As of today, THE GRADE is re-launching with a new look (see above), a new home (at PDK), and new funders (see list below).
THE GRADE is also available on all your favorite social media platforms: Twitter, Medium, & Facebook.
However, THE GRADE’s mission remains the same: to create an ongoing dialogue with education reporters and editors about high-quality coverage of schools.
And the basic approach — reported media columns looking into specific stories, trends, and developments — is being supplemented with contributions from outside journalists and experts.
See a mainstream education site or story that’s great (or problematic)? Let us know!
Have a great (or awful) experience being covered by the media? Tell us all about it!
Read the full press release below:
ARLINGTON, Va. — THE GRADE is happy to announce a new look, a new home, and new funders for 2017.
Starting this week, THE GRADE will be published in partnership with Phi Delta Kappa International, a national nonprofit organization known for Kappan magazine and its annual PDK Poll of the Public’s Attitudes Toward the Public Schools.
“At PDK, we believe in the value of hearing from all voices in education. We’re looking forward to partnering with Alexander Russo as he continues to examine how the media contributes to the discussion about the many issues in education,” said Joshua Starr, CEO of PDK International.
For 2017, THE GRADE is being funded through grants and awards from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation, and the Collaborative for Student Success. THE GRADE retains complete editorial control.
THE GRADE tracks mainstream media coverage of education issues through daily news roundups, media columns, interviews with education reporters and editors, and a weekly “Best Education Journalism Of The Week” newsletter. THE GRADE also features stories written in the Columbia Journalism Review and other media sites.
An independent effort to promote high-quality mainstream media coverage of education issues, THE GRADE was launched in 2015 by longtime education writer Alexander Russo.
“Even with the rise of social media, mainstream news outlets are still the most widely read sources of information the public and policymakers get about schools,” said Russo. “THE GRADE celebrates and encourages accurate, smart, and compelling education writing.”
In 2017, THE GRADE will include regular outside contributors, a new “Best & Worst” coverage of the month column (culminating in an annual award), a Facebook page, and more.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexander Russo is founder and editor of The Grade, an award-winning effort to help improve media coverage of education issues. He’s also a Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship winner and a book author. You can reach him at @alexanderrusso.
Visit their website at: https://the-grade.org/
