Over nearly three years, The Grade has published a large number of pieces about media coverage of the COVID-19 crisis and schools.
JOURNALISTS’ SELF-REFLECTIONS
‘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.
‘We could have been a lot louder,’ says NPR’s Anya Kamenetz
MEDIA SENSATIONALISM
Media accountability for school closings
How to report on monkeypox, polio, & COVID outbreaks without transmitting misinformation
Sensationalist headlines, missing context, and the importance of interviewing school clerks
This year’s back to school coverage has been unnecessarily alarmist — again. But there’s still time to improve.
Negative COVID coverage and prolonged school shutdowns
How media coverage turned vulnerable kids into an invisible threat
How to avoid writing needlessly alarmist school reopening stories
PANDEMIC RECOVERY & CONFLICT
The lamentable rise of ‘conflict’ journalism
‘Squid Game’ school board coverage isn’t helping
Covering school vaccine mandates
Rethinking K-12 education coverage for the post-pandemic era
Why white journalists need to stop focusing on ‘learning loss’
REOPENING SCHOOLS COVERAGE
3 ways to measure school reopening trends
3%: the unusual measure that governs the fate of the New York City schools
How the SF Chronicle’s Jill Tucker tackles the uncertainty surrounding the reopening debate
No, AFT head Randi Weingarten isn’t a school reopening champion
Reopening coverage should focus on students’ needs
Smart ways to cover the wrenching debate over reopening schools
Journalists’ strategies for covering the school reopening story
Will New York City schools ever reopen? Better coverage might help us find out.
Remote reporting doesn’t work, either.
BACK IN THE CLASSROOM
Back to school for reporters, too
Education reporters back in schools — and newsrooms
While American schools have roared back to life, media coverage has focused on setbacks
How the NYT’s Susan Dominus reported on in-person learning without going into classrooms
The tentative successes of in-person learning deserve more coverage
REMOTE LEARNING/LEARNING LOSS
Reporters share advice on how to get out of the remote learning rut
To cover remote learning effectively, go narrow and deep
The disengaged kids missing from the New York Times’ remote learning coverage
MISCELLANEOUS
The story behind Burbio, the school data company journalists rely on
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.
