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11 memorable education stories every education reporter should read

By Alexander Russo | Aug 2, 2018 | The Grade

A roundup of g reat long-form journalism from over the years — and what makes them so memorable.

By Kristen Doerer

Most education reporters yearn to write memorable stories, the ones that go beyond the routine, make a deep impression and stick in readers’ minds.

But what makes for one of those standout stories?

In an attempt to answer that question, The Grade asked education journalists and others for their personal favorites.

Those who answered provide more than a list of outstanding reading and listening material. Their responses show what spectacular pieces of education journalism tend to have in common.

Almost all of the stories examined topical issues in education — racial, economic and gender disparities, dropout rates, high-pressure testing, gun violence and trauma — through a personal prism. They relied less on talking heads and more on the people living the stories. They avoided simplistic representations of these people or the issues they faced, leading to deeper understanding and empathy among readers.

Three of them are investigations that revealed in unsparing detail wrongdoing by school administrators that cheated students of their right to a decent education.

Here, then, are those memorable stories:

Wrong Answer , by Rachel Aviv, published July 2014 in The New Yorker. Nominated separately by Danielle Dreilinger, Knight-Wallace Fellow, and Mario Koran, California correspondent at The 74.

“I dream of writing this article,” Dreilinger said. “It answers the question I always have when someone breaks the rules big-time: What is the story they were telling themselves?”

The New Yorker story describes how, under tremendous district pressure to raise student test scores, educators in the Atlanta Public Schools system cheated on state-administered standardized tests by changing students’ wrong answers. When the full breadth of the systemic cheating was uncovered in 2011, it was labeled one of the largest cheating scandals in U.S. history.

Aviv tells the story of the educators who participated and perpetuated the cheating at Parks Middle School in Atlanta and zoomed in on two in particular: Damany Lewis, a math teacher, and Christopher Waller, the school’s principal.

“Stories about schools and education are often framed around heroes or villains, good actors or bad,” Koran said. “But this piece in The New Yorker shows us how educators with good records can make bad decisions, regardless of their intentions.”

The resulting story revealed teachers’ inner conflicts and added nuance, empathy, and understanding of how matters spiraled out of control. A feature movie based on Aviv’s story is in the works.

‘It’s Like You’re Climbing Everest’ by Erika Hayasaki, published  February 2006 in the LA Times. Nominated by Linda Shaw, western region manager at the Solutions Journalism Network.

“The scenes in that story have stuck with me, and still break my heart,” Shaw said.

Hayasaki’s series on high school dropouts followed a group of 11 boys who called themselves the Outsiders and whose families immigrated from Mexico and other parts of Latin America. They entered Birmingham High School together in Los Angeles in fall of 2001. By late spring of 2005, only four of the 11 were still enrolled.

In one scene, Hayasaki follows the Outsiders to what they had hoped would be their own high-school graduation.

“Inside the stadium,” Hayasaki writes, “joined by Isaac, Andy and James Moreno, they slid under a rail to find a private spot away from celebrating families: six Outsiders watching what was supposed to be their graduation ceremony from behind a metal fence … Isaac flipped through the program. Suddenly, he spotted his name: ‘Isaac Carlos Castillo.’ School officials had not removed it. Isaac pinched his eyes with his fingers, trying to stifle tears. He shook his head and glanced at the field decorated with gold balloons. He cried.”

That scene, 12 years later, still sticks with Shaw.

“Hayasaki did what education reporters often say we should do more of: Put students’ stories and voices front-and-center in our stories,” Shaw said. “By doing that, Hayasaki explained more about what’s behind the high dropout rate than any other story I can recall.”

(Others articles in the series include A Formula for Failure in L.A. Schools and Back to Basics: Why Does High School Fail So Many? Hayasaki followed up with the Outsiders in High School’s `Outsiders’ Are Dropping Back In and A Day for Second Chances . )

In “The Problem We All Live With,” Nikole Hannah-Jones follows two school districts in Missouri that in 2013 experienced an accidental desegregation program.

The Problem We All Live With , by Nikole Hannah-Jones, aired July 2015 on This American Life. Nominated by New York Times reporter Farah Stockman.

In this much-admired episode, Hannah-Jones follows two school districts in Missouri that in 2013 experienced an accidental desegregation program. Through a glitch in state statute, students from Normandy High, the majority black, low-performing school that Michael Brown attended, were allowed to take a bus 30 miles away to Francis Howell, in a wealthy and majority white district.

The piece follows a student from Normandy High whose mother is on a quest to find her daughter a good education. We sit in on them discussing transferring at the kitchen table. We hear white parents saying they don’t want their district to enroll students from Normandy High School.

A Pulitzer Prize winner for her series on school segregation in Boston, Stockman calls the segment “eye-opening.”

For more on “The Problem We All Live With” and Hannah-Jones’s other reporting on segregation, listen to Longform Podcast #197: Nikole Hannah-Jones , nominated by The Oregonian’s Bethany Barnes. She calls the interview with Hannah-Jones “a love song to old-school beat reporting.”

The Grade takes a deeper look at education journalism. Sign up  here  for the free weekly newsletter. 

No Child Left Behind by Stephanie Banchero, published  July 2004 in the Chicago Tribune. Nominated by Greg Toppo, a senior editor at Inside Higher Ed.

In this series, Banchero follows 9-year-old Rayola Cardwell, a student from the South Side of Chicago who is allowed to transfer to a better-performing school across town thanks to a provision in the federal No Child Left Behind Act.

On her first day, Rayola decides to be known by her middle name, Victoria, explaining that Rayola “sounds too black,” as Banchero puts it, for her new, integrated school. Banchero follows Victoria through her first days and weeks, describing how she will “face obstacles that the law does not address, obstacles her mother cannot seem to overcome and sometimes aggravates with her own impulsive behavior.”

What Toppo especially likes about the story: “It really opened a lot of people’s eyes to the complexities of life as a child in a modern urban school system and the unintended consequences of big federal mandates.”

Harper High School by Linda Lutton, Ben Calhoun, and Alex Kotlowitz, aired February 2013 on This American Life. Nominated by Spencer Fellow Kalyn Belsha.

“I’ve used this story many times in my reporting classes because of the masterful way it introduces its topic,” Belsha said.

The topic examines the ways in which Chicago students are affected by gun violence in their city.

Based on five months of reporting, the story opens on the first day of the school year, when Harper High Principal Leonetta Sanders calls for a moment of silence during the back-to-school assembly to honor students who had been shot the previous last school year. In fact, 29 recent and current students had been shot that year, eight of whom died.

“I think it does a great job illustrating the important relationships between students coping with trauma and school staff,” Belsha said. “The end of the second part, where it zooms out and plays audio from many schools dealing with gun violence across the country, not just Chicago, is extremely powerful; it shows the true scope of this deep dive into one high school.”

Failure Factories , by Cara Fitzpatrick, Lisa Gartner, and Michael La Forgia, published in 2015 in The Tampa Bay Times. Nominated separately by Education Week reporter Evie Blad, the Houston Chronicle’s Mónica Rhor, and the Solutions Journalism Network’s Linda Shaw.

“In just eight years, Pinellas County School Board members turned five schools in the county’s black neighborhoods into some of the worst in Florida,” the Pulitzer Prize-winning series begins. “First they abandoned integration, leaving the schools overwhelmingly poor and black. Then they broke promises of more money and resources.”

The piece “deconstructs how and why schools are failing students of color,” Rhor said.

The investigation laid bare facts that could not be ignored. In April 2016, the U.S. Department of Education opened a civil rights investigation into whether the school district “systematically discriminates against black children.”

The Pulitzer board called it “a distinguished example of reporting on significant issues of local concern, demonstrating originality and community expertise.”

Nearly 30 years later, “The Cookie Monster of P.S. 224” by LynNell Hancock stands the test of time.

The cookie monster of P.S. 224 , by LynNell Hancock, published February 1989 in the Village Voice. Nominated by Sam Freedman, former education columnist for The New York Times and a professor at Columbia University.

“During the late 1980s and early 1990s, LynNell Hancock’s articles in the Village Voice laid bare the tragedy of New York’s experiment in giving community control to K-8 schools,” Freedman said. “In one investigation after another, Hancock showed how the political hacks took over neighborhood schools and made them machines for patronage, embezzlement, and other corruption.”

Nearly 30 years later, “The Cookie Monster of P.S. 224” stands the test of time.

“In one of the poorest neighborhoods of New York City, this is how an elementary school principal teaches the ABCs of capitalism: she sells her students junk food illegally at 200 per cent and 300 per cent above cost, and then refuses to account for the profits,” Hancock begins the piece. The principal’s “lucrative snack business is just part of a larger pattern of entrepreneurial zeal.”

“Hancock here connects the personal, human aspects of the story with a keen understanding of the systemic forces at work,” Freedman said. “It is both bottom-up and top-down journalism of the highest order.”

Although it has not been archived online by the Village Voice yet, Investigative Reporters and Editors members can order Hancock’s story here .

The Wiz , by David Finkel, published  June 1993 in The Washington Post. Nominated by former Tampa Bay Times reporter Cara Fitzpatrick.

The story profiles Elizabeth Mann, a brilliant student at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD – a student described by her teachers with such words as “incredible.”

It opens during Elizabeth’s third-period quantum physics class, in which six boys talk loudly and confidently about “the failings of Euclidian geometry,” and Elizabeth – the only girl in the seven-person class – waits for her moment to interject her idea into the discussion, eventually doing so by turning her statement into a polite question.

“I admire the way that Finkel deftly explores issues around girls in math and science — a recurring theme in ed reporting — in a beautifully written feature,” Fitzpatrick said. “He does a great job of letting the kids’ own words speak for themselves.”

Three Miles by Chana Joffe-Walt, aired March 2015, produced by This American Life.

Three Miles by Chana Joffe-Walt, aired March 2015, produced by This American Life. Nominated by Sara Mosle, editor  at Chalkbeat Newark and New York Times contributor.

“I remember hearing this piece and just sitting in my car afterward stunned and overwhelmed, thinking it was unlike anything else I’d ever read or heard,” Mosle said.

In it, Joffe-Walt looks back 10 years later on a 2005 program that brought together a group of students from two New York City high schools just three miles away from each other in the Bronx: University Heights High School, a public school, and Fieldston, an elite private school.

“For so many University Heights kids I talked to, seeing Fieldston was shocking because of the stark difference,” Joffe-Walt narrates in the episode. “It was a surprise. They could not have imagined a place like Fieldston.”

The episode focuses on a University Heights student named Melanie who disappeared soon after the University-Fieldston program began.

“For Melanie, it wasn’t that. Melanie had imagined it… Melanie knew there was no innate difference between her and a kid born into wealth. She could see that this division we’re all so inured to was not a reflection of her inferior worth or ability.”

Mosle particularly admires the ways in which the story gave one girl’s story a much bigger meaning. She calls it “a superb example of how a really good reporter can get at fundamental truths about American society and education policy through faithful, dogged reporting about a single person’s life.”

Celebrated school accused of cheating; Exclusive: TAKS results too good to be true at Houston elementaries , Joshua Benton and Holly K. Hacker, published December 2004 in the Dallas Morning News. Nominated by Eva-Marie Ayala, an education reporter at the Dallas Morning News.

At Houston’s Wesley Elementary “desperately poor students outscored children in the wealthiest suburbs.” This is the school that George W. Bush and Oprah Winfrey visited in the 1990s and upheld as an example for others to follow. But a data investigation by a team at Dallas Morning News found evidence that much of that success came from widespread, systematic cheating.  Analyzing Texas’s 7,700 public schools test scores, the newspaper found unusual gaps in scores from 2003 to 2004 in nearly 400 schools. Former teachers and an ex-principal revealed what was the data said – cheating was widespread.

Holly Hacker and Josh Benton laid bare cheating in Texas public schools and kicked off a data-investigation trend in education journalism. “That’s the first series I saw how in-depth data digging could shine a light on schools,” Ayala said. “Almost right after that, is when I signed up for Excel classes at the public library.”

Against All Odds: In Rough City School, Top Students Struggle to Learn, Escape , by Ron Suskind, published in May 1994 in The Wall Street Journal; nominated by Lori Crouch, assistant director for the Education Writers Association.

“Recently, a student was shot dead by a classmate during lunch period outside Frank W. Ballou Senior High,” Suskind began his story. “It didn’t come as much of a surprise to anyone at the school, in this city’s most crime-infested ward. Just during the current school year, one boy was hacked by a student with an ax, a girl was badly wounded in a knife fight with another female student, five fires were set by arsonists, and an unidentified body was dumped next to the parking lot.”

That’s the context in which 16-year-old Cedric Jennings is working his way through a public high school in Washington, D.C. in 1994, with hopes of attending MIT. Cedric is dedicated to staying on the straight and narrow, at a school where those who get good grades are bullied and hope is elusive. His classmate 17-year-old Phillip Atkins, is bright, scoring as well as or better than Cedric on standardized tests, but he doesn’t let on that he is smart. “The best way to avoid trouble,” he tells his younger sister and her friend, “is to never get all the answers right on a test.”

The student voices allow readers to understand the obstacles for students of poverty and to see how Phillip, who could easily be tagged as a bully, is trying to get by in a place where people tell him he won’t amount to anything.

Suskind won a Pulitzer for this story and two others on Ballou, which laid the groundwork for Suskind’s book, “A Hope in the Unseen.”

If you have your own favorites to add to this list, please send them along; it’s inspiring and instructive for all of us to learn from the best.

Related resources:

11 essential books for education reporters in 2018

15 newsletters you need to know about if you really love education journalism

Favorite education bylines, teams, and outlets for Spring 2018

Kristen Doerer is a freelance journalist, based in Washington, DC. Follow her on Twitter  @k2doe . 

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.

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The Grade provides independent analysis of media coverage of education, helping to promote and improve the quality of that coverage. The Grade publishes weekly columns, a free newsletter featuring timely media commentary, and an annual update on newsroom diversity in education journalism. While hosted by KappanOnline, editorial decisions are The Grade's. For questions or responses to content, please contact us at  Alexander Russo  or @alexanderrusso.

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How to Write a News Story

Newspaper article outline, how to write a news story in 15 steps.

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The Purdue Owl : Journalism and Journalistic Writing: Introduction

From Scholastic: Writing a newspaper article

Article outline

I. Lead sentence

Grab and hook your reader right away.

II. Introduction

Which facts and figures will ground your story? You have to tell your readers where and when this story is happening.

III. Opening quotation 

What will give the reader a sense of the people involved and what they are thinking?

IV. Main body

What is at the heart of your story?

V. Closing quotation

Find something that sums the article up in a few words.

VI. Conclusion  (optional—the closing quote may do the job)

The following is an excerpt from The Elements of News Writing by James W. Kershner (Pearson, 2009).  This book is available for checkout at Buley Library (Call number PN 4775 .K37 2009, on the 3rd floor)

1.       Select a newsworthy story. Your goal is to give a timely account of a recent, interesting, and significant event or development.

2.       Think about your goals and objectives in writing the story. What will the readers want and need to know about the subject? How can you best tell the story?

3.       Find out who can provide the most accurate information about the subject and how to contact that person. Find out what other sources you can use to obtain relevant information.

4.       Do your homework. Do research so that you have a basic understanding of the situation before interviewing anyone about it. Check clips of stories already written on the subject.

5.       Prepare a list of questions to ask about the story.

6.       Arrange to get the needed information. This may mean scheduling an interview or locating the appropriate people to interview.

7.       Interview the source and take notes. Ask your prepared questions, plus other questions that come up in the course of the conversation. Ask the source to suggest other sources. Ask if you may call the source back for further questions later.

8.       Interview second and third sources, ask follow-up questions, and do further research until you have a understanding of the story.

9.       Ask yourself, “What’s the story?” and “What’s the point?” Be sure you have a clear focus in your mind before you start writing. Rough out a lead in your head.

10.   Make a written outline or plan of your story.

11.   Write your first draft following your plan, but changing it as necessary.

12.   Read through your first draft looking for content problems, holes, or weak spots, and revise it as necessary. Delete extra words, sentences, and paragraphs. Make every word count.

13.   Read your second draft aloud, listening for problems in logic or syntax.

14.   Copyedit your story, checking carefully for spelling, punctuation, grammar, and style problems.

15.   Deliver your finished story to the editor before deadline.

Kershner, J.W. (2009). The Elements of News Writing. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

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• Education and Communications

How to Write an Article for Your School Newspaper

Last Updated: March 1, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Gerald Posner . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. There are 8 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 599,076 times.

Writing an article for your school newspaper can be exciting and rewarding, especially once you see your name in print! If you don't already belong to your school newspaper, you may need to try out or talk to the editor about submitting some sample pieces. To write an article, you'll need to decide which type of article you'd like to write, check on submission guidelines, research your topic, interview sources, and write it in the proper newspaper format.

Joining the Team and Writing Different Types of Articles

• Check to see if there are deadlines for turning in mock articles, what the editor is looking for in a new staff member, and if there are any meetings you can attend to get more information.

• If you've been on staff for a while, you may have the freedom to choose your own article topics. But until you know your position, it's always a good idea to ask for assignments.

• Feature stories are the largest articles in a newspaper, and they often go beyond simple facts to the reasons behind something, like why an event happened and what it means for students moving forward.
• An example of a feature story would be an article about a new scholarship being offered in your state. How it works, who is eligible, and facts about the work that went into making the scholarship program a reality would make a compelling story.

• News articles are generally more straight-forward than feature stories or opinion articles. They convey relevant information in an unbiased way.

• For example, you could write an editorial about school rules, events or groups on campus, sports, programs, or teaching methods.

• If you want to be a regular columnist for your school newspaper, present a plan to your editor for a series of articles that you'd like to work on. For example, you could propose a 4-week series about starting a club or practicing self-care.

• For example, you could write an article called “Top 10 Tips to Manage Stress,” “How to Develop Good Study Habits,” or “How to Get in Shape before Tryouts.”

• For example, if you review a new movie that came out, you could write about who would most enjoy the film. Perhaps it would be great for someone who likes action movies but not as enjoyable for someone who prefers comedies.

Researching, Interviewing, and Fact Gathering

• Talk to your editor, production manager, or faculty advisor for more information.

• Who? Find out who was involved, whether that would be students, administrators, or other people in your community.
• What? Write down exactly what it is that you are writing about. Is it an event, a person, or an idea? Be as specific as possible.
• Where? Identify where the event took place. Is this a subject that is particular to your school or community, or is it a national subject?
• When? Make note of important dates and times.
• Why? Determine the reasons behind the subject. Was there a catalyst?
• How? Connect the rest of your information together to determine how an event or subject came together.

• When contacting a person for an interview, let them know who you are and what topic you're writing about, and give them an estimate of how much of their time you'll need.
• When you finish an interview, take 10 minutes to write down additional notes right away. They'll be fresh in your mind and you'll be less likely to forget important details.

• Ask if you have someone's permission to use their name and words in your article, and write down their quote verbatim. You can use anonymous sources, but quotes are more compelling when they can be traced back to a specific individual.

• Fact-checking makes you a more trustworthy writer and ensures that you're taking the time to communicate as truthfully as you can about any particular subject.

• Some reporters dictate notes to themselves or write out daily logs about their interviews and research. Figure out what works for you and your lifestyle, and then stick to it.

Writing the Article

• A lot of times, readers will decide if they want to continue reading an article based off of the first sentence or two.

• Sometimes you'll come up with a great headline before you even write the article, but most often you won't know exactly what you're presenting until after you've written it. Try waiting until after you've written your article to come up with the headline, and then make sure it fits in with the given topic.

• People who want to know more about the topic will continue reading past those first 2 paragraphs, but people who just wanted the basic information will get their answers without having to search through the entire article.

• For example, instead of saying, “Principal Miller comes from rainy Washington state and had been teaching before becoming a principal for 15 years,” you could say something like, “Principal Miller previously lived in Washington, and she has over 15 years of experience in the educational system."

• Always ask for permission to quote someone when you're interviewing them.

• Being able to proofread your own work is an essential part of being a successful member of the newspaper staff, and the more you work at it, the better you'll get.

Expert Q&A

• Be careful when writing to avoid plagiarizing other sources. It's okay to use information from others, but make sure to reword it in your own way so it's unique and to cite sources when needed. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0
• If you're having trouble coming up with an idea for an article, ask for an assignment from the editor. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

Expert Interview

Thanks for reading our article! If you'd like to learn more about writing as a career, check out our in-depth interview with Gerald Posner .

• ↑ https://www.pilinutpress.com/Articles/Writing/WritingArticlesfortheSchoolNewspaper.html
• ↑ https://makemynewspaper.com/how-to-start-a-school-newspaper/
• ↑ https://schools.firstnews.co.uk/blog/journalistic-writing/how-to-start-a-school-newspaper/
• ↑ https://study.com/learn/lesson/newspaper-article-format-examples.html
• ↑ https://blog.flipsnack.com/school-newspaper-guide/
• ↑ https://makemynewspaper.com/how-to-write-a-school-news-article
• ↑ https://www.aresearchguide.com/write-a-newspaper-article.html
• ↑ https://www.thoughtco.com/the-secret-to-writing-great-headlines-2073697

About This Article

To write an article for your school newspaper, start with a lead paragraph that explains the who, what, where, when, and why of what you're writing about. Then, for the second and third paragraphs, include any additional facts and details that your readers should know. You can also include quotes from witnesses or school officials in this part of your article. Finally, conclude your article with the least important or relevant information. To learn how to research and come up with article ideas, scroll down! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Students will write news stories on school events, issues, people, achievements and topics that are effecting their lives and those of their friends and peers.

Students will gain an appreciation of journalistic processes, from reporting to interviewing to writing.

S-press publishes the best stories submitted by students, in either the news or sport sections of the magazine.

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Inclusive education stories from the field

Leonard Cheshire has a longstanding relationship with UNESCO, providing disability specific technical expertise and advice as a formal partner.

As we work together to continue our global efforts towards the Sustainable Development Goals, these stories demonstrate the importance of inclusive education programmes in creating opportunities for persons with disabilities. From the implementation of assistive technology devices, to supporting families and communities in understanding and appreciating disability, to providing educational and vocational opportunities for girls with disabilities, each story shows the value of disability inclusive projects in creating a more equal world for all.

Alice’s quest for education despite life challenges and the COVID-19 pandemic

Alice Atieno Ouma is 18 years old and lives with her husband and child in Wakesi village, Muhoroni Sub-County, Kisumu County, Kenya. Alice is currently a beneficiary of the Education for Life project, where she’s been attending numeracy, literacy and life skills classes since she joined in February 2020. She has an intellectual disability and has shown herself to be an active and dedicated learner in class.

Alice attended lower primary school but dropped out due to family challenges and the lack of a supportive school environment. She was sent to Nairobi, Kenya where she did menial work for a few years. She later left and went back home and eventually got married. Alice heard about the Education for Life project through a community event organised by the project. She went to the catch-up centre where she completed project assessments and was later admitted into the programme.

“When they called that I had been chosen to be one of the 30 girls in our catch up centre I was very excited for the opportunity! I have been attending classes before we closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,” Alice explained.

Alice enjoys going to the centre and has made lots of friends. Spending three hours, three days of the week in the centre has really helped her. “What I like most about being here is that my fellow girls are very kind to me and the teacher always says when we are at the centre we are a big family,” Alice said.

Alice’s life has changed a lot because of the project. First, her literacy levels have improved. She also does well in mathematics, her favourite subject. Through the life skills and mentorship sessions that she attends, her self-confidence has also improved. She vividly remembers a session where they were chatting about reproductive health and the mentor took them practically through using a sanitary towel step by step.

“It was a very fun session. We all laughed and learned a lot because who thought putting on a sanitary towel could be talked about openly!”

Life has improved for both Alice and her family, and her husband has been encouraging her throughout her studies. Her husband has also learned a lot about how to support her and understand her better through a workshop organised by the project for households of girls with disabilities. They were taught how to appreciate and support those living with disabilities.

However, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused economic uncertainty in the community. It has been a difficult time for Alice and her family. Her husband works at a sugar cane farm as a casual labourer and his income has not been consistent. To mitigate this, and have additional income in the family, she has been washing clothes for her neighbours during her free time when she is not at the centre. 

When the centre was closed after the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Kenya, the project adapted by providing the Educator Facilitators and Mentors with airtime to reach out to the girls every week. They provided psychosocial support and offered some learning by providing small assignments on phones to keep the girls active. Additionally, Alice was provided with workbooks (Mathematics, English, and Kiswahili) to aid her to study at home. She was also provided with a dignity kit (sanitary towels, soap, underwear, etc). These items were very useful and relieved her of the stress of having to source them for herself.

With learning now resuming at the catch up centre, Alice is optimistic about her future. She hopes one day to own her beauty salon. She is sure that with the support of the project’s role models and career guidance sessions she will choose the right transition pathway to help her achieve her goals.

With all the efforts that the project has made, Alice shared that there is more that can be done to support girls with disabilities. This includes continuous sensitization of the community to be more supportive of girls like her, improvement of the teaching and learning materials in the centres and encouragement and additional training for the teachers that support them.

“This is the best project to have ever come in my community,” Alice said. “It has been helpful to girls like me. I am very grateful and I hope other girls like me will benefit from this great initiative.”

Emmanuel’s Story – Finding his future

Emmanuel is a 14 year old boy from Kizimba Village, Agwingiri Parish, Agwingiri Sub County in Amolatar district in Uganda. He is the ninth born in a family of ten. Both he and two of his sisters have hearing and speech impairments.

When Emmanuel was ten years old his father died. His mother couldn’t afford to keep him in a school for disabled children and believed he wouldn’t cope in a mainstream school.

So, Emmanuel went to live with a friend of his brother’s in Kampala. The friend became Emmanuel’s guardian and provided funding for him to go to school again. However, during the third year of his education in Kampala, his guardian passed away and Emmanuel had to go back to Kizimba village to live with his mother.

Back in the village, his mother was still unable to pay for him to attend school. She said: “Emmanuel has been very lonely at home with no friends since most children in the community attend school.”

For a while, Emmanuel had no choice but to stay at home and help out with domestic chores. But Emmanuel’s chance to go back to school came when the team from Leonard Cheshire’s Inclusive Education project in Amolatar District in Northern Uganda came to his local area. Their aim was to teach the community about disability and reduce the stigma around it, as well as identify children that could be supported by the project.

Emmanuel registered with the project, and soon after was enrolled at Omara Ebek Memorial primary school in Amolatar district. The project also provided support with his school fees and materials. Emmanuel now has teachers who can speak in sign language, so he feels welcome and comfortable to learn. His teachers have described him as a bright boy, one of the best in class!

Not only is Emmanuel making great progress with his education, but he’s also been making lots of friends. He loves playing football with them. His mother says: “Emmanuel is now a happy boy with many friends and is very confident.”

Through the work of the project, Emmanuel’s community now believe that children with disabilities have a future through inclusive education. Emmanuel says he’d also like to become a teacher himself one day so that he can help other children like him.

Small changes, big impacts – the importance of inclusive learning environments

Esther Banda is a primary school teacher at one of schools participating in Leonard Cheshire’s Inclusive Education project in the Eastern Province of Zambia. She took part in inclusive teacher training in May 2019.

Around the time that the inclusive education project was introduced at their school in January 2019, Esther had started teaching Efita, a 10-year-old learner with epilepsy and other developmental impairments. It was Esther’s first time teaching a student with a disability, and it was the first time that Efita had attended mainstream school. At first Esther did not know how to include Efita in the classroom activities. She was sure that Efita would not benefit from her class. Efita, who had never been to school before, showed signs of being afraid and disinterested in school and was constantly isolated from others.

However, after the teacher training, Esther is now better equipped to deliver lessons in an inclusive manner. She is now confident that Efita will be learning well with others. She has started implementing some of the inclusive approaches that she learned, including arranging the classroom into groups so that children learn from each other. She’s also been using different chalk colours to write on the board to help accommodate other learners with visual impairments. Her method of delivering lessons is no longer her original lecture style but is now more learner focused. She allows for more discussion and uses learning aids such as diagrams as a way of simplifying content.

The changes in teaching approach have helped improve Efita’s performance in class. He now mingles with his classmates and has made many friends. At the moment he enjoys basic tracing activities and playing a role in classroom exercises. He also enjoys being clapped by other children when he answers questions correctly in class. As a result, his confidence and interest in school have increased a lot.

These milestones made with Efita have convinced Esther that inclusive education works. She says: “I now know that children with impairments are like other children, they have the right to education and have the ability to learn like other children”.

Over the next 3 years, Leonard Cheshire expects to enrol 750 children with disabilities in five districts in the Eastern Province of Zambia. In the first year, 421 children have been enrolled.

Using technology to create positive learning environments

Pauline Okach is a teacher at Nyasare Primary School in Migori County Kenya. She is one of 75 teachers who have been taking part in a training programme for the Orbit Reader 20, an assistive technology device that helps people with visual impairments read in braille, as well as take braille notes. The programme is part of Leonard Cheshire’s innovation initiative to expand the use of innovative low-cost assistive technology to learners with disabilities living in rural and under resourced areas.

The portable devices are light weight and operate in two main modes. The stand-alone mode has the capabilities of reading, writing and file management for books that have been translated into electronic braille. The remote mode allows the reader to be connected to a computer with a screen reader, with a removable memory card and Bluetooth connectivity. The devices allow children to read and write in braille, with notes that can then be converted back to electronic print for the teacher to read and grade accordingly.

As part of Leonard Cheshire’s Girls’ Education Challenge Transition project, a number of training modules have been developed so that teachers can help their students get the most out of the technology. While the Covid-19 pandemic affected schools around the world, teachers were still able to take part in the Orbit Reader 20 training, ensuring they were ready to support students on their return to school. The training was conducted by Leonard Cheshire staff in partnership with eKitabu, who developed the online training tutorials. The tutorials were then shared via Whatsapp, where the teachers were able to interact with and support each other.

To ensure progress was being made, individual follow up calls were made to the teachers following each tutorial, with ongoing support being provided by the instructors. An end-of-training assessment was also carried out to identify any knowledge gaps and ensure the teachers had access to further support if they needed it.

Pauline works in an integrated mainstream school which accommodates students with and without disabilities. A number of her students have visual impairments, including ten-year-old Marydith. Pauline already had good knowledge of the importance of inclusive education, taking part in training a few years ago in order to learn how best to support students with a range of disabilities and needs. Originally, she said her attitude towards disability was negative, but it is much more positive now she has had access to training. Following the recent Orbit Reader training, Pauline has been supporting Marydith to use the technology in class. With the use of the devices, Marydith has been using the Orbit Reader to learn the letters of the alphabet in braille. She can also use it to type and delete notes, helping her engage in class.

There have been a number of other adjustments made at the school to ensure Marydith is fully included. This includes clear, level pathways to help her move more freely around the school and highlighted doorways and steps with yellow or white paint making them more obvious to assist her. There is also an adapted timetable that ensures Marydith gets the learning support she needs, with extra time during lessons to help her use the Orbit Reader. In addition, she is a member of the school’s child to child club, where she gets to interact with her peers and demonstrate the value of inclusion.

Pauline believes that these universal design measures, as well as the introduction of assistive technology, has helped improve inclusion in the school and changed the attitudes of other students. Before, there was a lot of stigma around disability and other students felt nervous to be around children with visual impairments. Now, they have much more awareness and appreciation for disability. They accommodate Marydith and help her move around the school between classes. This has created a positive atmosphere at the school, reducing bullying and creating a productive learning environment for the students. The Orbit Readers have also greatly improved Marydith’s learning progress. She can now read and write without straining her eyes, allowing her to succeed in class and stay on the same level as her classmates.  

Without assistive devices like the Orbit Readers, children with severe visual impairments would not have the same opportunities for education and may even feel discouraged to attend school. Pauline hopes that more teachers can get access to training on the technology so that even more students can benefit from these and other devices.

The power of data in advocacy

Youth advocate Ian Banda tells us how data can help him make changes in Zambia.

There is so much power in data. Data – like personal stories and facts and figures – is so important in getting a strong message across. In fact, it was central to my role as lead citizen reporter on Leonard Cheshire’s 2030 and Counting project.

The community citizen reporters and I went out and gathered community insights with our phones. We would then submit the content to a central reporting hub. The aim was to find data and stories about the barriers, challenges and opportunities for youth with disabilities in Zambia. Specifically, in relation to health, education and employment. This data is so important in tracking progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). And making sure disabled people are included in this progress too! Because there is no single SDG that covers just disability, but the 17 SDGs can only be achieved if people with disabilities have their rights fulfilled.

I found Rebecca’s story on education during a data collection trip in the local community. I was touched by how much Rebecca valued education. She knew it could improve her life. She has really big dreams for our country and access to education is an important part of that. I feel personal stories are important for advocacy. They show the impact on a personal, individual level. And they show what is transpiring on the ground with regards to disability inclusion. Stories also help provide a clear picture when providing evidence-based advocacy. This is essential if you want to bring about change at a higher level.

After 2030 and Counting I set up Youth in Action for Disability Inclusion of Zambia (YADIZ). We are a youth-led disability inclusion organisation. We promote the inclusion of youth with disabilities in all aspects of life. I know the information available on Leonard Cheshire’s Disability Data Portal will really help us with our work.

The portal gives us access to evidence for our advocacy work. Valuable data on the portal from census' shows that Zambian policies and practices have gaps when it comes to disability. These figures can go a long way in highlighting concerns and irregularities in the way the government implements policy. Especially in areas like education and employment. These gaps need to be filled in order for disability inclusion to be a reality in Zambia. No one should be left behind and we are the best placed to bring that message to governments.

As the portal continues to expand we will also be able to see how we compare with other countries and assess gaps in other areas. From work in the community we know there are issues when it comes to inaccessible sexual reproductive health for people with disabilities. As well as negative attitudes displayed by health personnel. There’s also a lack of information in accessible formats. And despite Zambia having some progressive policies, there is no implementation, monitoring and evaluation framework to really track progress. That was also a recurring issue many people with disabilities experienced across the world. The simple lack of accessible information about Covid-19 put us at a disadvantage. Access to better quality data, like the portal, can help us highlight these issues.

When it comes to advocacy, it’s essential everyone has access to research. That way we can improve public knowledge and awareness of the rights of people with disabilities. Data and stories are two sides of the same coin. By combining the two, we can influence laws and policies so that they are inclusive.

• Find out more about Ian’s fight for equality in Zambia

Universal design at Mcini Primary School

Leonard Cheshire and Cheshire Homes Society in Zambia have been working together to make vital school adaptations at Mcini Primary School in Zambia. Now the school is much more accessible for children with disabilities.

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How to Write a News Story: Definition, Structure, Types of the News Story

• by Anastasiya Yakubovska
• 21.06.2022 12.05.2023
• How to write ...

The news story refers to the journalistic writing style that is used in the mass media: television, the Internet, newspapers, magazines, and radio.

Table of Contents

• What Is a News Story 

Features of the News Story

Main functions of news.

• The Inverted Pyramid Structure 
• News Story Structure 

According to the method of writing, news stories are:

• According to the scope, there are the following types of news:
• According to the sequence:

According to the source ofinformation news stories are:

• According to the content:
• Minor forms of news stories:

What Is a News Story

News stories are widely used by the media to inform the audience about current, significant, and interesting events.

A news story is a journalistic presentation of a new event or fact.

Most often this is a short message. 

The news function is to answer the questions: what, where, and when happened.

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The features of the news stories are:

• reliability of information;
• minimal details;
• news stories must be clear and easy to read;
• attractive to all classes;
• widely known terms ( exchange, broker, exchange rate, transaction, market );
• the use of words and figures of speech that are typical for business writing style ( have activities, during the reporting period, take into consideration );
• noun predominance;
• sentences are usually complex. 

Example of News Story

News story “March For Our Lives: Tens of thousands rally for stricter US gun laws” (excerpt) :

Thousands of protesters are gathering across the US to call for stricter gun laws in the wake of last month’s mass shooting in Texas . Gun safety group March For Our Lives – founded by survivors of the 2018 Parkland school shooting – said some 450 rallies were planned for Saturday. It said it would not let politicians “sit back” as people continue to die. US President Joe Biden backed the protests, calling on Congress to “pass common sense gun safety legislation”. Nineteen children and two adults were killed in the 24 May shooting at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. That attack, and another days earlier in Buffalo, New York, in which 10 people were killed, has led to renewed calls for action on gun control in the US. bbc.com

The major function of the news stories , just like other texts related to journalism, is to provide information about some socially significant event. In addition, the news may contain assumptions, hypotheses, forecasts, recommendations, and regulatory and evaluation information.

The purpose of a news story is not only a detailed analysis of an event. The most important thing is to inform the mass addressee about an event that has happened or will only happen in the future. 

If the news needs to be covered in more detail, then the journalist can indicate the sources of information, add quotes and provide statistics.

How to Write A New Story: The Structure and Method of Writing

The inverted pyramid structure.

To write a news story, journalists use the traditional structure that is typical for the journalistic writing style: information is presented in descending order, that is, its value and importance decrease from the beginning of the text to its end. This way of writing news is called the inverted pyramid .

A news story written using the inverted pyramid structure consists of 4 parts:

• Headline . The headlines of new stories in the media are most often quite informative – within 10 words. The heading itself usually illustrates the main idea of the news. 

For example:

“ Global markets fall after rough week on Wall Street; yen hits two-decade-low” 

2. Lead . The lead is the first or leading paragraph of the news story, the chapeau or abstract of the article, which outlines the main idea of the text, only the most valuable information.

“ Hong Kong/London (CNN Business)Global markets and US stock futures fell early Monday, indicating a downbeat start to the trading week after a broad sell-off on Wall Street following surprisingly strong US inflation data.”

3. The body of the text . It is a description of the event, details, evidence, photographs, quotes, etc.:

“ The Dow (INDU) plunged 880 points, or 2.5%, on Friday. The S&P 500 (SPX) shed 2.7% and the Nasdaq (NDX) dropped about 3%. The US consumer price index rose by 8.6% in May, raising fears that the Federal Reserve will have to act even more aggressively to try to tame price rises. The shockwaves were felt most acutely in Asia on Monday. Japan’s Nikkei (N225) closed down 3%, and the yen weakened to the lowest level in more than 20 years. The Japanese currency has declined rapidly in recent months because of a strong greenback and ultra-loose Japanese monetary policy. The Japanese central bank and government warned in a rare joint statement on Friday that they are concerned about the sharp falls, suggesting a potential intervention by Tokyo to stem the decline. The yen wasn’t the only Asian currency seeing a steep fall. The Indian rupee fell to an all-time low of 78.2 against the US dollar in early trade. Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HSI) fell 3.4% on Monday. Korea’s Kospi fell 3.5%. China’s Shanghai Composite (SHCOMP) was down 0.9%. In Europe, France’s CAC 40 (CAC40) dropped 2.47% in early trade, while Germany’s DAX 30 (DAX) was down 2.3%. The FTSE 100 (UKX) slipped 1.8%, while the pound slipped to $1.22 after new data showed the UK economy contracting for a second consecutive month in April. In the US, Dow futures were down 1.9% at 5.20 am ET. S&P 500 futures were down around 2.3%, while Nasdaq futures were down about 2.9%.

4. Ending . The final part of the news story is additional information, similar, interesting materials, and journalistic assessment. This part is optional. 

“The hangover from Friday’s US CPI data isn’t helped by concern about China walking back some of its economic reopening, or more dire economic data in the UK,” Societe Generale strategist Kit Juckes said in a research note. A number of neighborhoods in Shanghai faced another temporary lockdown at the weekend, as authorities launched mass testing just days after Covid restrictions were eased for most of its 25 million residents. Authorities in Beijing’s largest Chaoyang district announced Thursday the closure of all entertainment venues, just days after allowing their reopening. https://edition.cnn.com/2022/06/12/investing/global-stocks/index.html

News Story Structure

Usually, the journalist tells the reader:

• About the event – what happened?
• About time – when?
• About the place – where?
• About participants – who?
• About the circumstances – how?
• About the source of information – how is it known?
• About the predicted development of the event – what happens next?

Which of these questions the journalist will answer in the text of the news story and the number of these questions will depend on the amount of information that he has and on the purpose of the news. These questions can be arranged in the most varied order, at the author’s discretion.

Another thing to keep in mind regarding whether the new event needs to be related to others that have already happened before and are widely known to the audience. In this case, the structure of the news story will be more complex, because it is necessary not only to talk about the event but also to connect this fact with the information already available.

How to Write a News Story: Types of News

Before you start writing, you need to decide in which genre you need to write, and what type of news story is suitable specifically for this news event.

So that you can quickly navigate and make the right choice, further in the article we will consider the types of news stories. 

There are two general types of news stories according to structure :

• Informative or straight news. The aim is to give the facts of the news. 
• Feature or human interest news story. The aim is to take material of little or no news value and make it interesting for the audience. 
• Descriptive.
• Expository.
• Combination of these types. 

According to the scope , there are the following types of news:

• Local: news story takes place within the immediate locality. 
• National: news takes place within a country. 
• Foreign: the event takes place out of the country. 
• Dateline: news preceded by date and place of origin or the place when it was written. 

According to the sequence :

• Anticipated news or announcement. An announcement is a message about upcoming events (for example, about the construction of new buildings).

Such news stories attract the public to visit various cultural events.

The main purpose of the announcement is to give brief but objective information about the time and aspects of the planned event, about its most important prerequisites and stages.

• Spot news. News that gathered and reported on the spot. The journalist is the eyewitness to the event. Such type of news is reported immediately. 
• Coverage news. News has been written from the given beat. 
• Follow-up news. A sequel to the previous news story.
• Interview story. 
• Speech story. 
• Quote story. Information is presented primarily through quotes. These news stories are based almost entirely on an interview or a speech. 
• Fact story. 
• Action story. A description of an event that involved a lot of motion. For example, war reports, competitions, and sports games reports. 

According to the content :

• Science news. 
• Police reports. 
• Developmental news. 
• Sports stories. 
• Routine stories: celebrations, graduations, election stories reported year in and year out. 

Minor forms of news stories :

• News brief. It is a short news broadcast. News briefs are a good way to describe events that do not need in-depth treatment. 
• News bulletin. It aims to give the gist of the news. 
• Flash news. Flash news is a bulletin that conveys the first word of the event. 
• News-featurette. It is a short news feature usually used as filler. 

Used sources of information:

• Types of News Writing. Willard Grosvenor Bleyer.
• Campus Journalism and School Paper Advising Fourth Edition 1997. Ceciliano J. Cruz.
• Style Palette. Textbook on Russian language style for foreigners. Authors: Nina Afanasyeva, Tatyana Popova .
• Literary editing strategies. Authors: Zueva T. A., Ivanova E. N.
• Russian language and speech culture. Authors: Tatyana Balykhina, Mikhail Rybakov, Marina Lysyakova.
• Image: freepik.com

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More From Forbes

The biggest education news story you've never heard of.

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An overlooked root cause of many of the problems that plague American education is that in most ... [+] schools the curriculum focuses on illusory skills rather than content. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/MediaNews Group/The Denver Post via Getty Images)

There’s no shortage of journalism focusing on education. But little of it has examined a fundamental question: What gets taught in our schools and how?

Look through a newspaper or magazine—or one of the education-focused news websites that have sprung up in recent years—and you’ll see plenty of stories about schools: teacher strikes, racial and socioeconomic disparities and segregation, charter schools, the role of technology, and (alas) school shootings. But if you’re curious about what is actually going on in American classrooms—what texts and topics are being taught, what kinds of questions teachers are asking students—you’re unlikely to find much information. And yet that’s what the public needs if we’re going to understand many of the problems that plague our education system, not to mention our society as a whole.

There are encouraging signs that the situation is beginning to change—including a panel at a recent conference of education journalists on “Curricular Concerns: How to Cover What Gets Taught.” Attendance was high, and one prominent education journalist tweeted afterwards, “This is the session that will change my lens for the year.”

The panelists— two academics and a school district leader —minced no words, focusing largely on the plight of students of color and those from low-income backgrounds, whose test scores and graduation rates lag far behind their peers, and placing the blame on “curriculum.” But journalists could have been left confused about what the problem is. Are the textbooks deficient ? Or is it that teachers have been told it’s best to create curriculum themselves—despite not having received training in that—with the result that the vast majority get materials from websites like Pinterest ? Or is the problem that educators believe it’s more important to teach “skills” like critical thinking rather than focusing on content—despite abundant evidence that content knowledge is what enables you to think critically ?

The answer, unfortunately, is all of the above—and more. But perhaps the place to begin is with the last point. The education establishment, including schools of education and textbook publishers, have largely “pooh-poohed” the idea of knowledge, observed panelist Sonja Santelises, chief executive officer of the Baltimore public schools.

“It doesn’t take the place of other things,” she said, “but to say it’s a side dish, to say content doesn’t matter, is professional malpractice.”

In Baltimore and a few other places, leaders like Santelises are trying to turn things around by adopting curricula that build knowledge in history, science, literature, and the arts. That’s the kind of knowledge that can ensure academic success, and children from more educated families generally acquire it outside of school. Children from less educated families—like the majority of those who attend Baltimore’s public schools—often won’t acquire it unless they get it in school. And most don’t.

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Santelises, a member of a group of top state and local education officials called Chiefs for Change , began her efforts by evaluating Baltimore’s homegrown literacy curriculum. Using a “Knowledge Map”—a tool developed by Johns Hopkins University’s Institute for Education Policy—she discovered gaps in coverage and weaknesses in the approach teachers were supposed to take. Last year the school system adopted a content-focused literacy curriculum called Wit & Wisdom for kindergarten through eighth grade that includes challenging books along with related works of art for students to analyze. Santelises says she worried teachers would say their students couldn’t handle the work. Instead, “teachers are saying their kids are eating up the content” and parents are thrilled to see how much their children are learning, she reported.

Santelises and her fellow panelists encouraged the journalists who want to cover the curriculum story to just get out and visit classrooms. But it may not be that simple. For example:

·        To understand the issue, journalists first need to see and understand what is going on in the vast majority of American classrooms, particularly at the elementary level: a focus on a reading comprehension “skill of the week,” which kids practice on texts easy enough for them to read on their own —often well below their grade level. The actual content is considered relatively unimportant. The theory is that if kids first master a “skill” like “making inferences,” they’ll be able to apply it later on to understand any text put in front of them. In fact, evidence shows that the most important factor in understanding a text is how much background knowledge and vocabulary the reader has about the topic.

·        Once you’ve got a handle on what skills-focused instruction looks like, it’s best to compare it to content-focused instruction. But it can be hard to find elementary classrooms that are truly engaging in that. Santelises and some other members of Chiefs for Change are advocating for knowledge in their states or districts, but most education leaders aren’t focused on the issue (including some members of Chiefs for Change). Even where they are, the content-focused approach may or may not get translated into classroom practice. And the most commonly used reading textbooks still use the skills-focused approach.

·        Teachers themselves may tell journalists there’s no problem with the skills-focused approach, because that’s what they’ve been trained to believe . And in the elementary grades, when texts are simple and don’t assume much background knowledge, it can look like kids are learning comprehension “skills.” But when students get to high school, many lack the knowledge and vocabulary to understand high school-level texts—and high school teachers may have no idea why.

·        The panelists argued that content and instruction need to be “rigorous,” but words like “rigor” mean different things to different people. Publishers will claim a skills-focused curriculum is “rigorous,” because it purports to build supposed Common Core “skills” like “ close reading .” Alternatively, a curriculum may be described as rigorous because it includes challenging texts. But unless teachers can figure out how to ensure students understand those texts—a task that gets increasingly difficult at higher grade levels, when assumptions about background knowledge increase—they don’t do much good.

·        Journalists may be told that teachers need to focus on skills because that’s what students are tested on. The reading passages on standardized tests don’t match up with the content students are learning—assuming they’re learning content at all—-so it looks like what is being assessed are kids’ general abilities to “find the main idea” or “make inferences.” In fact, if students lack the knowledge and vocabulary to understand the passages in the first place—as many do—they won’t have a chance to demonstrate any “skills.” But it can be hard for teachers to absorb that message, especially when their job ratings and those of their schools are tied to test scores.

·        Not all skills-focused reading instruction is bad! In fact, one part of reading really is skills-based: decoding words. It’s just comprehension that is primarily dependent on knowledge. But because of deficiencies in their training, many teachers mistakenly believe that decoding doesn’t need to be taught as a set of skills—that kids will pick it up naturally—and that comprehension does .

·        Even when journalists do get into classrooms—or schools—they may shy away from reporting on what they see, particularly at the high school level. At another panel at the education writers’ conference, I asked a journalist who had written a book about high-poverty high schools if she had found that kids arrive with crippling gaps in their knowledge. I mentioned that I’d spoken with teachers at such schools who told me that many students are, for example, unable to locate the United States on a map of the world or unaware the United States had a War of Independence—because the curriculum at their elementary and middle schools had narrowed to reading and math. Oh yes, she said, she heard things like that all the time, and it was a big problem. Yet her book makes no mention of that issue, arguing instead that the reason so many poor kids drop out of school has little to do with a lack of academic preparation. I didn’t get a chance to ask her why she hadn’t talked about kids’ knowledge gaps in her book, but she may have wanted to avoid appearing to blame students for not knowing these things. It’s not the students’ fault, of course. Nor is it the teachers’ fault. It’s the fault of the system they’re all trapped in. But if we don’t talk about the problem, we can’t even hope to address it.

All of this is to say: it’s complicated—so complicated, in fact, that I spent the last several years researching and writing a book about it. And although I had visited many classrooms before I started working on my book, I later realized I had no idea what I’d been looking at. I only put the pieces together when, through serendipity, I met a veteran educator who began explaining it to me.

That’s not to discourage other education journalists from tackling the subject of what gets taught and how. It may be complicated, but if they can figure it out they’ll have a much clearer picture of the root causes of many of our education problems—and so will their readers.

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Creating a Classroom Newspaper

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• Instructional Plan
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Students will enjoy this creative, exciting, and stimulating lesson in writing as they create authentic newspaper stories. As they are transformed into reporters and editors, they will become effective users of ICT in order to publish their own classroom newspaper. Various aspects of newspapers are covered, including parts of a newspaper, writing an article, online newspapers, newspaper reading habits, and layout and design techniques.

Featured Resources

• Printing Press : In this online interactive tool, your students can choose the "newspaper" option to help them complete their newspaper section.
• Newspaper Story Format : Your students will find completing their newspaper article a snap by first filling out this useful handout that helps them identify each key element of an authentic newspaper article.

From Theory to Practice

• Encouraging children to read and write in ways that allow them to make sense of real language in real contexts is more likely to help them develop the skills necessary to become fluent readers and writers. Creation of a class newspaper provides such a real context, and thus makes an excellent choice as the basis for a project designed with this goal in mind.
• Use of the computer motivates students to learn and students' attitudes toward the newspaper genre are affected by active participation in the production of an authentic and original newspaper of their own.
• Abilities in formal writing are best developed with a "process approach" that goes through five distinct phases: prewriting, composing or drafting, revising, editing, and publishing. Using this approach helps students more fully understand the process of producing formal written documents, such as magazines and newspapers.

Common Core Standards

This resource has been aligned to the Common Core State Standards for states in which they have been adopted. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, CCSS alignments are forthcoming.

State Standards

This lesson has been aligned to standards in the following states. If a state does not appear in the drop-down, standard alignments are not currently available for that state.

NCTE/IRA National Standards for the English Language Arts

• 4. Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.
• 5. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.
• 6. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.
• 8. Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.
• 11. Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

Materials and Technology

• Computer lab with Internet access
• Multimedia software
• Access to a library of images/graphics
• Scanner (optional)
• Digital camera (optional)
• Deadline! From News to Newspaper by Gail Gibbons (HarperCollins, 1987)
• The Furry News: How to Make a Newspaper by Loreen Leedy (Holiday House, 1993)
• Freddy and the Bean Home News by Walter R. Brooks (Puffin, 2002)
• Inverted Pyramid Format
• Newspaper Story Format
• Story Feedback Form
• Newspaper Writing Assessment
• Reporting Tips
• Reporter's Guide

Preparation

*Prerequisite skills: Familiarization with an appropriate multimedia software program

Student Objectives

Students will

• Identify the parts of a newspaper
• Identify the format of a news article
• Write a newspaper story
• Edit newspaper articles
• Use ICT equipment and software
• Layout and publish a classroom newspaper

Hold up a sample front page from a selected newspaper. Ask students what they notice about the format that is different from other texts they read (e.g., black and white ink, graphics, headline, column format). Divide the students into groups of three to four members. Explain to the students that they will explore a newspaper, paying attention to the layout and format. Instruct students to study the front page first and discuss what different parts they notice. Ask each group to report back to the whole class what members noticed was contained on the front page. Make a list of parts on the board. (e.g., title, headlines, pictures or graphics, captions, date, subtitles, table of contents/index, etc.). Students should notice similarities between different newspapers. Discuss with the class how newspapers use a standard format. In their groups, have students continue to explore copies of newspapers. What kinds of things do they notice? Students should begin to identify sections and features that are specific to newspapers. Have the groups again report to the whole class what types of items they noticed in their paper. Continue keeping the list of items on the board. (Additional items may include: editorials, cartoons, horoscope, local news, weddings, classifieds, advertising, etc.) Explain to the class that people read newspapers differently than other types of texts. Discuss how people read newspapers. Reading a newspaper matches people's interests in certain things. They scan headlines, subtitles, and images to see if the story interests them or not. Read some sample headlines from newspapers. Ask, "How many of you would be interested in reading this story?" For homework, have students ask their family members what newspapers they read regularly and what sections they read most often. Give an example of your own newspaper reading habits. (For example, "First I check the weather to help me decide what to wear to school. Then I go to the local news to see what is happening in my town. Finally, I scan the headlines to see what is happening in the world. If I have time, I start the crossword puzzle.")

Ask the students to report about their family's newspaper reading habits. Make a list of newspapers that are read and determine which are the most common. List the words who, what, where, when, and why on the board, overhead, or chart paper. Answer each of the five W questions using the popular rhyme "Jack & Jill." Example:

• Who? Jack and Jill
• What? Fell down and broke crown
• Where? On the hill
• When? Sometime in the past
• Why? Trying to fetch water

Read "Bad Fall Injures Children" article from page 4 of the Grandview Newspaper lesson plan . Students clarify their previous responses to the five W s according to the article. Explain how these five questions help to summarize a news story. Put students in groups of three to four members. Ask the students to choose another famous rhyme or fairy tale and answer the five W questions. Have each group read just the answers to their questions, and then have the class try to guess what fairy tale or rhyme it is. Explain that these five W s help with the organization of a news story and that they make up the most important details of the story. Demonstrate to the class the organization of a good news story using the Inverted Pyramid Format overhead. Use a sample newspaper story to illustrate an example of this format For homework, ask students to select a newspaper article that they are interested in reading and bring it to school the next day.

Give students time to read the newspaper article they brought from home. Hand out the Newspaper Story Format sheet. Students should then complete the sheet using details from their particular article and share the summary of their newspaper article. Ask the students to rewrite the newspaper article in their own words as if they were a reporter for their local newspaper. What changes would they make and why? Have the students share their stories with a classmate using the following questions to guide their discussion:

• Were changes made to the lead? Why?
• Were changes made to the five W s? Why?
• Were changes made to the details? Why?

As a class, discuss fact versus opinion. Explain that news articles do not include the reporter's opinion. Have students go back and see if the changes that were made to their articles were strictly factual. Refer to original articles as needed for examples of fact-based stories.

Read-aloud to the class from one or more of the suggested titles:

• Deadline! From News to Newspaper by Gail Gibbons
• The Furry News: How to Make a Newspaper by Loreen Leedy
• Freddy and the Bean Home News by Walter R. Brooks

Have students brainstorm the types of articles they would like to write and list them on the board. Look at the list and ask students if the articles could be grouped into categories or "newspaper sections." Use the Reporting Tips overhead to present how to make newspaper articles more interesting. Go over each point and clarify any questions that students may raise. Group students based on interests to form an "editorial staff" for each newspaper section. Have the groups meet to decide who will write which stories. Students can use the Reporter's Guide handout as a guideline. When they have finished, students can begin collecting facts for their stories.

Session 5 and 6

Take students to the computer lab and have them write their first draft. They should not worry about font, size, or columns at this point. Be sure that they save their work and print a hard copy of their article for editing. Students' stories should then be self-edited and edited by two other members of their editorial staff (using the Story Feedback Form ). Students should make necessary revisions to their stories based on the comments from the Story Feedback Form.

In the computer lab, have students access the Internet Public Library website and explore newspapers from around the world. They should pay particular attention to the design and layout elements. For example, some articles may include graphics (e.g., photos, charts, graphs). Discuss what patterns of layout design the students noticed. As a whole class, discuss newspaper layout, addressing the following points:

• Headline News: Top priority articles are near the front (1-2 pages). These are typically of high interest to your entire audience of readers (e.g., town news such as a new park or community center). Long front-page articles can be continued on an inside page to provide room for other headline news.
• Feature Articles: Stories about topics or events that are of interest to a certain group of readers (e.g., sports, animal stories, academic topics, interviews with school staff, book reviews). These are typically grouped into sections.
• Pictures or graphics: The image should always appear with the story. A caption can be included. The size usually depends on how much space is available in the layout.

Give students the opportunity to explore these layout items in newspapers in the classroom and online. Students should look at the Junior Seahawk Newsletter to get ideas for their own layout.

Session 8 and 9

In the computer lab, students should complete final story revisions. They may then begin the newspaper layout using appropriate software. The ReadWriteThink Printing Press includes an option for creating a newspaper. Each editorial staff works together to complete their newspaper section. Note: 8 ½ X 11 size pages are optimal. They can be printed and copied back to back on 11 X 17 paper that can be folded like a real newspaper. The completed paper must have an even number of pages for this format. Pictures can be drawn or pasted into the layout. Depending on the available resources, pictures can also be scanned or downloaded from a digital camera. Tell students to play around with fonts and columns. They should experiment and be creative! Once pages are completed, they should be printed. The editorial staff should do a final reading for errors. Pages are then submitted to the teacher for publishing.

Distribute the class newspaper to the students and allow them time to read it. When they have finished, hand out the Newspaper Writing Assessment sheet and ask them to fill it out.

Student Assessment / Reflections

Assess students' comments from the Newspaper Writing Assessment sheet.

• Calendar Activities
• Student Interactives
• Lesson Plans

The interactive Printing Press is designed to assist students in creating newspapers, brochures, and flyers.

Students analyze rhetorical strategies in online editorials, building knowledge of strategies and awareness of local and national issues. This lesson teaches students connections between subject, writer, and audience and how rhetorical strategies are used in everyday writing.

• Print this resource

Explore Resources by Grade

• Kindergarten K

• Programmes NewsWise Behind the Headlines Hugo Young Award Scott Trust Bursary Media Makers Incubator for Independent Media Podcasting Guardian News & Media Archive Past Programmes
• About Our team Our board

Behind the Headlines

News and media teaching ideas, reading and interpreting news, is everything you hear true.

The amount of disinformation being spread, particularly online, can be a big concern for teachers and students. Open up discussions with students about the news sources they use (TV, family and friends, social media, etc) and the comparable trustworthiness of these sources. Do some of theses sources have more bias than others, and do some require further research to verify the stories on?

Talk with students about how they might go about verifying a news story they hear. Websites such as Snopes , Full Fact , and BBC Reality Check can be useful. Our Fake or for real workshop also covers this topic in-depth.

Familiarity with newspapers

Have a look at the different sections of a newspaper, eg front pages , UK , World , Sport . Choose favourite stories, headlines and pictures and have students explain why they've chosen them. You can also use our news terminology fact sheet to identify other parts of the newspaper.

Familiarity with news stories

Read a selection of newspapers and news websites or watch a news programme. Talk about which stories are the most important or interesting, the order in which they appear and how they are presented. Consider the types of choices editors need to make and ask students if they'd make the same choices.

Front page activities

Read and compare the layout and content of the front pages of several different newspapers. Discuss why the newspapers have chosen these stories to go on the front of the paper. Look at the different strategies newspapers use to grab the reader’s attention. Our news terminology fact sheet and annotated front pages (updated regularly on our downloadable resources page ) help students to identify different elements of front pages. Use these Guardian galleries to analyse front pages from a range of publications about important news events.

Writing and producing newspapers

Structure of a news report.

Reporters must have as much information as possible about their story. They verify all the facts by doing detailed research using a range of trusted sources. Once they have enough information about a subject, they start to plan a news report.

Discuss the inverted pyramid structure of news stories and the key opening paragraph including the 5Ws of journalism (who, what, where, when, why).

Give students an article without the first paragraph and get them to write the opening.

Write the main body of a news report using the inverted pyramid structure.

See our news writing advice sheet for more on the structure of news reports.

Subediting is the process of checking over and cutting down a story so that it is ready to publish.

Practise cutting down news stories to a set number of paragraphs or words, ensuring that the key elements of the story remain. Look for redundant words. Subedit articles containing deliberate mistakes: eg spelling, grammar, punctuation, capital letters, homophones, typos, factual errors.

Compare a range of headlines from different newspapers and websites and discuss why they work. Look at active verbs in headlines and how this makes them effective. See how many of the 5Ws concise headlines contain. Identify different language techniques such as alliteration, puns and rhyme and why they may be used in certain types of stories and not others. Write headlines for stories before seeing what news organisations have used, then compare results.

Discuss how pictures support news stories and what makes a picture more powerful or effective. Analyse a selection of images on the same subject from different newspapers and websites and discuss the impact that each has on the story. Look at how pictures work with headlines to encourage people to read the story. Give students pictures without stories or headlines and see if they can work out what the story is about. The Guardian pictures page has examples of interesting news-related images chosen by our picture editors. The Best photographs of the day offers a variety of images that can be used as a starting point for debate or discussions about picture choices.

This worksheet gives young people a chance to decide how effective a set of pictures are for a news report.

Stay in touch

Email: [email protected].

Teaching News Writing for Middle School: A Journalism Lesson Plan

• Kellie Hayden
• Categories : English lesson plans for middle school
• Tags : Teaching middle school grades 6 8

News Writing for Middle School - The Lesson

Teacher Plans : Teachers will begin by directing students to write a news story. This lesson works especially well after they have completed the newspaper scavenger hunt . When students have looked at example news stories in the newspapers, and they understand basic news writing, ask students to write their own story.

After students have followed the nine steps in the directions, they should have completed a draft. Have students peer-edit the stories. Then, students should write a final copy. If computers are available, students should type the story and save it as a file electronically. The teacher can then take the files and make a newspaper on Microsoft Word by using the Newsletter templates as a guide.

Directions for students:

• Choose a news-worthy topic. Example topics: dress code, school lunches, sports, clubs, after school activities, new course offerings, student teachers, pep assemblies, recycling programs, etc.
• Choose two to three people to interview to find out information about the topic.
• Write questions for these people to make the interview organized and efficient. Ask the following type questions: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY AND HOW.
• Take notes on what each person says. If the person has a strong opinion about a topic, ask him or her if you can include a quote in your story. Make sure your write down exactly what he or she says when it is opinion or an unusual fact.
• Organize this information into a story. The most important information goes at the top of the story. The least important information goes at the end. This is called the inverted pyramid.
• The first line of your story is called the lead. The lead should include as much of the following: who, what, where, when, why and how information. The lead should not be more than 30 words. It should grab the reader’s attention and make a reader want to finish reading your story.
• Do not put your opinion in this story. You must only give facts about the topic. If you want opinion in your story, it must be from a quote (something that someone said.) The information should be in quotation marks with the student’s name after the quote.
• Paragraphs must be short in length. One to two sentence paragraphs are preferred.
• Remember to put the most important information first and the least important last. Look at the newspaper for examples of this.

When the newsletter is complete with all of the student stories, give each student a copy. Parents will enjoy reading the class project and the students will love seeing their name in print with this fun and easy lesson on news writing for middle school students.

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Writing skills

• 1 Writing skills
• 2 Writing: A class or company newsletter
• 3 Writing skills: advertising
• 4 Writing skills: Cause and effect
• 5 Writing skills: Fables
• 6 Writing skills: formal and informal writing
• 7 Writing skills: Letter of complaint
• 8 Writing skills: Mini saga
• 9 Writing skills: news story
• 10 Writing skills: statistical report
• 11 Writing skills: Thinking about writing

Writing skills: news story

By Jackie McAvoy

• No comments

To help students produce writing with a higher occurrence of lexical variation, complex sentences and appropriate use of passive structures.

Time: One hour plus homework

• Your Own Version - Worksheet
• Original News Story - Worksheet
• Language Analysis – How to write a good news story - Worksheet
• Complex Sentences – a chart - Worksheet
• Answer Key  

Teacher’s notes

If you’re teaching this as a “one-off” you may want to provide some form of introduction. Give a quick warm up/ orientation to newspapers. Depending on your style of teaching you might consider one of the following:

• Collect together six newspaper headlines. Black out one word in each. Put the class into two teams and one by one hold/flash up the headlines. The team who guesses the closest word gets the point etc.
• A quick discussion on the merits of newspapers versus television or radio.
• Scramble the short sentence in step one on the board and let the students unscramble it to make the story.
• Write the short sentence from the worksheet Your Own Version ' on the board ( A youth was sentenced for driving a stolen car ). Tell students that this is a news story and and ask how it could be more interesting. (Elicit the answer “more detail!”)
• Give out ‘ Your Own Version ’ and allow 15 minutes (more if necessary) for answering the questions and writing the story. Emphasise that they will be making the story more interesting by adding detail. You could give the option of doing this in pairs.
• Change the pace by getting pairs to tell each other their versions. They can use any means necessary to keep their audience’s interest, but hopefully they will do it by including relevant details and animated telling.
• Give out the ‘Original News Story’ and allow time for them to compare for differences. Round off this step by sharing some of the differences in an open class discussion and then move on to asking open class questions about the language used in the original news stor.

Notice the following:

• The variety of vocabulary;
• The use of some passive sentences;
• Long complex sentences – sometimes one sentence for a whole paragraph.
• Tell your students that these features (a,b,c) help make a good news story. Give out the ‘Language Analysis’ (2 sheets) and explain that working through these will help them identify the language you are talking about. Monitor and check as you desire and get students to compare their complex sentences to answers in the original news story.
• You can give out ‘Complex sentences – a chart’ either to help with step 5 or afterwards for future reference for their homework.
• Give out their Homework.
• British English
• Integrated Skills
• Intermediate
• Language / Skill
• Printable Worksheet
• Sentence structure
• Up to 60 mins
• Upper-Intermediate
• Whole Class

Writing: A class or company newsletter

Writing skills: advertising, writing skills: cause and effect.

Writing skills: Fables

Writing skills: formal and informal writing

Writing skills: letter of complaint.

Writing skills: Mini saga

Writing skills: statistical report.

Writing skills: Thinking about writing

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Only registered users can comment on this article., more from writing.

By Karen Richardson

In this lesson by Karen Richardson, students work collaboratively to produce a class newsletter.

By Adrian Tennant

This lesson looks at a few techniques for ‘thinking’ about writing. There are 3 tasks: brainstorming, loop writing and speed writing.

To enable students to break down the different features of formal and informal English by working through a step-by-step text transformation at their own pace.

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Radical Eyes for Equity: Education Journalism and Education Reform as Industry

• Literacy Education
• Reading Instruction
• School Reform and Restructuring
• Schools in the Media

Regardless of your level of optimism, there simply is no other conclusion to draw from over  forty years of educational crisis and reform : Education reform has almost nothing to do with improving education for students, but education reform has become an industry.

And one of the most powerful engines driving the crisis/reform industry in education is education journalism.

Education journalists only write two kinds of stories about education:  Education as failure (Crisis!), and education miracles .

Interesting is that both are provable false narratives.

Yet, these stories endure because “[v]iewing education as being in more or less permanent crisis” ( Edling, 2015 ) creates market and political profit for media, private education corporations, and politicians.

As a simple fact of logic, consider that for at least the last century, on every standardized test in every content area, students in poverty as a group have scored significantly lower than more affluent students.

Over that century, the teachers, instructional practices, programs, and curriculums/standards have changed dozens of times and have never been coherent at any one point across the US.

The only constant, of course, has been the economic inequity of the populations of students being taught and tested.

Yet, what have the media and political leaders focused on almost exclusively in the forty-plus-years of intense accountability reform (over what can be called at least half a dozen cycles in those decades)?

Instruction, curriculum/standards, and programs.

Teacher training churn, standardized test churn, and program churn are industries, and there is profit in constant churn.

Never has it been more clear that education reform is industry: “The administrations in charge,” writes Gilles Deleuze in  Postscript on the Societies of Control , “never cease announcing supposedly necessary reforms: to reform schools, to reform industries, hospitals, the armed forces, prisons” (p. 4).

And never has it been more clear that education journalism is deeply invested in that churn, in manufacturing perpetual crisis:

Just within the past twenty years, Gates+ money has incubated several new education-only media outlets, such as  Chalkbeat ,  EdReports ,  EdSurge ,  Education Next ,  Ed Post ,  FutureEd , and  The 74 . Gates+ money has also substantially boosted the efforts of preexisting education-only media organizations, such as  EdSource ,  Education Week , the Education Writers Association, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, and the  Hechinger Report . All told, this accounts for almost all large-audience, US, K–12-education-only print media outlets, other than those tied to the traditional public education establishment. Have the Gates Foundation and Its Allies Purchased US Education Journalism?

I suspect no one embodies education reform as industry as well as Bill Gates, education reform hobbyist.

And, for example, nothing better exemplify what the true commitment in education journalism is better than the Education Writers Association and the current darling of education misinformation, Emily Hanford:

Manufacture a crisis with a melodramatic story, and then steel the troops for the inevitable outcome so that everyone can circle back to yet another crisis and more reform.

There is the sound of  profit  in the background as journalists as “watchdogs” announce more and more failure and crisis among school, teachers, and students.

The real literacy crisis is that too many people cannot read the writing on the wall. Or more likely,  too many people  are blinded by the profit of education reform as industry to even see the writing on the wall.

Thought Experiment 1

If you wonder if or how money matters, consider that the Department of Education Reform at the University of Arkansas is funded by Walton money. The Walton’s are significant school choice and charter school proponents. The “research” coming out of the DER is overwhelming positive about school choice and charter schools.

Coincidence?

Thought Experiment 2

England passed reading reform mandating systematic phonics for all students in 2006 (although their media and political leaders persist in crying “reading crisis”).

And thus:  Ruth Miskin Literacy makes nearly £10 million profit in four years – taking cash pile for its sole shareholder to approaching £15 million

This blog post has been shared by permission from the author. Readers wishing to comment on the content are encouraged to do so via the link to the original post. Find the original post here:

The views expressed by the blogger are not necessarily those of NEPC.

P.L. Thomas

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Biden Administration Releases Revised Title IX Rules

The new regulations extended legal protections to L.G.B.T.Q. students and rolled back several policies set under the Trump administration.

By Zach Montague and Erica L. Green

Reporting from Washington

The Biden administration issued new rules on Friday cementing protections for L.G.B.T.Q. students under federal law and reversing a number of Trump-era policies that dictated how schools should respond to cases of alleged sexual misconduct in K-12 schools and college campuses.

The new rules, which take effect on Aug. 1, effectively broadened the scope of Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding. They extend the law’s reach to prohibit discrimination and harassment based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and widen the range of sexual harassment complaints that schools will be responsible for investigating.

“These regulations make it crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming and that respect their rights,” Miguel A. Cardona, the education secretary, said in a call with reporters.

The rules deliver on a key campaign promise for Mr. Biden, who declared he would put a “quick end” to the Trump-era Title IX rules and faced mounting pressure from Democrats and civil rights leaders to do so.

The release of the updated rules, after two delays, came as Mr. Biden is in the thick of his re-election bid and is trying to galvanize key electoral constituencies.

Through the new regulations, the administration moved to include students in its interpretation of Bostock v. Clayton County, the landmark 2020 Supreme Court case in which the court ruled that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects gay and transgender workers from workplace discrimination. The Trump administration held that transgender students were not protected under federal laws, including after the Bostock ruling .

In a statement, Betsy DeVos, who served as Mr. Trump’s education secretary, criticized what she called a “radical rewrite” of the law, asserting that it was an “endeavor born entirely of progressive politics, not sound policy.”

Ms. DeVos said the inclusion of transgender students in the law gutted decades of protections and opportunities for women. She added that the Biden administration also “seeks to U-turn to the bad old days where sexual misconduct was sent to campus kangaroo courts, not resolved in a way that actually sought justice.”

While the regulations released on Friday contained considerably stronger protections for L.G.B.T.Q. students, the administration steered clear of the lightning-rod issue of whether transgender students should be able to play on school sports teams corresponding to their gender identity.

The administration stressed that while, writ large, exclusion based on gender identity violated Title IX, the new regulations did not extend to single-sex living facilities or sports teams. The Education Department is pursuing a second rule dealing with sex-related eligibility for male and female sports teams. The rule-making process has drawn more than 150,000 comments.

Under the revisions announced on Friday, instances where transgender students are subjected to a “hostile environment” through bullying or harassment, or face unequal treatment and exclusion in programs or facilities based on their gender identity, could trigger an investigation by the department’s Office for Civil Rights.

Instances where students are repeatedly referred to by a name or pronoun other than one they have chosen could also be considered harassment on a case-by-case basis.

“This is a bold and important statement that transgender and nonbinary students belong, in their schools and in their communities,” said Olivia Hunt, the policy director for the National Center for Transgender Equality.

The regulations appeared certain to draw to legal challenges from conservative groups.

May Mailman, the director of the Independent Women’s Law Center, said in a statement that the group planned to sue the administration. She said it was clear that the statute barring discrimination on the basis of “sex” means “binary and biological.”

“The unlawful omnibus regulation reimagines Title IX to permit the invasion of women’s spaces and the reduction of women’s rights in the name of elevating protections for ‘gender identity,’ which is contrary to the text and purpose of Title IX,” she said.

The existing rules, which took effect under Mr. Trump in 2020, were the first time that sexual assault provisions were codified under Title IX. They bolstered due process rights of accused students, relieved schools of some legal liabilities and laid out rigid parameters for how schools should conduct impartial investigations.

They were a sharp departure from the Obama administration’s interpretation of the law, which came in the form of unenforceable guidance documents directing schools to ramp up investigations into sexual assault complaints under the threat of losing federal funding. Scores of students who had been accused of sexual assault went on to win court cases against their colleges for violating their due process rights under the guidelines.

The Biden administration’s rules struck a balance between the Obama and Trump administration’s goals. Taken together, the regulation largely provides more flexibility for how schools conduct investigations, which advocates and schools have long lobbied for.

Catherine E. Lhamon, the head of the department’s Office for Civil Rights who also held the job under President Barack Obama, called the new rules the “most comprehensive coverage under Title IX since the regulations were first promulgated in 1975.”

They replaced a narrower definition of sex-based harassment adopted under the Trump administration with one that would include a wider range of conduct. And they reversed a requirement that schools investigate only incidents alleged to have occurred on their campuses or in their programs.

Still, some key provisions in the Trump-era rules were preserved, including one allowing informal resolutions and another prohibiting penalties against students until after an investigation.

Among the most anticipated changes was the undoing of a provision that required in-person, or so-called live hearings, in which students accused of sexual misconduct, or their lawyers, could confront and question accusers in a courtroom-like setting.

The new rules allow in-person hearings, but do not mandate them. They also require a process through which a decision maker could assess a party or witness’s credibility, including posing questions from the opposing party.

“The new regulations put an end to unfair and traumatic grievance procedures that favor harassers,” Kel O’Hara, a senior attorney at Equal Rights Advocates. “No longer will student survivors be subjected to processes that prioritize the interests of their perpetrators over their own well being and safety.”

The new rules also allow room for schools to use a “preponderance of evidence” standard, a lower burden of proof than the DeVos-era rules encouraged, through which administrators need only to determine whether it was more likely than not that sexual misconduct had occurred.

The renewed push for that standard drew criticism from legal groups who said the rule stripped away hard-won protections against flawed findings.

“When you are dealing with accusations of really one of the most heinous crimes that a person can commit — sexual assault — it’s not enough to say, ‘50 percent and a feather,’ before you brand someone guilty of this repulsive crime,” said Will Creeley, the legal director of the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression.

The changes concluded a three-year process in which the department received 240,000 public comments. The rules also strengthen protections for pregnant students, requiring accommodations such as a bigger desk or ensuring access to elevators and prohibiting exclusion from activities based on additional needs.

Title IX was designed to end discrimination based on sex in educational programs or activities at all institutions receiving federal financial assistance, beginning with sports programs and other spaces previously dominated by male students.

The effects of the original law have been pronounced. Far beyond the impact on school programs like sports teams, many educators credit Title IX with setting the stage for academic parity today. Female college students routinely outnumber male students on campus and have become more likely than men of the same age to graduate with a four-year degree.

But since its inception, Title IX has also become a powerful vehicle through which past administrations have sought to steer schools to respond to the dynamic and diverse nature of schools and universities.

While civil rights groups were disappointed that some ambiguity remains for the L.G.B.T.Q. students and their families, the new rules were widely praised for taking a stand at a time when education debates are reminiscent to the backlash after the Supreme Court ordered schools to integrate.

More than 20 states have passed laws that broadly prohibit anyone assigned male at birth from playing on girls’ and women’s sports teams or participating in scholastic athletic programs, while 10 states have laws barring transgender people from using bathrooms based on their gender identity.

“Some adults are showing up and saying, ‘I’m going to make school harder for children,” said Liz King, senior program director of the education equity program at the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. “It’s an incredibly important rule, at an incredibly important moment.”

Schools will have to cram over the summer to implement the rules, which will require a retraining staff and overhauling procedures they implemented only four years ago.

Ted Mitchell, the president of the American Council on Education, which represents more than 1,700 colleges and universities, said in a statement that while the group welcomed the changes in the new rule, the timeline “disregards the difficulties inherent in making these changes on our nation’s campuses in such a short period of time.”

“After years of constant churn in Title IX guidance and regulations,” Mr. Mitchell said, “we hope for the sake of students and institutions that there will be more stability and consistency in the requirements going forward.”

Zach Montague is based in Washington. He covers breaking news and developments around the district. More about Zach Montague

Erica L. Green is a White House correspondent, covering President Biden and his administration. More about Erica L. Green

US News & World Report ranks top Tennessee high schools for 2024. Is your school listed?

U.S. News & World Report released its 2024 best public high schools rankings for the nation Tuesday, with several schools in Tennessee high on the list.

U.S. News considered 25,000 public high schools across all 50 states and the District of Columbia for this year's list. The list includes traditional, charter and magnet schools, along with those focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM.

The rankings were compiled in coordination with RTI, a nonprofit global social science research firm. It considered measures like college readiness, college curriculum, state assessments, underserved student performance and graduation rate.

“The 2024 Best High Schools rankings offer a starting point for parents to understand a school’s academic performance, whether it’s a prospective school or one that their child is already attending," U.S. News managing editor of education LaMont Jones said in a news release. "Accessible data on our high schools can empower families across the country as they navigate today’s educational environment and plan for the future."

Find the full national rankings, along with lists by state and of traditional, charter, magnet and STEM schools, at  usnews.com/education/best-high-schools .

Here's how the rankings break down for Tennessee.

See last year's rankings: Three Nashville-area high schools made the top 100

Overall top 10 public high schools in Tennessee

The top 10 public high schools in Tennessee represent a mixture of traditional, magnet and charter schools across the state's West, Middle and East regions. Enrollment sizes range widely from a few hundred to a few thousand. All 10 also ranked in the top 1,000 nationwide.

While magnet schools are public, they offer special programs and classes that may not be available in other public schools. They also have an application process and may have academic or other requirements for students who wish to enroll.

Six of the state's top 10 high schools are magnets, and three are magnets with academic requirements to enroll.

• #1: Central Magnet High School, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (#19 nationally)**
• #2: Hume Fogg Magnet High School, Nashville, Tennessee (#48 nationally)**
• #3: Martin Luther King Jr. High School, Nashville, Tennessee (#154 nationally)**
• #4: Brentwood High School, Brentwood, Tennessee (#211 nationally)
• #5: Ravenwood High School, Brentwood, Tennessee (#336 nationally)
• #6: Valor Flagship High School, Nashville, Tennessee (#385 nationally)***
• #7: Franklin High School, Franklin, Tennessee (#412 nationally)
• #8: Chatt High Center for Creative Arts, Chattanooga, Tennessee (#574 nationally)*
• #9: L&N STEM Academy, Knoxville, Tennessee (#601 nationally)*
• #10: Science Hill High School, Johnson City, Tennessee (#864 nationally)*

*Denotes a public magnet high school with no academic requirements to enroll

**Denotes a public magnet high school with academic requirements to enroll

***Denotes a public charter high school

Note: While L&N STEM Academy does not have academic requirements for enrollment, it does require auditions.

Best colleges rankings: How Vanderbilt University, other Tennessee universities ranked

Top 10 traditional public high schools in Tennessee

Here's a look at the state's top traditional public high schools, meaning they are not a charter, magnet or STEM school:

• Brentwood High School, Brentwood, Tennessee (#4 overall in Tennessee, #211 nationally)
• Ravenwood High School, Brentwood, Tennessee (#5 overall in Tennessee, #336 nationally)
• Franklin High School, Franklin, Tennessee (#7 overall in Tennessee, #412 nationally)
• Maryville High School, Maryville, Tennessee (#11 overall in Tennessee, #872 nationally)
• Fred J. Page High School, Franklin, Tennessee (#12 overall in Tennessee, #911 nationally)
• Nolensville High School, Nolensville, Tennessee (#13 overall in Tennessee, #1,054 nationally)
• Farragut High School, Knoxville, Tennessee (#14 overall in Tennessee, #1,317 nationally)
• Independence High School, Thompson's Station, Tennessee (#16 overall in Tennessee, #1,390 nationally)
• South Gibson County High School, Medina, Tennessee (#17 overall in Tennessee, #1,478 nationally)
• Greeneville High School, Greeneville, Tennessee (#18 overall in Tennessee, #1,628 nationally)

Note: U.S. News & World Report erroneously listed Franklin High School as a magnet school. It is a traditional public school. This list accounts for that discrepancy.

Top 10 magnet high schools in Tennessee

Here's a look at the state's top public magnet high schools:

• Central Magnet High School, Murfreesboro, Tennessee (#1 overall in Tennessee, #19 nationally)
• Hume Fogg Magnet High School, Nashville, Tennessee (#2 overall in Tennessee, #48 nationally)
• Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School, Nashville, Tennessee (#3 overall in Tennessee, #154 nationally)
• Chatt High Center for Creative Arts, Chattanooga, Tennessee (#8 overall in Tennessee, #574 nationally)
• L&N STEM Academy, Knoxville, Tennessee (#9 overall in Tennessee, #601 nationally)
• Science Hill High School, Johnson City, Tennessee (#10 overall in Tennessee, #864 nationally)
• White Station High School, Memphis, Tennessee (#15 overall in Tennessee, #1,323 nationally)
• East High School, Memphis, Tennessee (#25 overall in Tennessee, #2,178 nationally)
• Madison Academic Magnet High School, Jackson, Tennessee (#36 overall in Tennessee, #2,883 nationally)
• Signal Mountain Middle/High School, Signal Mountain, Tennessee (338 overall in Tennessee, #3,008 nationally)

Top 10 public charter high schools in Tennessee

Here are Tennessee's top public charter high schools:

• Valor Flagship Academy, Nashville, Tennessee (#6 overall in Tennessee, #385 nationally)
• Memphis Rise Academy, Memphis, Tennessee (#42 overall in Tennessee, #3,130 nationally)
• Republic High School, Nashville, Tennessee (#43 overall in Tennessee, #3,247 nationally)
• KIPP Nashville Collegiate High School, Nashville, Tennessee (#51 overall in Tennessee, #3,755 nationally)
• Crosstown High School, Memphis, Tennessee (#59 overall in Tennessee, #4,207 nationally)
• Intrepid College Preparatory Charter School, Nashville, Tennessee (#111 overall in Tennessee, #7,184 nationally)
• LEAD Southeast Nashville, Nashville, Tennessee (#115 overall in Tennessee, #7,354 nationally)
• LEAD Academy, Nashville, Tennessee (#154 overall in Tennessee, #9,243 nationally)
• Power Center Academy High School, Memphis, Tennessee (#165 overall in Tennessee, #9,682 nationally)
• Soulsville Charter School, Memphis, Tennessee (#168 overall in Tennessee, #9,813 nationally)

• Educational Leadership

Celebrating Discovery at Research & Pedagogy Festival

On April 23, undergraduate, master’s and doctoral students gathered to showcase their innovative inquiry at the annual Research & Pedagogy Festival (RPF) at Texas Christian University, sponsored by TCU College of Education.

This year’s festival highlighted the scholarly work of researchers through 59 posters with opportunities for presenters and attendees to connect, engage and explore.

Research posters reflected an array of topics, highlighting the dynamic nature of modern educational challenges and innovation. Undergraduates explored initial pedagogical interests that could influence their future careers, while graduate students engaged in advanced research, aiming to contribute meaningful insights to both academic and practical realms of education.

Christine Hall, Ph.D., assistant professor of professional practice, noted the vibrant enthusiasm among participants. “After pausing during COVID, we’re thrilled to be back. The energy and passion for educational research were more vibrant than ever, with students eager to discuss and share their projects with peers, faculty and guests," expressed Hall.

Dean Frank Hernandez concluded the festival by announcing award-winning posters and sharing his pride in all researchers’ achievements.

Best Undergraduate Research Poster

Ashton Adams and Morgan Livingston Keyed In: Exploring Educators’ Views on Keyboarding Abilities and Writing Composition in Elementary School  Faculty Advisor: Robin Griffith, Ph.D.

Best master’s level research poster.

Maggi Oria  Making Sense With Manipulatives Faculty Advisor: Sarah Quebec Fuentes, Ph.D.

Best doctoral level research poster, richard neville (not pictured) moral development of undergraduate pre-health students faculty advisor: ashley tull, ph.d..

RPF celebrates the scholarly achievements of students, and underscores the College’s commitment to preparing ethical, reflective leaders for diverse educational settings.

To learn more about the College of Education at TCU visit coe.tcu.edu .

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US News ranks top 10 public high schools in Michigan

Half of the top 10 high schools in Michigan ranked this week by U.S. News & World Report are located in wealthier communities and serve smaller proportions of low-income students compared with the state average, an analysis by the Detroit Free Press found.

Of the top 10, five are in communities with a higher median income than the state's median income, $66,986, according to census data. Four are in communities with median incomes of $100,000 or more.

At seven of the 10 schools, a quarter or less of the students are considered economically disadvantaged. Half of the schools on the list serve less than 15% of economically disadvantaged students. Statewide, about 54% of students are considered economically disadvantaged.

"What they're really doing is measuring opportunity," Josh Cowen, a professor of education policy at Michigan State University, said of the rankings in August 2023, which typically arrive every year to an avalanche of attention and headlines.

This year's rankings placed the International Academy in Bloomfield Hills at the top of the list, followed by the International Academy of Macomb in Clinton Township and City High Middle School in Grand Rapids, according to state data.

U.S. News & World Report, a media organization known for school rankings, reviewed nearly 18,000 public high schools nationally , and nearly 700 in Michigan made the list.

But the rankings are also no stranger to criticism — namely that the schools at the top tend to be in wealthier communities with districts that are better resourced with stronger tax bases, bestowing them the honor of being a "best" school as decided by U.S. News, with a badge to display on their website. None of the top 20 schools in 2024 are in the city of Detroit, many are in surrounding suburbs. Renaissance High School in Detroit was ranked No. 145 on the list.

Some of the schools are also more rigorous by design, not intended to serve every student. International Academy is a magnet school, with an admissions process.

In what appeared to be an attempt to address the criticism that the rankings favor schools serving wealthier communities, U.S. News, in partnership with nonprofit research institute RTI International, changed how it ranked high schools in 2019. The change shifted the emphasis from performance on Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) exams to other measures, including graduation rates and performance on state assessments,  the Washington Post reported . However, the top schools in Michigan are still largely in wealthy areas.

Eric Brooks, principal data analyst for education at U.S. News & World Report, in an emailed response to questions in August 2023, wrote that the organization's methodology does attempt to measure how schools serve marginalized students.

"We have an additional ranking factor that assesses state assessment scores specific to these historically underserved subgroups compared to what is typical in their states," he wrote. "That withstanding, the highest ranked schools are also those whose 12th graders earned qualifying scores in an array of college-level exams, and schools in wealthier areas do tend to offer the most college-level classwork and preparation." 

How US News calculates high school rankings

According to U.S. News' website, the rankings  take the following indicators into account:

• College readiness (30%):  This indicator takes into account the proportion of 12th grade students in 2021-22 who took least one advanced (AP or IB) test by the end of their senior year and the number who earned a qualifying score on the test. Some criticism around rankings like this stem from the fact that not all schools have the resources to offer AP or IB programs. U.S. New writes that "adjustments were made" so schools that don't offer these classes aren't significantly penalized.
• College curriculum (10%) : This index is also calculated using AP and IB scores, looking at how many of those advanced courses students took and the proportion of qualifying scores they received.
• State assessment proficiency (20%):  This indicator scores students on proficiency in state assessments in math, reading and science. U.S. News used either data from 2021-22 tests. Using assessments to grade school quality is also often criticized because scores often resemble a measure of poverty.
• State assessment performance (20%):  In this indicator, U.S. News measures total assessment scores "compared with what U.S. News predicted for a school with its demographic characteristics in its state." In this case, the organization writes, "schools performing best on this ranking indicator are those whose assessment scores far exceeded U.S. News' modeled expectations."
• Underserved student performance (10%):  This measure looks at how Black, Hispanic and low-income students score on state assessments compared "with the average for non-underserved students among schools in the same state," according to U.S. News.
• Graduation rate (10%):  U.S. News measured the proportion of students who entered high school in the 2018-19 school year and graduated four years later, in 2022.

According to Cowen, many rankings like the one done by U.S. News fail to take into account the kind of resources available in wealthier communities to help raise student achievement on state assessments and encourage students into advanced courses.

"These are high, high income areas, but also highly saturated with what I call human capital. Very high parental education level, lower crime rates, huge investments in infrastructure," he said.

For example, Skyline High School, No. 10 on the list, is in Ann Arbor, where the district  has implemented a very detailed system  for monitoring lead levels in water, capabilities that more impoverished districts may not have due to a lack of available resources.

Furthermore, rankings such as that done by U.S. News don't really show whether schools spark progress in learning among students, said Nat Malkus in an August 2023 interview. Malkus is a researcher and deputy director of education policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based conservative think tank.

"A lot of these schools are going to be good because they have the most important resource for high quality outcome," he said. "That's the students who come in the door on day one. ... U.S. News doesn't have the data or the ability to actually measure how productive schools are."

What do rankings say about inequities in public schools?

State education advocates have long said Michigan's system of funding public education favors wealthy areas, where wealthier tax bases can cover more expenses, through more active booster fundraising or at the state level where they say underserved students with higher needs should be funded at higher levels.

The  current budget is the state's attempt to try to address some of those inequities, which allocated more funding for vulnerable students including English language learners and students considered at-risk —  which include, among others, low-income students , students experiencing homelessness and victims of child abuse.

Malkus said parents concerned about where to send their child to high school should dig deeper than national rankings.

"There are no replacements for engaged parents, going to the site, talking to the schools, and making sure that the schools are going to be the kinds of places that they want their kid to spend seven hours a day," he said.

To Cowen, there is nothing wrong with making information about schools publicly available, but the U.S. News framework isn't aimed at improving public policy.

"They're not talking about equity, or opportunity," Cowen said. "They're talking about just a leafy neighborhood you should aspire to be."

Top 10 high schools in Michigan, ranked by US News

• International Academy , Bloomfield Hills
• International Academy of Macomb , Clinton Township
• City High Middle School , Grand Rapids
• Washtenaw International High School, Ypsilanti
• Saginaw Arts and Sciences Academy, Saginaw
• Troy High School, Troy
• Northville High School, Northville Township
• Rochester Adams High School, Rochester Hills
• East Grand Rapids High School, Grand Rapids
• Skyline High School, Ann Arbor

Contact Lily Altavena: [email protected].

Class of 2024 parents and caregivers: Write a letter to your graduating senior in the Post-Crescent

APPLETON - We're getting close to the end of the school year and graduation season, a milestone for thousands of high school seniors across the state as they look ahead to the next stage of their lives.

Whether seniors are excited to graduate, sad or nervous about what's ahead, or anything in between, this will be important moment for them and their families.

To help congratulate graduating seniors in the Fox Cities, we'd like to hear from parents, caregivers, family members and friends. We're looking for submissions of short letters to graduates to be featured in the Post-Crescent.

Here's how we can help you send your well wishes.

Here's how to submit a letter to your student to be featured in the Post-Crescent

Any person with a high school graduate in the Fox Cities can participate. We're looking for letters to seniors from Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, Kimberly, Kaukauna and other surrounding communities. Fill out  this Google Form  or email [email protected] with the following information:

• Your graduate's first and last name,
• The name of their school and school district,
• A photo in JPEG format of your graduate, either current or from when they were younger,
• The names of all those included in the photo,
• Explicit permission for the Post-Crescent to publish the photo,
• A letter to your graduate that is no more than 200 words, signed by the writer.

Submissions that don't include all the necessary information will not be considered for publication.

Rebecca Loroff is a K-12 education reporter for the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. She welcomes story tips and feedback. Contact her at 920-907-7801 or [email protected]. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @RebeccaLoroff.

Hey Dave, I've got an idea for you: What's the potential of AI-led workshopping?

In a paper published in JOSPT Open (Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy), UTS Graduate School of Health Senior Lecturer in Physiotherapy Dr Joshua Pate and PhD candidate Rebecca Fechner write that AI chatbots offer a novel avenue for idea generation, simulating multidisciplinary workshops that traditionally require significant time and resources.

"We sought to simulate a multidisciplinary workshop on a complex clinical research question using three freely available AI chatbots -- ChatGPT, Bing Creative Mode and Google Bard -- aiming to broaden and accelerate the co-generation of ideas," Dr Pate said.

"Our focus was on AI's practical applications in educational and clinical settings, particularly to address the challenge of pain in schools, but the findings likely generalise for wider applications -- essentially anyone wanting help brainstorming on problem solving, policy or practice.

"We found that the different chatbots provided some different responses to each of the prompts, but overall the most prominent responses were similar. In our simulation they consistently suggested an online platform or curriculum for pain science education in schools.

"So, the consistency in responses suggested some reliability of the chatbots in co-generating ideas, while the differences between chatbots offered a range of perspectives, enriching the brainstorming process.

"These freely available chatbots are accessible tools for broadening participation in idea generation across various domains.

"While the technology might not be good at the details right now, the chatbots are very good at finding new perspectives and connecting dots in previously unexplored ways."

Dr Pate said the study highlights the potential for AI to contribute to educational strategies and clinical research, leveling the field for resource-limited settings. "By demonstrating the chatbots' ability to seemingly simulate complex workshops, we provide a proof-of-concept that could influence future research methodologies and policy making," he said.

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Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Technology Sydney . Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

• Rebecca Fechner and Joshua Pate. Could freely available artificial intelligence chatbots simulate a multidisciplinary workshop to more efficiently co-generate ideas? JOSPT Open , 2024 DOI: 10.2519/josptopen.2024.1133

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Florida education department says it will 'fight' new federal rules on gender identity

'the biden administration ... attempt(s) to gaslight the country into believing that biological sex no longer has any meaning,' education commissioner manny diaz jr. says..

The head of the Florida Department of Education said the state will fight the federal government's new interpretation of the civil-rights law known as Title IX because of its expansion of protections based on gender identity, according to a recent memo.

Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr., at Gov. Ron DeSantis' direction, warned superintendents and school districts to hold off on putting any changes into practice. Florida joins other states, including Louisiana and Oklahoma, in opposing the feds' new regulations.

“Florida will fight this,” Diaz wrote on Friday, referring to the updates related to Title IX , a civil-rights law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program or activity that receives federal funding.

"The Biden Administration maims the statute beyond recognition in an attempt to gaslight the country into believing that biological sex no longer has any meaning," he added.

In response to a reporter's request for comment, the governor's press secretary, Jeremy Redfern, pointed to a video the governor posted on the social media platform X on Feb. 14.

In the video, DeSantis called the new regulations a "radical rewrite" and said the rule would "impose gender ideology on K-12 schools all across the country."

Title IX and trans advocacy

More specifically, Title IX bans sex discrimination against students, employees and others at public schools, colleges and universities that receive federal funding. The new regulations guarantee LGBTQ students protection under the law if they are discriminated against based on their gender identity or sexual orientation.

In Florida, DeSantis and Republican lawmakers have passed a slew of laws targeting trans people and the LGBTQ community. In recent years, Republicans have pushed for laws that criminalize trans people for using the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity and have restricted health care for trans people.

The state also has banned transgender girls from playing on girls' sports teams.

The Biden administration's new rules did not  address whether transgender and nonbinary students can participate on the sports teams that align with their gender.

Diaz wrote in the memo that complying with the new rules would force the state to violate federal and state laws, including the First Amendment, the Parental Rights in Education Act and statutes that protect students' privacy in locker rooms and bathrooms.

The Parental Rights in Education Act, termed "Don't Say Gay" by its critics, generally banned the instruction of sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. The measure also led to the removal of books from classroom and library shelves that contained gay characters or themes; school districts feared running afoul of the law if a child was exposed to materials without parental consent.

School districts interpreted the guidance in wildly varying ways, leading some to pull hundreds of titles out of fear of potential penalties, and others to pull none. A national free speech advocacy group  ranked Florida No.1  in “book bans,”  a much-debated term  to describe books pulled from library and classroom shelves in public schools.

DeSantis vs. Biden

This isn't the first time Florida's state government has fought President Biden's administration. Recently, Attorney General Ashley Moody filed a lawsuit against Biden's SAVE Plan, a student loan repayment plan.

"We will fight in court to make sure that hard-working Americans, who are struggling to buy groceries thanks to Biden, are not on the hook for other people’s debt," Moody said.

In the DOE memo, Diaz said that as legal challenges are filed, he will update superintendents and school districts with guidance on how to implement the new Title IX rules.

"In Florida, we respect parents' rights to direct their children's education. We protect our students' safety and privacy. And we make sure every student is given the chance to thrive on and off campus. We will keep pressing to accomplish these goals," Diaz wrote.

Ana Goñi-Lessan is the State Watchdog Reporter for USA TODAY - Florida and can be reached at  [email protected] . 

Class of 2024 parents: Write a letter to your graduating child in the Press-Gazette.

GREEN BAY — Graduation season is just around the corner when Green Bay's high schoolers will embark on the next chapter of their lives. They will spread their wings and take on the world. It is their oyster, after all.

Clichés aside, graduating from high school is a key milestone in young people's lives, and especially meaningful to their parents and families.

To commemorate this moment and congratulate Green Bay grads, the Press-Gazette wants to hear from parents, family members, caregivers and friends. Specifically, we want you to write your graduate a letter to be featured in the Press-Gazette alongside those of other community members.

Here's how to do it:

Here's how to submit a letter to your student to be featured in the Press-Gazette:

Any person with a high school graduate in Brown County can participate. Fill out this Google Form or email [email protected] with the following information:

• Your graduate's first and last name,
• The name of their school and school district,
• A photo in JPEG format of your graduate, either current or from when they were younger,
• The names of all those included in the photo,
• Explicit permission for the Press-Gazette to publish the photo,
• A letter to your graduate that is no more than 200 words, signed by the writer.

Submissions that don't include all the necessary information will not be considered for publication in the Press-Gazette.

Danielle DuClos is a Report for America corps member who covers K-12 education for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at  [email protected] . Follow on Twitter  @danielle_duclos.  You can directly support her work with a tax-deductible donation at  GreenBayPressGazette.com/RFA  or by check made out to The GroundTruth Project with subject line Report for America Green Bay Press Gazette Campaign. Address: The GroundTruth Project, Lockbox Services, 9450 SW Gemini Drive, PMB 46837, Beaverton, Oregon 97008-7105 .