer Learning Association; Kathleen Manzo of Education Week; and Katy Murphy of the Oakland Tribune talk about how reporters can examine summer learning loss and how to tell when schools and communities offer effective summer school.
Community College Outcomes: Advance Look at New Digital Resource for Tracking Student Progress
38 minutes
Community colleges are widely considered a critical link in the nation’s continued economic recovery. As a result, the open-access entry point to higher education is facing both renewed scrutiny and higher expectations, with policymakers demanding actual evidence of effectiveness.
Deciding Diversity: The Supreme Court Reconsiders Affirmative Action
53 minutes
This fall, the U.S. Supreme Court will take on the issue of affirmative action in college admissions for the first time since 2003. The plaintiff in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin argues that her race was the deciding factor when she was denied admission to the school. Regardless of the outcome, this case will have major consequences for schools around the country for years to come.
Mining the Data: What States Have and Where to Find It
58 minutes
Elizabeth Laird, Director of Communications and External Affairs for the Data Quality Campaign, provides an update on states’ progress toward collecting and using education data and reveals the type of data and related reports available from your states. She’ll especially concentrate on linking K-12 and postsecondary data to explore issues like college and career readiness, college remediation, and other topics.
Freelancing 101: How to Thrive as an Independent Education Writer
1 hour
Are you interested in freelancing, but don’t know how to get started? Veteran journalist David McKay Wilson offers a primer for reporters new to freelancing and those who want to learn the ropes of this exciting career path. Wilson broke into journalism as a freelancer for the Boston Phoenix and continued to freelance over his 26-year career. He left Gannett’s The Journal News in 2007 after 21 years to launch a business that focuses primarily on publications at institutions of higher education.