2024

Chicago Journalists Association - Sarah Brown Boyden Award

Education - First Place: COVID recovery spending coverage in Chicago schools as money runs out (Reema Amin)

• Chicago’s pre-K expansion fueled by federal COVID recovery money
• From ‘winning the lottery’ to ‘leaner schools’: How the end of federal COVID money could impact Chicago schools

Nonprofit News Awards (INNYs)

Insight Award for Explanatory Journalism, large division - Finalist:

Lost In Translation: Migrant Kids Struggle In Segregated Chicago Schools (Reema Amin and Mina Bloom- Block Club Chicago)

• Lost In Translation: Migrant Kids Struggle In Segregated Chicago Schools

Community Champion Award, large division - Finalist:

Chalkbeat’s Noticias Escolares initiative

• Chalkbeat’s Noticias Escolares initiative

Excellence in Journalism (SPJ NJ)

Best Continuing Coverage - First Place: Battle continues a year after Newark Global Studies’ students first described pattern of racism (Jessie Gomez)

• "I felt like I was lost": NJ students say school segregation impacted their education"
• Judge finds New Jersey has responsibility to address school segregation
• New Jersey school segregation case: A look at key points, what’s next in Latino Action Network vs. NJ

Green Eyeshade Awards (SPJ Southeastern US)

Deadline Reporting/Online - Second Place:

Marta W. Aldrich collection

• As Nashville reels from school shooting, Tenn. lawmakers consider loosening gun restrictions
• Nashville school shooting prompts Capitol protest, and a fresh look at Tennessee gun policies
• Nashville students rally for tougher gun laws, as governor seeks armed guards for every school
• Two Tennessee Democrats voted out of GOP-controlled legislature for their gun protest
• Tennessee legislature dismisses gun bills in rush to adjourn, defying protests after school shooting

Politics Reporting/Online - Third Place:

Marta W. Aldrich collection

• Tennessee is talking about rejecting federal education funding. What would that mean for kids?
• As Nashville reels from school shooting, Tenn. lawmakers consider loosening gun restrictions
• Two Tennessee Democrats voted out of GOP-controlled legislature for their gun protest
• Tennessee legislature dismisses gun bills in rush to adjourn, defying protests after school shooting
• The 'Tennessee 3' created a historic teachable moment. Will schools be allowed to teach it?
• Tennessee picks vendor with no voucher experience to manage its education savings accounts
• Tennessee rushes to revamp its A-F letter grades for schools. Educators cry foul.

2023

Chicago Headline Club Awards (SPJ Peter Lisagor)

Best Education Reporting:

Chicago's shift away from school choice (Reema Amin, Mila Koumpilova, Becky Vevea)

• Chicago mayoral candidates offer divergent paths on declining enrollment and small schools
• Chicago Public Schools leaders want to move away from school choice
• How do families use Chicago's vast school choice system? Five people tell us their stories.

Top of the Rockies (SPJ Colorado)

Education: News - First Place:

Last Resort (Melanie Asmar, Helen Santoro -KFF Health News, Rae Ellen Bichell- KFF Health News, Jennifer Brown -The Colorado Sun)

• Part One: The schools that take Colorado's 'most vulnerable' children are disappearing
• Part Two: Students in rural Colorado left without options as specialized schools close
• Part Three: Colorado is pouring more money into schools for kids with behavioral health issues and disabilities, but are they helping?
• Part Four: How Colorado is filling gaps for its 'most vulnerable' children as last-resort schools dwindle

Extended Coverage - Second Place:

East High School shooting coverage (Melanie Asmar)

• East High shooting prompts fear, frustration, and calls for action in Denver

Beat Reporting - Second Place:

Equity in Colorado Higher Education (Jason Gonzales)

• Colorado's science and engineering university wants to enroll more Pell students. Here's how
• Shaped by the pandemic, racial unrest, and debt fears, Colorado's class of 2023 steps into the world
• Many Colorado students juggle college and parenting. Often they feel like outsiders on campus.
• Colorado banned legacy admissions at its public colleges. Two years later, the impact is unclear.
• Shaped by pandemic hardships, more Colorado college students are sticking with school
• New MSU Denver program aims to train more male educators of color

Religion: News - First Place:

Proposed ban on religious instruction in Colorado's state-funded preschools may spark legal fight (Ann Schimke)

• Proposed ban on religious instruction in Colorado's state-funded preschools may spark legal fight

Best in Indiana Journalism (SPJ Indiana)

Education Reporting - First Place:

Education news across Indiana (Aleksandra Appleton)

• Sex ed in Indiana isn't required. Here's what it looks like in schools that teach it.
• Indiana families will no longer be charged textbooks fees. Here's what to expect.
• A path to the workforce and a pipeline of workers: Companies go to high schools for career training
• A teachers union wanted to bargain over pay. Its president ended up barred from the classroom.
• As Indiana's immigrant population grows, one school offers English lessons to families

Election and Campaign Coverage - Second Place:

Education issues in elections (Aleksandra Appleton, Amelia Pak-Harvey, MJ Slaby)

• Warren Township district seeks tax increase to cover initiatives once federal COVID aid expires
• Where Indianapolis mayoral candidates stand on education issues: an election guide
• Inflation, lack of vocal opposition key for $410 million Indianapolis Public Schools ballot measure
• Students' mental health needs are growing. Here's how one district is asking taxpayers to help.

Education Writers Association Awards

Investigative & Public Service Reporting - Winner:

Too Many Kids: How an Online Tutoring Company Shortchanged Schools (Kalyn Belsha)

• This online tutoring company says it offers expert one-on-one help. Students often get neither.
• Online tutoring company Paper loses statewide contract in New Mexico
• Hundreds of Las Vegas and Tampa area schools drop Paper's online tutoring

2022

Colorado Press Association

Best Education Story - First Place: How one Colorado Republican shaped what students will learn about the Holocaust (Erica Meltzer)

Green Eyeshade Awards (SPJ Southeastern US)

Digital Media Presentation - Second Place: How the age-appropriate debate is altering curriculum in Tennessee and nationwide (Marta W. Aldrich, Kae Petrin, Thomas Wilburn, Dan Lyon)

Politics Reporting - Third Place: Collection of stories on book bans and Hillsdale charters (Marta W. Aldrich)

Education Writers Association Awards

News - Winner: Rethinking What Students Learn, One State at a Time (Marta W. Aldrich, Kalyn Belsha, Erica Meltzer, Stephanie Wang)

Beat Reporting - Finalist: Beat Reporting (Kalyn Belsha)

• Schools across the U.S. have turned to Paper’s online tutoring. Some worry it’s falling short.
• With COVID aid, schools try something new: giving students jobs
• ‘Am I not allowed to mention myself?’ Schools grapple with new restrictions on teaching about gender and sexuality
• Iowa scrapped teacher training on equity. Students of color felt the sting of that decision.
• Remote learning made it challenging for English learners to practice speaking skills. This district is finding ways to help.

Visual Storytelling - Finalist: Visualizing the “Age Appropriate” Curriculum Debate (Marta W. Aldrich, Dan Lyon, Kae Petrin, Thomas Wilburn)

• Why a small private Christian college in Michigan is having an outsize influence in Tennessee
• Hillsdale group’s charter applications will test independence of new Tennessee commission
• How the age-appropriate debate is altering curriculum in Tennessee and nationwide
• Tennessee school library law’s expanded scope puts new burden on teachers
• Tennessee’s shift to partisan school board races faces its first big test

EGF Accelerator’s Eddie Prize - Finalist: Challenges and Opportunities in Colorado Higher Education (Jason Gonzales, Chalkbeat and Open Campus)

• Rural Colorado students go to college at low rates. Tiny Fowler goes against the trend.
• Colorado has big gaps in who finishes college. Can a post-pandemic push turn the tide?
• COVID has left students less prepared for higher education. Here’s how colleges are trying to help.

Excellence in Journalism (SPJ Detroit)

Collaborative Coverage, - First Place: The $6 billion question: Will COVID relief funds help Michigan students recover? (Ethan Bakuli, Koby Levin, Isabel Lohmann- Bridge Michigan, Lily Altavena- Detroit Free Press)

Education Reporting - Second Place: Not ‘present,’ and paying a steep cost (Ethan Bakuli, Koby Levin)

Chicago Headline Club Awards (SPJ Peter Lisagor)

Best Feature or Human Interest Single Story- Winner: Inside a Chicago high school’s year of uncertainty (Mila Koumpilova)

New York Press Club Journalism Awards

Feature Reporting NYC Metro- Internet - Winner: NYC families struggle with school refusal (Amy Zimmer)

Best in Indiana Journalism (SPJ Indiana)

Non-Deadline Story or Series - Third Place: Coverage of Rebuilding Stronger (Amelia Pak-Harvey, Cam Rodriguez)

• IPS wants Rebuilding Stronger to address inequities, but some worry its approach is unfair
• Find out what happens to your school under the IPS Rebuilding Stronger plan
• Indianapolis embarks on another middle school overhaul. Will this one work?
• As IPS considers closing schools, see what score your school building gets
• As Rebuilding Stronger nears, some Indianapolis educators see disruption and uncertainty ahead

Coverage of Government or Politics - Second Place: Education issues at the Statehouse (Aleksandra Appleton)

• As abortion ban nears, some want Indiana to expand abstinence-only sex ed
• An IPS principal seeks a state Senate seat: ‘It’s clear our voice has been missing’
• How Indiana’s anti-CRT bill failed even with a GOP supermajority
• ‘Whitewashing history’: Indiana teachers fear anti-CRT bill threatens lessons

Education Reporting - Second Place: Covering students in Indianapolis (Amelia Pak-Harvey)

• After troubles in IPS, Ignite charter school rebrands
• In new school year, some Indianapolis charter schools grow
• Two charter schools seek to enter Pike Township, which has no charters
• IPS hopes to keep school buildings that might close by lobbying legislature
• Tension over ballot measure to fund Rebuilding Stronger could get Indiana lawmakers involved

Best Newsletter - Third Place: Chalkbeat Indiana

Radio Public Affairs - First Place: Politics and non-partisan school board elections collide: Interest in running for Indianapolis school board drops to new low (Amelia Pak-Harvey, Cam Rodriguez, Elizabeth Gabriel, WFYI )

Top of the Rockies (SPJ Colorado)

Education: Feature - First Place: Driving a decade of progress, Hispanic students made huge gains in high school graduation (Yesenia Robles, Cam Rodriguez, Thomas Wilburn)

Politics: Feature - Second Place: ‘One voice’: A new approach to governance is dividing the Denver school board (Melanie Asmar)

Education: News - Third Place: As pandemic wanes, Denver looks to make up missed special education services (Melanie Asmar)

Beat Reporting - Third Place: Denver Public Schools coverage (Melanie Asmar)

• Denver bilingual programs face a threat: not enough students
• Montbello gets its cherished high school back. Will it unite the community?
• As COVID wanes, Denver looks to catch up on special education
• Denver has the largest test score gaps by race in the state
• Denver school district bans harsh critic Brandon Pryor
• ‘One voice’: A new approach to governance is dividing the Denver school board

Extended Coverage - Third Place: Universal preschool in Colorado (Ann Schimke)

• Universal free preschool is coming. How will Colorado ensure quality?
• Colorado is reshaping early childhood. Some school districts are nervous.
• Colorado needs preschool teachers. Will these incentives work?
• A proposed ban on flavored nicotine could cut into Colorado’s preschool funding
• These four states already have universal preschool. What can Colorado learn from them?
• 5 challenges facing Lisa Roy, Colorado’s new early childhood chief
• Colorado recruits providers for its free preschool program. Parents are next.

Best Solutions Journalism - Third Place: Reading instruction in Colorado (Ann Schimke)

• A look inside Colorado’s yearslong push to change how schools teach reading
• Life is hard for middle and high schoolers who struggle to read. This Colorado public school aims to help.
• How a Colorado district changed its reading curriculum to better reflect students

Enterprise Reporting - First Place: Chasing Progress with Colorado News Collaborative:

• Driving a decade of progress, Hispanic students made huge gains in high school graduation (Yesenia Robles)
• Colorado has big gaps in who finishes college. Can a post-pandemic push turn the tide? (Jason Gonzales)

Excellence in Journalism (SPJ NJ)

Best In-Depth Digital Reporting - First Place: Bus driver shortage leave some Newark students with disabilities behind (Catherine Carrera)

Special Category: Best Digital Covid Coverage - First Place: Pandemic 360 (Catherine Carrera, Patrick Wall, Alex Zimmerman)

LION Publishers Awards

Public Service: School Board Text Messaging Service (Chalkbeat Teamwide)

2021

Colorado Press Association

Best Education Story - First Place: He’s 11. By his mom’s count, he’s had more than 30 interactions with armed officers at school. (Melanie Asmar)

Best Education Story - Second Place: Two Hispanic brothers wanted to go to college in Colorado. Here’s why only one made it. (Jason Gonzales)

Best Public Service Project - First Place: Education in a Pandemic (Yesenia Robles, Erica Meltzer, Melanie Asmar, Ann Schimke)

• Adams 14 reopens school buildings for the first time in 10 months — but parents still face tough decisions
• Some school districts are exploring new ways to reduce risk of COVID through air
• Colorado’s teacher vaccination process is ‘messy’ but shots are getting into arms
• Finding courage in her keystrokes: Why this Denver freshman is participating in class more than ever
• ‘We forgot about fun’: Here’s what the pandemic did to children’s mental health
• How Colorado schools are helping teenagers — and their families — get the COVID vaccine
• Denver charter network banks on intensive summer tutoring to help students catch up post-COVID
• Her district says in-person learning is best. Her parents want her virtual. Right now, this Denver 7-year-old isn’t in school at all.
• First-graders in the reading red zone: How one Colorado school is tackling pandemic gaps
• Amid substitute shortages, school specialists are filling in while juggling their own work

Best Public Service Project - Second Place: Higher Education (Jason Gonzales)

• Two Hispanic brothers wanted to go to college in Colorado. Here’s why only one made it.
• Colorado graduates Hispanic men at low rates — but it can improve
• In a Denver barber shop, a prospective college student waited to fulfill his dream
• The difference between quitting and graduating? Sometimes, it’s just one person who cares.
• In rural Colorado, one town is looking to its community college to help survive the end of coal
• ‘Like I’m drowning:’ Five stories from the student debt crisis

New York Press Club Journalism Awards

Internet: Special Event Reporting NYC Metro - Winner: A (remote) day in the life of NYC third graders (Alex Zimmerman, Amy Zimmer, Christina Veiga, Reema Amin)

Education Writers Association Awards

Investigative Reporting - Finalist: Chicago fell behind on plans for students with disabilities during COVID-19. New data show the depth of the problem. (Samantha Smylie)

Feature Stories - Finalist: Covid Shutdowns: One Year Later (Patrick Wall, Stephanie Wang, Sarah Darville, Kalyn Belsha, Alex Zimmerman, Lori Higgins, Melanie Asmar)

• ‘Constantly on edge’: An Indiana district fully reopens for classes, sports, musicals — and quarantines
• They sent early SOS signals about COVID and schools. Here’s what life looks like for them, one year in.
• ‘This is what I do’: How a Newark teacher called, texted, and trudged through the snow to reach her students during COVID
• ‘I don’t want to forget him’: How a close-knit Detroit school coped with the death of a mentor and role model

Beat Reporting - Finalist: Chicago Beat Reporting (Mila Koumpilova, Chalkbeat Chicago)

• Three Chicago teens, one pandemic year: How COVID-19 widened education gaps for boys of color
• One counselor, 665 students: Counselors stretched at Chicago’s majority Latino schools
• ‘All of us are learning to do school again’: Chicago students return to campus during COVID surge
• In Chicago, shrinking majority Latino schools pose a key enrollment challenge
• How much COVID relief money will your Chicago school get? Here’s what we know.

Chicago Headline Club Awards (SPJ Peter Lisagor)

Best Education Reporting: Chicago’s public education comeback: The effort to re-engage 100,000 students (Cassie Walker Burke, Yana Kunichoff, Mila Koumpilova)

Excellence in Journalism (SPJ Detroit)

Education Reporting - First Place: High teacher turnover is hurting Michigan’s most vulnerable students (Koby Levin, Gabrielle LaMarr Lee)

Education Reporting - First Place: Michigan schools struggle to come back from the pandemic (Tracie Mauriello)

• Kindergarten catchup: How teachers are helping young learners
• What does $6 billion in COVID relief buy in Michigan schools?
• Michigan schools struggle to feed students because of supply chain issues and worker shortages

Education Reporting - Second Place: ‘I don’t want to forget him’: How a close-knit Detroit school coped with the death of a mentor and role model (Lori Higgins)

Education Reporting - Second Place: A look inside an all-out effort to get kids back in school (Lori Higgins)

Excellence in Journalism (SPJ Keystone Pro Chapter)

Online News - First Place: Anti-Asian attacks at a Philadelphia school led to landmark ruling over a decade ago. Did anything change? (Dale Mezzacappa)

Online News - Second Place: Behind bars: School inside Philly’s juvenile center feels brunt of city’s gun violence (Johann Calhoun)

Online News - Third Place: What’s at stake in Pennsylvania’s gubernatorial race? Educators say teaching race, racism in schools. (Johann Calhoun)

Top of the Rockies (SPJ Colorado)

Politics: Feature - Third Place: Colorado education interests spend millions on lobbying mostly to retain, gain funding (Erica Meltzer, Jason Gonzales, Sandra Fish)

Education: News - First Place: A Colorado principal put an 8-year-old boy in a hold until he passed out. State law has ‘no teeth’ to force changes (Melanie Asmar)

Education: Feature - First Place: Two Hispanic brothers wanted to go to college in Colorado. Here’s why only one made it. (Jason Gonzales)

Education: Feature - Second Place: He’s 11. By his mom’s count, he’s had more than 30 interactions with armed officers at school. (Melanie Asmar)

Beat Reporting - Second Place: Educational Justice (Melanie Asmar)

• Her district says in-person learning is best. Her parents want her virtual. Right now, this Denver 7-year-old isn’t in school at all.
• A Colorado principal put an 8-year-old boy in a hold until he passed out. State law has ‘no teeth’ to force changes
• He’s 11. By his mom’s count, he’s had more than 30 interactions with armed officers at school.
• Denver planned to stop separating students with emotional disabilities. Now, the district has changed course.
• Denver schools increase safety officers, seek authority to ticket students
• Denver pledged to improve education for Black students. But exactly how is up to each school.

General News - Second Place: Adams 14 School District (Yesenia Robles)

• Adams 14 reopens school buildings for the first time in 10 months — but parents still face tough decisions
• ‘Not waiting until summer’: Adams 14 leaders try to get ninth graders back on track after more than half fail two or more classes
• Adams 14 will have no online option for elementary students next year and limited spots for older students
• Adams 14 school board moves to sever ties with management company
• Parents and staff frustrated as Adams 14 leaders try to resolve accreditation crisis
• Teaching reading an Adams 14 priority after a year of turmoil
• Adams 14 is withholding results from financial audit of company contracts

Online News Association

MJ Bear Fellow: Caroline Bauman

2020

Top of the Rockies (SPJ Region 9)

Public Service - Second Place: Public service education in a pandemic (Marta Aldrich, Melanie Asmar, Kalyn Belsha, Jason Gonzales, Gabrielle Lamarr Lemee, Erica Meltzer, Sam Park, Yesenia Robles, Ann Schimke)

Education: News - First Place: Behind closed doors: When it comes to seclusion and restraint, Colorado schools ‘are investigating themselves’ (Melanie Asmar)

Education: Feature - Third Place: A governor eager to reopen, COVID cases declining — and half of Colorado students are online. What happened? (Erica Meltzer)

Excellence in Journalism (SPJ Detroit)

Young Journalist of the Year - Winner (tied): Koby Levin

Education Reporting - Second Place: Michigan bills bet diagnosing dyslexia early will boost reading skills (Koby Levin)

Education Reporting - Third Place: ‘Mom, I’m not feeling it’: Families overwhelmed by online learning turn to home schooling (Koby Levin)

Colorado Press Association

Best Education Story - First Place: Behind closed doors: When it comes to seclusion and restraint, Colorado schools ‘are investigating themselves’ (Melanie Asmar)

Education Writers Association Awards

News - Winner: Guidance From DeVos Means More Coranavirus Relief for Private Schools (Matt Barnum)

News - Finalist: Coverage of the Coronavirus and New York City’s Schools (Reema Amin, Christina Veiga, Alex Zimmerman, Chalkbeat New York)

Beat Reporting - Finalist: Indiana Beat Reporting (Stephanie Wang, Chalkbeat Indiana)

Public Service - Finalist: Demystifying Chicago’s Local School Councils (Yana Kunichoff, Chalkbeat Chicago)

Public Service - Finalist: Reading Curriculum in Colorado Schools (Ann Schimke, Chalkbeat Colorado)

Newswomen’s Club of NY Front Page Awards

Education: Specialized Reporting - Winner: How safe is the air inside your NYC classroom?: (Amy Zimmer, Christina Veiga, Gabrielle LaMarr LeMee)

Editor & Publisher EPPY Awards

Best Collaborative Investigative/Enterprise Reporting - Finalist: How remote learning upended instruction for NYC students with disabilities and their families (Alex Zimmerman, Chalkbeat New York and THE CITY)

Best Use of Social Media/Crowd Sourcing - Winner: How remote learning upended instruction for NYC students with disabilities and their families (Alex Zimmerman, Chalkbeat New York and THE CITY)

Deadline Club (NYC Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists)

Newspaper or Digital Enterprise Reporting - Winner: Exposed to lead as a baby, Bishop now struggles in school. Could an evaluation used in Flint help NYC students like him? (Reema Amin)

LION Publishers Awards

Best Investigative Report Large Newsroom - Winner: Hidden dropouts: How Indiana schools can write off struggling students as home-schoolers (Dylan Peers McCoy, Chalkbeat Indiana)

Collaboration of the Year - Winner: Pandemic High: How one of Chicago’s largest schools rebuilt itself for cyberspace (Mila Koumpilova, Chalkbeat Chicago and The Chicago Tribune)

Collaboration of the Year - Winner: How remote learning upended instruction for NYC students with disabilities and their families (Alex Zimmerman, Chalkbeat New York, and THE CITY)

Coronavirus Coverage - Finalist: Chalkbeat teamwide

Best Solutions Project of the Year - Finalist: Ready or Not (Lori Higgins, Patrick Wall)

2019

Education Writers Association Awards

Investigative Reporting - Winner: Indiana’s Hidden Dropout Crisis (Dylan Peers McCoy, Chalkbeat Indiana)

Feature Stories - Finalist: Ready or Not: Are Students From Struggling Cities Ready for College? And Are Colleges Ready for Them? (Lori Higgins, Patrick Wall)

Beat Reporting - Finalist: Coverage of Denver Public Schools (Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat Denver)

Beat Reporting- Finalist: Coverage of Indianapolis Public Schools (Dylan Peers McCoy, Chalkbeat Indiana)

Excellence in Journalism (SPJ Detroit)

Education Reporting - Second Place: The push to turn around a struggling Detroit school system (Lori Higgins)

Education Reporting - Second Place: Ready or Not: What happens when students from Detroit enter college (Lori Higgins)

Chicago Headline Club Awards (SPJ Peter Lisagor)

Best Email Newsletter: Cassie Walker Burke and Yana Kunichoff

Best Breaking News Story: Chicago teachers strike ends after 11-day standoff (Cassie Walker Burke, Yana Kunichoff, Philissa Cramer, Sharon Noguchi, Kalyn Belsha, Ariel Cheung)

Green Eyeshade Awards (SPJ Southeastern US)

Politics Reporting - Third Place: (Marta W. Aldrich)

Best in Indiana Journalism (SPJ Indiana)

Investigative Reporting - Second Place: Hidden Dropouts (Dylan Peers McCoy)

Coverage of Government or Politics - Third Place: Governor’s Commission Meets Behind Closed Doors (Stephanie Wang)

Education Reporting - Second Place: Indiana Virtual School Scandal (Stephanie Wang)

Coverage of Children’s Issues - Second Place: Obstacles to Pre-K Expansion (Stephanie Wang)

Coverage of Minority’s Issues - First Place: Race and Education (Stephanie Wang)

Colorado Press Association

Best Education Story - Second Place: Handcuffed in Denver in the fifth grade: ‘Whenever I shut my eyes, I saw the cuffs’ (Melanie Asmar)

Michigan Press Association

Government/Education News - First Place: Inside a turbulent year in Detroit’s charter schools (Koby Levin)

News Enterprise Reporting - First Place: Inside Detroit’s efforts to address one of the biggest obstacles to better schools: sky-high absenteeism (Erin Einhorn, Lori Higgins)

News Enterprise Reporting - Third Place: In Detroit, a push to use African-American history and culture to help students succeed (Lori Higgins)

Best Writing - Second Place: If we don’t learn from this one, shame on us: Lessons from a Detroit charter school that was set up to fail (Koby Levin)

Feature Story - Second Place: The view from room 117: How one Detroit teacher is helping her fifth-graders read like fifth-graders (Koby Levin)

News Photo - Second Place: The children of 8B: One classroom, 31 journeys, and the reason its so hard to fix Detroits schools (Anthony Lanzilote)

The Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth (TCCY)

The John Seigenthaler Making KIDS COUNT Media Award - New Media: Chalkbeat Tennessee

LION Publishers Awards

Best Coverage of Underserved Communities: How it feels to be Javion: 16 and struggling to read in Chicago Public Schools (Chalkbeat Chicago)

Best Breaking News Coverage - Finalist: Strike over: Denver school district, teachers union sign tentative pact raising teacher pay (Chalkbeat Colorado)

Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York

The Samuel P. Peabody Award: Pre-K parity in New York City (Christina Veiga)

2018

Green Eyeshade Awards (SPJ Southeastern US)

Politics Reporting - First Place: Memphis teachers and students recall Martin Luther King’s assassination 50 years later (Marta W. Aldrich, Caroline Bauman, Laura Faith Kebede)

Michigan Press Association

Best Website - Honorable Mention: Chalkbeat Detroit

Government/Education News - Third Place: The Detroit school district has been using a curriculum that’s ‘an injustice to the children of Detroit’ — but it’s not alone. (Erin Einhorn)

Colorado Press Association

Public Service - First Place: Year of the Teacher (Melanie Asmar, Erica Meltzer, Yesenia Robles, Ann Schimke)

• Colorado teachers can claim an unwelcome distinction: most underpaid in the nation (or close to it)
• Why Colorado teachers marched on the state Capitol
• Colorado teachers rallying at the Capitol will need voters’ help to make a big change
• What you need to follow the money debate behind the teacher walkouts
• LIVE BLOG: Colorado teachers are rallying at the Capitol for more funding and higher pay. Follow the protest here.
• We asked Colorado teachers about their salaries and classroom needs. Here’s what they said.
• Colorado was never ranked 46th for teacher pay. Does this change the debate?
• After teacher rallies, the work ‘shifts to the local community level,’ Colorado union president says

Best Education Story - First Place: In Denver’s gentrifying neighborhoods, some middle-class parents are avoiding the school down the block (Melanie Asmar, Erica Meltzer, Yesenia Robles, Ann Schimke)

Best Feature Story - Second Place: Rising test scores and dwindling trust: Denver’s Tom Boasberg leaves a complicated legacy (Melanie Asmar)

Best Education Story - Second Place: Rising test scores and dwindling trust: Denver’s Tom Boasberg leaves a complicated legacy (Melanie Asmar)

Best Sustained Coverage - Second Place: Adams 14 school district (Yesenia Robles)

• This Colorado school district was supposed to be a model for advancing biliteracy. Now it’s scaling back
• No more parent-teacher conferences: Why one Colorado school district is going with an online data system instead
• Special education in tumult as Adams 14 faces resignations, parent complaints
• Board president of troubled Adams 14 school district abruptly resigns
• Adams 14 is restructuring leadership team after yearlong exodus of top staff
• Frequent critic of Adams 14 school district, and advocate for bilingual education, removed from public meeting
• Adams 14 board ordered superintendent to create plan to expand biliteracy option soon
• Adams 14 board getting ready to make decision on charter that has divided community
• Adams 14 superintendent asks board to deny KIPP application, rejecting advice from his staff
• State panel recommends Adams 14 turn over management to outside group

Chicago Headline Club Awards (SPJ Peter Lisagor)

Best Online Start-Up - Winner: Chalkbeat Chicago

Best in Indiana Journalism (SPJ Indiana)

Education Reporting - Second Place: Indiana Education (Shaina Cavazos)

Education Reporting - Third Place: Education Coverage (Dylan Peers McCoy)

Coverage of Children’s Issues - First Place: Early Childhood Education Coverage (Stephanie Wang)

Coverage of Minority’s Issues - Second Place: Race in Education (Stephanie Wang)

Silurians Press Club Journalism Awards

Minority Affairs Reporting - Medallion: Middle School Integration in New York City (Christina Veiga, Samuel Park)

2017

AERA Awards for Excellence in Education Research

Excellence in Media Reporting on Education Research: Matt Barnum

Colorado Press Association

Best Website - First Place: Chalkbeat Colorado

Best Series - Second Place: Jeffco School Closures (Yesenia Robles)

• Disadvantaged students more likely to be impacted by Jeffco school closures
• For Jeffco students with special needs enrolled at schools slated for closure, more questions than answers
• Why Jeffco hasn’t considered academic performance in picking schools to close
• Gifted and talented center at Wheat Ridge High School on chopping block as part of Jeffco budget cuts
• Jeffco board votes to close one elementary school in budget cuts, sparing four others

Education Writers Association Awards

Beat Reporting - Winner: Erin Einhorn, Chalkbeat Detroit

Single-Topic News or Feature - Winner: The Portfolio Model (Matt Barnum, Laura Faith Kebede, Dylan Peers McCoy)

Investigative Reporting - Finalist: The Broken Promise of Indiana’s Online Schools (Shaina Cavazos)

Best in Indiana Journalism (SPJ Indiana)

Coverage of Children’s Issues - Second Place: Preschool expansion in Indiana (Shaina Cavazos)

• How a computer program designed for home-based preschool in Utah could get a piece of Indiana’s education budget
• Lawmakers want more research before they spend big on preschool. When it comes to vouchers, there’s no such hesitation.

Education Reporting - Second Place: Dylan Peers McCoy

• How vouchers transformed Indiana: Private schools now live or die by test scores, too
• Indianapolis Public Schools leaders stripped a traditional public school of its teachers union — and few saw it coming
• Millions of extra dollars go to Indianapolis magnet schools that have fewer poor students

Coverage of Minority Issues - Third Place: Newcomer School (Dylan Peers McCoy)

• Trump’s immigration policies leave empty seats at an Indianapolis school
• Teaching when students are full of fear: Inside Indiana’s first school for new immigrants

Investigative Reporting - Third Place: Indiana Online Charter Schools (Shaina Cavazos)

• As students signed up, online school hired barely any teachers — but founder’s company charged it millions
• Indiana online charter schools need more oversight. These 3 changes could help.
• Gov. Eric Holcomb says Indiana’s low-rated online charter schools need ‘immediate attention and action’

Excellence in Journalism (SPJ Detroit)

General News - First Place: How Detroit’s splintered school system makes it more difficult to educate children (Erin Einhorn)

Feature Story - Third Place: An inside look at school transformation efforts in Detroit (Erin Einhorn)

Green Eyeshade Awards (SPJ Southeastern US)

Non-Deadline Reporting - Second Place: Meet the Memphis educator leading the charge to take down her city’s Confederate monuments (Laura Faith Kebede)

Top of the Rockies (SPJ Region 9)

Education: Enterprise Reporting - First Place: Life in a child care desert: What one Denver neighborhood can teach us about solving a national problem (Ann Schimke, Yesenia Robles)

Education: General Reporting - First Place: Inside the rocky rollout of Denver Public Schools’ new school closure policy (Melanie Asmar)

Education: Enterprise Reporting - Second Place: Jeffco Public Schools suspended an average of four young students a day last year — and district officials are paying attention (Ann Schimke)

Education: General Reporting - Second Place: What a dearth of teachers means for a school in a one-stoplight Colorado town (Nicholas Garcia)

General Website Excellence - Third Place: Chalkbeat Colorado

2016

Education Writers Association Awards

Ronald Moskowitz Prize for Outstanding Beat Reporting: Erin Einhorn, Chalkbeat Detroit

Beat Reporting - Winner: Erin Einhorn, Chalkbeat Detroit

Beat Reporting - Finalist: Melanie Asmar, Chalkbeat Colorado

Best in Indiana Journalism (SPJ Indiana)

Coverage of Minority Issues - Third Place & Features Writing - Third Place: The end of busing in Indianapolis: 35 years later, a more segregated school system calls it quits (Shaina Cavazos)

Top of the Rockies (SPJ Region 9)

Education: General Reporting - Second Place: Why Aurora Public Schools wants to kick this online charter school out (Nicholas Garcia)

Politics: Enterprise Reporting - Second Place: State board met illegally with commissioner (Nicholas Garcia)

Education: Enterprise Reporting - Third Place: For a longtime Denver charter school, one more chance at rebirth (Melanie Asmar)

2015

Education Writers Association Awards

Ronald Moskowitz Prize for Outstanding Beat Reporting: Patrick Wall, Chalkbeat New York

Beat Reporting - Winner: Patrick Wall, Chalkbeat New York

Investigative Reporting - Finalist: Colorado’s First School-by-School Immunization Database (Ann Schimke)

Best in Indiana Journalism (SPJ Indiana)

Non-Deadline Story or Series - First Place: Lost in Translation (Shaina Cavazos, Hayleigh Colombo, Scott Elliott, Stephanie Wang - IndyStar, Eric Weddle - WFYI)

Education Reporting - First Place: The basics of school funding: Difficulty defining fairness (Scott Elliott, Shaina Cavazos)

Journalism Website - Second Place: Chalkbeat Indiana

Education Reporting - Third Place: Rich school, poor school: IPS push to even out funding could bring big changes (Dylan Peers McCoy)

Investigative Reporting - Third Place: School offered $100 rewards for new students (Hayleigh Colombo)

2014

Education Writers Association Awards

Investigative Reporting - Winner: The revolving schoolhouse door: Principal turnover in Denver, investigated (Monique Collins, Sarah Glen, Kate Schimel)

Single-Topic News or Feature - Finalist: A Promise Unfulfilled at Manual High School (Nicholas Garcia, Alan Gottlieb, Kate Schimel)

Best in Indiana Journalism (SPJ Indiana)

Coverage of Minority Issues - First Place: Tough discipline at state takeover schools falls more heavily on minority children (Shaina Cavazos, Scott Elliott)

Education Reporting - First Place: Key learning community aims to rekindle past glory (Scott Elliott)

Coverage of Minority Issues - Second Place: Washington Township embraces International Baccalaureate to help serve English language learners (Shaina Cavazos)

Education Reporting - Second Place: Indiana superintendent hoping film will launch an education movement (Hayleigh Colombo)

2013

Education Writers Association Awards

Single-Topic News or Feature - Second Prize: Education Issues in NYC Mayor’s Race (Philissa Cramer, Sarah Darville, Geoffrey Decker, Patrick Wall)

2011

Education Writers Association Awards

Journalism Blogging - Second Prize: GothamSchools (Chris Arp, Jessica Campbell, Philissa Cramer, Rachel Cromidas, Sarah Darville, Geoffrey Decker, Elizabeth Green, Anna Phillips, Maura Walz)

2010

Education Writers Association Awards

Journalism Blogging - First Prize: GothamSchools (Philissa Cramer, Kim Gittleson, Elizabeth Green, Anna Phillips, Maura Walz)

Community Blogging - First Prize: Classroom Tales: A Diary, GothamSchools (Ruben Brosbe, Philissa Cramer)

2009

Education Writers Association Awards

Blogs - First Prize: GothamSchools (Philissa Cramer, Elizabeth Green, Anna Phillips, Maura Walz)