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Back to School: Getting coverage off to a good start

Back to School: Getting coverage off to a good start. Linda Shaw, education editor, Seattle Times. Kindergarten in the middle.

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Back to School: Getting coverage off to a good start

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  1. Back to School: Getting coverage off to a good start Linda Shaw, education editor, Seattle Times

  2. Kindergarten in the middle With pressure from above to teach more academics earlier and pressure from below to make sure play doesn’t disappear, just what is kindergarten these days? How do teachers deal with all the expectations of what they’re supposed to accomplish? Do children who’ve had two years of preschool see kindergarten as the same big step into the big world? “I am pressured to be everything to everyone; I am caught between developmental and disciplinary approaches to pedagogy and curriculum; and I am tossed about between play and formal instruction.” -- Kindergarten teacher

  3. Positive Punishment Many states and districts are working to prevent behavior problems before they occur and severely reduce, if not eliminate, out-of-school suspensions and expulsions. How are schools and teachers working to get the the new year off to a good start behavior-wise?

  4. In limbo: Why do so many college students end up in remedial classes, and should they? What are community colleges doing to help the large number of students who must take (and pay for) remedial classes before they earn a single college credit? Do all those students really need remedial classes? Are the placement tests flawed? What are the remediation rates in each of your community colleges, and what do they mean? “For many of these students, a remedial course is their first college experience, as well as their last.” -- Stan Jones, president of the nonprofit advocacy group Complete College America

  5. Do’s • Think broadly – Look for a good enterprise story that makes sense to run at the start of school. • Think about general reader, not just parents or educators. What would interest them? • Think about asking readers for help for part of your coverage. Maybe ask them to share first day of school photos? First day of school memories? Maybe not for story, but in blog or another way? • Look at the broader context behind the changes that schools/districts are making. One example: When a Catholic school pitched a story about its new blended learning curriculum, I discovered one goal was to increase the school’s declining enrollment. The story ended up focusing on the need for many urban Catholic schools to do something dramatically different to keep their doors open.

  6. Don’ts • Avoid cliché stories -- ones for which readers already know the plot and the ending. Surprise them. • Don’t wait until the last minute, when you’ll have to fall back on cliché or thinly reported stories • Avoid highlighting new programs without closely examining the evidence behind them. What tells a school or district or teacher that this might work? What does the research say, good and bad? How will educators determine whether it works in their schools?

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