Ed Desk’s Year in Review

Our favorite stories of 2022

View this email online January 1, 2023 This week, we look at 2022 in education, and reflect on our favorite stories of the year. Happy New Year! Anil Oza, the Ed Desk intern, here! Even in just the couple of months I have spent with the team, it’s clear that 2022 was a dramatic year in education. President Biden’s sweeping student loan forgiveness program is still riding a legal rollercoaster – it went from opening applications and raising hope for millions of borrowers to being challenged in courts around the country and is now waiting for its day at the Supreme Court. Justices also took up challenges to affirmative action in college admissions this year, and universities have had to deal with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, which ended access to abortion in more than a dozen states. We saw longer-term effects of the pandemic emerge in students across the country – as national test scores dipped, attention to mental health care grew, and students who had much of high school disrupted by Covid took on a school year that feels more normal. With so much happening in education all year, we’re taking a moment here to reflect on some of the stories that have stuck with us.   How one middle school science class is helping climate researchers Lauren Migaki/NPR I’ll start off our year in review! Since I joined the team in October I have spent a lot of time reporting a story that is coming out soon. It’s about how one teacher in Brooklyn uses data collected by her middle school students to help scientists document how warm their neighborhood is getting – and hopefully figure out how to cool it off. I have previously written about how scientists are trying to better understand urban heat islands, and, as a lifelong New Yorker, it makes me hopeful to see the next generation help imagine how the city could change in response to our warming climate. It was a joy to tag along with these students as they took the temperature of things like concrete and grass, and I can’t wait for you all to be able to read the story soon.  — Anil Oza, Intern, Ed Desk How one student debt relief program failed low-income borrowers As a reporter, I love to vary the kinds of stories I attempt across a given year, between long reads and shorties, K-12 and higher ed, wonky policy and loose, voice-filled features. Some take a day or two, some a week or two, and some, well … my favorite story of the ones I covered in 2022 took months to report and write. Done with the help of editor Nicole Cohen, it’s an investigation built on internal Education Department documents that revealed multiple, critical failures in student loan repayment plans that are specifically designed to help low-income borrowers. We published the story on April 1, which was maybe not the best idea, since some of the problems we discovered read like a bad April Fool’s joke. But three weeks later, the department unveiled serious overhaul plans. Those changes just got underway, and have the potential to help millions of borrowers get closer to wrapping up their student loans. Read the story here.  — Cory Turner, Correspondent, NPR Ed Expanding access to higher education to people in prison Elissa Nadworny/NPR Next year, after nearly 25 years of advocating for it, people in prison will have access to federal grants to help pay for college. In anticipation of this change, we spent two years following a group of men getting their bachelor's degrees while serving prison time.  Their stories illustrate the potential for hundreds of thousands of people who are incarcerated. They also highlight unique challenges and limitations that education alone won't fix. Follow along as these men navigate life as college students while still on the inside, then discover what happens when two are released before they finish their degrees and must suddenly figure out how to handle coursework along with parole, family drama, the pressure to get a job, and their newfound freedom.  Ellisa Nadworny and NPR Ed Producer Lauren Migaki at Pitzer College, which has a prison-college program Elissa Nadworny/NPR — Elissa Nadworny, Correspondent, NPR Ed When divorce wouldn’t free you from your ex’s student loan debt My favorite story of the year was a series about a small batch of student loan borrowers who were fighting to fix a broken program. In the late ‘90s and early 2000s these borrowers had signed joint consolidation loans with their spouses. Together, they got a lower interest rate and a single monthly payment. Seemed like a no brainer to many. But when some of these borrowers later separated or divorced, their loans stayed united. There was simply no legal way to split up the loans. So some borrowers were stuck picking up loan payments for an ex-spouse, often estranged. The program also barred borrowers from public service loan forgiveness. After following this story through various twists and turns, I eventually got to call my sources with some good news – Congress passed a bill to fix the problem and President Biden signed it in October. Happy New Year! Read the story here. — Sequoia Carrillo, Reporter, NPR Ed Covid, childcare and uncertainty  I started to scroll our archives to remind myself what happened last year – I did not get far before I felt immersed in a time I’d like in so many ways to forget! Listening back to the chaos of January 2022 put me right back into the high emotion of that time, as a new Covid variant surged and schools closed and opened and opened and closed, again, months after a solid semblance of pre-pandemic school had largely returned. I picked three stories that are a headphones journey worth taking, even just for reflection as another year begins. Together, these stories remind me of the continuous, intricate interdependency of parents, children, and schools, which of course includes teachers, administrators, and politics.  Start here to remind yourself of the frustration and upheaval all over the country this time last year. Then listen in on this conversation, between NPR’s Ayesha Rascoe and the single parent of a first grader, on dealing with constant uncertainty. Finally, appreciate the nuance in this report from WBEZ’s Susie An, when Chicago teachers concerned about Covid safety went on strike. I hear disbelief – Really? This is happening? Again? – but also common ground, and some creative song lyrics! But what brought waves of emotion back for me is the mom near the end, fervently hoping she can find something to hope for.  — Emily Harris, Editor, NPR Ed How one group shaped K-pop as we know it Before joining the Ed team, I spent most of this year collaborating with guest hosts of the NPR podcast It’s Been a Minute. One episode that I am most proud of is an anniversary story of the K-pop group Girls’ Generation. It was cool getting to analyze their 15 year career, and a lot of fun listening to their songs and watching their performance videos for “work!” Read the story here. — Janet Lee, Producer, NPR Ed  Newsletter continues after sponsor message Now, a news look-ahead …  We’re working on stories for early 2023 about wrinkles in the numbers showing that college enrollment is still dropping, the complex legacy of Indian boarding schools, and new school board members taking their seats after this very divisive election year. For now, a shout out to WFYI education reporter Lee Gaines for her nuanced reporting on why, in one Indiana school district, a red wave didn’t land. Read her story here. Happy 2023 from all of us at NPR Ed Desk! See you next week. Listen to your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to hear live radio from WBEZ (edit station). What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: npred@npr.org Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! 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