Skip to main content

Awards

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)

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

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

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)

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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)

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

Education Reporting – Second Place: Dylan Peers McCoy

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

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

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)