We celebrate tonight the men and women whose dedication to the collection and distribution of facts threatens their very existence. When they antagonize those with money, political power and guns, they risk their lives. We, on the other hand, tremble … Read more
Photo by Diedra Laird, The Charlotte Observer. For years, parents and educators in poverty-ridden pockets of the South sensed the public schools were shortchanging their children. And they were right. Their schools face … Read more
After two years of traveling the country working with reporters and editors on computer-assisted reporting techniques, it was clear that no story invokes more fear than the dreaded annual school report. Editors know educators will “The newspaper’s or station’s … Read more
Parents stand up to speak at school board meetings, clutching a copy of the newspaper. The dog-eared newsprint is the source of research that buttresses their comments. School officials pore over the newspaper, looking for academic trends in other districts … Read more
Pages from Gene Graham’s Nieman year sketchbook. Confession: I actually went to journalism school. And now I teach in one. But I’ve also spent plenty of time in newsrooms, a dual perspective critical … Read more
Parents assist children in a fourth grade math class. Photo by Bill Batson, The Omaha World-Herald. For at least a decade before The Omaha World-Herald published its five-part series “The Learning Gap,” … Read more
In education, it’s the era of accountability. Teachers are tested to measure their ability to instruct. Students take standardized tests to find out what they have learned and where they rank compared with others. Controversy and debate swirl around the … Read more
Ten young teens draped themselves over chairs, forming a sloppy circle in the center of an empty middle-school classroom. I sat on the edge of the circle, an outsider looking in on an extraordinary preadolescent confessional. “OK, clean time. How … Read more
