Millions of kids can't read well. Scientists have known for decades how children learn to read, but many schools don’t know about the research. They buy teacher training and books that are rooted in a disproven idea. In Sold a Story, Emily Hanford investigates four authors and a publishing company that have made millions selling this idea. The podcast has won some of the biggest awards in journalism. Twenty-five states (and counting) have changed their reading laws because of it. Now, Apple ...
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Stories about education, opportunity, and how people learn. From APM Reports.
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During the Vietnam War, roughly one in five GIs actively opposed the conflict. Many servicemen and women came to believe they were not liberating the country from communism but acting as agents of tyranny. In the combat zone, they rebelled against their commanders' orders. At home, they staged massive protests. Soldiers for Peace offers a first-person look at how GIs were transformed by Vietnam, and the strategies veterans and active-duty personnel used to bring the war to an end.
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Order 9066 chronicles the history of the WWII Japanese American Incarceration through vivid, first-person accounts of those who lived through it. The series explores how this shocking violation of American democracy came to pass, and its legacy in the present.
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It didn't seem to matter what happened at the teen treatment center. The state of Utah always gave it another chance. Death. Allegations of abuse. Criminal charges. Bizarre punishments. Whistleblowers coming forward. Each time, the place got a pass. A team of reporters from three news organizations has spent the last year digging into the untold stories of Utah's massive teen treatment industry. Some 20,000 teenagers facing depression, delinquency and other problems have been sent there from ...
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Fifty years ago, the country was rocked by a historic presidential campaign. The Democratic party crumbled, a new Republican era began, and the country threatened to split in two. Campaign '68 traces the twists, turns and tragic violence that followed Americans all the way to the voting booths. What began in '68 is still roiling American politics today.
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Objects hold history. They're evocative of stories stamped in time. As part of The Washington Post's coverage of the Smithsonian's new National Museum of African American History and Culture, people submitted dozens of objects that make up their own lived experiences of black history, creating a "people's museum" of personal objects, family photos and more. The Historically Black podcast brings those objects and their stories to life through interviews, archival sound and music. The Washingt ...
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The Marketplace Wealth and Poverty Desk explores money and class, where we came from and where our country is going economically, thanks to funding from the Ford Foundation. We want to hear your stories, ideas, and questions to help us create great journalism about the growing concentration of wealth in the United States. We’ll report on the forces and policies that led to the wealth gap. We’ll look at what the consequences are, good or bad, for our families and communities. We’ll be asking ...
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Nationally acclaimed journalist Emily Hanford's work is changing the ways schools around the country teach reading. In this award-winning podcast, she investigates why so many schools use an approach that cognitive scientists debunked decades ago. Apple Podcasts has recognized Sold a Story as a Series Essential. To celebrate, we’re making it availa…
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Some of the teachers, students, parents and researchers we met in Sold a Story talk about the impact the podcast has had on their lives and in schools — and share some of their hopes and concerns about the “science of reading” movement. Portraits: Zoe and Lee Gaul, Christine Cronin, Reid Lyon Email us: soldastory@apmreports.org Video: Mark Seidenbe…
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Schools around the country are changing the way they teach reading. And that is having major consequences for people who sold the flawed idea we investigated in Sold a Story. But Lucy Calkins, Irene Fountas and Gay Su Pinnell are fighting back — and fighting to stay relevant. And so are organizations that promoted their work: the Reading Recovery C…
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A Spanish adaptation of Sold a Story is now available. Hosted by journalist Valeria Fernández, the podcast is condensed into one 58-minute episode, plus a conversation between Fernández and Emily Hanford for Spanish-speaking parents whose children are learning to read English in American schools. - Listen or share: Sold a Story en español - Learn m…
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Across the country, school districts are dropping textbooks, state legislatures are going so far as to ban teaching methods, and everyone, it seems, is talking about "the science of reading." Things have been changing since Sold a Story was released. In this episode, we tell you about some of the changes and what we think about them. Read: Legislat…
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Voicemails, emails, tweets: We got a lot of messages from people after they heard Sold a Story. In this episode, we bring you some of their voices. A 10-year-old figures out why he has struggled to read. A mom stays up late to binge the podcast. A teacher confirms what he's suspected for years — he's not really teaching kids how to read. Read: Mess…
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Brains On: How Do We Learn to Read — and Why is It Hard?
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This week we have an episode of a show called Brains On. It’s a science podcast for kids from our colleagues at APM. In this episode, Emily joins the Brains On hosts to talk about how people learn to read. Grab the kids in your life and listen to this special episode made for kids and curious adults. More: brainson.org Support our show: Donate to A…
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There are kids like C.J. all over the country. Schools tell their parents they are reading at grade level, but the kids are not. And whether they ever get the help they need can depend a lot on their family income and their race. In this documentary, originally published in August 2020, host Emily Hanford shows that America’s approach to reading in…
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At a Loss for Words: What's Wrong with How Schools Teach Reading
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Molly Woodworth had a secret: She couldn’t read very well. She fought her way through text by looking at the first letter of a word and thinking of something that made sense. Reading was slow and laborious. Then she learned that her daughter's school was actually teaching kids to read that way. In this documentary, originally published in August 20…
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Hard Words: Why Aren't Our Kids Being Taught to Read?
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Jack Silva had a problem. He was the chief academic officer of a school district in Pennsylvania, and more than 40% of the kids in his district were not proficient readers. He didn't know much about how kids learn to read, but he knew he had to figure it out. Originally published in September 2018, this documentary helped ignite a national conversa…
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Hard to Read: How American Schools Fail Kids with Dyslexia
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The parents knew something wasn’t right. The school said everything would be fine. But their kids weren’t learning how to read. In this documentary, originally published in September 2017, we look at why kids with dyslexia have a hard time getting the help they need in school. Read more: How American schools fail kids with dyslexia Q&A: What is dys…
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Lucy Calkins says she has learned from the science of reading. She's revised her materials. Fountas and Pinnell have not revised theirs. Their publisher, Heinemann, is still selling some products to teach reading that contain debunked practices. Parents, teachers and lawmakers want answers. Map: How states approach reading instruction Organize: Sol…
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Teachers call books published by Heinemann their bibles. The company's products are in schools all over the country. Some of the products used to teach reading are rooted in a debunked idea about how children learn to read. But they've made the company and some of its authors millions. Map: Heinemann’s national reach Read: Transcript of this episod…
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Teachers sing songs about Lucy Calkins. The longtime professor at Columbia University’s Teachers College is one of the most influential people in American elementary education today. Her admirers call her books bibles. Why didn't she know that scientific research contradicted reading strategies she promoted? Read: Transcript of this episode Support…
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President George W. Bush made improving reading instruction a priority. He got Congress to provide money to schools that used reading programs supported by scientific research. But backers of Marie Clay’s ideas saw Bush’s Reading First initiative as a threat. Read: Transcript of this episode Support: Donate to APM Reports More: soldastory.org En es…
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Sixty years ago, Marie Clay developed a way to teach reading she said would help kids who were falling behind. They’d catch up and never need help again. Today, her program remains popular, and her theory about how people read is at the root of a lot of reading instruction in schools. But Marie Clay was wrong. Read: Emily Hanford’s reading list Rea…
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Lee Gaul watches his daughter’s lessons during Zoom school and discovers a dismaying truth: She can't read. Little Zoe isn't the only one. Sixty-five percent of fourth graders in the United States are not proficient readers. Kids need to learn specific skills to become good readers, and in many schools, those skills are not being taught. Read: Emil…
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Emily Hanford introduces the first episode of her new podcast, Sold a Story. There's an idea about how children learn to read that's held sway in schools for more than a generation — even though it was proven wrong by cognitive scientists decades ago. Teaching methods based on this idea can make it harder for children to learn how to read. In this …
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No Excuses: Race and Reckoning at a Chicago Charter School
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Producer DJ Cashmere spent seven years teaching Black and brown students at a Noble Street charter high school in Chicago. At the time, Noble followed a popular model called "no excuses." Its schools required strict discipline but promised low-income students a better shot at college. After DJ left the classroom to become a journalist, Noble disavo…
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Camille Leihulu Slagle is Native Hawaiian. She always knew she wanted to go away for college. Education would help her afford to stay in her homeland. Life in the islands is expensive. Camille wants to give back to her people through science, studying the volcanoes central to Hawaiʻi's landscape and culture. Audio documentary: Standing in Two World…
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Standing in Two Worlds: Native American College Diaries
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Native American students are just a tiny fraction of all the college students in the United States. They come with different histories, confronting an education system once used to erase their languages and cultures. In this project, three Indigenous college students tell how they are using higher education to strengthen ties to their Native roots …
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The power of speaking out — and of celebrity. Paris Hilton goes public with allegations against Provo Canyon School. And she sparks a movement. Others share their stories. And a lawmaker hears them. Read more: More citations and new concerns follow Utah's increased oversight This kind of investigative journalism takes a lot of time and money. Our n…
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How did Utah become the epicenter of the teen treatment industry? It's a story of culture. And connections. Read: The answer is a complex combination of history, culture and weak regulations Support investigative journalism: Donate nowBy APM Reports, KUER and The Salt Lake Tribune
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Even after the police raid Integrity House, the state still doesn’t shut it down. A new owner vows to turn the place around. But when his staff are caught practicing a bizarre form of “therapeutic discipline” the state once again gives him a pass. Read more: Here's why Utah will soon make it easier to search a teen treatment program's violation his…
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A knock at the door. A police raid. An outpouring of allegations. But the case crumbles when the cops learn something they never knew about Daniel Taylor. Read more: Shutting down a teen treatment facility in Utah is no easy task, even after serious allegations Support investigative journalism: Donate now…
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From Integrity House to Daniel's house. The lines between the Taylors' business and the Taylor family all but disappear. Plus: what happens when a mother reports one of their employees to the police. Read more: How 'inappropriate boundaries' for staff can lead to sexual abuse Support investigative journalism: Donate now…
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With the state off its back, Integrity House is free to grow. We learn what it was like to live there day after day — what the people who worked there saw, and what the state did when one of them blew the whistle. Read more: 'Blindfolds, hoods and handcuffs': How some teenagers get to Utah's youth treatment programs Support investigative journalism…
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A dark cave. A tragic accident. A new treatment center. The state of Utah tries to hold it accountable. But that turns out to be harder than you’d think. Read more: 'Blindfolds, hoods and handcuffs': How some teenagers get to Utah's youth treatment programs Support investigative journalism: Donate now…
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Sent Away is a seven-episode series beginning March 8. New episodes every Tuesday. Learn more: sentaway.org Support investigative journalism: Donate now.By APM Reports, KUER and The Salt Lake Tribune
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Under Pressure: The College Mental Health Crisis
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Even before the pandemic, campus counselling services were reporting a marked uptick in the number of students with anxiety, clinical depression and other serious psychiatric problems. What is a college’s responsibility for helping students navigate mental health challenges, and how well are colleges rising to the task? Read more: Inside the colleg…
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Fading Beacon: Why America is Losing International Students
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Colleges and universities in the United States attract more than a million international students a year. Higher education is one of America’s top service exports, generating $42 billion in revenue. But the money spigot is closing. The pandemic, visa restrictions, rising tuition and a perception of poor safety in America have driven new internation…
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Who wants to be a teacher? Episode 4: This very leaky pipeline
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Today, more Black and Hispanic teachers enter the classroom through alternative pathways than through traditional teacher degree programs. The number of teachers of color in the United States has more than doubled since the 1980s in large part due to the growing number of preparation and certification pathways and recruitment efforts from the feder…
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Who wants to be a teacher? Episode 3: The trouble with grading teachers
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Critics of the rise in alternative and for-profit programs will claim teacher quality, and student learning, suffers when people are fast-tracked into the classroom without comprehensive training. But it’s hard to know for certain whether that’s true. The problem is, despite decades of trying, we haven’t agreed on how to measure teacher quality. Th…
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Who wants to be a teacher? Episode 2: The rise of the for-profit teacher training industry
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Beginning in the early 1980s, a lot of states began to open up the pathways to becoming a teacher. People who already had a bachelor’s degree in something else didn’t need to go back to college to get trained in teaching. Policymakers hoped this would solve teacher shortages by getting more people into the profession, but it’s also opened up a whol…
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Who wants to be a teacher? Episode 1: The teacher emergency
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Every president since Eisenhower has talked about the need for more teachers, especially in certain rural and urban schools, and in subjects such as math and science. For decades, policies have been made and laws changed in order to recruit and train more and more teachers. But research shows we’ve been looking at the problem wrong, and that these …
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Black at Mizzou: Confronting race on campus
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Lauren Brown says college was "culture shock." Most of the students at her high school were Black, but most of the students at the University of Missouri were white. And she got to the university in the fall of 2015, when Black students led protests in response to a string of racist incidents. The protests put Mizzou in the national news. But the n…
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Everyone agrees that the goal of reading instruction is for children to understand what they read. The question is: how does a little kid get there? Emily Hanford explores what reading scientists have figured out about how reading comprehension works and why poverty and race can affect a child’s reading development. Read the full story.…
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The coronavirus pandemic represents the greatest challenge to American higher education in decades. Some small regional colleges that were already struggling won’t survive. Other schools, large and small, are rethinking how to offer an education while keeping people safe. This program explores how institutions are handling the crisis, and how stude…
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