Girls outscore boys on inaugural national test of technology, engineering skills – The Washington Post ow.ly/PjPe300hr1w PA Governor not ready to revise teacher layoff law :: SI&A Cabinet Report ow.ly/Ssgt300hrF3 Pearson gets emergency test scoring contract from Tennessee | Chalkbeatow.ly/Zz2z1005u57 A First: Pell Grants For High School Students Who Take College Classes : NPR Ed : […]
Alexander Russo
Alexander Russo is a freelance education writer who has created several long-running blogs such as the national news site This Week In Education, District 299 (about Chicago schools), and LA School Report. He can be reached on Twitter at @alexanderrusso, on Facebook, or directly at alexanderrusso@gmail.com.
LA Times Charter School Costs Story Raises Coverage Concerns
LA Times charter school costs story from last week I was surprised last week to see that the LA Times ran a story about a new UTLA-commission charter school costs report without getting it thoroughly vetted by others, but apparently that practice isn’t as uncommon as I thought. “I don’t think it’s that unusual,” said interim […]
Roundup: Bathroom Access, Detroit’s Demise, SF Opts Out Of TFA
Few Solutions in Texas School Finance Ruling – The New York Times ow.ly/TqeV300eLMs Detroit schools’ decline and teacher sickout reflect bad economy and demographic shifts – LA Times ow.ly/4Xwk300dcsG SF school leaders give Teach for America a time-out – San Francisco Chronicle ow.ly/uQBo300eMB0 Gov. Wolf pledges to veto bill that diminishes teacher seniority ow.ly/OQwx300eOsl CPS: School […]
Best Education Journalism Of The Week (May 6 – 13, 2016)
By LA Johnson for NPR Education BEST OF THE WEEK Chalkbeat: They rejected multi-state Common Core exams. Now what? ow.ly/deRN30030Cq NYT Opinion: Guess Who’s Taking Remedial Classes? Kids From Affluent Communities ow.ly/DZi830052fD Washington Post: USDE says it’s trying to protect poor children. A senator says they’re trying to break the law ow.ly/Q78T300a7BL WSJ: New York’s boost in pre-k funding […]
Boston Busing, Black Lives Matter, & The Current State Of Education Commentary
Image from the Pulitzer Prize-winning Boston Globe series on desegregation efforts. The general lack of independent, high-quality commentary about education issues is a familiar concern to readers of THE GRADE. How lovely then to see Boston Globe oped columnist Farah Stockman get some Pulitzer Prize recognition for what the Pulitzer Committee described as “extensively reported columns that […]
Roundup: Transgender Bathrooms, Federal ESSA Conflict
U.S. Directs Public Schools to Allow Transgender Access to Restrooms nyti.ms/1WtMvrd See also: Reaction To White House Directive On Transgender Bathrooms : NPR ow.ly/6cM2300a7Jc USDE says it’s trying to protect poor children. A senator says they’re trying to break the law. – WashPost ow.ly/Q78T300a7BL Report: California’s charter schools lag behind traditional schools in graduating students | EdSource ow.ly/b3ar300a8br CA […]
“Spotlight” Editor Warns EdReporters Against Deference & Urges Better Story Choices
Actor Michael Keaton, left, Boston Globe editor Walter Robinson, right The Boston Globe’s Walter Robinson gave an inspiring if cautionary talk to a room full of journalists last week. His remarks were so engrossing that, as the Seattle Times’ Paige Cornwell noted, Robinson got a room full of reporters to ignore an open bar. (Well, ahem, […]
Roundup: $63M HS Football Stadium, PK Progress (Sorta)
That’s Right: $63 Million for a Football Stadium … for High Schoolers – The New York Times ow.ly/9LNQ3008f0E New York’s Increase in Pre-K Funding Leads Nation – WSJ ow.ly/GKzk3008ftO California’s schools will soon be on the hook for things like suspensions, attendance and graduation rates – LA Times http://ow.ly/8bOE3008jBy Enrollment in state-funded preschool inched up […]
Six New Rules For Education Journalism
Below find six “new” rules for education journalism, according to me. The best of the lot may be “Include at least 1 item not provided to you, a reaction quote, or lifted from another story.” Six new rules for education journalism, drafts in no particular order. Disagree. Add more. Pass them along. pic.twitter.com/Vl4k7nS4XJ — alexanderrusso […]
Roundup: New Orleans, Philadelphia, LA, North Carolina
Do new charter schools really cost L.A. Unified more than $500 million a year? – LA Times ow.ly/dNLB3006pKB It’s Unlikely North Carolina Schools Would Lose Federal Funding Over HB 2 ow.ly/Xm643006qfT 25 hedge fund managers earned more last year than every kindergarten teacher in America – Vox ow.ly/fxnS3006upX Bill to end seniority in teacher layoffs […]

