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What a big month for education journalism was April!

BEST

First, there were three finalists (Houston Chronicle, USA Today, and Reuters) and two winners (Salt Lake Tribune and Matt Desmond) in the latest Pulitzer Prize contest. Read all about them here. I especially recommend the much under-discussed Salt Lake Tribune and Reuters pieces (about sexual assault and systematic cheating on standardized tests).

Then, the annual Education Writers Association finalists were announced, featuring some great pieces among the 36 nominees. I have some concerns about the nomination and selection process (see next section) but I’m still a big fan of all the journalism that’s been recognized. Steve Reilly’s series on predatory teachers might be a favorite. The winners will be revealed at the EWA national conference at the end of the month.

In terms of new pieces, I loved the story about how a young African-American teacher from Minnesota got the assembled state teachers of the year to sing Lift Every Voice during their White House visit with President Trump. Listen to teacher Abdul Wright talk about the experience on Minnesota Public Radio here. Read the Star Tribune version here. (Hat tip Valerie Strauss.)

It’s not clear which outlet broke the story, but both pieces take us behind the scenes of a carefully orchestrated meeting that everyone in DC knew was taking place but couldn’t – or just didn’t – cover as imaginatively. Sure, there’s also a feel-good aspect, that’s the kind of extra touch that brings stories to light and sets them apart from everyone else.

Also excellent in April:

The NYT’s newest education reporter, Erica Green, went above and beyond the call, reporting and writing about the much-anticipated Randi Weingarten/Betsy DeVos school visit. She took the time to bring the small community where this happened to life and to tell us more than just what happened at an otherwise meaningless photo op.

The NYT’s second-newest education reporter, Dana Goldstein, told an important tale about efforts to share the bounty of school fundraising efforts. http://ow.ly/mw5n30aSK2O. For more on the same topic, see also EdWeek’s series on inequalities, starting with Do Private Donations Reinforce School Disparities?.

These stories are important because they shine a bright light on the inequalities that operate even within the same school systems, and they also point to some possible ways of tracking and ameliorating them.

But the education story that everybody had to love was the work of Kansas high students taking a careful look at their new principal’s resume. (Hint: There were problems with it.) Their work got picked up nationally by outlets nationally  (such as the Washington Post, NPR). Then they got to attend last weekend’s gala White House Correspondents Association dinner.

WORST

“You’re the worst thing that ever happened to me.”

There’s been a spate of fake education news out there lately, keeping Snopes and others busy. To be clear: No, President Trump didn’t mistreat that kid at the Easter Egg Roll. No, the Supreme Court didn’t ban teaching of Islam. No, there was no return to separate entrances for boys & girls encouraged in little-noticed provision of latest Trump executive order. And no, Samantha Bee’s husband isn’t trying to keep poor black kids out of their kids’ school.

The beloved Upshot section of the NYT tried to do way too much with a recent education story focusing on school quality, commute times, and property values, but ended up mucking things up badly. It’s a good example of data reporting and visualization gone awry – and also an unfortunate example of a newsroom that won’t engage with readers or admit fault even when the researchers whose data is being used raise concerns.

I was not as interested in the wave of school lunch shaming stories (NYT, NYT Christian Science Monitor, NPR, HuffPost) as I thought I would be, or wanted to be. Did everyone have to write one? Did anyone try to tell the story from other points of view (the cafeteria worker who has to implement rigid policies, a student who games the system)?

Much as I hate to be the one pointing it out, there are some questions about the EWA awards process, which mysteriously leaves out some of the biggest stories of the year – again. Sometimes – as with the Reuters series on test cheating or the Boston Globe’s series on Question 2  – it’s because the outlet didn’t apply. One possible way to make sure that the best of the best get considered might be to allow journalists to nominate each others’ pieces, or to create a readers’ favorites category of some kind.

PEOPLE PLACES THINGS

Woo hoo!

The Times-Picayunes’ Danielle Dreilinger was named a Knight-Wallace Fellow for next year, joining a long line of education reporters who have been picked for the prestigious year in Ann Arbor. (EdWeek’s Stephen Sawchuk is a fellow this year.)

Chalkbeat just announced it’s hired reporter Matt Barnum to be its first national reporter. What’s this mean for Chalkbeat and for The 74, both foundation-funded education news outlets? It’s not entirely clear.

No word yet on who will replace Erica Green at the Baltimore Sun, or who’s going to be the NYT’s national education editor.

There’s an education reporter job opening at AJC.

The big EWA conference is coming up later this month, though we still don’t know much about speakers.

The Collaborative for Student Success (a funder of The Grade) released a report looking back at more than a year’s worth of news coverage and social media traffic about ESSA.

The DeVos-run Department of Education hasn’t been communicating well with education reporters in terms of responsiveness, access, and availability to take questions from reporters. And it’s not just you who’s having trouble getting queries responded to from the USDE. It’s fancy New York Times reporters, too. And the situation doesn’t seem to be getting all that much better (though DeVos did finally hire a press secretary).

NEWS FROM THE GRADE

 Moderating a panel on educating kids at intentionally diverse schools.

Thanks to all The Grade’s recent Twitter followers, including The 74’s Sarah Favot, Oklahoma Watch’s Jennifer Palmer, EdWeek’s Kavitha Cardoza, and WGBH’s Kirk Carapezza.

The Grade got a nice mention in Jim Warren’s Poynter Institute media column, and was credited in Kaiser Fung’s takedown of the NYT’s school data visualization.

Want even more great education journalism? Check out the weekly April roundups for weeks 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Missed last month’s best and worst? Go here.

How to keep up on everything education journalism? You can like The Grade’s Facebook Page, follow us on Twitter @thegrade_, and sign up for the weekly email newsletter. Or, just bookmark the site.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Alexander Russo

Alexander Russo

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/

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