Here’s a look back at all the columns, essays, and interviews we published in 2022, organized by category.
As you’ll see, we published numerous pieces helping journalists cover hot topics like social and emotional learning, literacy/reading, or religion in public schools), along with lots of stories about diversity and inclusivity and about how to cover school “culture war” controversies.
Also common are advice, interviews, and first-person essays from journalists sharing insights about their experiences.
HOW TO COVER A HOT TOPIC
Covering students in foster care (Colleen) 🚨
Controversy-mongering coverage of SEL — and how to fix it.*
How to report on monkeypox, polio, & COVID outbreaks without transmitting misinformation (Lahey)
Your teacher shortage stories are all wrong; here’s how to improve them (RAND)
What education reporters need to know about religion in public schools (Linda Wertheimer)
Secret agreements in special education (Lee Gaines WFYI)
Cover teachers unions like you cover school districts (Mika Antonucci)
How to cover schools’ COVID recovery spending this spring (Karen Hawley Miles)
Misleading coverage of trans youth
Hidden truths about substitute teachers
Efforts to revamp gifted & talented education deserve better coverage than they have received.
See also Literacy coverage (how to covering reading stories)
FIRST-PERSON ESSAYS AND JOURNALIST INTERVIEWS
How I missed the phonics story (Patti Ghezzi/AJC)* 🚨
Disgusted and demoralized, an education reporter left the beat he loved
‘Be more curious than furious;’ a veteran feature writer’s approach to hot-button topics (Belinda Luscombe)*
‘We wasted a lot of time:’ A veteran reporter reflects (Linda Borg – Providence Journal)*
How to report inside a school — even when they won’t give you access (former Boston Globe Jenna Russell)*
Warning signs in Uvalde (interview with author Mark Follman)*
‘We could have been a lot louder,’ says NPR’s Anya Kamenetz*
Your high school journalism teacher was a serial sexual predator (Insider Matt Drange interview)
Schools are ‘hugely dynamic places,’ says the Washington Post’s Eli Saslow
COVERING DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSIVITY
White media barely noticed when 100,000 Black educators were displaced (Leslie Fenwick)
How education journalism fails to depict the experiences of Black teachers (Jasmine Lane/Chalkbeat) 🚨
Racial diversity in education news? Two steps forward, one step back. (Russo)*
Making education journalism more accessible and inclusive (Amber Walker/Nikki Usher)
Keeping the spotlight on English learners (Barbara Gottschalk/ASCD) 🚨
How insufficient sources (and lack of interest) marred schools coverage in Rochester, NY (Murphy)
Canopy Atlanta’s 5 key elements of community-driven education coverage (Brent Brewer 12/2021)
Diversity, innovation, and strength; how to fix coverage of rural higher education (Nick Fouriezos)
A white parent’s perspective on media coverage of Black schools
GROUP ROUNDUPS (REPORTER EXPERIENCES)
Why most education reporters are sticking with Twitter — for now
After ‘Sold a Story,’ what comes next?*
A wish list for EWA; 10 education journalists share their biggest hopes
The Great Resignation comes to the education beat
‘I will never forget it.’ Education reporters reflect on two years covering schools during the pandemic
‘If you need to cry, cry.’ 6 education reporters’ advice on covering school shootings*
How education reporters stay safe
COVERING NEW ENGLAND
‘We wasted a lot of time:’ A veteran reporter reflects (Borg – Providence)*
Splashy features are no substitute for beat reporting (Cleveland) 🚨
Solutions stories that aren’t puff pieces (Kate Rix)*
COVERING LITERACY AND READING PROGRAMS
Beyond ‘Sold a Story’ (Natalie Wexler)
After ‘Sold a Story,’ what comes next?*
Why the National Reading Panel report didn’t fix reading instruction 20 years ago (Will Callan/Current) 🚨
How I missed the phonics story*
‘Be more curious than furious;’ a veteran feature writer’s approach to hot-button topics (Belinda Luscombe)*
PARENT- AND STUDENT-FOCUSED JOURNALISM
5 bad habits education journalists need to break*
Education journalism is stuck. What’s holding it back?*
How I rediscovered reporting during the pandemic. (Linda Jacobson The 74)*
COVERING POLITICS AND CULTURE
The media-fueled school ‘red wave’ that didn’t happen*
Demand concrete examples & avoid ‘emotionalism’: How to cover school culture war stories in 2022
The Great Math Textbook Hoax of 2022 (Toppo)
Making education news more useful (Toppo)
No, anti-CRT laws don’t actually outlaw lessons that might make students uncomfortable. (Wexler)
For education journalists, the culture war is the easy, less important story (Nic Garcia) 🚨
How to improve book ban coverage (Cafeteria Duty)
People are fighting. Is that news? (Toppo)
What really happened during the Chicago teacher strike? (Steve Rhodes)
Controversy-mongering coverage of SEL — and how to fix it. (Justina Schlund)
CRAFT OF JOURNALISM
The case against “special education” (Julie Metraux/NCDJ) 🚨
Solutions stories that aren’t puff pieces (Kate Rix)
Sources over stories (Rory Linane)
How to make data visualization your friend (Kae Petrin)
How to report from inside a school — even when they won’t give you access (Jenna Russell)*
Why we built EdNC so differently from other outlets (Mebane Rash)
How I rediscovered reporting during the pandemic. (Linda Jacobson The 74)*
The story behind Burbio, the school data company journalists rely on
COVERING SCHOOL SHOOTINGS & CLASSROOM SAFETY
Gun violence coverage focused on mass school shootings is misleading the public. (Lois Beckett)
School shootings aren’t crime stories, they’re public health stories
Warning signs in Uvalde (interview with Mark Follman)*
‘If you need to cry, cry.’ 6 education reporters’ advice on covering school shootings (also self-reflection)*
How to escape the school safety vortex (Maureen Kelleher)
The media obsession with ‘bad kids’ (Cafeteria Duty)
PANDEMIC COVERAGE
‘We could have been a lot louder,’ says NPR’s Anya Kamenetz*
How to report on monkeypox, polio, & COVID outbreaks without transmitting misinformation*
‘We wasted a lot of time:’ A veteran reporter reflects
‘I will never forget it.’ Education reporters reflect on two years covering schools during the pandemic
How education reporters stay safe
How I rediscovered reporting during the pandemic.
The story behind Burbio, the school data company journalists rely on
Media accountability for school closings
Remote reporting doesn’t work, either.
UNCATEGORIZED
Rough start to the new year
Most-read commentary of 2021
The Grade’s most popular pieces of 2022
How a Princeton scholar used FOIA to poke holes in a controversial Virginia program
RUSSO COLUMNS
The 9 most memorable K-12 education stories of 2022
The media-fueled school ‘red wave’ that didn’t happen*
What NAEP coverage reveals about education journalism
Racial diversity in education news? Two steps forward, one step back. (Russo)*
Hope, agency, and dignity: how the education beat could save journalism (Amanda Ripley)
‘We could have been a lot louder,’ says NPR’s Anya Kamenetz (interview/profile)*
Media accountability for school closings
5 bad habits education journalists need to break*
Education journalism is stuck. What’s holding it back?
Remote reporting doesn’t work (either).
🚨 story placed in another outlet or republished from another outlet
* story that appears in more than one category
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The Grade
Launched in 2015, The Grade is a journalist-run effort to encourage high-quality coverage of K-12 education issues.
