2021 Finalists for the National Awards for Education Reporting

Smaller Newsroom

Sasha Aslanian & Alisa Roth
APM Reports
Under Pressure: Inside the College Mental Health Crisis

Lee V. Gaines
Illinois Public Media
A Debate Over Defunding the Campus Police Takes Root at the University of Illinois

Kyra Miles
WBHM
LGBTQ Students Find Hope in New Affirming School: The Magic City Acceptance Academy

Larger Newsroom

Sasha Aslanian, Catherine Winter, Karin Fischer & Jennifer Ruark
APM Reports, The Chronicle of Higher Education
Fading Beacon: Why America Is Losing International Students

NBC News staff
NBC News Digital
Southlake

Ki Sung, Jessica Placzek, Nimah Gobir & Seth Samuel
KQED
Grades Have Huge Impact, But Are They Effective?

Small newsroom

Linda Jacobson
The 74
Covering American Education’s Most Turbulent Year

Asher Lehrer-Small
The 74
ELLs’ Absenteeism, Blue State/Red State Learning Divides, TA to BA and More

Jon Marcus
The Hechinger Report
Jon Marcus: Higher Education Beat Coverage

Midsize newsroom

Mila Koumpilova
Chalkbeat Chicago
Mila Koumpilova: Beat Reporting

Olivia Krauth
The Courier Journal
Olivia Krauth: Beat Reporting

Kate McGee
The Texas Tribune
Higher Education in Texas

Large newsroom

Dana Goldstein
The New York Times
How the Pandemic Has Affected Students, Teachers and Families

Erica Green
The New York Times
How the Nation’s Troubles Affected Education

Talia Richman
The Dallas Morning News
Talia Richman: Beat Reporting

Small newsroom

Max Kutner
Los Angeles Magazine
How L.A.’s Brentwood School Became a Battleground in the Culture Wars

Caroline Preston
The Hechinger Report
The Jobs Where Sexual Harassment and Discrimination Never Stopped

Charlotte West & Monica Braine
The Hechinger Report
How Native Students Navigated the Pandemic

Midsize newsroom

Trisha Powell Crain & Amanda Khorrambadi
AL.com, Reckon South
Alabama High Flyers

Rita Omokha
The Hechinger Report, Vanity Fair
The Orphans Covid Left Behind

Patrick Wall, Stephanie Wang, Sarah Darville, Kalyn Belsha, Alex Zimmerman, Lori Higgins & Melanie Asmar
Chalkbeat
Covid Shutdowns: One Year Later

Large newsroom

Mike Hixenbaugh & Antonia Hylton
NBC News Digital
The Critical Race Theory Battle in Southlake’s Schools

Hannah Natanson
The Washington Post
Race in the Classroom

Casey Parks
The New York Times Magazine
The Tragedy of America’s Rural Schools

Smaller newsroom

Morgan Matzen
Argus Leader
South Dakota Social Studies Standards Series

Samantha Smylie
Chalkbeat Chicago
How Chicago Fell Behind Serving Students With Disabilities

Jack Stripling
The Chronicle of Higher Education
‘The Biggest Mess’

Larger newsroom

Hannah Dreyfus
ProPublica
“The Liberty Way”

Kenny Jacoby
USA TODAY
Six Women Reported a Louisiana College Student for Sexual Misconduct. No One Connected the Dots.

Mandy McLaren
Louisville Courier-Journal
Magnetic Pull: How Louisville Sacrifices Poor Schools to Ensure Its Elite Magnet Programs Thrive

Small newsroom

Rebecca Koenig & Emily Tate
EdSurge
How China’s New Education Policy Affects Teachers, Parents and Students Around the World

Jackie Mader, Kavitha Cardoza & Kate Rix
The Hechinger Report
The Trauma Epidemic

Neal Morton
The Hechinger Report
A Year in the Life of a Small-Town Superintendent Shows the Federal Bailout Won’t Be Enough

Midsize newsroom

Nuria Martinez-Keel & Josh Dulaney
The Oklahoman
Ninnekah Schools Abuse Scandal

Ileana Najarro, Holly Peele, Eesha Pendharkar, Maya Riser-Kositsky, Stephen Sawchuk, Sarah Schwartz, Kaylee Domzalski & Brooke Saias
Education Week
A Year After George Floyd

Jack Stripling
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Tenure Case of Nikole Hannah-Jones

Large newsroom

Emily Donaldson, Talia Richman, Corbett Smith, Eva-Marie Ayala & Allie Morris
The Education Lab at The Dallas Morning News
Texas Public Schools and Censorship

Anya Kamenetz
NPR
School Board Front Lines

Erin Richards, Alia Wong & Jack Gruber
USA TODAY
School Reopening Coverage

Smaller newsroom

Alex Baumhardt, Will Craft, Sabby Robinson, Will Callan, Chris Julin, Catherine Winter, Andy Kruse & Dave Mann
APM Reports
Who Wants to Be a Teacher?

Eric Hoover
The Chronicle of Higher Education
The Most Onerous Form in College Admissions

Janine Zeitlin
Naples Daily News / The News-Press/ USA TODAY Network-Florida
How the Pandemic Magnified Inequities for Florida’s Migrant Students

Larger newsroom

Sarah Butrymowicz, Meredith Kolodner & Jon Marcus
The Hechinger Report 
Hidden Debt Trap

Laura Bauer & Judy Thomas
The Kansas City Star
Unlicensed and Under the Radar

News staffs
Big Local News, EdSource, The New York Times
The School Enrollment Project

Smaller newsroom

Justin Allen & Daniel J. Willis
EdSource
Following Covid Money in Education

Alec Fischer
Fischr Media
Covid Confessions: Teachers Share Their Experiences Working During the Pandemic

Yuxuan Xie & Daniel J. Willis
EdSource
Tracking learning modes of California students

Larger newsroom

Kevin Armstrong & Amr Alfiky
The New York Times
“No Shortcuts” on 40-Mile Rite of Passage

GBH News Staff
GBH News
COVID and the Classroom

Anya Kamenetz, LA Johnson & Steve Drummond
NPR
The History of Vaccine Mandates