| Did you notice? The headline for this New York Times story was changed, perhaps to de-emphasize the suggestion of a conspiracy. Original (above): COVID in the Classroom? Shhh. Some Schools Are Keeping It Quiet. Current:Ā COVID in the Classroom? Some Schools Are Keeping It Quiet.š° COVID COVERAGE THAT GIVES THE FULL PICTURE: A New York Times story opened like too many other recent stories, with an alarming incident, but then moved into a much moreĀ exploratory modeĀ that I think is especially helpful. This is the kind of nuanced, sober coverage of school reopening efforts that we need more of, addressing both risks and opportunities, teasing out similarities and distinctions, and contextualizing fears and talking points with facts. Iāve also come across solid coverage inĀ VoxĀ and theĀ LA Times. Emily Osterās Washington Post column argued that what readers really need to know is ānot the anecdotes that news reports provide, but theĀ full picture,ā including what share of schools have cases, what differentiates schools with cases from those that donāt, and what schools donāt have cases. Journalists complain that they arenāt being given school COVID data that they want, which is a problem, but they need to use the data theyāre given appropriately.
š° RECONSIDERING THE INTEGRATION NARRATIVE: The key takeaway from Chana Joffe-Waltās podcast seriesĀ āNice White ParentsāĀ is that even the most liberal white parents will fuck things up for other families when it comes to education. But a second takeaway that may be just as important ā and even more controversial ā is that advocates and journalists may need to reconsider the whole notion of making racial integration a top priority. Thatās what I came away thinking. And Iām not the only one. āWhere is the groundswell of pro-integration efforts and supportĀ led by Black and other disenfranchised communities?” asksĀ Sonya Horsford of Columbia Universityās Teachers College in a post-podcast roundtable published in the Times.Ā “The integration conversation is more of a conversation thatās happening among those who enjoy some level of privilege ā nice white parents,” she says.Ā “Talking about integration feels like such a distraction.” According to Horsford, social justice advocates (and by implication education journalists) should shift their focus from equity to emancipation.
š° RESPONDING TO CRITICS WILL NOT KILL YOU: Kudos to the New York Timesā Simone Landon, who responded to concerns that I and others expressed about the Timesā new college COVID dashboard with what seemed like calm curiosity. āHi! I’m on the team that put this out,āĀ she tweeted. āWhat denominators would you find most useful? We see compiling this data as the first step before further analysis and context.ā Landon went on to explain a bit behind the thinking that went into the dashboard, and its current limitations.
Missed some previous editions? You can see the archive of past newslettersĀ here.Ā |
THE KICKER![Make [Education] Reporting Great Again](https://kappanonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/make-education-reporting-great-again-2016-440x264.jpg)
