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Sarah Carr: Journalist and Editor
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I have worked as an education journalist for the last 20 years. My book, Hope Against Hope (Bloomsbury), tells the story of the New Orleans schools after Hurricane Katrina through the eyes of those most affected by the dramatic education changes. I am currently reporting on early childhood education for the Hechinger Report and managing the Education Reporting Collaborative. I was a spring 2023 Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Journalist, the fall 2022 Ottaway Visiting Professor at SUNY New Paltz, and a 2021-22 O'Brien Fellow in Public Service Journalism. Previously, I led an investigative team at the Boston Globe dedicated to reporting on education equity. And from 2014-2019, I oversaw an education journalism fellowship called The Teacher Project at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. I have written for the Atlantic magazine, the Washington Post, the Nation magazine, Slate, and several other news outlets. I live in New York and can be reached at sec2002@columbia.edu.
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Featured Work
A Boston Globe Magazine cover story on COVID's academic devastation on older elementary school children who were already struggling to read before the pandemic. Read the piece here.
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A piece for Scientific American and The Hechinger Report on how a disgraced method of evaluating for learning disabilities has persisted in American schools for decades. Read the story here.
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A two-story package for The Washington Post and The Hechinger Report on racial disparities in access to reading supports—and the NAACP’s push for change. Read the first story here, and the second here.
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A ProPublica investigation of one of the nation's largest alternative school companies, where dozens of students accused staff of physically disciplining students. As one student put it: "That place was like a prison." Read the piece here.
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A podcast featuring teachers talking about one of the most challenging students they ever taught—in counterpoint with the student's version. Distributed through partnerships with the Atlantic, Chicago Public Radio, the Texas Standard, and Los Angeles Public Radio.
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An Atlantic magazine story on the backlash over strict school discipline policies, which focuses on the 'no-excuses' charter schools that came to dominate the education landscape in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Read the piece here.
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Hope Against Hope: Three Schools, One City, and the Struggle to Educate America’s Children |
Previous Work
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The Undefeated and The Hechinger Report: An inside look at the return to in-person instruction in a Massachusetts community with plenty of vaccine wariness. Read it here.
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USA Today and The Hechinger Report: Want your child to receive better reading help in public school? It might cost $7,500?
Read it here. |
Columbia Journalism Review: What becoming a mother taught me about reporting on kids and education. Read it here.
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The Atlantic: Perhaps more than any other subject, sex education highlights the country’s fierce loyalty to local control of schools. Read it here.
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Time and Hechinger Report: A look at why disproportionate numbers of Black teachers are considering leaving the classroom, told through the lens of one New Orleans school. Read it here.
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The New York Times: In New Orleans this single-minded focus on improvement has given new hope, but it has also destabilized the community.
Read it here. |
Slate: The difficult path many adults face to finding employment. Told through the story of my high school classmate, Leigh. Read it here.
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The Boston Globe: For high school seniors with disabilities, school closures can feel like walking off a cliff. Read it here.
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The Washington Post: In addition to his offering opinion under the guise of data, there are two major fallacies and dangers to Caplan’s argument, both relating to equality. Read the book review here.
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Harvard Education Letter: As charter schools become a mainstream option, special education is emerging as their Achilles’ heel. Read it here.
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Slate: What happens when a school district flips to majority 'minority'?
Read it here. |
The Atlantic: In the 1960s and '70s, towns across the South created inexpensive private schools to keep white students from having to mix with black. Many remain open, the communities around them as divided as ever. Read it here.
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Next City: The Integrationists. Diverse cities need diverse schools. How do we get there?
Read it here. |
The Nation: The controversial use of the 'paddle' in school has a painful racial subtext. Read it here.
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The Washington Post: The unconventional life and radical vision of Maria Montessori – a book review. Read it here.
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The Hechinger Report: New policies close off opportunities to college applicants in need of extra help. Read it here.
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Slate: A new way to evaluate teachers: Let them set their own standards. Read it here.
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USA Today and Hechinger Report: A look at racial disparities in access to critical early intervention services. Read it here.
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Radio and TV Appearances
EconTalk: Carr speaks on the legacy of charter schools and education reform in New Orleans. Listen to it here.
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NPR: Carr discusses what it means for the last New Orleans charter schools to close on NPR's Weekend Edition. Listen to it here.
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MSNBC: Carr joins a panel to talk about New Orleans schools 10 years after Hurricane Katrina. Watch it here.
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NPR: Carr describes what a key court ruling means for New Orleans teachers on NPR's All Things Considered. Listen to it here.
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"Hope Against Hope" Book Reviews
USA Today: Carr...wrote the book as 'an attempt humanize a story that's been recklessly politicized.' In particular, she found that the big-picture rhetoric of reform barely registered in the lives of teachers and families. Read more here.
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Bookforum: A nuanced, concrete picture focused on individuals seeking to make the reform regime work for the children in their schools. The book is a tremendous achievement, and should be required reading on all sides of these debates. Read more here.
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Booklist (starred review): Carr goes beyond New Orleans to examine the broader issues of education reform in urban areas throughout the nation as students and parents are caught in a clash of cultures and ideas. Read more here.
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Wilson Quarterly: For anyone seeking to understand U.S. education and education reform, Carr’s story of New Orleans is an essential place to start. Read more here.
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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mercifully, Carr's book is not a polemic, a screed or a self-satisfied policy analysis.
Read more here. |
Columbia Journalism Review: Writing sympathetically about the players and critically about the settings in which they operate, the authors provide provocative snapshots of the current moment in American education. Read more here.
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The Daily Beast: Carr weaves a memorable narrative on the human effort to educate a city's forgotten students. Read the review.
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Philadelphia Inquirer: An important book about issues facing urban districts everywhere. Read the review.
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Education Next: [A] vivid, character-driven account of education reform in New Orleans. Read the review.
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