People, stories, and efforts worth being thankful about in 2021.
By Alexander Russo
It’s been a tough year for education journalism.
But the beat remains indispensable, and there are lots of standout stories, talented journalists, and exciting new endeavors to be thankful about.
As you may recall, last year’s Thanksgiving shout-outs included the Washington Post’s Donna St. George, the Salt Lake Tribune’s Courtney Tanner, EdWeek’s school closing map, and the Dallas Morning News’ ed lab.
This year’s roundup includes people, stories, and efforts that we’re most thankful for in 2021.
Take a look and then tell us who’s on your list:
JOURNALISTS
Right now I’m particularly thankful for the work of Boston Globe education reporter Bianca Vázquez Toness, whose deeply human feature coverage has been an inspiration and a delight, and NPR education correspondent Anya Kamenetz, who has somehow produced a slew of really strong stories and written a book about the school system’s response to the pandemic.
Also: Sahan Journal’s Becky Dernbach, who’s Minneapolis-based community journalism is a delight to read, and The 74’s Asher Lehrer-Small, a relatively new Providence-based reporter who’s produced a bunch of interesting and important pieces in a short time.
STORIES
We’ve all got our own favorites, but some of the feature stories I am most thankful for include Jackie Mader’s recent piece on the struggles of first-grade readers, Andrew Rice’s deep dive into why New Jersey parents are so mad at Democratic elected officials, and Susan Dominus’s New York Times Magazine piece about the reopening of Providence schools well before many other city school systems.
Also: Noreen Malone’s amazing piece in Slate about the reopening showdown in Brookline, Mass.
NEWSLETTERS
I’m thankful for the weekly schools update from Burbio, which has become the unlikely but indispensable product for reporters and editors looking for a regular big-picture view of school closings, mask policies, and quarantine protocols.
Also: John Bailey’s daily COVID newsletter is a great Monday-Friday resource for reporters and educators alike. And Cafeteria Duty is an especially thoughtful educator-written newsletter.
Also: Check out our most recent newsletter and follow @thegrade_ for daily news clips and K-12 media events.
TRENDS
Journalists including NPR’s Anya Kamenetz, freelancer David Zweig, and Chalkbeat’s Matt Barnum held themselves and each other accountable for their work.
Educators, parents, and advocates saw the importance of high-quality journalism and helped make education journalism better. (Some of them even began producing their own coverage.)
Legacy newsrooms like AL.com launched in-house education teams that seem to combine the best of nonprofit and for-profit journalism.
Also: The Washington Post and New York Times named full-time education section editors.
THANKS!
Last but not least, I’m thankful to all of you who read, contribute, support, and help produce The Grade’s weekly newsletters and columns. I couldn’t do this without your readership, feedback, support, and smarts.
Previously from The Grade
Grateful for education journalism (2020)
The 14 most memorable pieces of education journalism of 2020
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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/
