Newsletters you should read right now

The humble newsletter is all the rage, and the education beat has a slew of good ones to choose from.

By Colleen Connolly

Email newsletters first became popular during the dinosaur age of the internet, but today they are arguably more popular than ever before. Outside the chaos of social media, newsletters offer sleek, highly curated, and digestible round-ups of news and personal dispatches from trusted reporters delivered straight to your inbox.

This year, in particular, has seen some notable expansions of the medium as more journalists strike out on their own with the newsletter platform Substack and publications launch niche pop-up newsletters in response to news events like the New York Times’ Coronavirus Schools Briefing, recently profiled here.

To help you sort through which newsletters you should follow, I’ve rounded up some of the most interesting and useful education-related newsletters you can use right now. The list is not comprehensive but includes some under-the-radar newsletters as well as some of the essential ones. Some may be familiar. A few might be new to you and worth adding to your media diet.

Politics and Policy

Some of the best education stories go beyond anecdotes and statistics to explain the policies that make education what it is. With a new administration set to take office in the middle of a pandemic, these stories are even more crucial.

The 74 is one of the few education news organizations that regularly delves into politics and policy, and its daily newsletter is a great resource to help education journalists and practitioners stay on top of it. Freelance education reporter Rachel Cohen, who often reports on politics, too, recommends it as one of her favorites. Recent newsletters detailed the education issues on the ballot at the local, state, and national levels and what the outcomes mean.

Politico’s lengthy weekly education newsletter currently focuses solely on how COVID is “reshaping and upending education as we know it.” A recent edition covered President-elect Biden’s K-12 plans for the pandemic, dove into the data about what kids have lost this year, and gave an update on how Mississippi schools are coping.

For useful information on the politics of the pandemic and education, I would also recommend these newsletters:

• Emily Oster (of COVID school tracker fame) has a biweekly newsletter on data about parenting and pregnancy. You can often find her thoughts on COVID and schools there.
• The COVID-19 Data Dispatch from science and data journalist Betsy Ladyzhets is another great one. Though not strictly about education, it offers helpful context that can be applied to COVID cases in schools.
• Burbio’s blog on school reopening data can also be delivered to your inbox. It goes out Sundays to those who are in the know and is posted online Monday mornings.
• Higher ed: Middlebury student and journalist Benjy Renton is tracking the impact of the pandemic on higher ed. “To be honest, I don’t read many education newsletters,” he told me. But he does read the New York Times Coronavirus Schools Briefing and checks the Chronicle of Higher Ed and Inside Higher Ed daily. You can read Renton’s newsletter on higher ed in the pandemic here.

Previous coverage: What makes the New York Times’ education newsletter so good

Conversation Starters

The Substack revolution has spared no beat, including education. The bloggier tone of these newsletters lends more voice to otherwise strictly reported stories. As a journalist, I find them fascinating. I’d love to see more education journalists like Nikole Hannah-Jones and Erica L. Green launch their own newsletters. But for now, these are some of my favorites:

• Rachel’s Notebook by Rachel Cohen. It includes her reporting on education as well as her other beats (labor, climate, cities, and politics). For aspiring freelance education writers, it’s a neat look into how Cohen blends her interests to produce stories that span more than one beat and one publication.
• HEWN by freelance education journalist Audrey Watters. HEWN is an outgrowth of Watters’ Hack Education blog. A former Spencer Education Journalism fellow and author of several books on education technology, Watters breaks down the latest ed tech news in a conversational way and weaves in stories from her own life, too. It’s a great way to get acquainted with a niche beat that is often overlooked in mainstream education coverage.
• Anya’s Digest by NPR education reporter Anya Kamenetz. Kamenetz started her newsletter long before Substack was around, but it fits right in with the up-and-comers. She writes about education, family, technology, politics, and more and told me she has about 1,700 subscribers. Like many education journalists, Kamenetz is a parent too, and her newsletter provides an important perspective on covering issues that are both wide-ranging and deeply personal.

Previous coverage: 15 newsletters you need to know about if you really love education journalism

From National to Hyper-Local

It’s always good to know what other education journalists are working on. For an overview of what’s happening around the country, Chalkbeat’s weekly national newsletter is one of the best with stories from their reporters around the country. Each of the bureaus has newsletters focusing on their specific cities and states, too.

The Wall Street Journal is also coming out with a weekly education newsletter soon. Bureau chief Chastity Pratt will oversee it. She told me it’s still under development, but you can sign up now. I’d love to see USA Today do a similar newsletter, but as of now they don’t have plans for one.

What about local news? The various education labs at newspapers around the country also have their own newsletters. These are good places to find all of their stories as well as audience engagement techniques.

• The voice-y Seattle Times Education Lab newsletter, written by engagement editor Jenn Smith, shares stories from around Washington and regularly asks readers and students to write in about their own experiences in school.
• The Boston Globe has a newsletter from its Great Divide team rounding up education stories from Boston and greater New England.
• The Fresno Bee Education Lab and the new Dallas Morning News Education Lab also have newsletters.

Beat reporters can also benefit from finding the hyper-local or niche newsletters in the communities they cover. Here are a few examples:

• WHYY education reporter Avi Wolfman-Arent recommends a Pennsylvania-specific newsletter by school board member Larry Feinberg called PA Ed Policy Roundup. “Larry has a clear ideological slant,” Wolfman-Arent told me. “But he tracks all the small-town newspapers in Pa., which is helpful.”
• In Massachusetts, Worcester school committee member and parent Tracy O’Connell Novick publishes a daily news roundup called The Daily Ed and sends out a regular newsletter called Whos of Who-cester that often gets into the nitty-gritty of policy at the local level. Novick is a regular source for local journalists.

These hyper-local newsletters can be real gems for reporters, so look for them in your community.

Tricks of the Trade and Media Criticism

No more room for news in your inbox? Consider following newsletters that provide practical information — tips, tricks, and criticism — for education journalists.

Our own newsletter at The Grade, of course, offers a look at the week’s best education journalism as well as criticism, reminders, tips, job notices, and more.

The Education Writers Association has its own Friday newsletter for members covering everything from the do’s and don’ts of data reporting to how to apply for grants.

Related coverage:

What makes the New York Times’ education newsletter so good

15 newsletters you need to know about if you really love education journalism