Learning Curves: News and the U.S. School System
“Learning Curves” is a multi-year series of studies generously supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The research explores the education information priorities of American parents with an emphasis on parents of color, as well as the attributes of education news itself.
Publications
Study: Keeping up with the ed beat: How news habits, racial identity, and a public health crisis have shaped parents’ experience with education news
Published February 16, 2022
This study, which combines findings from two nationally representative surveys of American parents fielded in the spring of 2020 and August of 2021, finds that interest in education news increased substantially over the course of the 15-month period. Across a wide range of issues in the news, parents are more interested in following news about education than about any other topic surveyed. This is true especially for parents of color, who are more likely than White parents to have had to deal with virtual education over the past year, as well as a school system they experience as inhospitable and insensitive to their needs.
See the interactive data visualizations
Study: Education news in the mirror: How local media are serving the parents who have the most on the line
Published March 1, 2022
This study analyzes nearly 1,500 news stories in close to 150 local news outlets across the United States. It finds that in many ways, local education reporting has tackled the topics that the public prioritizes, though does so in a way that gives prominence to elite sources, such as elected and school officials, as opposed to community members like students, parents, and teachers. The study gives special attention to media outlets focused on serving these parents stand out for their use of solutions-oriented journalism, and for giving attention to stories about race and ethnicity in the school system.
See the interactive data visualizations
In the news
Calvin University. The WGVU Morning Show. Aired February 24, 2022.
Education and media at a crossroads: Do we really want the truth? The Elective. Published March 24, 2022.
Education News is stuck. What’s holding it back? Phi, Delta, Kappan. Published March 30, 2022.
For education news — and other local news, too — consider keeping it practical. Poynter. Published February 22, 2022.
How education news is covered, part two. Poynter. published March 2, 2022. (Scroll down or search for sub-heading.)
Need to Know: February 17, 2022. American Press Institute. Published February 17, 2022.
Need to Know: March 2, 2022. American Press Institute. Published March 2, 2022.
Parents really want useful education news. They aren’t all getting it. NiemanLab. Published February 16, 2022.
Research team and advisory board
Research leads
Jesse Holcomb is the Education News Project lead. He teaches journalism and communication at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, MI. Prior to this, Holcomb was an associate director of research at the Pew Research Center in Washington, D.C., where he helped lead a broad research agenda around journalism, technology, and civic life. Holcomb is principal advisor to the Knight Foundation’s Trust, Media and Democracy research initiative, and has fielded an annual survey of nonprofit news organizations with the Institute for Nonprofit News since 2018. He holds a master’s degree from George Washington University’s School of Media and Public Affairs.
Taylor Hartson is a social research methods and technology generalist. They received their Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Calvin University in 2019 and are currently pursuing a PhD in Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. Hartson worked at the Center for Social Research (before it became DataWise Consulting) from 2017 - 2021, starting as a student Research Assistant and joining as a full-time Research Specialist upon graduation. During that time, they led multiple complex projects for data collection, processing, and analysis. Hartson led DataWise Consulting’s support of this project until leaving to pursue their graduate degree.
Yejae Kim was a Research Specialist at the Center for Social Research at Calvin University before it became DataWise Consulting. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Data Science & International Relations while also receiving a GIS certification from Calvin University in 2021. Kim led DataWise Consulting’s support of Holcomb’s work for the Hewlett Foundation from summer 2021 until spring 2022.
Laura Luchies is the Founder & Principal Consulting of DataWise Consulting. Luchies earned her PhD in Social Psychology from Northwestern University in 2011 and focused on longitudinal analysis of transgression and amends-making in romantic dyads. Luchies joined the DataWise Consulting team in its former identity as the Calvin University Center for Social Research in 2014; since then, she has conducted many research projects and program evaluations.
Research assistants
Daniela Ampuero Castilla
Matthew Bone
Jax Heil
Juan Hernandez
Bobae Jung
Marcus Kamau
Min Kim
Yena Kim
Adam Ritsema
Ivanna Rodriguez
Lucia Skuldt
Emmajean Spoelman
Alyssa Tiscareno
Jamison Van Andel
Advisory board
Jennifer Choi | Media Democracy Fund
Daniela Gerson | California State University, Northridge
Garry Pierre-Pierre | Haitian Times
Sue Robinson | University of Wisconsin, Madison