25 Years of Education Week

25 Years of Education Week
Sept. 14, 2006 Guest::
Virginia B. Edwards, president, Editorial Projects in Education Inc.; editor and publisher, Education Week

Kevin Bushweller (Moderator):
Welcome to today’s online chat to mark the 25th anniversary of Education Week. Our featured guest, Virginia B. Edwards, the editor and publisher of the newspaper, will address questions on the paper’s role in fostering a national conversation on schools, its unique status as a nonprofit, and how education journalism has changed over the years.

We have some thoughtful questions waiting to be answered. So let’s get the discussion started ...

Question from Paul J. Smith, Facilitator, Accelerated Learning Center, Little Rock School District:
How can the educational system change first of all to accept and publicize the wide disparity in reading/math scores between black/white secondary students and then to do something about it?

Virginia B. Edwards:
It will come as no surprise that I’m a big believer in the role of the media specifically and communications efforts more generally to disseminate news developments, information, data, and research findings. And I think that’s particularly true for the specific case you raise: gaps in student achievement.

I personally believe that one of the great benefits of NCLB and state standards-based laws is the attention that is now being paid to student and school outcomes. There’s no doubt that such laws have led to some unintended consequences, but there’s also no doubt that they’ve put an accountability spotlight on the point of the educational endeavor: student achievement.

The more the conversation changes to embrace the notion that all children can be expected to learn and succeed, the closer the nation gets to sharing that fundamental value.

Question from Kevin Bushweller:
How do you think the coverage of education by newspapers and other media outlets like Education Week has changed for the better (or for the worse) over the past 10 years?

Virginia B. Edwards:
Over the past decade, education has gained in stature as a beat with national policy implications, and, as such, education reporters have increased a bit in stature among their newsroom brethren, too. And, as a whole, I think education journalism at daily newspapers is better today than it was 10 or so years ago. The problem, of course, is that the quality plays out incredibly unevenly in communities across the country.

Where there have been improvements, one key element is the Internet; the plethora of information available to reporters and editors on the Web has proved to be a hugely important research tool to journalists, one that allows good explanatory journalists more ability to place their stories in the context of other developments and trends. (We certainly see evidence of daily newspaper reporters tapping into Ed Week’s Archives to glean background for their stories, and we’re happy to oblige.)

The downside, of course, is that many media outlets have cut their reporting staffs to the bone and don’t have the resources to spend on the kind of in-depth, enterprise reporting that can constructively add to a community conversation about how to improve schools. Instead, quick-hit stories tend to focus on school board dust-ups, administrative shortcomings, and criminal charges. Explanatory, issue-driven stories become fewer and farther between.

Question from Denise Eslinger, school psychologist:
How do you see school leadership among superintendents and principals for the 21st century? What do you see as the most pressing issue for schools.

Virginia B. Edwards:
School leadership, as you know, is the subject of great interest these days among policymakers, practitioners, and others (including foundations). Like any number of issues in education over the past couple decades or so, the spotlight on the issue of school leadership has waxed, and it has waned.

Today, it appears to us to be as intense as ever. Some folks are taking the tack of working on how to best train school leaders, including with continuing professional development. Others see the need to confront the problem more systemically through changes in state and local policies.

Make sure to check out the special news report we published in this week’s Ed Week on the state role in fostering instructional leadership at the district and school levels.

Question from Kevin Bushweller:
Do you think educators thirst for news is growing? How is that thirst different now than it was 10 or so years ago?

Virginia B. Edwards:
Here’s my take: Educators, policymakers, and even the public “say” they are thirstier for news and information about K-12 schooling than ever -- and certainly many of them are. All you have to do is consider the growing accountability pressures on policymakers and practitioners (and kids), the desire to engage in data-driven decision-making, and the hunger for info on “what works” and “best practices.”

That being said, I’m also struck by how many educators and others don’t seem to follow through on their stated desire to seek out data, research, and information that would inform professional practice. Obviously, there’re lots of barriers -- time constraints, peer pressure, etc.

For me, the bottom line is that I’d love to see more attention paid to stoking the “demand side” of the information ledger.

Question from Natalie Harper, Independent Researcher:
Please discuss the impact of charter schools on the public education system: funding priorities, public policy, media coverage.

Virginia B. Edwards:
To the extent I feel comfortable weighing in on this question, it’s around the impact of charter schools on media coverage. (The others, after all, are hotly debated by folks who make their whole living seeking to create, fund, and legislate charter schools; we’re only the messenger, remember?)

I do feel on solid ground to say that the media have written a lot about charter schools for some pretty obvious, defensible reasons: They represent an alternative sector of public schools, and the research has been mixed about whether and under what conditions charter schools lead to improved student achievement.

By definition, journalists seek to write about new and emerging trends, and journalists take to controvery like a fish takes to water. That being said, I believe the best journalism in a public policy field like education endeavors to be explanatory, to be balanced.

Question from Kevin Bushweller:
Some Education Week readers have suggested that the newspaper should do more investigative reporting? Would you agree with that critique? Or do you think the newspaper does a good job of investigating important topics?

Virginia B. Edwards:
I’m always happy to hear reader feedback about the job we do -- whether about our priorities for coverage or about our ability to cover what we cover in a high-quality, balanced way. In this case, I would certainly agree that there’ve been times I’ve wished we could have expended more resources on a particular investigative story or development.

That being said, we make decisions virtually every day about how to do the best job we can -- within the resources available to us -- to cover the field as thoroughly and thoughtfully as possible. Too bad those resources aren’t endless!

I often use the term “explanatory journalism” to describe the kind of reporting and writing we do. And, of course, there’re often investigative elements in the kind of explanatory journalism we do. For instance, even the data-collection efforts that undergird our annual Counts reports -- Quality Counts, Technology Counts, and Diplomas Count -- could be described as “investigative.”

Question from Sally Caldwell, Director, Coverdell World Wise Schools, Peace Corps:
How should high schools adjust the curriculum to prepare students for entering a global marketplace?

Virginia B. Edwards:
Your question hits on a personal passion of mine and a high-priority issue for Education Week: the need to bring a greater global perspective to K-12 education in the United States.

As you might imagine, I would suggest spending some time in our Web site’s Archives section. Though there’re a few missing articles in the edweek.org database that spans 25 years of stories in Ed Week, you’d find lots of stories that refer to groups, associations, and foundations working to bring a more international context to the nation’s schools.

Also, you might want to check out the Asia Society’s Education Initiatives (http://www.internationaled.org/education).

Question from Kevin Bushweller:
In your time at Education Week, what do you think were the biggest trends the newspaper has covered? And what trends have emerged recently that you think will continue to be big stories?

Virginia B. Edwards:
Each summer, the editors and reporters at Education Week go through an intensive process to reflect on the trends that have played out over the just-completed publishing year and to brainstorm about what we think may play out differently in the coming year. In essence, we use the process to set our priorities for coverage for the year. (Our weekly news meetings obviously give us ample opportunity as the year unfolds to make mid-course corrections.)

I would say that the three biggest trends the newspaper has covered over the past 20 years or so: the emergence and “codification” of the standards-based reform agenda; the emergence and gaining popularity of “new arrangements” in public education; and the profound demographic shifts that have impacted every nook and cranny of the nation’s schools.

Two emerging trends: the recognition that education must be viewed as a continuum and that greater attention must be paid to the transition point between preschool/early education and K-12 as well as to the one between K-12 and postsecondary education/training; and the growing recognition that U.S. schools operate within a global context.

Question from Jay Brown, Instructor, CCSU, New Britain, CT:
Besides what you’ve just said in your response to the first letter today, what do you see ss some strengths and potentil weeknesses of the NCLB attitude of many ?

Virginia B. Edwards:
As for NCLB, we’re entering an incredibly interesting period during which all manner of education policymaker and player have already begun positioning themselves for the debate over the federal law’s reauthorization.

I won’t pretend to know how it will all sort out, but I am sure that there’ll be no lack of opinion all along the spectrum -- from those arguing for minor, minor tinkering of NCLB to those calling for its complete overhaul.

Without going out on a limb, I think it’s safe to say that even the most ardent detractors of the law acknowledge the benefits of putting a spotlight on the need to increase the achievement of all students. Conversely, even the most vociferous supporters recognize that some changes (technical or otherwise) are needed in the law.

What I can promise is that Ed Week will follow all the story’s twists and turns (as it’s done since the law was originally signed by President Bush in 2002).

Question from Kevin Bushweller:
Education Week’s recent piece about its history says the newspaper was started to foster a national dialogue about K-12 education? Is that still the newspaper’s primary role? Or is it beginning to take on many other roles too?

Virginia B. Edwards:
I would say that the newspaper’s original goal of fostering a national dialogue about K-12 schools is still very definitely the case. In a field that continues to be defined by community and local sensibilities, my colleagues and I have no doubt that Education Week’s contribution to helping to frame the issues in a national context is beneficial to the ultimate goal of improving schools.

The fact is, though, that the news stories, explanatory articles, and commentary pieces that populate the pages of Ed Week week in and week out are only one type of information that we publish. With the advent of the Internet, we now have an information- and data-delivery mechanism that allows us to publish and point to other resources and research. In other words, we’re increasingly working to position edweek.org as the Web’s single best education portal.

In general, our work to position edweek.org as the education community’s No. 1 information portal is being pursued on three fronts. The first is our ongoing efforts to keep the site as timely, current, and fresh as possible. The second is a series of design and technology projects that seek to make the site even more accessible and even more easily navigated, and the third is the exciting realm of work that seek to “build community” on the site through increased interactivity.

Question from Melissa McCabe, CCSSO:
You mentioned that the Internet is a research tool for journalists. How else has technology changed and shaped education reporting over the past decade? I know more and more publications like Education Week are leveraging the Web to disseminate information through blogs, live chats like this one, podcasts, etc. What impact has this (and will this) have on the print versions of newspapers and on newsrooms themselves?

Virginia B. Edwards:
There’s no doubt that we’ve had to re-imagine what it means to be a journalist over the past decade. Not only do we need to think of ourselves as “platform agnostic” -- you know, that it doesn’t matter whether the news is delivered initially in print or online -- but we’re also having to think creatively about how to interact more personally and directly with our community of readers and users -- as you note, through blogs, chats, etc.

One specific thing I’m struck by is the changing mix of content available in print vs. that published online. In the print version of Ed Week, virtually everything published is written by a staff writer and edited by a staff editor. (Commentaries in the “back of the book” are, of course, an exception.)

Online, much of the content we publish is aggregated from other sources in an effort to provide an even richer resource -- i.e.: daily news clips, Report Roundup. The key for us is to be incredibly careful in making sure the content is labeled clearly and correctly so users know what they’re consuming.

And ... as a quick P.S. ... it’s been interesting to watch how the Internet has changed the actual reporting process. More and more interviews are done online and through e-mail, for instance.

Question from Kevin Bushweller:
Education Week’s sidebar to the 25th anniversary piece, “Foundation Support Plays Key Role for Newspaper,” describes the newspaper as an “unusual animal” because it operates in the commercial world of publishing, but is run by a nonprofit corporation. What are the benefits and drawbacks of nonprofit journalism? And do you see foundation support playing an even larger role in the newspaper’s future?

Virginia B. Edwards:
As a nonprofit, Editorial Projects in Education, the publisher of Education Week, Teacher Magazine, and edweek.org, among other projects, relies on grant funding to support many of its more ambitious reporting and research projects. There’s no doubt that targeted underwriting has helped EPE make great strides in increasing the quantity and quality of its coverage of some of the most complex issues in education.

(And just to be perfectly clear, while a foundation will award EPE a grant to support coverage on a general topic, Education Week editors are responsible for deciding which specific stories to pursue and publish. I admit, though, that perceptions of the heavy hand of some grantmakers linger.)

Our highly anticipated Quality Counts report, for instance, could not take on the ambitious research it routinely tackles on state policymaking without the support of the Pew Charitable Trusts. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation recently decided to underwrite EPE’s capacity to produce in-depth research, analysis, and reporting on high school graduation.

In the weekly issues of Education Week, we’ve come to rely on such funders as the Wallace Foundation, which underwrites our coverage of leadership issues; the Hewlett Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York, which supports coverage of district-level issues; the Annenberg Foundation, which supports our coverage of “new arrangements” in publicly funded education and classroom reform; and the Spencer Foundation, which underwrites coverage of education research.

Another way to underscore the importance of grant funding to EPE is to examine the organization’s budget. Historically, revenue from grants in any given fiscal year has ranged from 5 percent to 15 percent. While the percentage of revenue from grants does not represent a large portion of the total income for EPE, it is very definitely a necessary and valued resource to do the work we do. In other words, without such support, we would be severely hampered in our ability to provide news, information, and research to the field, and our ultimate survival would be called into question.

Finally, I would note how heartening it’s been on late to hear the growing numbers of media pundits and critics who have been extolling the important role that nonprofit journalistic outlets play. At a time of increased corporate dominance of media outlets and the bottom-line pressures that result, they say, it’s heartening to see organizations that don’t need to excessively worry about shareholder return.

Question from Paul J. Smith, Facilitator, Accelerated Learning Center, Little Rock School District:
Do you think that the educational leaders in the USA are capable of suggesting alternatives and making the huge changes necessary to improve education?

Virginia B. Edwards:
School leadership, as you know, is the subject of great interest these days among policymakers, practitioners, and others (including foundations). Like any number of issues in education over the past couple decades or so, the spotlight on the issue of school leadership has waxed, and it has waned.

Today, it appears to us to be as intense as ever. Some folks are taking the tack of working on how to best train school leaders, including with continuing professional development. Others see the need to confront the problem more systemically through changes in state and local policies.

Make sure to check out the special news report we published in this week’s Ed Week on the state role in fostering instructional leadership at the district and school levels.

Question from Jim Kohlmoos, President, NEKIA:
I know that you are interested in issues related to knowledge transfer and utilization in education. Why does this seem so difficult in education when in fields like medicine and agriculture the use of research based knowledge is on the cutting edge of innovation and improvement? Is there a bigger role that journalists could play?

Virginia B. Edwards:
Oooooh. This is where I’m going to get myself in trouble, but here goes ...

I believe that one of the big reasons that the education profession doesn’t behave in more similar ways to medicine, agriculture, etc. with respect to how knowledge is transferred and consumed has to do with the fact that people generally believe that they “know the answers.” I know it’s a cliché, but I think there’s definitely something to the fact that people (including educators and policymakers) believe that their having gone through the system arms them to make policy decisions and to step in front of a classroom.

And, yes, journalists are definitely an important cog in the dissemination of news, information, research, etc. I’d note one caveat, though: Folks need to be “in the market” for new information (knowledge) for it to stick. That’s why I’m in favor of the “drip, drip, drip” theory of getting information out. It may not stick a first time, or a second, or a third .... , but, perhaps, finally, there’s a point where it hits its mark.

Question from Kevin Bushweller:
Question from Jay Brown, Adjunct Faculty, Dept. of Communications, Central CT State University:

Q: What do you see as the most effective way to encourage and assure our students that Communications is an exciting and growing field of scholastic and professional endeavor?

Virginia B. Edwards:
Yikes. That’s a question near and dear to my heart, but I’ll leave the big, big picture to you scholars.

Still, I can’t pass up the opportunity to sound off on one of my favorite topics: the need for media literacy among U.S. students and citizens. For those of us in the media biz (among many others), it’s been disconcerting to watch how media-consumption habits have changed over the past decade or so.

Make no mistake: I’m a big supporter of the Internet and what it can do for delivering news and information and promoting interactivity around such content. But there’re big questions about whether the “consumers” and “users” of the online news and information are able to discern its original source and make the distinction between “impartial, independent” content and content from a source with an advocacy or political agenda.

Kevin Bushweller (Moderator):
Thank you for joining us for today’s chat to mark the 25th anniversary of Education Week. And a special thanks to our guest, Virginia B. Edwards, for sharing her thoughts and insights about the workings of this newspaper.

Please stay tuned to edweek.org over the next several months for more special features we will be producing to mark the paper’s 25th anniversary.

This chat is now over. A transcript of the discussion will be posted shortly on edweek.org

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