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We鈥檝e been jealous of Bloomberg Businessweek鈥檚 鈥淛ealousy List鈥� for quite some time 鈥� the magazine鈥檚 annual tribute to the best features, analyses, and scoops to run in other outlets. (.) So we鈥檙e stealing the concept this year and applying it to the world of education journalism.

2018 was a wild time for the ed beat. We鈥檒l remember this as the year that frustrated teachers seized state capitols; when students marched for their lives; when the Supreme Court undercut unions; when career educators ran for office amid a blue wave. It was also a time for incredible reporting about equity, student safety, governmental waste, and hard pivots in federal policy.

We鈥檙e continuously in awe of the work being done by the other outlets and writers in our space. A quick tip of the cap to these 22 must-reads we wish we had published this year:

ProPublica 鈥� : Much has been written about the state of student civil rights under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, and advocates have expressed concern that the Trump administration would scale back investigations on issues from sexual harassment to racial disparities in discipline. But ProPublica鈥檚 Annie Waldman adds to the conversation with an impressive data analysis on civil rights enforcement in the DeVos Education Department. Through public records, Waldman analyzed more than 40,000 civil rights cases and found that the Education Department鈥檚 Office for Civil Rights has become more lenient on enforcement in the name of efficiency. ProPublica also with a feature that allows people to search for civil rights complaints filed against their schools. .

The New York Times 鈥�: In January, the Times鈥檚 Michael Wilson dropped , a look at the overdose death of a Bronx special education teacher in his school bathroom. The deceased, who left behind two children and a pregnant wife, had fought addiction since adolescence, when he was sent to a sobriety-focused Family Foundation School in upstate New York. (The program closed in 2014.) After months of reporting, Wilson discovered that early death has claimed nearly 100 alumni of the school, whose therapeutic methods included solitary confinement and physical restraints. A cardinal example of following a compelling story wherever it leads. .

The Oregonian 鈥� : Reporter Bethany Barnes investigates the dark side of the frenzy to identify potential school shooters by investigating how one student was harmed by his district’s threat assessment plan, which isolated and punished him with frustratingly little evidence that he was actually a danger. It’s told and reported so well that you can’t read this story and not get angry at the injustice. .

The New Yorker 鈥� : The New Yorker鈥檚 Rachel Aviv tells the story of LaToya Martin鈥檚 efforts to rescue her son, Seth Murrell, from an 鈥渋nsidious, shadow education system鈥� where black children with disabilities are warehoused 鈥� and sometimes abused 鈥� in Georgia, despite the existence of a well-trod body of law designed to protect their rights. 鈥淟atoya said that, when she walked into her son鈥檚 class, 鈥業 did not see one white child. All I saw was black boys.鈥� Seth鈥檚 鈥榯arget behavior,鈥� according to the center鈥檚 intervention plan, was to 鈥榗omply with adult directives.鈥� Latoya demanded that Seth be returned to his neighborhood school, but she was told that first he had to meet his performance goals, which included following instructions seventy percent of the day. 鈥榊ou all know this is against the law, right?鈥� she said to Seth鈥檚 teacher. .

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel 鈥� : Erin Richards digs into the effects of high student turnover in Milwaukee’s schools. High poverty and levels of instability, discipline and transportation issues, and ample school choice all contribute to the “quiet churn” of students from year to year, which slows achievement for both students who change schools and those who stay. Richards focuses on Carver Academy, a district school where improvement was frustratingly slow or nonexistent year after year despite plenty of money for new initiatives and a range of reforms. .

EdWeek 鈥� : A very timely read with good graphics. A snippet: 鈥淲hat if the inability of Americans to agree on our shared history 鈥� and on the right way to teach it 鈥� is a cause of our current polarization and political dysfunction, rather than a symptom? It鈥檚 a question that gets right to the issues of what constitutes facts, how to interpret them, and how they inform contemporary debates, all of which are key themes as America experiences a kind of civic crisis.鈥� .

The Har-Ber Herald 鈥� : These high schoolers could give older journalists an object lesson in the freedom of the press. After five starters from Har-Ber鈥檚 varsity football team transferred to a rival school, spurring gossip in their Arkansas town, the reporters started digging. They soon discovered that while the district approved the move on academic grounds, the transfers were actually concocted to get the players more Division I exposure. But the story went from petty scandal to local outrage after the district suspended publication of the Har-Ber Herald and threatened to fire its faculty adviser. That brought that 听. .

The Washington Post 鈥� : We at 麻豆精品 and other news outlets across the country have written a lot about school shootings, gun control, and campus safety this year, in the wake of the Parkland, Florida, shooting and the wave of student protests, walkouts, and other advocacy. This story, though, offers a unique analysis, taking stock of the aggregate trauma of 20 years of incidents. As John Woodrow Cox and Steven Rich write, more than 187,000 students attending at least 193 primary or secondary schools have experienced a shooting on campus during school hours since 1999. .

The Lens 鈥� : Lots of reporters struggle to keep up with the news generated by a single school board, so we can only speculate that Marta Jewson has a secret superpower that allows her to be in a dozen places at once. An investigative reporter covering education for New Orleans鈥檚 nonprofit news site The Lens, Jewson has the daunting job of covering a district that is governed by upwards of 75 school boards. In July, she busted one board of dollars in contributions to employees鈥� retirement funds. Jewson鈥檚 investigation was followed by an Orleans Parish School Board probe into the financial irregularities and other allegations that ended with a decision to close Edgar P. Harney Spirit of Excellence Academy. .

Texas Public Radio 鈥� : It鈥檚 long been known that 鈥渦ndermatching鈥� 鈥� when first-generation college-goers set their sights too low 鈥� means too few academically distinguished students of color end up at top colleges and universities. Add to that cultural values that make Latino students often reluctant to leave home. Texas Public Radio and education writer Bekah McNeel are following three San Antonio students who made the leap thanks in part to programs at both the high schools they graduated from and the campuses where they鈥檙e adjusting to being far from home. .

Starz 鈥� : One of the year鈥檚 most impactful education storytelling efforts was produced not by a news outlet but by Steve James, the documentarian behind Hoop Dreams. For America to Me 鈥� available for streaming on the Starz network 鈥� James followed students, teachers, and others at Oak Park and River Forest High School for a year. Located just outside Chicago in the progressive community of Oak Park, it has long been considered one of the most successfully racially integrated schools in the country. And yet even as James鈥檚 cameras record talk about inclusion and bias, they also capture ongoing, stark racial disparities. In a moment when integration and desegregation efforts top newsrooms鈥� education coverage agendas, the 10-part series stands apart for revealing that even as they inhabit the same halls, black and white students frequently exist in very different worlds. .

GQ 鈥� : This story is the classic grifter tale, 21st-century-America style: the con man is a Ukrainian immigrant, and his loot is, in essence, the American dream, via a public high school education. I鈥檒l admit that I鈥檓 a little biased in loving this since it takes place in my hometown, but everything from the rat-a-tat writing listing his successes and accolades in high school, to the details, like that the protagonist spoke English fluently, but with an accent that was 鈥淏oris-and-Natasha thick,鈥� makes this the perfect magazine read. .

APM Reports 鈥�

New York Times 鈥�

The Atlantic 鈥�

NPR 鈥�

AL.com 鈥�

The Atlantic 鈥�

The New Yorker 鈥�

Los Angeles Times 鈥�

The Baltimore Sun 鈥�

The Chronicle of Higher Education 鈥�

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